Travelling at Tickover

It’s been quite some time since we’ve been behind the wheel and it was readily apparent by our speed.  Those vehicles on the motorway sure go fast!  For the first 30 minutes everyone was passing us!   We’ve vacated Waiouru in order that the marina can give her the final coats of varnish.  Whilst it might have been a cheap ‘high’ staying aboard, every brain cell counts these days! 

We did the usual thing boaters do and hired a small sewing machine compact car from Enterprise.  Their prices are competitive and the service is excellent.  Rather than opt for the smallest category of vehicle and have a windscreen full of squashed eyeballs we paid the additional £2 per day for the next category of vehicle.  They have given us a two door VW Polo which is sufficient for our needs. 

Jan’s peering out the motel window!

What do you do when you have a day to kill; little money; and want to stay away from canals.  The plan was to travel to Foxes Outdoors in Amersham.  On each of our three previous holidays in the UK we have called in to Foxes to purchase outdoor clothing and footwear. 

They will provide on request the necessary documentation for the refunding of the 20% VAT on purchases to travellers leaving the UK.  Whilst they may not be the cheapest; they have a wide range of products and the service is excellent.

Today’s plan was to purchase replacement shoes for both of us.  In the end Jan purchased a pair of walking shoes and three pairs of walking socks.  I decided my existing walking footwear was sufficient.  What I really needed was a pair of lightweight boots for use when travelling on Waiouru or walking the towpath.  This didn’t require high quality £100+ footwear.

There is a large Tesco supermarket opposite Foxes and we had noticed on an earlier visit the attention taken to make it blend in with the surrounding buildings.  Something unlikely to occur ‘down under’.

Struggling to kill more time we drove towards Hemel Hempstead and (damn it all) started travelling beside the Grand Union Canal.  Of course we started checking boats and potential mooring locations <grrrr>.  Dragged ourselves away to a B&Q to check on small clotheslines and toolbags.  However we resisted purchasing anything because we can use our seniors card tomorrow (Wednesday) and receive a 10% discount on all purchases.  Still looking for some cheap boots we called into a large ‘Sports Direct’ store where I managed to purchase a pair of heavily discounted Karrimor boots (paid under £40) that should suffice.

Prior to our last holiday in the UK we always booked B&B’s using the local Tourist Information service.  This enables you to advance book accommodation in the desired area.  But the restriction is…. only one night in advance.  However we noticed the cost of B&B’s was steadily increasing and then stumbled upon the Travelodge budget motel chain.  It is possible to book accommodation with them well in advance using the internet.  Moreover we found we could plan our holiday itinerary around their discounted room rates and were able to book rooms between £19-25 per night for the two of us.  Moreover the rooms were frequently larger than those we’d had in B&B’s.  Breakfast isn’t included in the price but we haven’t found that to be an impediment.

Got to be early or in the right place to get a £19 room

So we’ve killed a day and save quite a few of our diminishing brain cells.  Our first night away from the boatyard and Waiouru in more than a year!

Remote

Nick was keen to get on with some of the outstanding tasks.  He cut a hole in the control column inspection plate for a 6 inch air intake grill.  The marine surveyor had identified one was required to provide air for the engine.

After that Nick went on to fit the GSM and GPS aerials.  However, first Richard had to remove one porthole liner.  I’d been thinking about the best route for the cables between the aerials and the GSM/GPS module.  Last night I realised the best position for the module was in the cabinet under the gunwale.  The cables could then be routed in the duct under the gunwale and then up into the bottom of a porthole liner.  Nick drilled a 1” diameter hole up through the plywood lining on the gunwale and then through the spray foam on the wall to reach the porthole frame.  He then used a '”pull rod” to draw the aerial cables down through the wall lining before the porthole lining was re-installed and the aerials glued to the porthole window.

