Aldermaston Wharf

We’ve made an unplanned trip to Aldermaston Wharf on the Kennett & Avon.  There were two reasons for the trip.  First, we had to finalise our marine insurance and valuation report.  Second, we wanted to discuss Waiouru’s specifications with Andy, our new boatbuilder.

As usual, we hired a rental car from Enterprise.  We started using Enterprise after reading the favourable comments from fellow narrowboat bloggers.  Their daily rate is very competitive but the significant difference between them and most other car rental companies is they will collect and return you to your boat.  Having questioned a number of their staff I also suspect they have a successful business model and corporate culture.

A mobile grit blasting contractor was at work when we arrived at Aldermaston Wharf and it was apparent Andy had asked him to conduct a brief test on Waiouru.

The grit blasting has done a very good job of taking Waiouru’s shell back to bare metal.  It’s likely to take a full day to remove all the paint.

Being exposed to the elements for the last three months has resulted in some additional damage to the interior.  In a few places water has entered through holes for hatches and ventilators resulting in some rusting.

Water also entered the rear cabin area resulting in some rusting to the floor.  Andy now has a cover over the cockpit area reducing the amount of water that can enter the area.

The bare metal floor is where the blackwater tank will go.  I wanted to measure this area to calculate an approximate volume for the tank.  The length of the area is 4’6” and the width is an average 5’.  If the tank is 1ft high we will be left with head room of approximately 5’9”.  This means we will have to stoop slightly in the back cabin. 

I would have liked the blackwater tank to be the same length as the cabin.  That is; 6ft.  However there is a steel cross beam at the 4’6” point which precludes this.  If we had been able to make the tank 6ft long then the height of the tank could have been reduced to 9” giving us an additional 3” of headroom.  Unfortunately the beam is structural and can’t be removed.

The tank size has now been entered into my toilet holding capacity spreadsheet.  Based on our time on Kelly-Louise I’ve also been able to refine our toilet usage calculations.  From these inputs the spreadsheet shows our tank holding capacity should be approximately 50 days.

Looking at the hire boats tied up at Aldermaston Wharf is appears the hire seasons is coming to a close.