Barrel Bosh

On Saturday 6th July I started attacking my front passenger car seat with a screwdriver. I needed to remove the seat to create more space in the car. On my first trip to Upminster I learnt the valuable lesson that the 220L water drums that I'm using to float the boat on are ENORMOUS. On that first trip, I purchased five and drove for over an hour to find out I could only fit two in the car! And the second one only just squeezed in. So I committed to removing the front car seat to make space for 3 barrels. 

This is how you do it: 

Slide the seat back using the handlebar below the front of the seat. This reveals enough space to access the front two bolts that attach the seat to the floor. Unscrew them. Then slide the seat forwards and do the same for the rear two bolts. The next bit is a bit trickier but nevertheless manageable. There is an electrical cable that is still attaching the seat to the car. It is hidden away underneath a little housing which you have to compress to unclip from its attachment. Once you've got it free, there is a release button and then a clip to unclip. Once that's released, voila, you can now break your back hoisting out the car seat!

The drive to Upminster is only 20 miles. But over half the time is sitting in traffic trying to extricate oneself from the vice-like grip of London. My air-conditioning is shit so I regretted wearing fancy woollen nordic socks. It's about an hour and fifteen minutes to the lady's house that I'm picking up the barrels from. I pull up and she's very friendly as she trusts me now (this is my second time coming for barrels). She has two sweet little children who are very interested in me. The boy (who is about 5) is very keen to help me shift the barrels from the garden into the car. He does a good job rolling one of them on its base. He can't see over the barrel which suddently makes me realise how big they must seem to him. I am relieved when I find that the space made by removing the front seat is enough to fit a 220L water drum! Driving for 2.5 hours in the heat is probably worth the £150 saving I make from buying second hand. In fact, it is. Because there's no way I'm paying the asking price for one of these things. £10 is more than enough! In case you're interested: Facebook marketplace.

I have a philosophy with chasing impossible dreams: You stand on the cliff and look out to sea. You want to be sailing on the horizon but it looks impossible to get there from where you are. It makes sense to stay put. But here's the trick - you walk towards the dream even if it seems ridiculous. You start taking steps. At the beginning it feels like you're walking off a cliff. It makes you anxious because you feel like you're going to fall off the edge. Keep walking. When you get to the edge of the cliff, you will see that there is a path down instead of a sheer drop. You would not be able to see it without walking to the cliff edge. 

You cannot know the details about how you're going to achieve this mammoth task without setting off to do it. You have to start working for them to be revealed.

Regarding sourcing 12 barrels, I learnt something valuable on this trip. I had previously budgeted to buy them first hand at £60 each. That's £720. Then I started looking on eBay, Gumtree and then eventually Facebook Marketplace. Getting the barrels vaguely locally (not worth driving to Manchester for), and in bulk (not fun doing 12 two-hour round trips for 12 individual barrels!) has been very difficult. ​

Cue my Upminster Amiga: On this second trip she revealed that she has access to an endless supply of these things. If I hadn't gone to collect just the five I wouldn't have been able to source the endless supply. The cosmos delivers the pieces to the puzzle on the way! ​

Drive back home. Barrels now live in car. Bosh.