The long thin aerial is for the GSM (mobile phone) and the round aerial is for the GPS connection

In an earlier email I’d requested some advice from Mark Zimmerman (Atlantis Marine) on configuring (wiring) the remote control receiver and the GSM/GPS module.   Using the information he provided plus some additional information from Andy I have been able to wire the receiver and then configure it to recognise the three buttons on the key fob.  At the moment one button is configured to activate/deactive the alarm.  A second button starts/stops the Hurricane central heater.  We’re unlikely to use this function and can probably reconfigure the button for another task.  However it does mean we can keep the key fob beside the bed and remotely start the heater without leaving the bed.  The third button activates/deactivates all the lights in the boat.   The idea being the lights can all be turned on when leaving the boat in the dark or turned on when returning to the boat in the dark.  I just need to work out how to put a delay on the function so the lights will turn off after a set delay.  So if I remove the Hurricane heater button what else can I use it for?

The GSM/GPS module will enable us to text Waiouru to start/stop any pre-configured function using a set of text commands whilst the GPS will tell us where the boat is or advise us by text message if Waiouru moves when we have left her unattended.  So more progress made today!

Fresh Road Kill of the Day!

Managed to walk just over 11 miles this morning and my right knee it telling me all about it.  It will be that Greek… arthritis!  About a third of the route covered new ground and after a year at Aldermaston (hasn’t time gone by) it’s getting difficult to find new terrain.

There were a few problems with the OS website which prevented me from downloading the route onto the Garmin GPS so I manually copied across the planned route from the OS page to the Garmin Mapsource program and uploaded it to the GPS.  The planned route is shown in purple and the actual in grey. 

Approximately 2km short of Bradfield was an attractive pond set to the north side of the bridalpath.

I’d taken Jan’s compact Samsung digital camera but when I took it out of the case the damned ting told me the battery was flat.  Obviously there weren’t going to be any photos from the walk when I realised the GPS actually contains a VERY simple 3.2mp camera.  Unfortunately the lens hasn’t done justice to the fantastic autumn colours.  The tree in the next photo was a vivid yellow.

With such wonderful colours I can understand why Jan loved English autumn as a small girl.  It was a glorious day for walking in the countryside.  A bright blue cloudless sky, crisp weather with frost in the shade.  Unfortunately the temperature rose by mid morning which made some stretches of the footpaths muddy and slippery.

It was getting close to 11.00am as I approached Bradfield where there is a reasonable sized private coeducational school.  The pupils and parents appeared to be arriving for a Remembrance Day service.  A couple of interesting buildings caught my eye.  They both had what looked like coach ways to an inner courtyard.

The second building was more interesting however the photo was black because someone had their fat thumb over the gps lens when they took the picture

On heading east towards the M4 motorway I came upon a recently killed pheasant which had obviously been struck by a car.  Shortly thereafter I found a badger in similar circumstances.  Back in outback South Australia is the Innamincka Road House (for non Australian readers a road house is a service station, store, diner in a remote location).  Innamincka is reputedly well known for having a dusty sign out the front stating Fresh Road Kill of the Day followed by the name of the species [eg, kangaroo, wombat, emu, etc].  Having decided Jan probably wouldn’t appreciate me bring home a dead badger I pressed on.

One reason for picking this particular route was to find out how the footpath crossed the M4 motorway.  Would it go over or under?  The footpath was quite narrow and muddy which led me to believe usage was quite light.  In the end I was surprised to see a substantial structure.

The carriageway is too narrow for vehicles so I assume it’s only used by pedestrians, cyclists and stock.  It seems to be an expensive piece of infrastructure for something which is scarcely used.  Perhaps the motorway builders were forced to build it to protect some ancient “right of way”?

At the eastern end of the circuit I passed close to the abandoned tower seen during my earlier walk back from Pangborne.  This time the footpath took me closed and I was able to get a better look.

Darren , the boat painter, had informed me after reading the earlier post that it was a pidgeon tower.  I wondered whether it had been built for the same purpose the Egyptians build pidgeon towers… to collect the droppings to use as fertiliser!  A completely erroneous conclusion.  Apparently it was built by the Rev Dr Henry Wilder of Sulham when he was courting Joan, daughter of William Thoyts of Sulhamstead. It was located in such a position that both could see it from their respective homes, and think of one another. They were married in 1768.  Well that’s according to the plaque!

