n.b. dutch barge Trudy-Ann

Droopy Lock and Wiring

2012-01-27T21:23:00.000Z

Over to T-A on Wednesday for a short day to finish installing the conduit for the un-fused 12V supply to the trip switches and bilge pump and a general tidy up.

Thursday was another day out with the GCS scrub clearing round lock 14. This is the worst lock in the flight and somehow I think it will need a bit more than pointing up.

Hard work but still a good laugh with the motley crew

Ian wasn’t having much fun as a twisted fire starter. That fire just would not go.

On the boat again today and at long last we have power to the new trip panel and the bilge pump is wired so I can isolate the batteries on departure but the pump will still operate. Removed more of the panelling on the kitchen/wheelhouse bulkhead ready to replace the wiring.

Now what was the ruling about supporting cables?

Until I found this hole and fitted a grommet all the weight was resting on a cut metal edge. Another example of bung it in and cover it up. The new hole will take the conduit for the 240V supply.

New ducting being installed to carry the 12V but only as far as each gunwale where it will pick up the existing cable run(I hope). Not too worried about the spray foam as it is not an outside surface and the other side is getting a layer of soundproofing.

Progress seems to be slow at the moment but then I’m on a steep learning curve. Think it over, check the regs, measure it up, try and imagine the alternatives, how will it react on the next part of the build, check the regs again and think a bit more. Thirsty work this – time for a pint.

Up and Running Again

2012-01-23T20:28:00.000Z

Had a few problems with the graphics on the PC and decided it was time to fix it with a new one, but I decided whilst it was out of commission I would reorganise the spare bedroom/office. That turned out to be a bit more of a job than planned and ended up rebuilding the computer desk, which those that have seen the old one will agree, it was a bit of overkill, but I had to cater for four monitors. Now anybody stopping over will have a good deal more elbow room than before.

Of the boat there is not much to tell, the Hurricane boiler has been removed and the steelwork where it had been repainted. It had been sitting on two steel bars which seemed to be sticking, so a quick tap with the mooring hammer and they were free.

That’s when I realised that they had been “welded”. How much bright metal can you see?

Other than that, it has just been little jobs like putting spacers in between the batteries to allow air flow and stop them moving about and as there are seven batteries in a 4/3 arrangement the last one is held in place by good heavy box which holds the hydrometer and distilled water.

Most of the time has been playing on the computer, it’s amazing how much time it takes to get things set up and running just how you like it.

Mystery Weekend

2012-01-08T20:14:00.001Z

Had a break from Trudy at the weekend and went scrub clearing with the Grantham Canal Society around locks 12 and 15 in the Woolsthorpe flight. Saturday went really well, in fact so well that all the planned work was nearly completed in one day. This was in no small part due to help from some of the Waterways Recovery Group (http://www.waterways.org.uk/) volunteers that turned out for us. No photo’s for Saturday as I never thought to take the camera. Pity really as before and after pictures would have told the tale. Sunday saw us split into three parties with one down to the locks to finish off and the other two clearing our Knipton feeder. Barbara from WRG providing tea and chocolate cake, magic.

In the afternoon Al (on the right in the photo) managed to get stuck in the mud, but with a bit of help he was dragged out minus boots. Ian the work party leader retrieved one welly but of the other there was no sign, A few of us fished about with rakes and Ian vowed to find the stray – but to no avail, there was absolutely no welly to be found, another of the mysterious tales that surround the canals of Britain. Al was forced to return to the cars mono-boot helped by Mary. It started to rain soon after so seemed like a good time to call a halt.

It is my theory that Al’s welly has been pushed too deep and is slowly sinking through the earth, so if any of our readers from down under hear of the strange appearance of a size 11 wellington boot for the right foot, please return to Al c/o Grantham Canal Society (details on the web site http://www.granthamcanal.com/)

A brilliant weekend and a feeling of satisfaction for a job well done – who says the over fifties don’t know how to have fun.

Happy days

Wiring and Heating

2012-01-06T13:39:00.000Z

Spent the last couple of days down at T-A, cutting through steelwork to run the ducting for the un-fused 12v and 240V supplies. There will be conduit from the batteries for the supply to the trip switch panel and a further lead to the control desk for the supply to the fused bilge pump switch. This should make things comply with ISO 10133 setion 8.1

Quite a bit of the work will take place below in the engine ‘ole so I decided it was time to move the Hurricane heater. To make sure the heater was being moved to a suitable location I have studied the Hurricane manual downloaded from the internet.

It states that the unit should be installed with:-

Access to front. top and left hand side for maintenance.

Secured by four bolts.

Fitted with an expansion tank and header tank.

Exhaust to be supported every 3’ minimum.

Exhaust and air pipes should include a goose neck to prevent water ingress.

Exhaust must have 3” clearance from all surfaces.

Fuel supply should be by flow and return pipes.

Fuel line should be fitted with in line filter.

Water pump must be mounted lower than the boiler.

“The engineer has been out and says the installation is perfect, there is no reason why it should be giving problems” – Yeah right!

Not to mention that the broken inlet manifold listed during the build was never replaced just bodged with black tape.

Once the wiring has been sorted down there it will be time for another proper job.

Recovering from Christmas

2012-01-03T21:30:00.001Z

Well, all the Christmas gatherings are over and done with, it’s been a good year but if I see any more turkey in the next week or two I shall scream. On the last day of 2011 a group of old farts including myself went to see Leicester signalling Centre. We had been there at the start in 1986 when this took over from the old manual signalboxes between Sharnbrook and Kegworth on the midland main line. As of midnight Leicester was to be superseded by the new signalling centre in Derby which will eventually control all movements in the east midlands.

Meanwhile back in the shed work is progressing slowly. The framework for the control panel has been made and the off side has been adapted to take a radio with a slot for an i-pod.

The plan being that the radio can be operated from the main cabin or the wheelhouse and by use of the front/rear balance it can be used in either the boat or wheelhouse or both, depending on who wants to do what. The round hole will take the morse control. This has now been installed on T-A

The control panel looks as though it may be a bit crowded with the extra instrumentation so I have drawn all the parts to scale in Microsoft Visio so it can be rearranged and shuffled about before actually cutting wood.

Lots of options but it makes life so much easier and I’m all for that.

Happy new year all.

Getting Sorted

2011-12-22T19:52:00.001Z

No work on Trudy-Ann this past week. Over the last few months I have been getting increasingly irritated by having to shuffle round in a cluttered workshop and more often worked outside if the item was of any size, so I decided to bite the bullet. Well one week and several trips down the tip later things are starting to take shape. The table saw has been moved towards the back corner but it means that I can only cut 8x4 sheets of ply cross ways without moving the set up back to the middle. It is on wheels but it means lifting all the support legs so can be a bit of a pain. Now work can be carried out whatever the weather is like or what time of day it is.

I decided to treat myself to this for Christmas and Karen added a full set of blades from 6mm to 25mm and the wheel set.

It’s a bit of a beast and can cope with timber up to 12” thick but will also cut 8x4 ply lengthways yet the footprint is hardly more than the dinky little bandsaw I had before. Should be useful to turn blocks into boards and shaped items, can’t wait to try it out.

Cheer up the sun has just set on the shortest day of the year, now we can start looking forward to spring and to cheer us all up further, the world will have ended by this time next year so they say. Merry Christmas everyone.

Pottering About

2011-12-15T20:26:00.001Z

Stopped blogging for a while due to getting strange comments – usually with a link to another site flogging Viagra. I have reset some security protocols on older posts which will hopefully stop this nuisance.

Despite the weather deterioration I’m still managing to get a few jobs done between work parties and Christmas parties. Been down to the boat three or four times doing a few jobs to prepare for the new control panel which is still under construction. The interior of the boat now seems to be remaining dry despite the weather, the bottom plate under the sink and in the engine bay are still dry which I am taking to be a good sign.

Popped into Nottingham and got a 6ft of 1.5 by 6 inch ash board which I am converting into mouldings to edge the control panel and wheelhouse lining.

The existing panelling which has not been rotted by water ingress is blackening around the fixing screws as they rust, using stainless steel and brass should prevent this in future. On the visit to T-A today I measured up the water pipes into the Hurricane heater in the hopes that I can turn down some mahogany to make bungs to seal the pipes during removal to try and save the coolant in the heating system when the boiler is removed prior to repositioning. Not really surprised to find that it is only held in place by the earth strap. Disconnected the engine control cable and am a bit concerned to find two wires cut and taped back at the multi pin connector but will be unable to find if anything is amiss until I fit the new engine sensors and deluxe panel. New cross member fitted in front of the control panel to stop the narrower deck board dropping into the engine bay this is to accommodate the control desk being moved back for the new wheel and trip panel – I know – I keep adding jobs but at the end of the day the plan is to end up with something that I am happy with. In my own defence, many of the jobs added are in response to problems found.

Slowing Down for Winter

2011-12-01T20:27:00.001Z

Party in Bedford last Saturday and had a great time, shame we had to leave early because of the distance. How many times have you been 49 Les???.

Still working on the control panel framework but with the weather getting colder it is taking glue and paint longer to go off, but I refuse just to assemble with screws and leave the internal woodwork with no protection at all. As it is getting made each section is getting two coats of bulkhead paint so in all as I can only paint one side at a time, with the longer drying time, it is taking four days to paint each item. Never the less I was down at T-A last Sunday trying the parts for size and bolting the brackets to the steelwork, cheating a bit as I was using some nifty self drilling/tapping bolts. Thanks to the new lighting I was at least able to get this job finished.

In the mean time I’ve not been totally idle as I’ve had a couple of days with the GCS. Firstly to return the kit to depot after the failed attempt to replace the top gates at lock 18 and scrub clearance on the towpath side of locks 13 to 15, this really is a beautiful part of the country and it has been great enjoying the outdoor life again after so many years of being stuck at a desk. Christmas shopping tomorrow but plan to drop in on the lads who will be beavering away to drop of some bits that have been in for sharpening. I’ll try and remember the camera – may even use it as an excuse to walk the dogs down there.

Seeing The Light

2011-11-25T22:20:00.001Z

Been down at Woolsthorpe with the Grantham Canal Society lads for the last couple of days getting ready for the new gates at lock 18, but the news is not good. It would seem that BW have decided the paperwork submitted is not in keeping with their internal system so the work cannot go ahead. BU***R. It’s a pity the society weren’t advised when it was submitted so it could be changed. Looks like the work will take place next year now. On the plus side it kept me out the way while Karen painted the kitchen, Sox being the only casualty, ending up half off white after leaning against the wall.

The work on T-A continues slowly in the workshop with the framework for the control desk although it looks like I’ll have a few extra days at the marina next week.

With the shortening days affecting the work I can do I’ve invested in some auxiliary lighting which will help the situation. They are both 240V so can be run from the shore supply if batteries and inverter are disconnected.

Hopefully these will help extend my work periods, just hope it doesn’t get too cold while the heating is disconnected, I’m guessing a patio heater in the wheelhouse would look silly.

Poor Light Stops Play

2011-11-22T19:56:00.001Z

Fairly early start down at the boat today fitting the new bits and pieces. Did a bit of thinking and planning but the main event was remounting the steering pump and installing the new trip box.

Showing the new lower position for the wheel, and of course the trip switches will be a lot handier when the wiring is complete.

This is as it used to be after I had tidied up the original cats cradle.

I had hoped to be able to connect the panel to the battery bank but the light was getting too bad to work in the engine ‘ole, but at least we have steering now.

Time Flies

2011-11-21T20:09:00.001Z

Must be the short days! Never mind in 30 days we will pass the shortest day and will start to look forward to spring again.

Anyway what’s been happening in this past week, well the isolation transformer arrived, nearly giving the delivery driver a hernia – I did offer to bring it in with the sack barrow but no he insisted it could be carried.

It will fit between the engine bearers when I reposition the Hurricane heater to a location where it can be accessed for servicing, to that end I have cut a piece of 6mm steel sheet to bolt on to the top of the engine bearer. To make life easier during the rewire I am thinking of draining down all the systems for winter and removing the boiler altogether.

The new bracket to bolt the steering pump onto the bulkhead is made (no more glue) as well as the new trip switch box.

For ease of access the front hinges down to get at the wiring being held closed by two allen bolts.

It is to be mounted on the cabin bulkhead below the wheel and form part of the control panel but will be recessed to avoid accidental operation, once that’s done then the rewiring can start in earnest. The bilge pump will be wired independently – not though the panel as it is now.

The frame work for the control panel is coming along and I am now starting to replace the cheap shuttering pattern with exterior grade ply. Tending to waste time running between home and boat measuring up and testing the fit, what I need is an articulated lorry with the workshop in the back.

Been into Nottingham for some ash faced ply and some ash planking that can be used to make good the removed panelling in the main cabin and wheelhouse

Fruit trees have been pruned and some right royal bonfires have been had, other than that not a lot happening.

