Maintenance

Winter

Spent lunchtime getting one or two winterisation jobs done.  A pump out - not sure whether this is best, but at least emptying the tank now might prevent build up of bottom sludge. A fuel tank fill.  At antifreeze in the water system.

Rectification of minor problems

When Nuggler had the first (and most recent) Boat Safety Examination, there were one or two items on the advisory list which bothered us.  One was cabin ventilation.  The examiner found that the low level ventilation was inadequate for 6 persons.  Not that we are likely to accommodate 6 persons now the children are grown up, four yes!   The other was the external mains land line connection socket which apparently was not up to present day standards, not being "weatherproof" even though it has a cover.    It was my intention, therefore, to raise these issues with the boat builder when the opportunity arose.   This opportunity has been a while coming and in the meantime there are a few other things which are best dealt with by the boat builder.

1. The rudder bearing is worn.

2. The stove flue has rusted at its connection with the stove and is potentially leaking flue gases.  Not good!  This has, no doubt arisen because of water ingress.   We have had no proper flue cover, relying instead on a metal plate to cover the external opening when moored.  This was clearly inadequate.

3. One of the rear steps had cracked.

4. The dinette window was leaking rain water in one corner.

5. The roof ring was cracked and worn out.

Bottom Blacking

It has come round time to do Nuggler's bottom again.   So on the 1st May I sat on the boat waiting for the marina crew to remove the boat currently on the slipway and drag me up.   They appeared quite early but explained that they were waiting for the but up there to be surveyed and then they had another one that they needed also to survey first.   As a consolation for the delay, they offered to pressure wash the boat for me free of charge - a nice gesture which I accepted.    The result was, however, that I was a bit later than usual getting to grips with the scale using the scraper and angle grinder and wasn't really ready for the first coat of "Comastic" on day 1.    Good news, though, I had some help coming in the persons of my daughter and her partner, so on Saturday and Sunday we made very good progress in good weather, and by Monday when I was alone again I had three coats applied.  All that remained then was the other small jobs - repainting the stern, sorting the gunwales and quite a few other small but nontheless important jobs.   The last of these was to sand down the floor in the gally and put a coat of varnish on the front half of the boat floor.   Having done this and escaping through the rear, it was obvious that the rest will have to be done at a later time.

  

Routine engine maintenance

The boat is being put away for the winter and now is the time for an engine check, oil change and new filter.  It is actually only 113 hours since the last oil change, but the oil pressure reads top of the scale when the oil is cold which is unusual.   My rationalising for this is that the filter is choked, so a change is in order.  I used cheap oil the last time and this might be the reason plus the fact that we have been on the river and the engine works harder.   Maybe this is a good thing.

I took the boat out of the marina as usual (because of our mooring arrangement, access to the stern is restructed and I like to have a secure solid base for decanting oil).   The change was uneventful and after the oil pressure was in the normal range.   I used expensive semi synthetic oil this time as the engine will lie unused for about 4 months.

The opportunity was taken to apply a little varnish here and there.

The water tank was drained and the usual flush through with dilute monopropylene glycol ("non-toxic" antifreeze.)

Broken Gear Box Cable

Having already had the experience of a broken throttle cable, I instatly recgnised the faint "click" and failure to be able to select gear just as I was manouevring into Ravens Lane Lock in Berkhamsted.  With the gear now permanently in reverse, the only remedy was to switch the engine off.   Just imaging the scene if approaching top lock gates fast in gear, having to recognise the problem, switch of the engine and then have no way of stopping the boat.    It is possible to lift the engine deck and pull the gear control on the gear box by hand.   This is what we did to get the boat out of the lock and onto a mooring.   Stupidly, when buying a spare throttle cable I did not buy a spare gear cable.  It is a shorter one.   I called out RCR to help and the problem was dealt with, but unfortunately using a longer cable.   This got us nearly to Blue Lias.   However, the gear control did not feel right, so thinking that cable length was the issue, I bought the right size at Whilton and fitted it .   Easy enough but discovered in the process that two of the mounting screws were marginally longer than the other two and were fouling the Morse control.   With the screws in their rightful place, all is now well.

Routine

After our 6 week cruise time to change the engine oil and filter, and also the gearbox oil.

The engine oil change is now a well rehearsed job taking less that half an hour.  The engine marinisation includes a waste oil pump which allows one to pump the sump oil into a bucket, easier if the oil is warm, so I move the boat to a convenient bank to do this.   Then remove the filter after swathing it in a plastic bag to reduce oil spillage, whip the new one on and refill with 9 litres of new oil.   I can then decant the bucket into the now empty containers ready for disposal at our local council dump.

The gearbox oil change is essentially even easier, but the extraction has to be done using a vacuum extraction system (I use the Pela Oil Extractor), the oil is usuually cooler and takes ages to empty.

To clean out the bilge I use a proprietory bilge cleaner mixted with water, flushed around and removed using a wet-vac.   The waste is taken home to be disposed of.   Generally the bilge is always pretty clean anyway.

Finally, the boat is returned to the marina and a diesel fill of 85 litres 89p (since Aynho) sets us up for the next trip to Blue Lias in September.