Ceiling Complete

The day started with the last of the cupboard shelving getting a light sanding and final coat of varnish.  Next the ceiling trim was lightly sanded with 240 grit paper before receiving the last coat of satin varnish.  Just on dusk Jan and I removed the masking tape from around the ceiling trim.  It took James almost two days to apply it but only 20 minutes to remove.  We wanted it off before the tape hardened or stained the ceiling.

In the afternoon Nick fitted the rubber stops for the port side hatch exterior doors.

I wasn’t sure where to locate the stops on the side of the cabin so I asked Nick to fit them.  The starboard side will have to be completed after we wind (turn) Waiouru.  Paul from nb Apache suggested I fill the back of the chrome fitting with mastic as the rubber ‘stop’ can get dragged out of the fitting when passing an obstacle.  It seemed very sound advice so I’s already done this to each fitting prior to Nick screwing them onto the cabin.

The exterior side hatch doors can now be opened without fear of damaging the paintwork.

The open doors have attracted so much attention from casual towpath walkers Jan is thinking of selling tea and scones from the hatch   It’s interesting how people wouldn’t dream of coming up to the window in your house and looking in but they are quite prepared to peer though boat portholes and hatches!

We had visitors in the afternoon.  Anne Borland and her friend Audrey called by to see us.  We first became acquainted with Anne after we arrived in the UK and found ourselves in a serious dispute with our original boat builder.  We were looking for some temporary accommodation and Anne very kindly offered us the use of her student house in Plymouth.  It was a very generous offer and extracted us from a most difficult situation.  Whilst the world has some “rotten people” they are a very small minority.  The people who have helped us whilst we rebuild Waiouru demonstrate the great majority are kind and helpful. 

Keyed In

It’s rather hard to take any photos of today’s progress.  James spent the majority of the day finishing applying masking tape around the edges of the oak trim on the ceiling.  It’s an onerous job that requires good eyesight and accuracy.  Fortunately I have neither!  Richard made shelving for the storage cabinet under the saloon TV cabinet and the wet locker.  My day started by giving a second coat of varnish to all the pieces of ceiling trim that will eventually go into the cupboards and lockers.  Then I installed the final modular 240v/12v power socket at the stern.  After lunch all the ceiling trim was given its first coat of varnish.  The plan is to lightly sand it tomorrow and then apply the second coat.

Late in the afternoon James made a start on fitting the lock to the stern (rear) cabin doors.  It was dark before he finished and in order to get it completed James borrowed my head harness torch.

Rather than locking Waiouru with a padlock and hasp & staple we have opted for a 5 lever mortice lock built into the port door.  The reasoning is without the padlock it’s harder to visually detect whether the boat is occupied.

The configuration for the EmpirBus system isn’t complete because the GSM and GPS modules haven’t yet been installed.  Nor has the remote transmitter/receiver.  I discussed the configuration with Andy but he informed me that he has no previous experience of fitting these modules.  So I have five components which need to be connected into the system.

L-R  GSM/GPS module, Transmitter/Receiver,  GSM antenna, GPS antenna

The transmitter/receiver wirelessly links to the key fob

The remote key fob has three buttons which can be configured to activate/deactive three separate functions in the Empirbus system.  Our initial thoughts are they should be the alarm; deck lights; and ????? (boat master isolation switch?)

After reading some of the literature and examining the current node configuration setting I’ve come to some provisional conclusions on how all this gets connected.  However I’m not convinced I have it right so I’ve written to Atlantis Marine (the UK agents for the system) asking for some advice/assistance.

Meanwhile Jan fattened the boatyard staff with a tray of her lemonade scones (no butter or sugar) and I can confirm they taste delicious.  Good to see the new oven is performing!

Richard has confirmed they want to give Waiouru it’s final coat of varnish very soon which means we won’t want to spend the night aboard.  The varnish fumes would send us on a trip without untying the mooring ropes!  It will be the first time we’ve spent a night away from the boatyard in more than a year.  How time flies!  Hell, my two year visa expires in less than six months and Jan still doesn’t exist.