A Quiet Week

2011-11-14T21:02:00.001Z

Not much to say about this past week. Been down to T-A a couple of times to measure up the control panel templates, it’s times like this when you wish you had the boat parked on the drive, but things are slowly taking shape. The control desk will be substantially altered when finished so at the moment the framework is being run up in cheap shuttering to make sure everything fits. The trip switch box I mentioned last time had been completed but I wasn’t satisfied with the result so it’s back to being just an open box at present – can’t win them all.

Reading the Waiouru blog, Tom mentioned the flush fitting mains shoreline sockets on Ufton – what a good idea – so now I am the proud owner of two in beige which will hopefully blend with the cream paintwork either side of the wheelhouse. While on the Aquafax website I also ordered a galvanic isolator which set me to thinking (dangerous and expensive) and in the end I have ordered an isolation transformer from Airlink. Talk about over-kill but then if I’m rewiring the boat I may as well make a proper job of it, eh.

In the main this week has been in the garden pruning fruit trees and clearing leaves. The leaves are being composted and the fruit tree cuttings along with the bean vines are satisfying my latent urge for pyromania. Still plenty of apples and pears on the trees which are still nice and firm – it sure has been a good year for fruit. The mice have moved into their winter moorings in the middle shed so now several sacks of potatoes are hanging precariously from the rafters, just hope the don’t chew the freezer wiring out of spite.

It is going to be a busy couple of weeks down on the Grantham canal as the new gates for Woolsthorpe Top Lock are being installed towards the end of the month so it is all hands to the pumps to get the site ready for the contractors and muggings has agreed to be available for a few days, hope I can get some shots of the gates going in.

Back to Basics

2011-11-06T20:40:00.000Z

Well I said in my last blog that something would turn up – and it did, almost literally.

I decided to make a boss to cover the hydraulic steering pump as the new wheel is flat rather than dished and will have to be moved out to clear the desk. Took more time to clear stuff away from the lathe than it did to turn down a bit of sapele, the hole is for the oil filler cap. Also finished off the box which will take the trip panel – nothing fancy just dowelled joints and access holes rounded with a router.

Saturday was a day off for a bit of retail therapy being Karen’s birthday, but we still remember the birthday two years ago when we made a failed attempt to get home in T-A. She boiled up even before we got to the water point at Great Haywood (T-A not Karen) because the cooling system had been connected back to front.

Today was spent clearing the panelling from the cabin bulkhead to get at the wiring and the last bits of detritus from the control desk. No shortage of firewood this year J

Thinking of repositioning the microwave against the outside wall as most seem to open from the right and where it was meant working round the door. (See pic in previous blog entry)

The steelwork was rubbed down and given a coat of paint before departure as I’d scraped off a fair bit of paint removing all the glue that held the battens and steering in place. Just leaves it to remove the panelling from under the gunnels to get at the wiring, at least the major part of destructive work is over on this part of the project The next destructive task will be to lift the warped flooring but that can wait for now.

Helpful People

2011-11-01T20:15:00.000Z

One of the minor items spotted in the survey was that there was no cover over the screws on the morse control – it just never got fitted, so while the control panel is under reconstruction I thought I would try and get one.

After looking on the Uniflex web site I was starting to think I may have to buy a whole new unit. I had the part number but no listed dealers. On the off chance I rang Aquafax on Monday. Yes we stock them says they and a jiffy bag dropped on the mat first thing this morning with the appropriate part. Certainly a lot cheaper than buying the whole item.

Thinking about it, every person or firm I have had dealings with in the boating world (Bar one of course) have been civil, efficient, prompt as well as ready to proffer advice and support. So to all those people a big thank you.

Back to today and down at T-A with some square drive bits to remove the few Kreg screws holding the last remnants of control panel in place. Also started to remove some of the rotted panelling around the doors – we still seem to be dry so keeping fingers crossed. Emptied out the cupboards and removed the microwave ready to remove the panelling to get at the wiring. Looking to enlarge the shelves when it goes back up.

Old picture taken during the build.

Yesterday found me down at my favourite local wood yard picking up some cheap ply to make the templates for the new control desk, took them down today but no serious work done before light stopped play.

Back in the workshop and started making the case to mount the trip switch panel using some of the wood from the skylight – waste not want not.

Nothing planned for tomorrow but something will turn up - it always does. Bored? - Not me!

Catching Up

2011-10-30T20:52:00.000Z

Can’t believe it’s been six days since I last blogged. Tuesday and Wednesday found me down at T-A working on the weatherboards. The doors are now complete but I have not managed to do the door frame surrounds to cover the gap between steelwork and woodwork on the off side. That may have to wait until we are moored up on that side, but both doors and frames have had an extra coat of varnish. I was wrong about the doors being only screwed and glued butt joints – there wasn’t any glue, but I think there may be recoverable wood to use in the wheelhouse framework.

If the idea was that the glass could be replaced by unscrewing the frame, then this failed because several of the screws had rusted and seized in. Makes me aware that I am doing the right thing by using stainless steel or brass.

Thursday was spent on the GCS work boat Centauri clearing rubbish, good fun but smelly work.

Down to T-A on Friday with Karen to sheet up for the winter as the wheelhouse cover stitching has split on the corners and has a tendency to lift. Very pleased to find little or no water in the wheelhouse after the rain, what water that was there looked as though it had dripped off the door when opened.

Back down on Saturday to measure up for the new woodwork but got carried away and also dismantled the control desk which came home with me. Nearly in trouble as I had forgotten we were out partying later.

Today has been spent on various designs and getting some of the bits ready. The old tachometer is now connected into the new panel and the radio connectors have been modified for use on the boat.

A Long Day

2011-10-24T21:55:00.000+01:00

Had a full day on T-A today, now I’m looking like a boiled shrimp, after a real hot bath to sooth my aching knees. Spent all morning finishing off the battery wiring, so it was spent kneeling on the base plate. Thought about taking up religion – could have done with a hassock. Anyway enough of the sob story, the electrics are reconnected and the new battery bank is charging away, it’s been a while since we have had all the facilities on board. Still have to replace all the wiring from the distribution panel, but, yes you’ve guessed it we have a new one of those as well as a larger negative bus bar , but at least the engine hole is done.

Also got the new doors fitted but have not yet filed all the weather strips, plan to do that tomorrow if the rudder indicator delivery is early enough. High time Karen retired so she can be at home for these duties. (Only kidding dear)

Think I may apply a coat of a tinted varnish to the door frames to bring the colour up a bit but I haven’t ruled out replacing them as well.

Now the doors are fitted with 5 lever deadlocks to replace the originals. I had asked to be provided with any spare keys but Kelly said they had none, but strangely enough a few weeks before Ben boasted that he had a box with a set of keys for every boat he had built. Now who should we believe? That was the main reason for beefing up the security on the flimsy hatch cover.

If I have time tomorrow I plan to carry out a post mortem on the old doors to see if any of the wood can be reused.

Really must get round to more jobs round the house, Karen’s done all the work in the garden lately and I think another day on the GCS work boat is coming up shortly.

A Short Visit

2011-10-23T23:00:00.000+01:00

Only had time for a couple of hours on T-A today, so decided to make a start on running the main battery leads. I awoke early this morning and it’s strange how your mind turns things over, I had a feeling that there was something was not quite right with the battery leads I had been making up. Spent the morning checking things out and realised that the live feed for the trip switches was coming from the wrong side of the master switch. i.e. the battery was still connected with the switch out. So this afternoon it was down to the boat firstly to install the new troughing between the engine bearers and then the leads before starting to link up the batteries repositioning the trip panel feed as I did so.

You may remember this.

Well it now looks like this

There are still wires to be re run but they will be done when the wiring is replaced, then a lid will be fitted to make it safe to walk on. Got a few battery links on but was beaten by the loss of light as there are no electrics on the boat at the moment.

Took one of the tarnished vent trims out of the roof lining, to see if the new one would fit, and found one of the ceiling light wires wrapped in insulation tape. With the tape off it was apparent that the wire had been caught by the hole cutter and stripped. Perhaps this rewire is a blessing in disguise.

In the previous post I was wondering if I were being finicky but now I’d rather think of it as attention to detail which may save future problems.

Slow Progress

2011-10-22T20:00:00.000+01:00

But progress none the less.

Lost a couple of days work this week because Gerry and Chris came to repair the workshop roof where the gable end gullies had been leaking. It certainly needed doing and I’m glad to have this fixed before the winter weather arrives.

As the new cabling had arrived I started making up the new battery cables, ready to connect in the new battery bank and the main feeds from the engine. The first question was how to strip cable this size without damaging the individual wires. Had the inspiration of using a small pipe cutter and it worked a treat – not a single strand was harmed during the making of these leads. Just work it round as you would do on a copper pipe and when nearly through back off a turn and pull.

To fix the cable terminals I opted for a beast of a crimping tool but it makes a good solid job and is heavy enough to sit on the work top to enable it to be used one handed while you line up the work with the other.

Old and new. The original domestic battery feed from the engine case alongside its replacement. The terminals on the engine are 8mm as are the battery terminals the only 10mm terminals are on the battery isolation switches. Finicky I know but I like to know things are right, after all it’s easier to do right in the first place than try and sort it out later.

Out of interest I took the insulation tape off the original to compare the crimp, not having used this tool before.

Oops. Professional over amateur.

Only one trip down to the boat since the last blog entry but the cabin bilge is still dry. Took the new door bottoms with to line up the new hinges as I have decided 4” hinges would be better because the all the weight of the door is taken by the bottom half. New rebates cut and started removing some of the strip fitted to try and seal the door frame which I had lined up to the old warped doors. Made new battens for the door frame today, along with some bits of scrap to fill in the gaps with the wheelhouse sides until the new wheelhouse is made.

The tops of the new door tops are 1” narrower than the old so that they don’t catch the door frame when being opened in the down position. Once the doors are complete they will be the reference point to measure up for the rest of the wheelhouse wood work.

Rudder indicator ordered and should arrive next week, that will complete the instrumentation collection, so along with everything else I should be able to start constructing the new control panel over the winter months. Really must get round to repositioning the rudder hydraulics, building the skylight, lifting the saloon floor, adding more ballast, fix the horn, scrape the rust off the fuel tanks, sorting the mast, fitting the TV and video, plane down the interior cupboard/wardrobe/bathroom/bedroom doors to fit – I know, slacking again.

Nearly There

2011-10-16T20:30:00.000+01:00

Still working away on the doors, but it’s taking a bit longer than expected. Only being able to varnish one side at a time is slowing the process down but I am determined not to cut corners. The doors are all assembled now and just need the final coat.

Spot the deliberate mistake.

The weather boards are mahogany. Didn’t realise until I applied the varnish and showed the grain up, too late now to worry about, they’ll probably out last the doors.

Note Sox lying with nose under the gate watching the world go by, wondering if there is any chance of a walk.

All the door furniture in place, tops up.

Tops down.

My nice wide elbow rest which has the added advantage of making the door top rigid when clamped down rather than flapping about.

And the inside, Perspex is held in by beading this time for ease of replacement, rubbed down ready for the last coat.

The ordered cable should arrive early this week along with a heavy duty crimping tool for the battery terminals. Also ordered a job lot of red and black heat shrink tubing from RS components which should arrive on Monday.

The sheds are filling up with boxes and bags ready for start of work, I do believe Christmas has come early.

Vanishing and sanding

2011-10-12T20:21:00.000+01:00

Not much been happening lately that justifies a blog entry in its own right. Down at the boat a couple of times in the past week and the cabin bilge is now dry as a bone even after the rain we have had. The Starboard door has been offered up and fits a treat. Both doors and tops have had all the recesses for locks catches and hinges cut out and are now in the process of being thoroughly varnished before all the door furniture is fitted.

Each item is having 3 coats of varnish before assembly and will then be a final coat just to seal everything in. (possibly 2 if the weather holds) I don’t want the wood turning grey where the varnish has been missed as at present.

Clearing up after a sanding session I had to wonder if I’d got enough sanders - not to mention the final rub down is by hand.

Also spent a couple of days down at Woolsthorpe depot tidying up ready for the GCS discovery day. Popped down on Sunday whilst waiting for the varnish to dry yet again and was surprised by the number of people there. The boat trips were fully booked and there were plenty of activities for both kids and adults. Had a quick coffee and bought a good wide chisel that will be useful when cutting hinge rebates.

Going through the BMEA code of practice if found the following:-

3.11.3

An a.c. circuit shall not be contained in the same wiring system as a d.c. circuit,

unless one of the following methods of separation is used.

a) For a multicore cable or cord, the cores of the a.c. circuit are separated from the cores of

the d.c. circuit by an earthed metal screen of equivalent current-carrying capacity to that

of the largest core of the a.c. circuit.

b) The cables are insulated for their system voltage and installed in a separate compartment

of a cable ducting or trunking system.

c) The cables are installed on a tray or ladder where physical separation is provided by a

partition.

d) A separate conduit, sheathing or trunking system is used.

e) The a.c. and d.c. conductors are fixed directly to a surface and separated by at

least 100 mm.

