Saturday 13 November 2010

Christmas & New Year 2009/2010

Wednesday December 23rd
Arranged to drop some stuff off at the boat on my way to work on the 23rd ready for the off over Christmas only to be met by Bens dad who tells me the domestic power has failed and I have just missed the engineer from Anglo Welsh. Bens dad popped round to Haywood Junction whilst I opened up the boat - it was open anyway because the wheelhouse doors have swolen so much they will not lock. Still no sign of any promised work being carried out apart from the control desk, which shows signs of being sanded to free off the steering wheel. (But still stcks)
When th engineer arrived he carried out some tests which he said he would report back to Beta to follow up. I couldn't hang around any longer as I was on duty in Derby at 14:00 for late shift so left it at that.
As soon as I got home that night I checked the e-mails to find one from Kelly at 17:26 to say they were away until after Christmas and that Anglo Welsh were coming out to sort an engine problem.
Would have been nice to know before hand.

Thusday December 24th
Contacted Beta but they tell me it is now too close to the Christmas closure for any new appointments to be arranged before the new year. The fault had initially been reported to them on the 22nd.
Ah well that's us screwed for getting home untl the middle of March when the stoppage at bridge 20 is cleared.
Merry Christmas!

Wednesday December 30th
E-mail from Kelly asking why we had not left and pointing out that we need to get out of the way for a new hull being delivered in January.
Light blue touch paper and retire!
I responded by pointing out that we had been wanting to move the boat since September and that in October, November and December moves all failed because the work was not complete or there were faults preventing us from moving and that work that had been promised had still not been completed. No work of significance had been carried out since October. Asked about radio, speakers LED's, roof bars & fender which I had purchased which Ben was to fit to be returned to the boat. Suggersted that it would be good to talk things over with Ben.

Thursday December 31st
E-mail asking for boat to be moved or it will be placed on towpath side of canal. This is good as the boat still cannot be locked and the bolts to secure the skylight still have not been fitted.

Friday January 1st
Asked if this meant that they were refusing to carry out work to complete the boat and stated I would make arrangements to move the boat after the break. This got the reply that Bens list of snags would be completed by next week when I came to move the boat and that the missing items I had mentioned had been returned to the boat and I must have missed them.

Tuesday January 5th
After previously being pulled up in no uncertain terms for turning up at the mooring unannounced the Harps are now happy for me to arrange a meeting with the Beta engineer without clearing it first. this duly done for the 12th owing to the big freeze.

Tuesday January 12th
Met up with Chris from Beta. No sign of Ben again. Chris checked everything over and found a connector pulled off on the back of the control panel. No slack under control panel and full weight of cable hangs on connectors as it does not appar to be secured. Any slack pulled up soon drops back into the engine bay. Another own goal. All praise to Beta who have been out to carry out warranty work - none of which has been af their making. Whilst Chris was sorting the electrics out I got a chisel and deepened the bolt holes for the door locks - lo and behold they now work. Carried out a thorough search for the items which were said to be returned but only found the front fender, of the rest there was nothing. Still no snagging work carried out. Spotted missing plank/pole bars on landing stage near lock box.

Monday January 25th
Went down to Great Haywood with a friend from work to move boat into the marina. No sign of Ben but Mike was there and I asked about the missing stuff. He promptly delved into the large lockbox on the landing and produced everything except the speakers which he could not find. Still no snagging work carried out - no surprise there then.
Boat moved into the marina - Freedom I can now visit the boat any time I like without having to ask permision first, that's a result in itself.

Tuesday 2 November 2010

Tixall November 2009

After the upset at the start of November when we tried to come home we decided we needed a run out to regain our confidence. Just a short run round the corner to Tixall wide to stop overnight to get the feel of things. A much better night as we could run the heating and being warm the dogs settled a lot better.
Still nothing done on the snagging front over the last two weeks and having mirrors in the bathroom cabinet would have been nice.

Spent the evening reading and listening to music as the TV connection still is not finished.
No weather boards fitted to the wheelhouse doors means quite a bit of water still coming in, warping and lifting the deck boards. It's the same with the skylight letting water into the saloon. Therse items need to be a priority as with the winter coming on things will only get worse if not sorted.
Took our concerns up on return. It is our plan to use the last of our holidays to move to our home mooring over Christmas break as on January 4th there will be a stoppage at bridge 20 at Stenson until the 12th of March. We are promised that all outstanding work will be sorted for our departure.
Bit vague but fingers crossed.