More Varnish

Immediately after the workshop was opened this morning I grabbed sandpaper and gave the Houdini hatch trims a light rub down.  They were then given a final coat of satin varnish and left in the warm meal room to dry.  Next it was the turn of all the pieces of oak ceiling trim Richard had made yesterday afternoon.  They will go in the lockers and conceal the high level wiring.

James glued and then clamped his rear door liners in place.

The clamps were left on the doors until 4:00pm.  By then it was starting to get dark and the temperature had dropped so I removed them.  James then kindly fitted the ventilation grills which will avoid the hurricane coming into the cabin tonight.

James also fitted the oak mounting block for the sockets above the small TV in the bedroom.  This enabled me to fit the combined 12v & aerial socket plus the HDMI socket.

I was worried about the fitting of the HDMI faceplate (the white plate) as the cable is very short.  In the end it was the combined 12v and aerial socket that proved difficult to fit.  Yes… it was a spray foam issue!  Not enough clearance behind the plug for the coaxial cable.  I used the Leatherman to pick out some foam which eventually solved the problem.

Richard has been working on the fit-out of the stern wet locker.  Jan and I agreed we wanted three things from the locker.

1. Maximum utilisation of the space
2. Ability to hang a long jacket
3. A shelf for hatch and gloves

Richard has been able to achieve all of this.

View looking down into the base of the locker.

He fitted battens around the walls of locker 300mm above the floor level.  This conceals pumpout and rinse connections to the blackwater tank and also provides a long term storage area.  It currently  contains the new vacuum cleaner <oops> hoover.  The front half of the lower shelf has a stainless steel grill built into it.  The grill was lying around the workshop so I cut it down to size with the angle grinder and Richard fitted it into the shelf.  You may recall all the warm air from the inverter on the opposite side of the boat is pushed into the wet locker by two computer fans.  The warm air should rise up through this grill to warm everything in the wet locker.  Tomorrow Richard will make the high level shelf which will have a coat hanger rail underneath.

Richard and I discussed the Houdini hatch trim and decided not to fit them until all the oak trim on the ceiling has been varnished.  James will probably complete the trim around the back hatch tomorrow and; if all goes well; fit the door lock.

Side Hatches & Bed Extension

A mild start to the day with only a slight frost.  By 9:00am the sun had put in an appearance which raised the temperature nicely.  This morning the oak speaker mounting trims (6) and the TV socket mounting were all varnished prior to James and Richard’s arrival.  I’d almost completed varnishing the Houdini surrounds when they walked through the door.  Their timing was perfect as I’d just used the last of the satin varnish in the tin.

James immediately continued working on the extension for the bed in the rear cabin.  It’s worked out rather well and he seems particularly pleased with the result.

All the boards can be stowed in the void under the middle step.

The boards don’t occupy the entire space which leaves room for more storage.

Meanwhile Richard finished the two internal side hatches in the workshop before installing them.

They have been finished with a gloss varnish which contrasts with the satin on the walls.  There was quite a discussion about how to hold the doors open.  The effect of the ‘Tumblehome’ (the area of the side walls above the gunwale which leans inwards) would mean the doors would always swing inwards unless secured.  In the end a decision was made to use magnetic catches.

Richard made small oak blocks to hold the catches whilst the keeper plates were fixed to the top of each door.  The magnets are quite strong and appear to be very satisfactory.

James has moved on to the rear external doors.  He used an angle grinder to cut rectangular holes for the ventilation grills and will be fitting the oak liners tomorrow.  Waiouru should be secure by Friday.

The varnish on the oak trim for the speaker mountings was dry by 2:00pm so I decided to mounting the six speakers on the ceiling.  Yet more damned spray foam to cut and remove!

Jan informed Richard and James we won’t be using the ceiling speakers.  Apparently I’m deaf and turn the sound up too high.  What’s that you say……..  No….. I doesn’t seem loud to me!