Broken throttle cable

The throttle cable broke.  I knew because the engine was still running and I could select forward and reverse but no oomph.  A quick check lifting the deck board confirmed that the throttle was not moving.   The lucky thing was that I was just approaching Cassio Lock (GU) top gates very slowly waiting for the lock to be set by the other boat I had shared Ironbridge Lock with.   I just drifted round and stopped in the lock throat.    Fortunately, the other boat "Knot on Call" carried a spare which the skipper (Ian) was willing to let me have - and it was the right size.   RCR had advised him to carry one as aparently this is their single greatest call out incident.   It took an hour to fit, never having done this before.   Getting the idle adjustment right was the most fiddly part.   So I went into Harefield Marina and bought two. One for him, one for me!

Frost

A spell of cold weather arrived with sharp frost last week.  Methinks it is time to drain the water system.  So did just that and added some monopropylene glycol to the dregs in the tank and flushed it through the system.

Licence renewal time.  The gold BW/Environment Agency licence has gone up by over 10%.

Routine Oil Change

A quick visit today to do an oil change as part of getting ready for winter.  The engine is at 3237 hours use.  The oil used was from Screwfix - Silver Hook Hi-Spec 15-40 API CH4.   New filter.   Topped up the diesel tank as well to minimise condensation.

More solar power

There is no mains electric power hook-up at my mooring and although this has never been a problem with the batteries before with the two "Solara" walk on solar panels in use, continuous power requirements have increased.  The boat alarm and internal monitoring camera take a very small, but continuous drain and over time in the winter, the light is not enough to keep the voltage up after a couple of months.  I have, therefore, installed a third panel.    In the summer this should now provide almost enough power to obviate the need for running the engine when moored up for a few days and to keep the fridge freezer running if we need to leave the boat.

Water Pump Woes

In the journey reports I mentioned that the water pump failed.   I thought it might be helpful to include a little more detail.   We had a clue of a problem when, after an evening at the pub, we were getting ready for bed and found the taps in the bathroom dry - and moreover I was convinced that one tap had been left open.   Fearing that we had pumped the water tank dry I remonstrated with Pat and demonstrated the problem only to be surprised that water flowed.  So, forgot about it.  The next morning, again there was no water.   This is quite scary when you have a guest on board like a Grannie who uses a lot of water for everything and set in her ways.   We carry an emergency bottle of water, so a cup of tea was immediately available and there was a request for the bucket to be extricated from the front well under the anchor so that the toilet could be flushed.   Fortunately, examination of the water pump (empty front cupboard to remove floor panel) revealed that if hit, the pump would work provided a tap was already turned on.  This is very suggestive of a brush or pressure switch problem.   As we had an emergency workable solution a more measured approach was possible.  It was Sunday and we would be on the move the next day, so thought the best solution was to acquire another pump and keep the malfunctioning one as a spare.  A phone call to Whilton Chandlery confirmed that they are open Mondays and that they had a pump in stock.   What I did find out, however, was that the pump we have is the wrong one, designed for use with an accumulator.   We have no accumulator.  This is known to shorten the life of the pump.  The one in stock at Whilton was the right one.

Fitting the new pump was very easy.  DC Power off, main stopcock closed and with old towels in place there was very little seepage when the pump was removed.  I used a little silicone grease on the O Rings to help them seat again cleanly.  The wiring was just cut and the new wiring connected using crimped connectors.   The new pump has a bypass system within it, so that the pump only works at full speed or not at all.   If a low flow of water is called for then the bypass functions and this saves the constant operation of the pressure switch which we used to be aware of before and which caused the TV to check out presumably due to the RF interference.

The Old Pump was a Flojet Model R4305-500 (12v)

The New Pump is a Flojet R4405143A not suitable if an accumulator is fitted, but right for us as we have no accumulator.

Eberspacher again

The boiler unit's problems had been a little difficult to diagnose, but it was reported that the fuel pump was over metering.   Subsequent events tend to support this.   The total cost of the overhaul ran to £360.  Rather more than I had bargained for.   Fitting the unit back proved very much easier than the removal now that I knew how it was secured.   The exhaust and two water lines just needed the hose clips tightening.  Finally the fuel line.   Starting the boiler produced an sad noise which I eventually deduced was the water pump running dry.   After much thought I reckoned that there must be a venting screw which, of course there was.   So then it was pretty well silent and it started up OK but with clouds of white smoke continuously coming from the exhaust even after some minutes.   My first reaction to this was an expletive, thinking that the repair had been botched, however, it could be that there was a lot of unburnt diesel in the exhaust, so I let it run.   Slowly the colour of the smoke turned blueish and finally ran clear, though not after a passing boater remarked "That looks bad!"    Finally, I connected the yellow control wire at the timer to the Text Alert box so that I can give it 12 Volts by remote control and switch the boiler on and off remotely using the mobile phone.    It worked first time.   Amazing!

