Christmas & New Year 2009/2010

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Tixall November 2009

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

Spent the evening reading and listening to music as the TV connection still is not finished.

No weather boards fitted to the wheelhouse doors means quite a bit of water still coming in, warping and lifting the deck boards. It's the same with the skylight letting water into the saloon. Therse items need to be a priority as with the winter coming on things will only get worse if not sorted.

Took our concerns up on return. It is our plan to use the last of our holidays to move to our home mooring over Christmas break as on January 4th there will be a stoppage at bridge 20 at Stenson until the 12th of March. We are promised that all outstanding work will be sorted for our departure.

Bit vague but fingers crossed.

Update ( Second attempt to get home)

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

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

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

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

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.