Oxford

Yesterday mornings frost arrived a day late!  However it had no effect upon us all tucked up and warm on Waiouru.  The effort we’ve put into the insulation appears to be working and we’ve also been refining our condensation management system.

In an vain effort to prove she exists Jan went to Oxford today.  Whilst the journey on the two community buses was interesting taking her through the attractive countryside it did take most of the day.  By the time she arrived at the Oxford Job Centre Plus there was just enough time to briefly ask a couple of questions before the last return bus.  The staff weren’t that helpful merely giving her a card with a number to call to make an appointment and telling her the waiting time for an interview was approximately four weeks!  At least she had a day out and managed to see some attractive villages as the buses made their way through rural England.  It was dark by the time she returned and I had already started to get worried.  Who would cook my dinner?

Richard thought he was reducing the outstanding tasks on his joinery list until I added three more today.  He made five oak trims for the 240v power sockets in the saloon and galley before making six oak rings for the speakers in the ceiling and at the end of the day modified the oak mounting block for the TV in the bedroom.

The 12v Cello TV doesn’t have very good peripheral viewing.  If you’re not looking directly at it the screen looks black.  After some testing we think the screen is now at the right angle.  Above the TV are two plugs.  One is a combined 12v power and aerial socket whilst the other is a HDMI plug.  Richard has started making an oak mounting block for the two plugs.  I’ll give it a coat of varnish first thing tomorrow morning.

The five double power sockets in the galley and saloon have now been wired into the 240v system and tested.  It’s a relief to remove the last of the extension leads running through Waiouru.  There is now only one combined 240v/12v socket left to fit.  It will be located by the rear hatch.

James is making progress on the extension for the rear bed.

It will consist of four hinged pieces when assembled and then fold away for storage under the rear steps. 

Tomorrow should see the installation of the three Houdini hatches along with the internal frames and doors for the two side hatches.  Time permitting, we may even fit the six ceiling speakers.

Houdini’s

We woke this morning to a lovely warm boat expecting to see a heavy frost outside.  However the temperature was certainly above zero with a clear sky.  It stayed a warm day until the sun disappeared around 4:30pm when the temperature suddenly dropped.

When the workshop opened at 8:30am I immediately started lightly sanding the side hatch framing and doors with 400 grit paper.  It was then all wiped down with a tac cloth to remove the dust.  They are now ready for a second coat of gloss varnish.

Whilst sanding the side hatches I also gave the tiller handle another light sanding and a fourth coat of gloss varnish.

Only two more coats and it will be finished!

James spent the day working on the rear cabin bed extension.  He and Richard discussed and agreed the details on how the bed will be assembled so it’s now up to James to make all the components.

Jan has been trying out the new Spinflo oven.  Today we had freshly baked bread for lunch.  Nothing like a tomato sandwich made using bread that’s still warm <yum>!

Meanwhile I helped Richard with the scribing of the Houdini hatch trim.  We roughly fitted them last week and today it was time to scribe and make the trim which will make the frames a tight fit.

The quarter radius sections made on Friday were held in place whilst the Houdini surround was screwed to the ceiling.  Their positions were marked with masking tape and then the complete frame was taken to the workshop.  The radii were then glued and screwed into their respective corners using the line of the masking tape as a guide.  Once the corners were fitted the thinner trim was cut to length, scribed, and screwed in place.  Scribing the corners and the thinner trim will ensure the Houdini trim fits snuggly against the ceiling lining and the aluminium frame of the Houdini.

Two trims completed… One to go!