It could be argued that using ‘arctic blue’ which is basically a flex complies with part d) but I am inclined to think it falls foul of part a). Anyway me being me and not wanting to fall foul of any regulation and to know in my own mind that everything is as safe as it can be, I have purchased 30m of flexible conduit, junction boxes, mountings etc. to run the 240V cable alongside the 12V and not all in the same loom as it is now.

Spent a few evenings working out what cable sizes I need for each item in the rewiring rather than just get a job lot of 65/30 (4.5mm) and also decided to upgrade the battery leads to 50mm as opposed to 35mm, that was a pain in the pocket because apart from the engine there is the bow thruster and winch to replace but they have got to go because they are all blue and brown as well. All cables ordered in red and black, with orange white and purple being used for gauge sensors.

It's Too Hot!

2011-09-30T19:13:00.000+01:00

Only kidding.

Like everybody else I’m making the most of this warm spell. Been down to the boat twice since the bilge was pumped out and each time there has been another couple of gallons to remove with the mop. This must mean that the ends of the floor bearers are pretty well clogged with rubbish and the water is just seeping through. No rain to speak of lately so don’t think it is fresh. Checked under the bed at the hatch I had cut some months ago and confirmed that the hull is dry at this point but it smells a bit musty so have left the hatch off but being basically dry would indicate that there is no leak from the water tank forward. Think I’ll install a fan in the bow and duct it under the decking. I’ve got plenty of old computer case fans and will have to add that into the loom when I get round to the wiring.

I have decided the priority is to get the boat as watertight as possible before winter so am concentrating on the wheelhouse doors where most of the water comes in now, since removing the skylight. Trimmed the port door down to measurements and took it to the boat to try for size and it fits fine, just got to do the rebates for hinges and lock. Starboard door next. Door tops have been given their first coat of varnish and are looking good. Not much to show at present but I think it’s one of those times when everything will come together in a rush.

Even so I found time to visit Newark Air Museum with some old work colleagues and luckily for us the Vulcan was open for viewing – all I can say is the five aircrew must have got on well together.

Thanks Al it was a grand day out and have a long and pleasant retirement.

Woodwork and Other Things

2011-09-25T20:54:00.000+01:00

While I am waiting for the BMEA codes of practice to arrive there’s no point in being idle. Set to designing and making the tops for the wheelhouse doors. The plan is to reduce the height of the wheelhouse by about 5” because at the moment there is loads of headroom and to my eye it looks out of proportion and too flimsy. Also at the moment if any of the Perspex gets damaged the only way to replace it is to dismantle the framework.

Made the new door tops shorter and slightly heavier in the wood work but the reduction in height should balance out the overall weight. These will set the height for the new wheelhouse. I also made the tops of the window with a slight arch so that they are in keeping with the style of boat and main cabin windows. At the moment the framework has only just been assembled so there is plenty more to do in the way of sanding and varnishing. Pespex ordered online from Screwfix just before starting this blog entry.

The edges are rebated to marry with the wheelhouse sides when built, you can just make it out in the photo, the reverse side (inside) is rebated to take 10mm beading to hold the Perspex. The top bar stands out by 8mm to anchor the canopy and hold it away from the woodwork. The bottom bar has a lip on the reverse which reflects the top of the door bottom so that when folded down it will provide me with a 6” wide ledge to lean on or gongoozle from. Not a single screw used in the construction so far but of course they will be used for the hinges and to hold the beading in place, Never realised how much thinking can go into a simple frame!

Spent last Thursday down at Woolsthorpe helping to tidy up the old BW depot with some other chaps from GCS, left plenty more to do for the others coming on Saturday. It’s all in preparation for a discovery day there on 9^th of October, looks like there should be quite a bit happening. http://www.granthamcanal.com/index.htm

Ben Harp Strikes Again

2011-09-21T15:08:00.001+01:00

Put quite a lot of feelers out to see if the wiring colour coding on Trudy-Ann was acceptable. Well, I’ve had it confirmed by British Marine Electrics Association that the wiring does not comply with regulations. At this stage all I have done is to order an interactive copy of BMEA codes of practice from the British Marine Federation but it certainly looks like I am going to have to rip out all of it and replace the 12V wiring throughout the boat, possibly rerunning the 240v circuits as it is all bunched up together.

As I understand it, 12V wiring should have a black negative though it seems there can be variations to the positive, the norm is to have red as the positive at least as far as the controlling switch and then the appropriate colour code to the lamp / motor etc. may be used (but no colours used in the 240V system) with a black return wire. If I have got this information round my neck feel free to correct me. Also the 240V system should be kept separate from the 12V. None of this is happening as you can see from the picture.

I asked the question during the build and was told this was the wiring code that applied. This has now been shown to be incorrect but it means that he has probably wired other boats to this standard.

Bilge Pumped Out

2011-09-19T21:18:00.000+01:00

Down working on the boat for couple of days since the last blog entry. Cut a hole in the cupboard floor nearest the engine bulkhead and pumped out the water in the bilge as far as I could with an old Hippo pump meant for topping up the fish pond.

For cutting panels out in awkward spaces you can not beat this type of saw.

The last 8 gallons was removed by mopping and the bilge looked much drier.

We will have to see if it stays like this as there is so much rubbish down there it may have blocked the vent spaces in the floor bearers.

In the engine bay the holes through the engine bearers have been fitted with grommets, the brackets fitted which will take the box conduit to support the cables and protect them from damage when working around the engine.

The batteries have been installed in the battery box but not connected in. It has come to light that colour coding of the boat is suspect as both 12V and 240V use brown and blue as positive and negative. I can see the sense in this argument and have been trying to get it confirmed. As of yet all I have found is that ISO 10133 states that negative shall be black or yellow except if black is also used in the 240V system when it must be yellow. So it looks as though the whole boat may have to be rewired, but before ripping everything out I want to be as certain as possible. If anybody knows the appropriate legislation I can refer to please let me know.

On a lighter note – had a pleasant day out at Foxton on Sunday watching the Vikings getting beaten up by the local kiddies before a wander round the museum. Pity we couldn’t get here by water. To cap it all had a very pleasant supper with friends Tony and Les.

Jobs Done - Jobs To Do

2011-09-15T22:18:00.001+01:00

A bit more done on Trudy-Ann, the battery box has now been lined and painted, just the front to refit after the batteries are installed.

Slapped a bit of paint round the holes I have just cut to carry the main battery feeds through the engine bearers.

Not a pretty bit of painting but it’s only to protect the bare metal (Which is more than the builder could manage as any holes drilled have been just left to rust) and I just happened to have a brush handy. The bearers are in two parts so the hole has been stepped to accommodate the grommet better as the total thickness is some 16mm.

Whilst I’m down there daubing away I’m looking at this cats cradle and thinking if the jointing is anything like I have found so far I will all have to come out and be redone. Perhaps try and find out whats's what and add a few labels.

While I am at it I think I will move the central heating room sensor from the outside of the cabinet and site it in the living area. After all isn’t that where it should be?

In the galley area the splashback has been modified to vent the fridge from behind and all that is left is to seal it to the worktop.

A hole has been cut in the floor at the back of the fridge space to fit another vent space but in doing so I find at least an inch of water in the bilge sloshing about and all the while various pieces of flotsam and jetsam floating in and out of view, some of it quite large. I wonder now if it was to stop me seeing all the rubbish under the decking that no bilge access was provided.

No point in plating this hole until the water has been pumped out. Some wetness had been expected but not to this extent, if as I suspect it will be the same as far as the skylight which had been leaking right from the start until it was sheeted down, there could be up to half a tonne of water washing about under there. It confirms my thoughts that all the flooring will have to come up between bathroom and engine bulkhead. Get it dried out, Waxoyled and replace the water with fixed ballast.

Sitting there at finish of work taking a breather, enjoying the evening, before returning home I couldn’t help thinking that boating is a relaxing way of life, and some waste of space toe rag isn’t going to spoil it.

I wonder if he will show his face at Foxton this week-end?

Hopes Dashed

2011-09-12T21:30:00.000+01:00

After all the testing the batteries were holding their charge and things were looking good but my crossed fingers did no good. I applied a small load of 4.5 amps to the six domestic batteries in turn and they soon started to flag, after two hours each was down to less than 10 volts. Not much point in taking specific gravity readings. Battery number 7 the engine battery is holding up fine as far I am aware this battery was not run to complete exhaustion. Off to Multicell in Broughton Astley near Leicester with the intention of replacing with the same make and model as I prefer a lead acid battery you can monitor. Yeah I’m an old stick in the mud, so what. Duly loaded up 6 FLA110 and got talking as you do, and it appears that they have been trying to contact Ben Harp for some time without success. Not another company he hasn’t paid – surely.

This week hasn’t been a complete waste of time, while the batteries are out I’m re-routing this mess of wires.

At least I have just spotted where I left the jack after I raised the engine.

The intention being to run through the engine bearer as on the other side, like this it’s a failure waiting to happen.

While this is going on the Battery compartment is being lined out to prevent terminals contacting the steelwork, holes being made in the floor under the fridge and the galley splash back has been removed in readiness to install the high level vent . More pictures on completion.

Back home the fridge cupboard door has been modified top and bottom to allow more ventilation.

On the family front, we had an enjoyable barbeque at brothers to see nephew Andrew off on his three year trip to New Zealand’s south island, studying and monitoring the fault line. Don’t envy him the flight.

Retail Therapy

2011-09-07T21:53:00.000+01:00

Every now and then you get a blinding flash of the obvious. Bruce’s suggestion on the last post is one of these. The fridge has been removed pending a hole being cut in the floor at the rear of the refrigerator recess. Once cut it will be covered by a stainless steel vent plate solely to try and stop that accumulation of detritus that you get under fridges dropping into the bilge. The plans to allow vent space in doors and worktop will continue but the extra vent from the bilge is bound to help. An added bonus of this idea is that I will be able to examine the bilge for damp as I suspect there may be water still down there from when the skylight was leaking. I had asked for access to the bilge to be made possible, but usual story – nothing happened, hopefully that will be taken care of when I relay the cabin floors and build in a cool space for wine etc. I’m seriously thinking of doing the main cabin and galley in the style of the wheelhouse deck boards, which got well and truly soaked a couple of times but seem to be holding their shape and still looking good.

In the mean time the battery compartment has been cleaned out and a ply lining applied to the cabin bulkhead and 6x20 mm laths of mahogany have been stuck down on the base plate with grab adhesive – thought better of drilling and screwing. All that remains is to paint it with Smoothrite unless somebody can suggest a better paint.

The void between the fuel tanks has been treated with Waxoyl after it remained dry after the trips we have made recently. At one stage when nobody was looking pushed the revs to well over 2000 and got a good move on but still no water coming in.

The batteries are holding up while on test so the seem to be holding a charge, and I’m wondering if there is any way I can test their capacity other than attach a known load and time the discharge. Think that may be one for CWDF.

As for the retail therapy we seem to be accumulating components for the new control desk. The new control panel arrived from Beta today which they have had to make specially for me as their design has changed over the last year but I want to keep my old tachometer to keep the engine hours right. Also got a longer wiring loom to solve the problems of wires pulling off because they are too tight. Once again Beta altered the termination to match up with my tacho as the connectors have changed also. All praise to Beta they have sorted or helped me to sort quite a few problems.

Along with that there is a nice new wheel which is more in keeping with the style and fuel and water gauges. All that is left to add is a rudder indicator – people say you don’t need one and in most cases they are right but there are occasions when you are station keeping in a lock or doing tight manoeuvres in the marina when it would make life easier.

All go - Oh my aching back!

2011-09-04T23:02:00.000+01:00

Oops. Been a while since I last blogged so I had better put that right. Spent most of this week catching up with the garden and harvesting. All the potatoes are now up and are drying in trays before bagging, there are plenty of other goodies still to come out of the greenhouse

Thursday saw me out with the Grantham Canal Society work boat recovering branches and other general rubbish from the cut. Another tiring but enjoyable day in the company of like minded folk.

Friday, back in the garden getting things ready for Stathern Horticultural Show on Saturday.

Saturday down to the show at St. Guthlacs Church and batter me down with an onion – A first and three seconds, not bad for a first attempt.

Today saw me back down at the boat. I concur with Tom and Peter’s comments to the last blog but am keeping my fingers crossed that there may still be some use left in the batteries. Last week when we left the boat I did not connect the shore line and switched off the inverter as well as operating all the trips except for the bilge pump.

Today this is what I found.

That has got to be a hopeful sign.