Eberspacher

I found an approved repair shop locally in fact, in Blackheath, A23 Engineering Ltd.  It was one of those places I love.   A cramped lock up full of shelves of bits of metal and electrical widgets and a very helpful engineer (Sean) who when chatting told me that the best maintenance such a heater can have is regular use.    Indeed, the manual recommends that the heater should be cycled on and off regularly (Sean thought that once a month would be OK) even if not fully used.  Other than that there isn't much that needs doing until it goes wrong.   He will be putting it on test for me to determine the reason for failure and letting me know.

Eberspacher and Oil Change

As we had done a fair few hour since last oil change, this was due now.  Accordingly I took the boat out of the marina for this as usual.  There is no access to the stern in the marina and care needs to be taken with the waste oil.   Safely moored up, the procedure was completed in about half an hour with new oil filter.   Having the built in sump pump makes the removal of the old oil very easy using a bit of old hose and a bucket.   Once the new oil is in the bucket can be emptied into the now empty oil containers and taken to the local authority disposal point.

Eberspacher Heater.   Whilst on our travels, the heater failed to ignite properly one day and shut down.  A number of successive attempts failed and as the heater has been on the boat untouched since new I thought an overhaul was indicated.   Rather nervous about how to get it out of the boat I gave it a long hard inspection.   One exhaust pipe shrouded in ?rock wool? inside a corrugated metal sleeve.   Two water pipes, flow and return, and the diesel fuel line.   Then how to remove the heater itself?   There appeared to be no obvious fixings.   Worried about this last I telephoned Braidbar.   Iain was very helpful and described a 10mm nut at the back and the heater sitting in a cradle.   These identified, I drained the central heating expansion tank and reasoning that all the water remaining would be below this level, disconnected the water pipes.   There was very little leakage.   With the exhaust  and the fuel line disconnected the body of the heater was easily removed to be taken to the nearest approved repair shop when back home.

The final job was a washout of the engine bilge using the wet vac and to return the boat to the marina. It had been quite a warm day and I later found out that my fluid deficit amounted to at least 3 pints of Marston Pedigree.

Getting Ready for the summer (Part 2 ....)

Since the last report there has been a number of visits to the boats to progress the various items listed as outstanding.

Marine Band VHF Aerial:   This has been fitted.   I took out one of the ceiling lights and drilled two holes upwards from the very edge of the light void to take the RF waterproof roof socket (from Force 4) and a 3 pin "Buccaneer" marine type power socket, also waterproof, from RS Components.  These holes were then opened out with a hole saw from above, the bare metal protected with zinc primer, and the two connectors inserted and screwed in with brass machine screws usung a bit of plumbers sealant for good measure.  Then using the power available at the light socket, two automotive relays were slid under the roof trim and connected up.   Using relays enables very thin wire to be used back to the main switch/fuse panel for the navigation lights and anchor light.    I managed to fiddle this wire through under the roof trim to emerge alongside the roof edge trim and hide the control wires behind the aerial wire back to the switch panel.   It works!

Cupboard Lights:    These have been installed and are controlled via a microswitch, only coming on when the door is opened.   These are LED wall lights and I fear that they are not as bright as I had hoped.

Battery Top Up:   I always have trouble with this!    The batteries are stored in the engine compartment on top of the swim.   There is very little room above to manipulate a filling bottle and no room to look in.   So I bought a garden sprayer with a controllable wand and used that.   Great.  Then I needed a headlight and mirror to be able to see when they are full.   I am still trying to dream up some easy way of doing this without all that paraphinalia , but no luck so far.     The batteries took about 4 litres.

TV:      This was fitted satisfactorally eventually, but it took a surprising about of time to get the mouting arm set up right.    Don't know if it works yet! 

Getting ready for the summer

Side hatch window

I can't remember whether this was mentioned in the journey report, but we lost our removable perspex side hatch window on the Napton Flight on our return from the Blue Lias.    I remembered a graunching noise in the lock which must have been the window falling down the side of the lock, but it was only later when I noticed the window missing that I realised the significance of the noise.   Anyway, obviously I have to replace it.   Sourcing the plastic was not a problem as there is a specialist local shop dealing in the stuff where they will cut to size.  Here was mistake one - getting the measurements right, or more to the point the right measurement.   The window is inserted into the door recess from the outside and held there by two brass bolts, one each side in the centre of the vertical dimension and locating into slots cut in the wooden door frame.   The bolts were standard "Screwfix" ones, so no problem there but how to fix them in the right place?   Obviously this could only be done in situ and would need two people.   Pat came to help.  We took the boat out and up Widewater Lock and moored on the right hand side on the BW workboat moorings so that the hatch could easily be reached from the bank.   Then we discovered that the window was too tall by about 1 mm.  Fortunately I had a tenon saw with me and was able to cut 3 mm off to give a bit of leeway.   The door recess is about 18mm wide.   Then with Pat holding the perspex in place I offered up the bolts from inside and shot them to keep them in place, drilled tapped and screwed them in place with bass machine screws.  Then, to make a perfect job took the window to the table, removed the bolts and refitted them using a tiny drop of Araldite.   Then offered up the window again but it would not fit.   Had I put the bolts in backwards?   No idea!   On closer examination, the sides were a very snug fit in the frame and were being held off on one side by a fillet of sealant, (or weld).   Nothing for it but to bring the assembly back home and shave a strip off the side with the bandsaw. 