The oak surrounds won’t actually touch the Houdini hatch.  Instead there will be a mastic or silicon beading between the two surfaces which will act as a moisture barrier.  The irony of all this work is most of it will never be seen.  Almost all of it will be concealed behind the blackout and insect screens which have yet to be fitted to the ceiling,

This morning Jan and I had a conversation with fellow boater Graham who owns nb Mount Tamar which is moored at the boatyard.  Graham mentioned he had no 12v systems and didn’t know why.  There have been boaters who have helped us so it seemed the least I could do would be to attempt to solve his problem.  Mount Tamar is an old boat and after lifting the engine boards it was apparent the entire engine compartment was covered in a dirty oily film.  Nothing was labelled  and some of the wiring looked decidedly suspect.  The battery bank voltage was 12.8v and the master isolation switch was in and ON.  Tracing the wiring further I discovered a fuse board.  This consisted of old porcelain fuse holders and fuse wire.  After checking each of them with the multi-meter I found two ‘blown’ fuses.  Once the wire was replaced in these, Graham’s fridge and lights worked.  However the water pump was still inactive.  Unfortunately he didn’t know where the pump was located and by then I’d run out of time.  Before leaving I suggested the water pump was probably near his water tank in the bow and when he found he should let me know so we can continue the fault-finding.  I suspect it’s either turned off or faulty.

Last job for the day was to go through the list of outstanding joinery tasks with Richard and identify what might be done tomorrow after varnishing the side hatch frames and the Houdini hatch surrounds.  There is plenty left to be done!

The Love Boat

Are you old enough to remember the American TV series “The Love Boat” which was all about the passengers and crew on a cruise ship?  I certainly am!  So when I was informed an old wooden fishing boat was going to be rebuilt by its new owners at the boatyard for use as a ‘party boat’ on the Thames I named it “The Love Boat”.

The owners have stripped her down to the bare shell and then added a new superstructure.  All the work is being completed outside normal business hours.

We woke to cold rain which didn’t impress me as I’d been planning on taking a long walk.  In the end the walk was postponed as I anticipated the ground would be boggy and slippery.  In the end I went for a short walk along the the towpath towards Reading.  I was impressed with the hardiness of the boaters out cruising and working their way through the locks.  Then I realised it was probably something that Jan and I would be doing in a few months.    

There have been quite a few canoeists passing by over the past couple of days and I must admit I think they are crazier than the boaters. Who would deliberately want to be continuously cold and wet?

Nick appears to have found a good position in the engine bay to mount the Sterling PDAR.  It’s on the bulkhead between the engine bay and the back cabin.

The PDAR is connected into the 175A alternator and will “trick” the alternator into increasing it’s output.  The purpose behind this is to reduce the amount of time it will take to recharge the domestic battery bank.  Modifying the alternator voids the warranty and may even reduce the anticipated life of the alternator.  However we’ve decided the advantages of fitting the PDAR outweigh the disadvantages.

‘Bottle’ has left a comment on yesterday’s post regarding Waiouru’s trim.  He suggested we check the trim when the water and toilet tanks were both half full.  The water level at the stern should be just below the lower rubbing strake and at the bow the water line should be touching the lower strake.  By coincidence both tanks were half full and we were pleased to see the water line was precisely as described by ‘Bottle’  <phew!>

Up and Down

Yes… a change in the Blog banner photo.  We got tired of looking at battleship grey with a blue cratch cover.  Another thing which has been annoying me is the way the spelling errors somehow manage to creep into the final draft.  I’m convinced this is occurring after I’ve published the post.  I recheck the draft twice before hitting the publish button and yet they still appear.  I know I’m not the only one with this problem.  But have you ever noticed how others omissions and errors are so obvious; yet you can’t see your own?

The first job for the day was to lightly sand the starboard finrad boxing and give it a second coat of varnish.  Then the rear steps were sanded back to remove all the scuff marks that have accumulated during the past 3 months.  The step were then varnished along with the new pipe boxing made and installed by James.

Darren kindly offered to give the side hatch interior doors and framing their first coat of gloss varnish.  He’s a much better painter than me so I very quickly accepted.

The fore and aft (front and rear) trim on Waiouru continues to concern me.  We obviously need the bow in the water to get effective steerage and we don’t want the stern too deep or we’ll start dredging the bottom.  The current trim (balance) is almost right but I’m mindful the bow water tanks are nearly full whilst the large toilet tank at the rear is almost empty.  After my earlier action in removing nine concrete slabs from under the galley floor there is now no ballast in the rear third of the boat.  Logically the only further action is to increase the amount of ballast at the bow.