Even so all the domestic batteries have been removed back to the workshop which was quite a job in itself as it looks like the batteries were installed and then the compartment built around them. On removing the batteries one of the terminals was found to be corroded and one of the links in the live run was found to be lose. No sign of arcing but if it was slightly higher resistance it may have affected the charge to the last three batteries. Back home the batteries were cleaned checked for electrolyte – 1 found to be a bit low – terminals polished and greased as no form of protection had been applied on installation. The plan is to trickle charge all the batteries to full capacity and then monitor them for a week recording it all on an XL spreadsheet. Batteries tested today on return give a voltage average of 12.98V and SG readings of 1.294 to 1.305 which gives me hope.

Further to the other concern regarding the fridge/freezer.

The cupboard door has been removed pending cut outs for ventilation.

I am also looking at the possibility of making a vent to come up at the back and vent through the splash back.

Whilst I doing this I want to see if I can re-hang the cupboard door so it opens the same way as the fridge.

Also wondering if there is any way we can access the wasted space beside the oven.

On top of all this I plan to line out the battery compartment as the forward bank of four batteries butts up to the saloon bulkhead with the live terminals very close to bare metal. At the same time I intend to mount mahogany laths for the batteries to sit on as there was water trapped underneath from before the deck drain was bunged. Once that is done the compartment will be repainted on the inside and reassembled.

Usual story – one job sorted – ten more found.

Days Out

2011-08-28T11:24:00.000+01:00

Down to the boat on Tuesday to do a bit more to the wiring and get ready for departure on Wednesday. On the previous outing we had noticed that the batteries were going flat sooner than we should expect, so decided to install some more of the LED lamps we had brought at the IWA festival, also looked round for potential drains on battery resources that might be causing our problem. One item could be that the fridge/freezer is working harder than necessary with it being enclosed in a cupboard and no provision for ventilation. I will have to look into how much the inverter draws and if the bow thruster trickle charger is a constant drain. Looking at the batteries none of the terminals has been greased and some at the back are showing signs of corrosion. I have wondered about the state of the batteries after they were run absolutely flat several times during the build, to what were reported as charging faults caused by ‘Beta’s equipment failures’ which I now suspect to be more likely caused by a chimps wiring. Yes I now treat everything I was told by the Harps with the greatest suspicion as so many things have been proven to be half truths or down right lies.

Planned on a Wednesday departure because the forecast for Tuesday was dire, but as it turned out it was a beautiful day. Blooming weather men Bah Humbug!

Had a gentle cruise down to Devils Elbow just below Zouch to spend the next couple of days there generally relaxing and doing a few running repairs.

Karen cleaned down ad touched up some of the places where the paintwork was flaking, but as you can see the primer is still sound.

There are bits like this all over.

While that was going on I wired in the last of the LED lights and rubbed down the right hand door frame for varnishing. This has been neglected as it is on the off side at our normal mooring.

Note that there has been no effort in the original build for any form of sealing around the door so water can enter under or around the door itself.

Added a new weather board at the bottom of the frame, the rest will be done when the new doors are installed.

Thursday evening the natives put on a show practicing in their war canoes.

Back to Pillings on Friday and got the hood up just as it started to rain. Perfect timing.

Saturday saw me out on the water again. You may recall we joined the Grantham Canal Society at the IWA show. Well those nice people asked if I would like to come and get to know how to operate their trip boat from Woolsthorpe top lock to the winding hole near Denton. Ended up having a wonderful day out in the company of Ralph and Rosemary from GCS with a cheerful family group of sight seers and ended up volunteering for a work party next Thursday. If it’s all as good as this I’m looking forward to being an active member.

Nearly All Over

2011-08-23T22:37:00.000+01:00

Wednesday Morning took our time and had a leisurely breakfast after walking the dogs. Dropped the top and reduced mooring ropes to just a centre line ready to move as soon as somebody came along to share locks with. Several cuppa’s later and past ten o’clock we decided to go it alone as no sign of life yet. Filled the lock which had part emptied overnight, and set off. Lock cycled and bottom gates open but no movement, we’re aground in the lock.

Karen opened a gate paddle which gave me enough water to scrape out of the lock so she could close the gates again.

Sod’s law just as Karen rejoined the boat a BW chap called across to tell us that there is another boat behind which will be here in 5 minutes. Shout back that we will wait for them at the next lock. Asked Karen to stand on the bow to keep a lookout. (Didn’t like to tell her she was also up there as movable ballast). Scraped and bumped along at little more than tickover to Gee’s Lock to wait for our partner. Through Gee’s without incident and the next pound does not seem so bad. Through Blue Bank Lock letting our partner go first as they draw less than us. Odd scrape here and there but not too bad until we reach bridge 103 Soar Valley way. Well stuck, started giving some revs and swinging the stern without much result, then started rocking her side to side. Slowly but surely we start to make progress and we are off. Ten yards later we are stuck again under the bridge, this time we have to take more care owing to all the shopping trolleys. Again the rocking works, wriggling along the bottom and we are off again. As we emerge from the bridge – you guessed it – though this time we are off quite quickly because we’re getting the hang of this slithering lark. Just as we free ourselves for the last time Philip from BW calls to ask if we are OK, apparently our partners are getting worried their schedule may slip as Phil won’t let them lock down without us. Happily I’m able to give Phil an ETA of 5 minutes or so. Do boaters have schedules - we work in days or weeks. Through Kings lock and back into deep water – the last three locks up and down have been quite an education for us.

Easy going from now on. Started having to work the engine harder after Aylestone Lock and suspected something was round the prop. This could be fun the weed hatch has not been opened since the problems before we took delivery. Stopped after the next lock and the weed hatch came out with no problem at all to find my suspicions were correct.

Bits of fertiliser bag, wire and knicker elastic all wrapped round the prop. Managed to cut the wire without dropping the cutters and it was soon cleared off.

Another first, weed hatch used in anger. Never owned a boat with a weed hatch before. It also gave me a chance to give the prop the once over after our excursion but could find no visible damage. The rest is history as they say – made it all the way though Leicester to where we stopped on the first night to give the dogs a good run. We were absolutely shattered, no need for rocking that night.

Thursday back to Pillings in the rain. All being well we will be out again next week for a few days but I think we will go north this time.

Ahhhhhhh this boating lark is sooooo relaxing!.

The Nearly Trip continued.

2011-08-22T22:16:00.000+01:00

Moored up at Kings Lock we find that Leicester has even more parkland nearby in the form of Aylestone Meadows so the dogs get plenty of exercise and from there, you can access the old Great Central railway track bed which is now a cycle route. On the bridge over the canal I paced out the distance and reckon we should just about be able to wind, as there is no way I am reversing all the way to Aylestone Mill.

Joined at the mooring by nb Katelea (I think that was the name) who were waiting for the lock to be opened on the following morning. There being a restriction of 0900-1600 for passage of boats.

Tuesday morning I explained my plan to Philip from BW and he asked the family on Katelea to wait for a partner. After walking the dogs we were starting to get ready to reverse to the railway bridge when two narrow boats came past and asked if I was waiting for the lock. No says I but he is – indicating Katelea. As the second boat passed the fellow on Katelea called he was in the queue for the lock to which the response came ‘We are a pair and we take precedence. We have been paired since March’ and continued into the lock. So much for the fellowship of boaters thinks I. The family on Katelea were not to impressed either.

Anyway I digress – We duly set back to the railway bridge but it ended up like Delaneys Donkey, whichever way we pulled it, pushed it or shoved it we could not get round, we were just getting jammed every time. So back to the lock moorings we go and tell our sorry tale to Philip. The only option I can see is to go through to the winding hole above lock 35 and come back. Time is getting on but with luck we can be back below Kings Lock by 4pm and Philip reckons he can get us through.

Up we go between two pairs coming down, taking it nice and steady trying not to dig the back end in, all spare kit including the gas bottle has been moved to the bow to try and bring the back end up. Never thought I would wish I hadn’t taken so much diesel on. Scraping bottom by bridge 103 but no major problem. Up through Blue Bank Lock and warned of another pair on the way down by the BW man there. Met the other two just past Blue Bank Bridge and moved out of the centre channel. Oops that was a mistake, must have caught a rock or something as the stern kicked up about 9 inches. Good job we had taken that bloody great plate off the bow last month or we would have stuck into the canal bed like a dart. Creeping along and the time is passing, next lock is Gee’s Lock which is in our favour but oh calamity the bottom gate will not close. It stands off about four inches. We must have dragged something in with us. Karen opens one gate and I give the engine some revs to try and clear the obstruction. No good. Open both gates and try again. Still no good. Phone Phil from BW and put him in the picture. A true champion he is on his way with a 20 foot rake but it will take a while to get there. In the meantime we try another course of action and reverse out and then come through again.

Success, the gates close with a satisfying ‘Thunk’ and we can fill the lock. Call Phil back and update him also stating revised plan is now to wind and night stop above lock 35 at Whetstone Lane as we are now coming up to the 4pm deadline.

Made it – winded below bridge 98 and went back to moor on the lock bollards – nobody’s going to pinch our lock.

Spent the night with a bit of a list on as even here we are hard aground.

For what we achieved today it has been hard work.

Hopefully a better day tomorrow.

The Nearly Trip

2011-08-21T20:55:00.000+01:00

Why the nearly trip? Well it nearly didn’t happen, we nearly got to our destination and we nearly didn’t get back.

Down to the boat last Saturday to get it ready for a slow run up to Foxton and Market Harborough. Spent the day cleaning and stocking up, after all it was high time we made some use of her now that we are starting to make progress with some of the major faults. Pootled round to the new self pump out facility in the marina and took a walk over to the office to obtain a token for the machine. Set to work with the pump. There was plenty of chugging and hissing but Trudy appeared to be constipated. Finally the pump stopped with ‘nowt taken out’. Whilst Karen went for another token I wrapped tape around the nozzle to try and improve the suction seal, this had been remarked on our only two previous pump outs. Both times done at manned pumping stations and both reporting difficulty in getting a good suction seal.

Second token inserted and this time with a bit of hopeful gurgling but not a lot else. Panic was starting to set in as a full tank meant no trip. Pressed the pause button on the pump and went below to dismantle the bed to get at the holding tank. With the bed in bits I got Karen to give the pump some welly and as expected the outlet pipe starts wheezing like an old man with bronchitis. All stop. The pipe into the tank is loose – isn’t there anything on this bloody boat that has been fitted properly?

With a tank full of slurry there is no way I can hold the pipe inside to tighten it up, so applying a bit of Ben Harp Narrowboats technology I slap silicone sealant round the fitting and cover it in tape before applying more sealant, real quality work this.

With the pump restarted there is lots of lovely chugging but of course we have used up a lot of time sorting out the problem and the pump stops. Off sprints Karen to get token number three, this time we have it sussed and Trudy is getting a well deserved enema.

This close to our holiday I have no intention of taking the holding tank to bits for a permanent fix so this will have to do for the time being.

Topped up with diesel at the auto pump at the same landing. 60/40 fixed split but I bring my own red for the heating.(when it works)

A chug back to our mooring and Trudy-Ann is all set for the off on the following morning.

Sunday dawns and the dogs know something is happening, straight into the back of the car and refuse to come out while we load the freezer stuff and last minute items.

Off we set in lovely sunny weather as far as the Hope & Anchor pub ready to pass through Leicester on Monday. Moored next to Watermead Country Park which has some fine walks.

Made an early start on Tuesday wanting to get as far south of Leicester as possible in the day. We had a good run but there is so much rubbish in the water around the north side of Leicester in particular.

Belgrave lock weir

Fishing for a bike at Freemans lock

Sox the new pup is getting into the swing of this boating lark and likes to sit up in the wheelhouse and keep a lookout, where as Brock the old boy is happy to sleep below.

Managed to share a few locks on the way through until we were approaching Kings lock when passing boaters warned us of low water levels above the lock. This was confirmed by waterways staff at Kings lock who reckoned that with our draft of 27-28 inches we would have trouble getting through. Decided to night stop here and if the situation had not improved on the following day see if we could wind under the old railway bridge a couple of hundred yards back.

To be continued…..

Cabin lights

2011-08-19T19:51:00.000+01:00

Now that we have the nice new LED lights I figured it was time to start fitting them. Shouldn’t take long methinks? Hadn’t figured on the standard of wiring in this boat.

It’s all right this was done by a professional.

I always thought that the connection away from the source of power should be male and from the live side an insulated female and no bare wire should be visible. I am not surprised every joint has several layers of insulation tape. I prefer shrink wrap myself but only to stop the join pulling apart.

If I am wrong please correct me.

Danger armature at work

Beginning to think Ben did Tom a favour when he ripped the wiring out of Waiouru. I shall feel safer when all the wiring in this boat has been checked.