Other Jobs

The engine bay deck cover drainage channel had blocked off with dog fur and small leaves.  After the heavy rain there was a lot of water in the engine bilge.  There is no drainage down here as it is potentially oil contaminated, so the wet-vac is needed and the waste disposed of elsewhere.

Batteries were checked and need water.   From experience this takes several litres so a return visit is needed with appropriate supplies.

I have finally capitulated and bought a flat screen TV for the boat.   This needs mounting on a bracket on the side wall which because of the tumblehome requires a wedge shaped base made to fix it on so that it stands out horizontally.   This was measured up.

Future work

One of bungees on the rear tanneau cover has pulled out.  This needs refitting.

I am still working on the design and cable routing for the permanent Marine Band Radio aerial and mast lighting.   We will need this for our trip down the River Severn to Avonmouth and Bristol.

I have some LED lights I would like to install on a door operated switch for the central cupboard so that there is lighting at a low level.

Routine Maintenance

At the end of our last cruise it was deemed time to do a routine maintenance exercise.  So:

-Oil change and new filter

-Inspect gearbox and top up

-Refill sterntube greaser cylinder

-Check engine and heating antifreeze, and drain water system including calorifier
      -fill pump and pipes with potable antifreeze solution

-washout engine bilge

-replace engine starter battery.   This has lasted 4 1/2 years and was now unable to keep enough charge for more than a few days to start the engine.   Even linking to the domestic batteries using a car jump lead was failing to provide enough energy to ignite the compressions.   The solenoid was also jumping in and out.   The domestic batteries are now 4 years old and seem fine for the present.

The Boat Safety Exam

I spent the morning and early afternoon on the boat making final preparations for the examination.  Technically, the existing time expired fire extinguishers could be tested and re-certified, but the cost of this could not be justified.  So I had purchased new ones.  However, I had discovered on re-reading the manual, that the fire extinguishers I had purchsed did not have an adequate aggregate rating for a 60 foot boat and I had needed to aquire an extra one.   Tim Crew arrived punctually and he worked slowly through his extensive tick box check list of items.   I was pleased to have confirmed that my work on the battery installation had indeed been necessary.  The boat passed the test, but the following advisory isses were raised.

1. The shorepower connector is not marked to BS EN 60309 or BS 4343.  This is a weather proofing issue apparently.
2. There is insufficient fixed low level ventilation.
Additional recommendations
3. Fit a bubble test device to the gas system in the gas locker to give a quick indication of any leaks developing.
4. Fit an LPG gas detector.
5. Have the gas appliances serviced.

Preparing for the BSS Exam

Time is approaching when I have to submit the boat to a boat safety examination.  Checking through the manual there would appear to be a few potential problems, one being that the batteries need to be secured (at the present time they just rest in a tray) and the terminals should be covered.    Asking other boat owners in the Braidbar Owners Group produced a number of possible solutions.   I have opted to fit a tensioning strap over the batteries and this was surprisingly easy to install needing only two holes drilled in the 1/8" thick rim of the battery tray, one each side.  I then bolted a metal loop to the holes through which the large hooks of the tensioning straps fit.    Limited space available for the drilling needed a flexible shaft to mount the drill, but the whole exercise was surprisingly easy.  A shaped piece of plywood was screwed to the top of this to protect the terminals.

I have also taken some measurements to enable me to fit a cable operated remote fuel shut off.  (Future project & not needed for the BSS - The placard referrring to the location is adequate)

Broken Window

Having taken the opportunity of using my Freedom Pass* to visit the boat to check all is in order after the first big freeze of the year, I noticed that the top vent of one of our smaller windows looked as if it was heavy with condensation.  From inside, I tried to wipe this off, but found to my surprise that the window was in fact broken; the security glass was crazed into hundreds of minute fragments.    I know of no reason why this should be so.   The window is almost completely hidden by the neighbouring boat, so the only explanation I can come up with is ice.

Returning again, I have fabricated a perspex temporary replacement pending a new pane.  Fortunately it only has to drop in place and does not require removal of the window frame.   All the more reason to keep a regular check on the boat eh!

Post Script:   A replacement window now been obtained and fitted.

*  For those not familiar with the advantages of being retired in London, those over 60 years of age resident in the Greater London Area are entitled to free travel within the London area.  The Freedom Pass.

Winterisation

Now that we have enjoyed our last planned trip of the year it is time to winterise the boat, particularly as the cold nights are with us.

Generally I prefer to work from the bank as the mooring we have is a bow only mooring and this makes removing the engine hole cover difficult with nowhere to work from. So, starting early I took the boat up through Widewater Lock and moored on the towpath a little further on. The first job is an oil and filter change while the engine is still warm. Fortunately the Beta 1903 already has a hand pump for draining the sump and using a bucket and short length of hose the job can be done without spilling a drop. Getting a clean oil filter change is a litle more tricky. Using a chain wrench to start things off, then a plastic bag around the whole filter and mounting it is possible to avoid spilling oil is care is taken. Remembering a previous experience, I was careful to ensure that the rubber seal was removed before spinning the new filter on. Incidentally, I use equivalent Fram oil, fuel and air filters when replacing which I obtain via a friendly garage. 9 litres of fresh oil are then poued in and the old oil is put back into the empty containers for disposal at the local council dump.