Today I went “scrounging”.  Kiwi’s are great scroungers.  Probably because they live in the bottom right hand corner of the map of the world thousands of miles away from readily available manufactured goods.  Kiwi’s will tell you they can make almost anything out of No8 fencing wire and baling twine!

Digging around under the blackberry bushes I stumbled upon some fire bricks from an old chimney.  They still had some mortar left on them during the demolition but I removed this with a club hammer and cold chisel.

Waiouru’s bow thruster locker was emptied and the cleaned bricks carefully stacked at the bottom of the locker until they were level with the top of the tube.  I’m not sure if this has had much effect but the tip of the rudder is just out of the water and the bow is below the waterline by approximately four inches.

The gunwale isn’t level but the bow doesn’t appear to be excessively high.  However the bow tank is ¾ full and the stern empty.

The water level at the stern is just below the lower rubbing strake.  I’m just not sure where a Tyler-Wilson shell is supposed to sit in the water.  If we need more ballast at the bow then the only place left is under the bedroom floor.  Tomorrows walk should give me plenty of time to think about the situation.

What Happened Today?

If you look at Waiouru the immediate response might be “Not a lot!”  But that would be incorrect as both Richard and James worked continuously all day.  Most of the work was done in the workshop however James was on and off Waiouru measuring, re-measuring, making and fitting pipe boxing.  All the exposed pipes are now concealed with removable boxing which now makes it look very tidy.  Tomorrow I’ll probably give the boxing a coat of varnish.
As soon as the workshop was unlocked this morning I was into it and painting varnish onto the port finrad boxing.  It will be dry by tomorrow which will enable me to give it a second coat.  The timber handle for the tiller arm also got a second coat of gloss varnish.
Meanwhile Richard had fitted the hinges to one of the side hatches along with a draught stop.  The hardware (hinges and catches) was then removed which enabled me to give the frames and doors a good coat of ‘Impreg’.  They will get a coat of varnish tomorrow.
Richard then fitted the starboard finrad boxing which I had varnished over the last three days.

It has made the area very tidy and is exactly the right height and width for a mug of coffee!  So Jan’s side of the boat is complete.  Hopefully the port side will be done on Sunday.
He then made a start on fitting the Houdini hatch trim.

The three surrounds have been temporarily screwed in place so the internal beading can be measured.  The timber frame is rectangular but the Houdini frame has curved corners.  This has left some exposed spray foam and steel between the Houdini frame and the oak trim.  Richard needed to make some curved trim to match the curve in the Houdini.  He made these late in the afternoon.  His method was to measure the radius of the Houdini frame curve and find a circular hole cutter with the same radius.  The 6 inch diameter circular hole saw was the same size.  Richard then cut some 7 inch wide oak into 7”x7” squares and I used the 6” hole saw to cut out the middle.  The disc was discarded and Richard cut the 7”x7” square into quarters.  These will be fitted to the four corners of the timber frame and will conceal the spray foam.  All this may not be well described so I will post a photo of the Houdini trim when it’s completed.
I had the Refleks diesel stove on setting 2 whilst Jan was away at the shops.  There was a complaint about how hot Waiouru was inside when she returned.  The stove is now turned down to 1 on the scale.  It would appear the flame should be blue, but we have a yellow flame irrespective of the setting.  Looks like more research is required!

Jan’s a Happy Girl!

After completing some work in the engine bay this morning Nick decided it was time to fit the new gas oven.  The gas engineer had made three attempts to get the previous oven to work correctly but all his efforts failed.  Jan had lost confidence in the model so we have replaced it with a Spinflo Prima Midi which has separate grill and oven compartments.  I removed the shelf above the existing oven as the new Spinflo is higher.  To my surprise the new oven actually had less depth and fitting it into the cavity proved easier than anticipated.  Nick made the gas and electrical connections and tested everything before placing his order for cheese and sun dried tomato bread rolls. 