Greaser

2011-08-18T18:09:00.000+01:00

The pickling continues apace.

In the meantime, got fed up of having to delve under the deck boards to operate the greaser.

Greaser now repositioned in one of the side lockers for ease of access. Hopefully this will also give me room to mount a fuel filter for the heating system. No there isn’t one.

Short post but busy, busy, busy.

Sink drain

2011-08-13T20:38:00.000+01:00

Once all the work under the sink had been completed it was time to connect the drain to the fancy sump I had brought.

Planned location in the engine bay next to the calorifier. Just a case of watch your step as for some reason the main battery cables from the engine run over the bearer here. On the other side they run through.

Managed to squeeze it into the corner as planned, connected it up to the bilge trip and everything works fine. Its rusty down here because there is a slight leak from what I think may be a pressure relief valve. I'm wondering if it will stop when I add a header tank that is pressurised. Having down loaded the Hurricane heating manual from the internet all systems seem to show a header tank "with pressure cap no more than 7 psi" All w have at present is an unsealed box. Also the manual states the pump must be lower than the boiler and that the left side is to be accessible for maintenance. Oh dear here we go again

Domestic water pump

2011-08-08T22:00:00.000+01:00

Popped down to Screwfix to get some flexible pipes to remount the water pump under the sink. (How can you remount something that hadn’t been mounted in the first place)

Well I got my pipes but they also had this on offer.

How could I possibly refuse. No home should be without one, but that said it was back down to the boat to take the water pump out.

Problem – Look back at the first picture and you will see it is fed by two live wires!!!! Derr that not right. Out comes the fridge next door and look what I find.

What’s the point of colour coding cables if you are just going to do this. Might have just as well got a job lot of one colour. So instead of refitting pump the wiring behind the fridge got rehashed.

Back to the water pump. I am definitely not impressed by the standard of jointing.

Flexible hoses fitted and pump screwed to back of cupboard. Also found out why there had been a tendency for leaks, one of the brass adapters in the original set up had been fitted without an ‘O’ ring.

The extra black pipe is the new drain to the sump to be fitted in the engine bay.

While the water was off I added a water filter to the cold tap. Another item asked for but not supplied.

A few more cockup’s sorted but plenty more to go.

Battery switches

2011-08-05T17:05:00.000+01:00

The week started more slowly than planned with us still being involved in harvesting as much as possible. Latest experiment is plums pickled in brandy.

Looks like it’s going to be a boozy Christmas this year.

Ordered a deluxe control panel from Beta with a longer wiring loom. Had asked BH to fit full instrumentation in the first place but I must presume that would have been too complicated. The wiring loom at present is too short, not allowing the instrument panel to be lifted without pulling terminals off, as listed in the surveyors report.

Finally got down to the boat on Wednesday. Disconnected shore supply and all batteries in order to carry out full battery test on the following day. Also with batteries disconnected I wanted to move the battery switches off the inverter cupboard door to prevent damage to the battery cables and terminals, again as listed in the surveyors report.

As you can see half the trip switches are guesswork. A new larger trip panel will be fitted when I get round to building the new control desk. According to Benjamin the wonderful, the trip panel was to be fitted by the entrance to the main cabin, but no, as with so many other things it was changed without consultation, so now deck boards have to be lifted to see if everything is on.

When disconnecting the engine battery I found that the earth terminal for the Hurricane heater had just been pushed between the cable terminals.

A quick delve into the box of bits and said cable was fitted with a suitable terminal crimp, shrink wrapped and bolted on as it should be.

Switches repositioned on the side of the cupboard but still in plain view with labels this time to show which is which.

They may be minor items but it sums up the sloppy fit out.

It’s the fine detail that separate the gentleman from the bounder.

Insurance pays up/ IWA festival

2011-07-29T21:24:00.000+01:00

Good old Direct Line. Got a phone call from DL on Tuesday stating that they were sending me a new i-pod, a voucher to buy a new camera and a cheque to replace the phone. All of which were taken from me by Mr. Harp and one of his cronies just ten days ago.(They must have really been worried that I may have photographed what they were up to). I never thought an insurance company would act this fast. Sure enough they all arrived on Friday morning.

In the meantime been carrying on with the harvest, 6 kilo of plums are in the process of becoming 3 gallons of wine and I’m eyeing some 20 litre barrels to make cider and perry. Already got 2 freezers but I think we may need another.

Off to the IWA festival at Burton at lunch time today and was a little surprised to find them still building the car park. The site was well laid out and plenty going on, would have liked to see it over the week-end when its in full swing but got to go and spend insurance company pennies and a planned visit to friends. Placed an order for 20 LED lamps to replace the power hungry halogens in the ceiling with a few more to be used for access points etc. Also brought some LCD gauges for the fuel tanks and water tank. In a moment of bravado signed up with the Grantham Canal Society and put our names down as volunteers – only Karen doesn’t know that bit yet. Oops!

Down working on the boat most of next week so expect more gruesome tales.

Missing 1 plot

2011-07-26T10:31:00.000+01:00

After providing increasing amounts of shoddy workmanship Ben Harp has well and truly lost the plot. Finally resorting to what can only be described as criminal acts. It may be his name at the top of the list but others in his circle know what has been going on and actively assisting him. For my part Staffordshire police are dealing, as for the rest of it, it is not my tale to tell, just click in the link for nb Waiouru on the right if you haven't heard yet.

Other jobs

2011-07-25T19:46:00.000+01:00

Well now we are off the slipway that brings us up to date. The only boat work going on at the moment is to assemble the new door bottoms.

This.

Now looks like this.

The panels were varnished before assembly as I prefer them to be able to float in the frame as the wood swells. Used the old favourite Evo-stick weatherproof wood glue, no screws in the framework except to hold the top ledge in place against a dowel joint, as this will take the weight of the door top

I’ve made this type of door before in pine and the design seems to hold together OK even after several years use.

Whilst sorting out paintbrushes for the doors I found we had an unexpected lodger.

Shame Mrs Mouse couldn’t have used an old roller, but that’s never the way is it. Hey ho life in the country.

The new pup Sox managed to catch a swift as it came out of the garage roof – talk about fast. Fortunately Karen spotted him and after some shouting the swift made a swift getaway. (Sorry)

Most of the time over the last few days has been getting in the harvest. There seems to be plenty of everything this year especially fruit which is already starting to ripen.

Spent this afternoon getting shallots cleaned and salted ready for pickling, the freezer will hold a fair bit, but if anyone has any good recipes for pies or preserves let me know. Take your pick from apples, pears, quince, mulberries, blackberries, gooseberries and tayberries.

Slipway day 2

2011-07-23T18:41:00.000+01:00

Made an early start to get as much done as possible, just as well because we ended up with more painting than planned. Whilst I fitted the new baffle plate to the rudder post to stop our water problems, Karen stripped the masking tape off the rubbing strake (which we used to save the cream paintwork from blacking) only most of the paint came with it. The undercoat was fine but it hadn’t been cleaned down properly in the paint shop, this is happening in several places. I expect it’ll be from those weeks spent under the trees at Great Haywood. Anyway back to the baffle plate, I just hope I got it right because I don’t fancy swimming.

The theory is it slides together and is then clamped in place.

Another of the items raised by the surveyor was that there was no hull identification number on the right aft of the hull. So armed with a nice new set of 12mm stamps and the biggest lump hammer I could buy I proceeded to wake the marina up.

Not content with that the number got stamped in a few other obscure places as well.

For the last few months we have had to leave the mop bucket on the top step into the main cabin.

The deck had a drain fitted but rather that connect it to the outside our wonderful builder decided to plug it with sealant.

Think we need some paint under here. Drain at the top inverter to the left, And this is what came out.

New hole and skin fitting connected to drain and we are dry at last

Slipped Trudy-Ann back into the water on the Monday morning and a few thrashes with the prop back to our mooring seem to prove the baffle works. Fingers crossed for the future.

Out of the water - Day 1

2011-07-22T10:47:00.000+01:00

In June we booked a week-end slot on the slipway at Pillings to sort out some of the problems and give the hull a coat of black.

While the hull was being jet washed by Claire I set to work with the disc cutter.

Yep this steel plate welded onto the bow to move the boat in the yard and secure to the low loader had not been removed before launch. Good job we had not hit anybody or we would have sunk them.

Once the hull had dried a quick coat of black to pretty her up. The coating was fine in general just a plenty of scuffs. I suspect a lot of them were made during the move to the paint shop at Stafford where it was stated. “This hydraulic steering is rubbish, when you turn the wheel to the right the boat goes left.” On suggesting the hoses should be swapped over I was asked if that would make a difference. Surprise, surprise it did, apparently the journey back was a lot easier.

There we go and now at long last the fender which was promised so long ago has been fitted to the front. Another job on the agenda was to blank off the sink drain.

This was too close to the waterline for my liking and the surveyor had stated anything this low should be fitted with a ball valve. On removal I also found it was only finger tight and letting in water. My solution is to reposition the outlet to just under the main rubbing strake and use a sump pump to clear the water.

I got this one from Shobnall chandlers, a bit pricey for what it is but it suited my needs exactly.

Made a blank in 6mm steel that fitted from behind to fill the hole and Steve from Plillings did a quality weld for me which he ground back so that now it has been blacked there is no trace.

More to come, but got to dive off now, seems to be nothing but parties and outings this week. What an exciting life us penioners lead.

Wheelhouse woodwork

2011-07-19T20:55:00.000+01:00

You my well remember the wheelhouse decking warped and lifting due to all the water coming in under and around the doors. Well I decided to replace this as it was a pain in the bum to have to keep watching your step, even though the leaks had not been fixed.

When the water damaged panelling was removed from round the doors you can see daylight between frame and woodwork, even after fitting some new screws as some self drilling screws in the steelwork were lose or had thread stripped.

It was all replaced by these panels with oak top and ply base rather than battens with 4mm flexible sealant strips to allow for expansion then edged in aluminium angle to stop splintering when lifting.

The whole lot was given six coats of varnish top and bottom. Wickes professional exterior in the absence of yacht varnish but it builds up much the same.

The side lockers had lift off tops which were a bit of a pain so cut the back off and fixed it to the side

Then fixed the rest of the top back using piano hinges as you can see in thedecking shot.

Doing that I also replaced these screws with machine screws. There seems to have been a shortage of short screws as things like this are found throughout.

News of all sorts

2011-07-18T18:36:00.001+01:00

Bad News.

Firstly I got robbed last Saturday by a couple of thugs in Hixon near Great Haywood. Lots of threats, cursing and insults but then I’ve been insulted by experts when working on stations. They got away with my camera, i-pod and phone with lots more threats of what would happen if I called the police.

Staffs. Police soon arrived after I got to a phone and duly gave a statement over a coffee at the nick. Done plenty of them over the years but normally about dead people.

Good News

I find I’m insured new for old so it looks like they did me a favour. So as it is possible one of them reads this blog or has it read to him. Thanks!

Sad News

We lost Myaa our chief lookout just before Christmas

Shortly after her partner in crime was diagnosed with a terminal illness

Brilliant News

Nobody told Brock - and he made a wonderful recovery.

So much so that we had to get him a new playmate.

This little terror GSD x Husky called Sox from UK German Shepherd Rescue.

A slight divergence today but plenty of boat blogging in the near future. Nearly back up to date.

Water water everywhere

2011-07-13T21:25:00.002+01:00

The question has been asked “Why is there so much rust in the picture at the top of the blog”

Here it is again as this entry will move down and I will probably change the picture in due course.

Well there are a lot of reasons really. It was first reported by Ben when he came back from the paint shop that there was water coming up past the rudder post when under way and that the void between the tanks behind the weed hatch was full of water. He demanded that I get Bluewater to come and sort it out. Thought it was his problem at this stage but no it was up to me. After a bit of persuasion Dave from Bluewater agreed to come down to Great Haywood to investigate and sort it out. When I let Kelly know what had been arranged Ben refused Bluewater access to his site but insisted that it was not his problem to sort out. Bit pointless telling me to get Bluewater involved really. Ended with me trying to sort the problem myself. When I finally got the weed hatch out I guessed the water had been getting in here – not having seen the boat underway – there was a bit of weld spatter and no seal. Cleaned it all down and fitted sealing strip. There was no telling how much of the water had gotten in earlier in the construction when the wheelhouse was open and the hole behind the gas locker for the emergency steering had been open since the build started

Ben seemed to have no immediate plan to cap this hole so I picked up a 2” BSP male cap from the local plumbers merchant which screwed in perfectly.

We were stuck with this problem until we got back to our mooring at Pillings Lock and now you can appreciate the importance for getting the bilge pump sorted before we set out from Great Haywood.

Back at Pillings I cut a 2” hole in the plate behind the weed hatch to siphon out any water.

You can just see it here, and I raised the rudder bearing enough to fit this contraption to the post and refit the bearing.