Next is a check of the gearbox oil, but this seems to stay so clean that I do not reckon to change it every time. Last was 250 hours ago. I suck out any water from the bilges using a wet vacuum cleaner and dispose of the water elsewhere.

Batteries are checked, and this time no top up is needed.

To deal with the fresh water system I drain everything down by running the tank dry by leaving the water taps open. The calorifier can be drained by gravity into the shower tray where the water is pumped overboard. I then put 2.5 litres of monopropylene glycol (non-toxic antifreeze) into the water tank with a little cochineal to colour it pink, slosh it around in the residual water in the almost empty tank and then run the taps until pink colour appears. Likewise the toilet flush and the calorifier drain. Then turn the pump off and leave all taps open and shower hose draining. I have a remote sensor for temperature which I can access via a mobile phone, so it is possible to keep an eye on the boat in extreme conditions. I would like to be able to fire up the central heating remotely also, but cannot do so at present.

Antifreeze levels in central heating and engine cooling systems are also checked using a propietory hygrometer.

Engine Air

Air access for the engine

I have long pondered on the question of how Nuggler's Beta 1903 engine gets air.  Being a semi-trad design, the engine compartment has a bulkhead broken only by two wiring ducts and the hydraulic lines to the bow-thruster which run alogside the swim.   The marineply deck transmits the sound and also rattles, so although the boat is very quiet externally, from the steering position it is quite noisy.   I would like to install sound-proofing but am anxious not to reduce air access.   So as a first step, today I took the angle-grinder to the double skin on the semi-trad side panel and took out a rectangular section about 3 X 4 inches from the inner skin.   Thus there is good access to the engine bay for air, between the steel panels.   I covered the hole with a brass louvred panel and it looks quite neat.    Now the next phase is to source some sound insulating material.

Maintenance Monday

We made this a family maintenance day - that is without the children who had other more important things to do.   As usual, I move the boat up to a convenient towpath mooring above Widewater Lock.   The visitor moorings outside the Horse & Barge were choc-a-bloc.    This warms up the engine enough to thin the oil.

Engine - oil and filter change.  Fuel filter change.  Check gearbox oil (and make mental note to change the oil because I need the suction extractor for it).   Batteries checked and don't need topping up this time. Its amazing really, because I can only recall doing this twice since they were purchased at the end of 2002.

Preparations continue for the Bristol Channel Cruise in June.  One is the VHF installation.  Siting of the radio itself presented few problems.  I have fixed it to the roof just inside the rear hatch, so it is protected from the weather with the hatch open, but visible from the steering position.   There is a waterproof remote speaker which can be plugged in when needed.    The aerial, however, was more of a problem.   I didn't want anything cluttering up the rear of the roof where it could get snagged up in ropes etc.   At the same time, the navigation lights as supplied by the builder consisted of only a red and green port and starboard lights at the front of the boat.   The rear white I fitted a couple of weeks ago, but a "steaming light" and anchor light remained outstanding.   So I have constructed a simple mast, put the lights on this and fitted the aerial bracket there.    This means running wires down the roof of the boat to connect into two auxilary DC sockets above the interier switch panel, but the mast (which can be demounted in seconds) and the wiring will only be needed very rarely, as will the radio,  so I don't see this as a problem.

While all this was going on, Pat and Grannie were busy with interior cleaning, the major job being brass curtain rails and the curtains themselves.   One third of the curtains had been returned for washing and re-fireproofing.   Actually, of course this means treating with a fire resisting spray called msl FireCheck.   See www.mslfirecheck.com for details.

There is still more work to do, so another visit will need to be scheduled before we go away in June.

Boat Hull Blacking

The time has come round again to get the boat out of the water and have another look at the bottom.   It was last done 2 years ago, and this was about a year after the hull had first gone in the water.   Then I applied 2 coats of "Comastic" having been advised to use this by Braidbar Boats because they had first applied it, and apparently it is wise to stick to the same stuff.

I booked the slipway at Harefield again and on the given Friday the team arrived to swap Nuggler with a boat already awaiting relaunch on the slipway.  There is a crude railway on which run two bogies.   The trick is to position the boat right then it is pulled out using a tractor and pulleys.   Nuggler seems a bit more difficult than some because it is a little deeper draughted and is just about the maximum sensible length for the slipway. I bring with me a builder's prop to stick under the stern to take some of the weight once in position, but even so, the boat must bend slightly because many of the internal doors with not shut properly while up there.   

