What happened today?

Nick, Richard and James were all working on Waiouru.  Nick’s first task was to check the Hurricane central heating as the front starboard (right) heating circuit didn’t appear to be getting much heat despite me ‘bleeding’ the front pipe radiator and the bathroom radiator.  Eventually he bled the rear pipe radiator and then slightly crushed the copper pipe to restrict the flow of water.  This appears to have forced more hot water through the bow portion of the circuit.  The Hurricane heater has been running much of the day as Nick wants to remove any air from the system.

After fixing the central heating he went on to run the alternator electrical cables in the engine compartment.  These have now been completed with cabling from the 50A alternator to the starter motor battery and more cables from the 175A alternator to the domestic battery bank.  The output of the two alternators can be combined using the SmartBank charging system.  He also assisted me calibrate the diesel gauge for the engine tank.  The Hurricane heater tank calibration will have to wait as the tank has to be full for accurate calibration.

Richard has been hanging doors and during that process he had an idea that we could eliminate one door by combining the functions of the toilet and bathroom doors.  The proposal is that the toilet door would normally be closed for privacy when using the toilet but can also be fully opened to fill the gap in the corridor between the saloon and the bathroom. This would eliminate the need for a separate door between the bathroom and saloon.  He then went on to hang the door at the opposite end of the bathroom.  In the open position it conceals most of the shower cubical.

Left arrow – combined toilet/bathroom door.  Right arrow bathroom/bedroom door.

Meanwhile James has been working on the timber liners for the rear doors; the King Plank; and the side hatch door liners.

Mid afternoon I managed to drill a 7.5mm hole through the forward edge of the steel mounting that forms part of the rear sliding hatch.  The plan is to make this a security point (padlock) for the plastic coated steel cable that will go around our aluminium gangplank.  Hopefully this will deter all but the most determined individuals from walking off with the gangplank.

Jan and I had a long discussion regarding the oven.  It hasn’t worked properly since being installed and the gas engineer has visited three times and not been able to get it working.  She has lost faith in the model and we are now looking at alternatives.  With some “jiggling around” we can probably fit a slightly bigger oven into the compartment.  It will mean losing the shelf and storage area immediately above the existing oven, however Jan is prepared to accept that if it means she gets a larger oven.  My concern has been the effect that the ‘tumblehome’ of the boat will have in restricting the size of the replacement oven.  But it looks like we may have overcome that potential problem.

Andy was going to contact the cratch cover manufacturer and arrange for them to come and make a template.  So we are still forging ahead!