A bit Heath Robinson but it worked which would hold things until the boat was slipped. Lots of rust simply because water has been sloshing around in there for far too long. Once I am sure no more water is coming in and it is perfectly dry the void will be Waxoyled and the visible surfaces rubbed down and painted. A lengthy story but I hope it answers the question.

Ben always stated all the problems were of Bluewaters making even to making a comment on his web site. Bluewater haven't done this or should have done that but in the begining when the hull was being built I was being asked by David at Bluewater to make decisions because Ben could not be contacted or had not replied so it really would be interesting to hear Bluewaters side in the latter stages as I did not get involved, nor was I interested in the details of the contract between the two companies. My contract was with Ben Harp Narrow Boats

Skylight

2011-07-12T21:08:00.001+01:00

Decided to remove the skylight to use it as a pattern for a new one. Only problem was that it started to fall to peices as we carried it back to the car. Hole covered by a temporary ply lid clamped from the inside and sheeted over again

Because of all the leaks before we sheeted the skylight, the oak flooring in the main cabin had warped quite badly, but even after drying out and the use of a dehumidifier the flooring is still out of shape. Plenty of tripping hazards down here.

When the skylight was completely dismantled it was found that the corners of the shuts were only held together by one Kreg pocket screw. The rebate is to hold the acrylic but he sapele cap just fell off because there were only a few screws holding it down by just 6mm thread. Discolouration indicates water was getting under here.

No provision has been made for the replacement of the acrylic which may occour from time to time without completely dismantling the framework. The wheelhouse has the same fault in that it is constructed in the same maner as the kitchen units so the only way to replace the glass is to dismantle the framework. Another job for the list.

At least I while down at the boat I got one of those niggling little jobs out the way. The cupboard door in the kitchen next to the hull opened to the left which made it awkward ot get anything out.

Just added a battern to the right hand side for the hinges and turned the door upside down and repositioned the handle.

Much easier to get anything out. Next job added to the list is to move the gas feed to the cooker which runs across the bottom half way down this cupboard. Push back too hard and you risk damaging the gas pipe.

Brilliant innit!

Retirement

2011-07-10T15:17:00.000+01:00

Retirement had been planned for October 10th but I was persuaded to stop on another 2 weeks. Pity really as I had liked the idea of 10/10/10 as my retiremet date.
The following Friday it was a party at the Brunswick in Derby where I was given a right royal send off. Freinds from all departments and areas of the railway were there. So good to see so many familliar faces, the only problem being that so many people turned up it was a case of just time for a few quick words before the next arrival and by the end of the evening the room was bursting at the seams. I only hope I didn't miss anybody, and if I did I'm truly sorry. At the end of the night Karen and I staggered back to the hotel laden with bags of gifts, flowers and cards. ( Had the sense to ralise I would be in no fit state to drive home.) Thanks everbody it was a memorable evening, it's just a shame it couldn't go on for another two days so I could give everybody th attention they deserved.
One of the presents was a fat envelope which enabled me to buy this super swedish workbench with all bells an whistles. This is going to be a great help when it comes to rebuilding the wheelhouse and skylight.

First job on this is to replace the warped wheelhouse doors

This time they will be built with proper joints and single piece panels but that's work in progress and this tale hasn't got that far yet.

Over Christmas and the new year retirement plans kicked into life which had not allowed for having to refit a new boat, so tt was effectively put on hold for a while.

Decorate the lounge, new central heating boiler, fine, shower cubicle in the bathroom not so good. It's a very old house and the original horse hair plaster came off with the old tiles. So it was a case of bathroom back to bare brick and start fom scratch. Hey ho.

Rang work and asked to come back for a rest! Who said I would be bored?

Cabin hatch

2011-07-08T19:41:00.000+01:00

During the summer the hatch down to the cabin split, nice and cleanly as you can see. That is because it split on a joint,(if you can call a glued butt joint a joint) Thats what I call quality woodwork. Should have used that glue they claim to be stronger tan the wood itself.

My solution is seemples as they say in Meerkovo. Pop in some biscuits - making sure they are ginger nuts, as digestives are a bit too soft. Not too technical are we Ben?

A couple of battens for strength, screwed and glued. Yep I can do concealed screws too.

Add a hande on top to aid placement and removal.

Then add a large baulk of timber to the underside wih a Chubb security lock built into it to stop the doors being kicked in rather thab a flimsy hasp. Note the escutcheon plate - gosh I whish we could have had some fitted to the wheelhouse doors.

Just to finish off an escutcheon plate from a Chubb safe. The only problem so far is having to grind back the key top because the lock is buried so deep in the woowork.

Proper job. Pity you can stll see the screwholes from the origial staple -another little task for the future. Hopefuly when we are moored up for the evening after a days cruising. I can dream too you know.

The wiring

2011-07-07T20:36:00.000+01:00

When I left school I joined the post office as trainee telphone engineer and served a three year apprenticeship dealing with things electrical. I have since forgotten most of what I learnt but the lesson of tidy wiring and tight terminals with no bare wire has always stuck with me. So the cats cradle of wires and the apparently live wire running to the negative bus bar had got to get sorted. Presumably Ben thinks a bit of blue tape makes everything right.

As mentioned prevoiusly all the wiring through bulkheads was unprotected. I thought finding grommets to fit the size of hole and thickness of steel was going to be a bit of a problem but no, Grommets Ltd Henfield ( http://grommets.co.uk/ )came to the rescue and I ordered a job lot of varoius sizes in rubber. Other options would probably have been cheeper but I know super glue will stick rubber.

Every hole I could find was fitted with a grommet which was cut inserted and superglued back togeather. Wouldn't it have been easier to fit them before the wiring?

Another little item of note was that the inverter main fuse holder went up in smoke when Karen was using her hair dryer on the journey home. A terminal had worked loose either because it had ot been tightened down properly or, as I suspect, it had vibrated lose because no lock washer had been fitted.

Can't imagine why the link to this blog was knocked off the Ben Harp Narrowboats web site.

Work starts

2011-07-06T20:03:00.005+01:00

After the surveyors report Karen was so disgusted on her next day off she went down to the marina and rubbed the gas locker down and painted out the Ben Harp Narrowboats logo. She told me what she had done when I got back from work and I had to agree it was abrilliant idea. Why should we provide free advertising for shoddy work. The signwriting had rankled ever since we saw it. The stern had the name and mooring on the back O.K but the registration numbers had been missed off the wheelhouse and the name off the bow. When asked obout it the response was that he (Andy) had forgotten to do it, strange how he didn't forget the logo.
Knowing now what sort of person we were dealing with I would love to hear Andy's side of the story, likewise Bluewater and the firm that was going to make the wheelhouse cover.
First job on my list was to get those fuel tank breathers sorted. I certainly didn't help matters that the tanks now had fuel in them, good job it was deisel. I managed to get a taper and second 3/4 BSP taps of the internet and reamed out the holes very gently with plenty of grease, firstly to prevent sparks and secondly to try and stop the swarf falling into the tank. Took time as the steel is at least 6mm on the tanks but it's done now with brass fittings screwed firmly in place.
If I can do it why couldn't a so called boat builder do it before the boat was fuelled. How can anybody be so free and lose when it concers safety?

Yes it's a prop shaft, so what. But its straight -- Raised the engine with an old car jack and inserted some lengths of mahogany capped with 50x3mm strip steel to take the engine bearers. Total lift about 22mm, you can just see the end of one on top of the engine bearer.

New arched roof bearers made with stainless clamps and dowels to replace the flat roof.
Not a lot of work being carried out before October as I still have to go to work.
Aaaah.

Tales of duplication

2011-07-03T19:34:00.004+01:00

The TV

When the build started and all seemed well Ben said get the telly you want and let me know how big it is so I can build the unit to match, but don't get one that's too big. A very reasonable request, so we duly trooped out and brought a nice little Sony Bravia 23", the base of which was part of the case so it seemed very stable - ideal for a boat. Gave Ben the dimensions which were fine. On a later visit we were shown the cabinet Ben had built which was very pretty but had doors on the front and not really suitable to mount the TV.
The new plan was to mount the TV on the wall above the cabinet, only the TV we had purchased was now too big. Off we trot again to get a new smaller TV with a bracket to make sure they match up and present Ben with the bracket so he knows exactly the position of the screw holes and a digram of its position on the back of the TV so shelves can be built round it. Well the shelves never appeared, the bracket is still in its box on the boat and the TV is still boxed behind me as I type.

What of the original TV I hear you ask.
Well that got incorporated into a set of wardrobes I built into our bedroom
Ta Daaa

The bilge pump.

The bulge pump got sorted before the survey as it seemed prudent to get things right in view of the problems we were having with water ingress. The fault was that the pump ran continually unless stopped on the trip switch in the engine bay which was a bit of a pain to say the least.

Ben told me that the supplier had not supplied him with an automatic pump as he had ordered (Its never Bens fault) and that it would be sorted before we took delivery. I'm sure people will be astounded to find that nothing happened.

Down to the chandlers to get an automatic bilge pump - 500 gph should be enough and and an override switch to save diving down into the engine bay if there is still a problem. Back to the boat to get some work done. Old pump removed and new one wired in with override switch. On examining the pump I had taken out I find a float chamber but the wire from it has been teed into the direct feed, effectively shorting it out. What a numpty.

At least I now have a perfectly good spare bilge pump and no boat should be without that, should it.

The Survey

2011-07-01T19:25:00.003+01:00

Well we decided that we needed to ge a profesional marine engineer involved to see if our concerns were justified and opted for Bill Rosie from Chesterfield, as far as we knew he had had no dealings with us or the Harps and could be considered impartial. He ageed to carry out a survey so we advised the Harps of same and asked them to let us know if they had any objection to our choice of engineer. Gave BH three weeks with no response so gave Bill the go ahead.

On the 18th of May Mr Rosie arrived at the mooring as arranged and was noting problems before he even came aboard. Namely the wheehouse roof being flat would not shed any water. (This was quite true but only being plastic it had streatched and is still holding water despite installing curved roof bars.)Here are some more of the problems highighted in his report
Leaking skylight

Steering mounted on a plywood board glued to the top of the fuel tanks

Prop shaft out of alignment
Water coming up round rudder post

Fuel tank breather (Which I had taken the trouble to extend)

The fitting just pulled out of the tank because it had been stuck in with mastic instead of being threaded.
The battery compartment. Isolaton switches mounted on doors putting strain on battery leads

Control desk. No slack in wiring to allow access and uninsulated terminals causing short risk. Bill did identify the lose wires to get the bow thruster working again.

Along with this Mr. Rosie identified that all wiring being run through bulkheads were not protected from metal edges by grommets, the hot water tank was free to move about, the 'U' bent to stop water getting into the exhaust was the wrong way up, deck drain over battery compartment bunged with mastic rather than connected to hull outlet, no Hull Identification Number stamped on rear of hull and a host of other minor and not so minor faults.

His finding was that the fit out was generaly to a poor standard.

We sent a copy of the report to BH but once again no reply and as was realised in later deslings the Harps choose to ignore everything in the hope it will go away.

Since the report we have also found that 10 inches of steel plate welded to the bow to transport the hull was still in place, the anchor winch was wired up in reverse so down was up etc., the central heating boiler has been mounted between the engine bearers so it cannot be accessed

for maintenance, water comes in at the galley sink outlet as it is on the waterline and loose, and paint is flaking off in places due to the primer not being cleaned properly before the top coat has been applied.

I think that brings us up to date with the failings. The next thrilling installments will cover the rebuild (If you can have one with a new boat) hopefully with a few before and after pics.

A Continuation

2011-06-29T22:06:00.003+01:00

Sorry for the absence but there seemed little point in continuing this blog as it was rapidly heading into negative territory. At last there seems to be light at the end of the tunnel I think it only fitting I restart telling my tale of woe and ho we are overcoming the problems left by our builder Ben Harp.
We left the story with us moving into Great Haywood marina at our own expense after being ordered off the Harps mooring owing to the fact that we had not been provided with a servicable craft until after the blockage at bridge 20 at Stenson had started.
During the time at the marina I went round to see Mr. Harp to see about getting the remainder of the work carried out, Despite promises on the first visit nothing happened and the second visit I got the order to fornicate elsewhere in his best anglo saxon. At least we now had it confirmed that we could not expect the contracted work to be carried out.

First job on the adjenda was to sheet down the leaky skylight and fit weather boards to the wheelhouse doors to try and stem the ingress of water which was already ruining the flooring. Ontop of that it was just a quick trim with a jig saw and router to get the control desk away from the wheel. The most seroius job was to extend the fuel tank breathers which were venting into the engine compartment.