The next job is the pressure wash to remove surface algae and loose paint.  I hired a petrol pressure washer for this purpose and it certainly cleaned the surface off quickly.  A number of bright orange galvanic corrosion spots were uncovered by this process.  This left a layer of limescale behind which the water jet seemed unable to move and this became the toughest part of the job.  Using a very sharp scraper (with replaceable blades) it was possible to crack this layer off cleanly with body weight and brute force.   By the evening of the first day I had completed one side.   The next morning saw the other side completed, but it still required finishing off with a rotary wire brush on the angle grinder.  The makers of "Comastic" recommend spray application or failing that, to brush the first coat on to ensure that it is worked into all the pits in the surface.   I used the brush, but it is hard work as the coating is thick and stiff to work.   However, by the evening of the second day I was at the end of the first 5 litre can, and 1/3 way along the second side.   I ran into my first small problem in that the contents had not been stirred initially (as recommended on the tin!!) and the mixture was getting progressively thicker to the point of being almost unworkable.    The next day I finished the remaining side and then started the second coat, this time with a roller.   This was both easier and faster so that by Sunday evening the boat would have been ready enough to go back in the water if bad weather prevented further work.   As it happened, although bad weather had been forecast, Monday turned out well, so I was able to get on with other jobs such as preparing the stern for a makeover and painting the black up to the gunwales.  I also opened up the weed hatch to give that a makeover too and found time to roller a third coat of Comastic on the sides.   A full day of rain on Thursday was a disappointment because I needed to apply a second coat of gloss to the stern.   That will now have to wait until another opportunity.  Friday is the day to go back in the water again.

Total cost of the DIY adventure was £362, including 3 cans of Comastic and paint for the gunwales.  On the face of it this is the same cost as advertised services from the average boatyard.   However, there are added items which I have done which would have bumped up the cost as well as having the satisfaction of a job done to my standards.   Whether that is better or worse I cannot say, but one passerby commented that his visit to a boatyard had turned out badly due to inadequate surface preparation.   I was certainly a week of hard work.

Water Tank Level Monitor

I have lost count of the times my daughter has asked "Is there enough water for a shower, Dad"?   We have a large stainless tank situated under the front well deck and can normally go for days without needing to fill up, but showers do take a lot of water, and regular filling up can be a chore when the water points are in use already, so the tendency is to soldier on.

I bought a kit from Mid Service Centre Ltd and thought about installation.  It came with a plastic 15mm 'T' connector into which a nipple adapter had been inserted on the stem of the 'T'.  The connector needs to be inserted into a pipe between the tank and the water pump.  A trandsducer unit with a very short length of rubber pipe is supposed to be fixed onto this nipple and wired up to a neat analogue gauge (that is shown in the adverts).   My problem was that the pump is located under the corner cupboard and has been very "compactly" installed.  There seemed no room to insert the 'T' connector, and even if re-jigging the nipple location so that the 'T' now acts as an angle in the pipework, the combination of the 'T' and transducer would not fit in the space available.   An alternative is to drill into the tank, however, I did not rate my chances of being able to do this without tearing the thin metal of the stainless steel tank side, and besides, how could I fit a connector without access to the inside of the tank?   Drilling the top of the tank and using a dip tube would work, but technical difficulties would be the same as well as access for the drill.

What I did was to lengthen the little connecting tube between the nipple and the transducer, so that the transducer is now fitted to the wall of the cupboard above the shelf.   Obvious really, but it worries me that I took so long to work it out.   All in all it took about 4 hours work.    This picture shows the transducer inside the corner cupboard.   It is joined below the cupboard floor to the 'T' piece inserted in the water pipe which you can see coming up through the boat floor in the picture below where it leads to the pump .  This shows the floor board lifted and you can see the silicone rubber pipe connecting the transducer and the pipe.  I need to change this tubing, which I found in my scrap box, for the thick rubber pressure tubing which the manufacturer has supplied at my request to give a secure connection.  I am worried that there is no stop valve between this and the 450 litre tank which is on the other side of the bulkhead by the curved grey pipe. Tubing originally supplied was too short as the transducer was intended to be located immediately above the 'T' piece and not a few inches above.    I broke into the water pump power feed to supply the electronics which are all located in the transducer unit.

(Click on images to see enlarged versions.)

TextAlert Alarm

I had previously reported problems with my Text-Alert Boat Alarm.  It would appear to be working, then mysteriously would go offline even to the point of total loss of communication.   To fill in a bit of background information on this, it had always seemed silly to me that a traditional alarm might make a noise, but if the boat is moored in an isolated location, so what?   The Text-Alert which sends an SMS message to a mobile phone when triggered seemed a much more sensible solution.   If I was, for example, just spending the evening at the pub but out of earshot, there is even a chance I could do something about an intruder.  If the boat were to be moored up in the marina, then at least I can telephone someone to check.   You can buy similar systems for household applications much more cheaply, but the Text-Alert is designed for very low power consumption in a 12v system and thus suitable for mobile use with no shore power.   The box is quite sophisticated and can be used for monitoring of, say, bilge water levels or controlling other boat systems like turning on the central heating remotely.

I had assumed that the problem with my unit was down to the unscreened wire I had used to connect the PIR sensor (it was a DIY installation).   Not so as it turned out.  The manufacturers of the unit have been most helpful in trouble shooting my difficulties even to the point of upgrading the unit to local wireless operation all at no expense to myself.  The problem turned out to be due to the telephone modem entering an undocumented state under certain conditions of very low signal strength and locking the unit out.   The solution to this was to fit an external aerial and to modify the software to deal with the modem problem.   Fitting the aerial was done yesterday when I drilled a 12mm hole through the side of the boat and connected up.   