Jan is so pleased to have a working oven she will willingly bake Nick bread and scones.

Darren has lightly sanded the cratch board and given it another coat of graphite paint.  The King plank (right name?) has also been finished. 

James spent most of the day making pipe boxing.  It’s now all completed although he had a problem with the bathroom when the pipe box was too long. He took it back to the workshop and cut 2mm off one end.  It was still slightly too long so it went back to the workshop for a second time to have a hair shaved off the box.  One returning to the boat he found the box was 2mm short?  Quite a puzzle until he realised he’d brought the wrong piece of ply panelling onto Waiouru!

The enclosed piping in the toilet has made a significant change to it’s appearance.

Jan will find the shelving on top of the pipe box very useful.

Meanwhile Richard spent most of the day making the side hatch interior framing and glazed doors.

They look very nice.

To my horror I discovered this morning that I’d only varnished half the saloon finrad boxing.  The boxing for the other side of the saloon had been placed in the timber rack and I’d overlooked it when varnishing during the last two days.  This means the finrad boxing won’t be fitted until Monday at the earliest.

In the afternoon Nick adjusted the engine mounts and fitted a non return valve to the stern bilge pump. 

Technical and Owner’s Manuals

The day started cold and clear with a hint of sunshine before the rain set in and the temperature dropped.  Jan caught the Black 1 community bus to Calcot for some essential supplies at Sainsbury’s whilst I headed to the workshop.

The first task for the day was to assist Richard create the mortise joints for the side hatch frames and windows.  He did all the technical stuff whilst I applied my considerable body mass to hold down the pieces of timber.  After that I completed applying the first coat of varnish to the finrad boxing before going on to give the Houdini trim a second coat of Impreg. 

Suddenly it was 10.00am and Barrie Morse our surveyor arrived.  Barrie is assisting us with the build by managing the process of manoeuvring us through the technical requirements for Waiouru to obtain registration and a license.  If a new boat was being purchased from a reputable builder then he/she would normally do this work.  However we are the owner/builders with the boatyard being subcontractors.  At this stage of the build we want three things

1. An Owner’s Manual.  This stays with the boat and describes how everything in the boat works.
2. A Technical Manual.  This describes how the boat was built and must be retained by the builder for at least 10 years.
3. We want independent advice the boat has been built to the relevant ISO (International) and BSS standards.  We are owner/builder but intent on ensuring the build is not self-certified!

If we had realised both manuals are a legal requirement I would have asked each builder on our short-list to show me the Technical Manuals for their last three boats.  I’m fairly certain that would have immediately eliminated Ben Harp Narrowboats from our list.  So if you are ever considering having a new boat built you may want to ask the potential builder to show you the Technical Manual of a previous build.  If they can’t provide one then I wouldn’t want them building my boat!

Barrie was very thorough and there are a number of minor issues needing attention.  Most of them relate to the labelling of switches and safety valves.  However we do have one physical problem with the shoreline sockets.  We have one each at the bow and stern.  The relevant standard requires they have either a fuse or double pole ELB within 500mm of the socket.  If the cable is fully enclosed in a cable duct the distance can be extended to 3 metres.  The rear socket is 1.5 metres from the consumer unit and ISN’T in ducting.  So we either run the wiring through some ducting or fit another ELB closer to the shore plug.  The bow socket is more of a problem.  Whilst it is in ducting it’s more than 3 metres from the consumer unit.  Moreover it will be difficult to retro-fit a double pole ELB into the circuit close to the bow as there’s no '”slack” in the cable.  Need to put the thinking cap on.

Nick was down in the engine compartment today fitting the Sterling PDAR.  He mentioned to me that we will have to regularly check the levels in the domestic batteries as the PDAR will charge much faster which will result in more heat and evaporation of the electrolyte.

In the afternoon Richard glazed and glued the side hatch windows together before fitting the thin strips of trim over the joints in the sheet of oak wall panelling.  There aren’t very many of them as Richard went to great length in his effort to conceal joints behind wall partitions.