Thats the right hand and there is the same on the left, both were extended to the outside of the wheelhouse. Even so the fact that the fittings into the tank could be rocked concerned me. That done hanging rail installed in the wardrobe and mirrors fitted into the bathroom cabinet for comfort. ( Yep he hadn't even done that - if you look at the pictures of Trudy Ann on the Ben Harp web site you will see pictures of the sink but not the cabinet over it because he never finished it!!!) Oops geting negative again.

Anyway once the waterway was open again we had a very pleasent cruse back to Pillings marina. This turned out to be a bit of a shake down cruise because a few things shook off. The bow thruster worked when it felt like it, water came up past the rudder post, catches fell off cupboard doors and the batroom sink lifted up when you operated the plug.

That brings us up to the end of April 2010 and back at our home mooring with the resolve to get a profesional examination of the boat for our own peace of mind.

That'll do for now - plenty to catch up yet.

Christmas & New Year 2009/2010

2010-11-13T16:42:00.003Z

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.

Tixall November 2009

2010-11-02T22:13:00.006Z

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.

Update ( Second attempt to get home)

2010-10-24T21:48:00.003+01:00

Looking at the blog I see it's a year since my last entry. Things have moved on over the last twelve months but not by much. I stopped recording progress as there was nothing positive to report.
Went to collect Trudy Ann in te first week in November but on the Monday there was an electrical fault.

Went back on the Tueasday and were given the all clear except for a temperature sensor fault which Beta were coming to sort out on the Wednesday and any snagging work would be done at our home mooring. So in good faith we made the final payment and in preparation we went down to Gt. Haywood Jn. to tank with water and fuel for the central heating. Just as we winded at the waterpoint the engine boiled up. Shut the engine down and thankfully a lady on the towpath took the bowline and with the help of Anglo-Welsh staff pulled us into the bank. Spent a very cold night just off the waterpoint as the batteries failed early on, being still flat from the previous electrical fault. No water, no light, no toilet and no heating because we couldn't run the engine for charging for fear of causing damage. When Chris from Beta arrived on the Wednesday it didn't take him long to point out that the engine cooling system was connected up in reverse and a few other items. Ben couldn't get the correct hose until the following day and we pointed out that it would be too late to set off on the Thursday and get back to our home moorings before we had to get back to work. It was decided to leave the collection for another day which would give time for the snagging work to be completed - leaking skylight, fuel tank breathers, sticking doors, steering wheel binding on control desk and lots of stuff that had been promised to be sorted as well as items yet to be fitted such as tunnel lamp.

A bit closer

2009-10-18T20:17:00.000+01:00

Had a phone call from Dave from Bluewater on Thursday to say that he was not happy with my last blog entry but none the less he would come down and sort out the weed hatch. Unfortunately on Friday I learned that Ben was not prepared to allow any Bluewater staff onto his worksite.
Hey ho, the fabled ouzlum bird and ever decreasing circles comes to mind.
I haven't spent the last 30 years sorting out all sorts of problems and mishaps to let a minor hiccough like this put me off my stride. So down to the boat on Saturday armed with plenty of files. Got the weed hatch open and wedged it half way up, and spent the next hour and a half working away at the opening on each side working round the hatch best I could. In all, I probably only removed about 1mm of metal but it was enough to persuade the baffle plate through and another 5 minutes with a large flat file just to clean things up had the hatch dropping through cleanly. A layer of paint where I'd been working and some nice new sealing tape to replace the temporary gasket from the last time. Sorted, but working at some funny angles was I glad of a good hot bath when we got home.
Karen and mum Kath were busy cleaning and polishing and generally looking in all the nooks and crannies for the last vestiges of sawdust. Kath has decided the boat is the wrong colour - cos it'll show all the muck - bit late now!
Tried to run the engine to charge the batteries but faced with constant alarm. Ben disapeared into the engine bay to check the electrics and stated domestic batteries not charging, probably belt off. Engine covers opened but belt in place and eveything rotating as it should. Looks like the alternator has failed. Ben will check it out thoroughly and if necessary get Beta to come out next week. He, Mike and a couple of other lads were busy lining out Humdinger while we were there trying to make up for lost time. It looks absolutely huge inside.

Visitors and Problems

2009-10-11T09:43:00.000+01:00

Down to the boat again on Friday and Saturday just moving bits in and tidying up - you know, all those little bits that make a place feel like home. Even had our first visitors come calling who invited themseves round for tea. Poor photo but they wouldn't stay still.

At last a picture of the sign writing, we have a name at last. Didn't have a chance to talk to Andy as he was painting this, other than say hello. He was perched on a plank between boat and jetty working away and it seemed prudent not to disturb him.

Ben has sorted the stiff steering found last Sunday and the wheel is much more comfortable.

Karen busied herself cleaning the roof down muttering about the amount of leaves from the trees. Thought better of mentioning that it happens quite a bit this time of year.

But she's also been busy in side and things are starting to look very homely and I think this is going to be a very cosy home from home.

As for me - I tested the chairs

Now we come to the problem. Ben spotted water apparently coming from the rudder bearing when the boat was being moved under its own power but on closer inspection this it was probably coming from the weed hatch as there was no seal and running past the rudder to disapear into a void at the stern. That in itself can soon be remedied but this has brought further problems to light.

Firstly there is no easy access to the void where the water was running. Ben has removed what he can by usung a wet/dry vacuum hose pushed into the hole but owing to the shape of the stern the water probably runs forward collects behind the weed hatch.

Secondly the weed hatch will not come out. The baffle plate is wider than the access hole lip. Presumably the weed hatch was constructed so that the baffle plate had to be presented with a sideways angle to the hole to pass through but now that there is a fuel tank either side of the catch this cannot be done and rotating forwards or backwards makes no diference.

A few e-mails to Sharon at Bluewater where the hull was built has just returned some ineffective advice and silence. The impression I am getting is almost like dealing with one of those firms that get reported on BBC's Watchdog - I most certainly hope I'm wrong.

Open day

2009-10-06T09:37:00.000+01:00

Been down to the boat a few times recently but not done any blogging so I'd better put that right. The builds coming along nicely and all those little finishing touches are coming into place but either forgot to take photo's or forgot to take the camera.

Last visit was on Sunday to see Ben's open day and by all accounts it has been a success with people coming from all over, and while we were there it was an almost continual stream of visitors. Met up with Kev and Ann off 4Evermoore and their staffie, feels like we've known them for ages. Kelly was there with her folks and loads of other boat minded people and we had a thoroughly enjoyable afternoon. Best was yet to come. At the end of the show Ben asked us to take her back to the mooring - What just us? That was it, drop the top and let's go.

The maiden voyage - up to Haywood Junction - wind and back to the mooring, at least a quarter of a mile. Think I need power steering as I found the wheel very heavy to turn so that's a job for the snagging list. Even so I can't blame it for my rubbish driving, if we had left a wake it would have resembled a snake track! Kelly was up on the road bridge by the junction taking plenty of photographs- there was plenty of opportunity with my five point turn and everywhere at tickover.

Stayed behind to get the chairs on board, the mattress is already in, brought it over on Friday lashed to the top of the motor. Everythings easy, just remove the skylight and drop it through no hastle whatsoever.

Think I should have left the dust cover off for the pic.

One last cuppa at the end of the day.

A few problems and we have put back the trip to Pillings to November now to allow for some bits to be sorted, not all of Bens I hasten to add.

I see we now have a fifth follower - Welcome.

Picture update

2009-09-06T21:22:00.000+01:00

Just got these photo's that Ben took today. I couldn't get a decent shot so Kelly has forwarded a couple which I just had to post. I'm sure you'll agree she's starting to look the bees knees now.

A battleship no longer

2009-09-05T17:48:00.000+01:00

Not many photo's this time. Couldn't get far enough back in the paintshop to do her justice. Wheelhouse and skylight have been removed for painting and almost everything is still covered in masking paper. The windows are on site ready to go in and the solid oak flooring has been fitted throughout. The floor has been given a couple of coats of danish oil which has brought the grain out a treat and all the interior has been varnished but with the masking in place it was too dark to photograph.

Sharp end which just needs the winch to be fitted winch to be fitted.

Middle bit with windows going in this afternoon.

Blunt end with wheelhouse to refit.

Think it's a real smart spray job? Think again, Ben and Mike have painted this all by hand and I've yet to find a blemish. I bet we've all seen the boats presented at shows with droopy runs down the side so it's good to see pride being taken in workmanship. Once Andy's signwrighting goes on that'll be about it.

Just a few final jobs and the soft furnishings. Ben's just presented us with the key to the wheelhouse doors.

Not long now. Got to go to work next week but the week after we hope to be taking some of the bits down to the boat to load up, and with luck we can clear enough room around the house to be able to have freinds over to stay again.

Leaps forward

2009-08-21T19:28:00.000+01:00

Lots of things have changed since our last visit, especially in the case of Karen, who hasn't been able to get down to the boat for over a month, this is the first time she has seen it with the wheelhouse on and loves it. The first thing to be seen is the new wheelhouse floor, rear cabin doors and steps down into the galley. Lots of little things are coming togeather such as the mushroom vents on the roof.

Most of the work has been out of sight, the engine is now up and running, Hurricane central heating boiler installed, calorifier in, inlets/outlets for water and black water. All that gives the game away for all this work a a string of chrome 'holes' appering around the hull.

On top of all that the batteries are in and the fridge/freezer is in and working. Whew!

With all this extra loading she is now sitting lower in the water and as steady as a rock. Checked the bilge at the engine which is still as dry as a bone, so she hasn't sunk and is not sitting on the bottom, though she must be drawing about 2' 4" at the stern. We want about 2' 6" to bring the air draft down to 5' 10" so once the gas bottles are on and the tanks full of fuel I don't think we will be far off.

It's not just happening down on the boat either.The anchor and chain has arrived and so have the recliner chairs for the lounge. Can't get into the middle shed for boxes of stuff and the back bedroom is full of bedding and electrical stuff. Think we must have two of everything.
Popped up to Mexborough to take the template for the matress to the Edwardian Bedding Co. - sould be delivered next week.

Did I once say it was like waiting for Christmas? -- Nope it's not a patch on this.

God news - bad news

2009-08-12T19:52:00.000+01:00

Sky light has joined the wheelhouse on top of the boat and is looking good.

You can see the ash lining better now that it is in place and there's plenty of glass area to let the light in ad both sides are hinged for ventilation. If it gets too hot then the whole top will be removable but the main reason is so that we can get larger furniture in without having to struggle though the wheelhouse. Before anybody asks - won't it be cold in winter? - the plan is to have a cover that will match the wheelhouse top. The crossways stay is just for lining things up during construction.

Boy does it make the whole lounge area light and airy. The bits lying around are the engine covers.

Yep the engines in with the hospital silencer on the swim to the right. It all looks a bit blue because of the blue tarpaulin over the wheelhouse and to be honest I just haven't had the time to do any colour correction in Photoshop but there will be plenty of opportunity for engine bay shots in the future. Main thing is that the bilge is as dry as a bone.

Been shopping during the week and bought a pair of recliner chairs for the lounge and an alloy anchor which I have had to shorten slightly as it was too long for the hawse hole. Everythings coming along fine. No major changes this visit but lots of little tweaks and jobs a bit further down the line. Karen was working again so it was a case of plenty of snaps to keep her updated.

The bad news - well work is slipping behind schedule, but the big problen is Ben can't get the boat in the paint shop until the last week of August which may mean a completion date towards the middle of September. Now it's a mad dash to rearrange time off work and it looks like we may have to have a split holliday. Ah well hopefully it won't be too long before I start my big holliday and all being well Karen shorly after.

Wheelhouse takes shape

2009-07-29T13:13:00.000+01:00

Haven't been able to get down to the boat for over two weeks due to that thing called work getting in the way, but Ben and Mike have been beavering away. The wheelhouse frames have been completed in sapele. Ben popped the parts into position so I could see how they would all fit into place and he was able to show the side hinges in operation. As you can see they lie tight into the side as planned. Boy oh boy am I chuffed to bits, there had been quite a lot of concern at the beginning that my bright idea would not work and I think even Ben had a few reservations before the hinges were in place. Thankfuly he had enough faith in me to carry on with the plan .
And now see how she looks with all the pieces clamped into place, Ben has hinged the top of the door so it folds outwards to collapse. This means that there is nothing to remove apart from the cover so no frantic stowing of loose bits if the top needs to come down.

I had intended to make a template for the mattress to take to the bedding company but the bedroom was full of dog box. This is also being made in sapele but is being lined with ash to match the saloon interior.

The sink is now in place and the hob is waiting to be fitted and it looks like all cupboard doors and hatch linings have been completed. Windows will not be fitted until the hull is painted which will be in about three weeks time.

When I left yesterday the lads were preparing to varnish the wheelhouse woodwork, with the boat being moved down to Anglo Welsh yard to have the engine fitted today. Completion planned for the end of August is looking good. Only 5 weeks to go.