Small jobs

The galley sink mixer tap was leaking and the whole assembly swivelling on the sink.  It was always loose and the boat builder never fixed it - it was on our list of snags.   So 2 years on I had a go.   There was nothing wrong with the washer, just a bit of dirt on the screw and I discovered that the gas bottle spanner was the perfect size to tighten up the nut underneath the sink.    All done.

Following the oil disaster, the engine bilge needed further cleaning, so on our last cruise I put some bilge cleaner and a jug of water in there and today sucked it all out.   Much cleaner.    I also removed the air filter element to try and find a replacement.     (Post script 12/12/2004.  Took the car in for a service and the garage produced a filter for me.  The dealers are opposite!)

I have also taken the opportunity to book the slipway for February 18th for a bottom blacking job.

Sundry items

Attention to small defects in the paintwork continues. There has been quite a lot of crazing of the paint and rust penetration where the gangplank and pole racks rest. These have been treated with rust preventative paint and top gloss, but the result is not very good. Other small defects which I attribute to millscale appear from time to time, mostly on the roof so it is difficult to be sure about the cause. This is much less of a problen on the sides of the boat, so microscopic local damage might be the reason. I do use the boat roof a lot, particularly when single handed.

The interior floor has been given another coat of varnish. Grit from the towpaths plays havoc with the finish.

The Black & Decker Dustbuster has had a set of new batteries. The thing was a year old so they should have lasted longer in my opinion, but they are , I believe, NiCads and don't like being left discharged and improperly charged over long periods. There was a problem with the charging transformer which took a while to sort out. Unfortunately, the base unit transformer is a simple AC device and rectification is done within the Dustbuster itself, so ideas I had on connecting directly to the 12V supply will not work. So while the transformer is plugged into the inverter supplied 240 volt main, the current demaind is not always enough to trigger the inverter into the "on" mode (unless demand occur from other equipment) and I suspect that the transformer itself does not like the contant voltyage spikes as the inverter sends out its sensing voltages. It is wateful to have an inverter contantly providing a 240 volt supply if there is no demand made on it, so the usual arrangement is for it to test the main intermittently for any load and then turn on if it finds one. A small transformer will consume current when energised, but will fall back to very small consumption once the initial surge has passed. This will cause the inverter to constantly oscillate. There is usually some control over the sensitivity of this feature, so I may not have this right yet!

More on Boat Alarm

As a result of previous problems, the alarm was sent back to the manufacturer for a software update. This was quite successful in stopping false alarms, however, obscure problems still remain. These are being looked into by the makers, so watch this space for updates

A salutory lesson

A story of where two is definitely not better than one!

Day 1

I always move the boat to a quiet bit of towpath for maintenance work in the engine bay. There is no direct access to the back of the boat in the marina, and the engine needs to be run anyway. So having done this:-

Pump out (oily) water and clean engine bay. (Remember the load of water taken in at the back whilst descending Watford Locks). The "Wet Vac" is brilliant for this. All the oily water safely transferred to a 40 litre container for safe disposal and everything all nice & clean & dry now.

Oil Change

Now that the boat has returned from the 10 week cruise, certain basic maintenance tasks need to be attended to, principally the engine. An oil change is due. No problem. I have done this many times before - it goes like this:-
Warm the engine (already done)
Attach a plastic pipe to the oil sump drainage pump. (The BETA1903 has a very useful little stirrup type pump permanently installed)
Pump out the oil into a bucket. It looked very thick and black.
Change the oil filter. I have a useful chain link tool for releasing the filter and spin it off holding a plastic bag underneath to catch the inevitable oil spill. This didn't work very well, in fact I made a real hash of it and got some oil in the bilge and all over my hands. Not easy though working in the confined area of the engine bay - but no matter, I can clean that up.
Install new filter and tighten as per instruction on the case.
Fill engine with 9 litres fresh oil.
Decant bucket into the now empty oil containers.
Check over and run engine for a brief moment to check for leaks. All seems OK.

Other items

Battery water inspection and top-up. First top up needed since Jan 2003.
Air filter - needs a new element
Refresh engine coolant antifreeze

Pack up and go home - er NOT!!