Fortnightly Fix

2009-07-10T18:50:00.000+01:00

Down to the boat again this Friday to get our regular boaty fix. A lot of changes have taken place again. New shelves in the kitchen with microwave fitted and there's a belfast sink under the units ready to go in. Still only temporary windows but the proper ones should be delivered shortly. Windows and vents will be chrome finish to save on the polishing lark. Yeah, I know we're wimps, but brass has to be polished regularly to look good and we believe in trying to make life easy for ourselves.
Looking forward through the bathroom and the wenge top is on the bathroom sink stand with a new cabinet above. Bed base with cupboard under and another cupboard under the forward hatch. No shortage of storage here.

Dresser unit in the bedroom. We were a bit worried that the bed base was going to be too small, but usual story, Ben and Mick have got it all sorted and we will have a full 4'6" most of the way down. Don't know why we worry sometimes, the lads are always one step ahead of us.

Shower cubicle waiting for plumbing, Ben asked what tiles we would like which floored us - hadn't given that one a thought, but after talking about it on the way home we think we will go for plain white with a dividing line of tiles with a diamond motif to continue Bens diamond theme.

Finally remembered to take a couple of photo's of the wheelhouse hinges. They dont look much but have caused a few headaches. In the wheelhouse up position. The rear third will go down with the back window, which when raised will give a rigid 'C' section. Thats the theory anyhow. The front window will be of similar construction.

Open or wheelhouse down.

Looks a bit of a mess, should have cleaned up more after filing the holes out.

Work in progress

2009-06-28T15:21:00.000+01:00

Back down to Great Haywood yesterday to meet up with Ben and it's definitely work in progress. So much has developed since the last visit. I was amazed to see that the oven is already in and the wenge wood work top has been fitted, just needs the cutouts for the hob and Belfast sink. Ben tells us that it is a horrendously hard wood and it sounds like it's great for blunting router bits. Eee but it looks grand lad. Talked over the lounge area layout, and, because we've lost space by having a longer wheelhouse have decided to abandon the stove idea to make more room and are looking for a beefier heating system to compensate.
With the cover off the roof opening for the skylight (Surely it's too big to call it a dog box) the interior looks realy light and airy. This is the view from the bathroom door looking towards the wheelhouse. Ben says he will be building in a curved corner unit by the steps down which will house the microwave amongst other things.

Even on Saturday afternoon Ben and Mick were beavering away to keep up with work. It sounds like thery have plenty of jobs in the pipeline, which has got to be a good sign in these times. The stand for the wash basin in the bathroom is being made to match the cupboard in the lounge and its a marvel to see the work that goes into each piece.

In the bedroom the bed base is in covering the bow thruster and poo tank, ( So if it leaks we'll be the first to know about it) but there's still room for drawers underneath.

Done it again - so busy drooling over the interior forgot to take a picture of the wheelhouse hinges. Ah well there's always next time. Finished of the day with a cuppa at the cafe at Haywood lock and did a bit of gongoozling. Dream on - back to earth with a bump and off to work for a 12 hr night shift.

The shape of things to come.

2009-06-17T22:11:00.000+01:00

Firstly a couple of pictures of the launch from Ben and Kelly which I promised. Our only regret was that we weren't there to see it for ourselves. Three weeks ago and the time has just flown.

Went down to the boat on my own today as Karen was at work to fit the wheelhouse hinges cum handrails which Mick at TR Fabrications in Nottingham had made in stainless steel. Spent the day filing out the holes in the lugs to try and raise the mounts as they were a bit lower than intended. Now they are bolted in place and work as anticipated but the proof of the pudding will be when the wheelhouse sides are fitted to them. I've thoroughly enjoyed today being down at the boat with Ben and Mick but I realise that getting the boat fitted out professionally was a good move. Forgot to take any hinge photo's because I was so blown away by what Ben and Mick had been up to down in the interior. Amazing how people disappear when the camera comes out.

This will be the breakfast bar end of the kitchen area,

oven and hob will be fitted on the other side.

Bens taken our request for no low open shelves that dog

tails can clear to heart and come up with this splendid item.

Can't wait for it to be finished, when the woodwork is oiled/waxed/varnished or whatever so the grain of the wood can be seen at its best. Probably be next month before we can get down again but got to earn a crust to pay the bills.

We are afloat

2009-05-30T18:44:00.001+01:00

Well this is it folks on the water already. No photo's of the boat being craned in as we were both at work on the day but Ben has a pile of pics of the event and will forward them to us. I'll post a few for posterity when they arrive. Here she is already got the foam insulation and battening fitted and preparations being made for first fix wiring. Ben is certainly cracking on. Glitches found to date is the 4 blade prop came with a different taper to the shaft but this should be rectified in a week or two and the most confusing one is there doesn't appear to be a filler opening on the fuel tank. Ah well life would be too quiet without a few hiccups along the way.

She looks good on the water where she belongs, but still lots of work to do. Apparently there is hardly any ballast on board but with the 15mm base plate she nearly draws 24" already, which is good as I'm looking to reduce the air draught to 5'10" if possible.
Popped down to the moorings at Pillings Lock Marina and see that the power hookups have now been completed to the pontoons at our end and everything is looking good. Stopped for a quick cuppa and cake in the cafe.

Busy week-end

2009-05-27T10:53:00.000+01:00

Down at Bluewater again on Friday for one last look at the hull before it leaves Bluewater. Couldn't see much as it's in the process of being shot blasted prior to being primed and having 2 pack black on lower half.
Managed to get up and take a few measurements for the wheelhouse hinges but rushed it and still need more, but the next time we see this beastie it will be down with Ben at Great Haywood. Thanks again to all the people at Bluewater for time and patience in dealing with this novice and providing such a shapely hull.

Following day, Saturday down at Crick for the show, trying to keep spending urges in check. (some hope). Met up with Ben and Kelly on their stand and admiring the display units and wondering how best to fit them into our build. Lots to see and do, got plenty of rope,( Can't ever have enough of that) mooring spikes with covers and all manner of sundry items. Most important of all were a pair of lifejackets for the dogs. I doubt if they'll be used very often but it will be peace of mind for us if we venture out onto some of the larger rivers or tidal reaches. Not too sure at first but the pups soon go used to them.

Back to work on Sunday and the rest of the bank holiday -- such is life, but pays the bills, roll on retirement!

Quick visit

2009-05-19T13:15:00.000+01:00

Back down to Bluewater again yesterday to meet up with David and Ben as there seemed to be a problem developing over delivery dates and work to be done, but on arrival I find all problems have been sorted and delivery date has been moved back to next Tuesday after the bank holiday. My fault I suppose wanting this big fancy wheelhouse has made a lot more work than expected. Ben appreciates the extra work and has ageed the later delivery date. David is putting as many people on the job as he can fit round the wheelhouse, and I'm still going to get a cracking boat that hasn't been spoilt by rushing it. Thanks chaps!

Work on the forward hatch.

Work on the wheelhouse seats

Two views of the extra large gas locker which will take a dustbin as well as two bottles and collapsable bottle cart. Side hatch on the bottom shot looks complete. There certainly has been some work going on since last Friday.

Rogues gallery - Ben and David all smiles after problems sorted. Perfectionists hard at work!

Coming On

2009-05-16T15:42:00.000+01:00

Bluewater again yesterday, and there has been more progress. The last photo's taken are on Ben's website from last Friday show main cabin on, but now the wheelhouse is up and the windows and hatches have been cut out. My worries about the wheelhouse sides to take the handrail cum hinge that I have designed are just perfect but no mounting lugs fitted yet so I cant take measurements for the final drawing. Once again I think I've been lucky finding the right man (or should that be person these days) in contacting Mick at TR fabrications in Nottingham who can make the hinges, which will be 5ft long and leave an exposed handrail with either the wheelhouse up or down, in stainless steel.
Still plenty of work to do though, and David at Bluewater thinks he will have to send the handrail mounts away for drilling to 27mm to accept the handrail. Offered to do it at my workshop at home as I have facilities here if he could provide the steel, but he reckoned he'd got it covered. Even so looking at the work still to be done considering it was Friday afternoon and there was still plenty of seam welding to be done, dog box to cut out, bollards and gas locker to make plus the hatch frames and rudder to fit before it can be shot blasted and painted. I think the delivery date of next Wednesday is highly optimistic, but at the end of the day I'm not complaining as the care and attention to detail is second to none.
Tried to take a few photo's while we were there but the camera started acting up. B***er.
Karen took some shots on her phone but I cant get them to upload to the computer. Double B***er.

Progress

2009-05-06T19:36:00.000+01:00

Back down to Bluewater a couple of times over the past few days, mainly to explain what I want doing in the wheelhouse to try and gain a few extra inches of leg room. Unfortunately the idea of being able to turn the wheelhouse dinette into a put me up bed have been knocked on th head owing to the fact that I hadn't taken into account the fact that this nice shapely hull turns in much earlier than the normal narrowboat rear. David at Bluewater is going to taper the wheelhouse to follow the gunnels and then step in for the wheelhouse upperworks. I'm sure he thinks my idea will spoil the lines of this curvy hull. On my own head be it.

Anyway time will tell on that one, back to the build at present, the work continues to move forwards and with the longer wheelhouse the engine bay is going to be huge - perhaps we should take up smuggling! Got a better look at the inside this time and you can see the fuel tanks with weed hatch in between.

The hawse hole has been added to the bow and chain locker installed. Looking from ths angle the bow looks like it was taken from something that fought in the battle of Jutland.

I think I'm starting to get the hang of this blogging lark but still plenty to learn. Thanks for the tip Bill.

Bit of an experiment

2009-04-28T21:24:00.000+01:00

Nothing much to report just experimenting on picture positions and getting used to working this blog.

This is the sight that made us want a Bluewater hull. Crick 2008

If this pair hadn't already spent time on a narrow boat I would have to wonder if they'd fit.

As for the fit out I think Ben Harps web site says it all.http://www.benharpnarrowboats.co.uk/

Taking shape

2009-04-27T20:21:00.000+01:00

Down to Bluewater again last Friday and were amazed at how
much had happened since our last visit.
Base plate down and hull sides up, already the sweep up to the bow is showing.

Watching the lads at work is really impressive. David showed us round pointing out that the bow thruster tube, bow tank and fuel tanks were already in position but at the moment I can't get in to take a snap. Took quite a few photo's but was so excited that most came out rather fuzzy. We're here !!!!! The dreams finally taking shape, and is that back end sexy.

Help what am I doing wrong? That photo of the stern should have appeared here. Any photo's I upload seen to pop to the top of the page like bubbles.

Took the dogs down to the marina to see how they cope with the floating pontoons, successful, still quite a bit of nervous on the finger moorings but everybody came away dry which has got to be a result.

Steels here

2009-04-04T08:30:00.000+01:00

Down at Bluewater yesterday with Ben and Kelly Harp to meet up with David Warner to discuss the hull build. Looks like they're busy at the moment with four boats in the sheds that we went in, most of which were wide beams. Talked over the options and went through my list of questions - thankfully everybody was very patient. Karen and Kelly disappeared and went rounding up wayward lambs, this ids truly a rural setting. The steel for our build is in the yard - including the 15mm for the base plate and talking with David it looks like the build will be 15:6:5:4 which is a bonus as we were expecting 15:6:4. Took the camera but it seems pointless taking a photo of steel plate laid on concrete and I have to wonder if it really will float. Building will start next week and there should be something to see in a couple of weeks.
Stopped off for lunch at the Two Boats at Long Ichington on the Grand Union, vowing to return one day by water.

First step

2009-03-14T21:52:00.000Z

Met with Ben and Kelly Harp today to make the initial payment. They were down at Stafford Boat Club where he was painting his latest build - and very smart it looks too. Jealous or what? - but it'll be our turn soon. Planning to meet up at Bluewater in the near future to discuss the hull build, and Ben tells us that he has already ordered our 'Beta in a box' as there is a six week lead time. We are like kids waiting for Christmas.

In the begining

2009-03-07T10:48:00.000Z

Well after years of planning and saving, things are starting to come togeather on the boating front. We have a lease on a mooring at Pillings Lock Marina on the GU just south of Loughborough. Now all we have to do is get a boat.

After a lot of looking, checking, proding and poking, we found Ben Harp who has agreed to build us a narrow beam dutch barge based on a Bluewater Boats hull. First payment for steelwork should be sent off next week when NS&I get round to divying up some cash, for the start of work at the begining of April. ( Can't believe it's happening after all these years of dreaming.)

After nearly losing a dog in a lock after it pushed through the bow doors an a hire boat we decided the dutch barge style was best suited to us.

I'll upload plans etc. when I figure out how this blog works 'cos at the moment when I try to post the plans it comes back with an error message.

Ah well - cracked it by converting to jpeg but managed to get it stuck at top of page - keep trying boy.