Well, up mooring pins and start off up the cut to the nearby winding hole. Firstly, the tacho is not working. Secondly the oil pressure seems to be rising and rising, then the engine alarm goes off. Stop engine immediately and coast in to the shallows. Lift the hatch and look at at a sea of oil all over the engine bay floor. The entire engine full of oil has now appears to have been lost, and moreover it must have sprayed out. Momentary panic sets in. What the heck could have gone wrong? Ruptured pipe? What can I do now? Can't leave the boat here (aground); can't start the engine again. Reason begins to take hold, though only feebly. Get off the boat and bow haul it back to the deeper mooring where it just came from, then think again. That done, and fearing some major catastrophy I call RCR (the RAC of the waterways) - yes they'll try and find an engineer and let me know when he might be able to come out. How many on board and did I need any provisions bringing? That scared me more - how many days did they think I might be here for then? This forces a more reasoned approach. I has to be the oil filter. Won't I look stupid when the engineer comes if it is something totally simple and remediable, problem is though the floor is all covered in black slippery stuff. Anyway not to be deterred, and by kneeling on the engine and leaning over I can reach the filter and remove it. It looks perfectly OK, but then I notice that there is a gasket still stuck to the mounting plate and there is one on the filter as well. This could be it, when removing the old filter, the old gasket didn't come with it and the double gasket couldn't take the pressure. A quick check of the old filter minus gasket seems to support this view. Quick call to RCR to cancel the engineer and set off to the nearby marina to buy two more cans of oil. "Could I have two cans of engine oil please?" "Sure no problem - did you get your leak fixed then?". So my problem is aready in the public domain!! Now feeling an absolute d***head I return to the boat and refill the engine. It all worked perfectly with no more leak. Engine bay full of oil? Well there's nothing in the stern tube section, so no problem for now. The boat moves, I can get home and live to fight another day.

Day 2

Cleaning out the oil.

I have a small stirrup pump and an attachment that is good at sucking up small amounts of fluid from flat surfaces. Its a flat plate with grooves cut in its underface fanning out from a central tube which connects to the suction. This was really hard work, but got about 1/2 can out before the pump gave up with the strain and the plunger snapped off. After some consideration, I thought that I would try the "Wet Vac" again, but doubted that it would be able to manage the oil with its viscocity etc. Actually it was brilliant and got most of it out very quickly, refilling the empty cans as before. Then all it needed was some bilge cleaning fluid and some water to make it look better still. That "Wet Vac" was the best thing I ever bought. Now we are respectable again.

Paraffin Pressure Lamp

I keep a paraffin pressure lamp on the boat for the odd emergency and when exterior lighting is needed. I bought it from a mail order supplier at a very good price (I thought). Strange, the instruction sheet was all in german, but it works well and is interesting when compared to "Tilley" lamps of which I have had previous experience, in that it has a jet and venturi system for nebulising raw paraffin which can be ignited to preheat the lamp flame tube (no idea what the correct technical terms are for these parts). So I do not need to keep a supply of methylated spirit for that purpose.

Unfortunately the lamp was knocked over and the glass broke. How could I get a replacement? I tried emailing the company I bought it from - silence. It had a german company sticker so I tried a google search in the internet for some contact details, but nothing at all. I visited at camping store in Derby and looked at the variety of lamps on sale. Clearly replacement glass could be had, but would it be the right size?

So I did a google search on pressure lamps and discovered all sorts of interesting things. Firstly there seems to be a huge collectors market in old oil lamps. These guys buy them up, polish them and get them working again and I could see the attraction in this. Some examples look truly beautiful. Secondly I found out more about my particular lamp which is called an Anchor Light and is made in Shanghai, still sold in Australia, but not in the UK as it is not approved. (This explains why there was a sticker saying "for outdoor use only" when I bought it.) Finally I found a shop (The Base Camp - Lamp Loft) in Littlehampton with a really knowledgeable owner who knew exactly what I wanted and with a bit of detective work we found the precise model number hidden under the german sticker. "Yes I have them in stock". Problem solved.

Isn't the internet a wonderful thing!

Boat Alarm

I have fitted a boat alarm called Text Alert. It had struck me that there was little point in having a regular kind of alarm if moored alone - after all who is going to listen to it? The theory is that the Text Alert will send a message to my mobile phone if conditions are breached and it will even allow me to control some items in the boat (such as central heating) or read data such as temperature if set up to do so.

It works, but has proved unreliable in that either the unit is inaccessible at times (then needs manual intervention) or false alarms. I think I might have made some errors in installation. The sensor supplied is a combination PIR/ultrasonic unit which has been modified by the Text Alert people to draw very little current. (Such sensors always present a positive voltage to the control box in the un-alarmed mode and this could be a significant drain on the batteries over time if not modified) I have used telephone cable to connect this to the control unit and I think in retrospect that I should have used shielded cable or even routed the wires away from other services.

Vacuum cleaner

Our little 9.6 volt Black & Decker Dustbuster, which has been so useful for picking up the dog hairs refused to charge. Disgnosis was a broken wire from the transformer (its plugged in to the 240v mains supply)> It was taken home to repair, but unfortunately the transformer (240VAC in 12.3VAC out) is totally welded up and inaccessible. Found a good website (www.ishop.co.uk) with all manner of spares and had one sent round. Dustbuster works again!

Dog Steps

7th April 2004

Routine maintenance plus painting of rear steps.
The overweight labradors, particularly the black one, have found the rear steps from the cabin to the cockpit to be troublesome. They cannot get a straight run up because the bed is in the way and being varnished wood finish their paws slip making them very uneasy. We had a similar problem with the gang plank until I painted it with a sanded finish. Having failed with other "non-slip solutions" we decided to apply a similar coat of paint with sand to these steps. An area was masked off and painted with two coats of Atlantic Blue, sand in between. Time will tell whether this works or not.

Winterisation

I'm new to Weblogs, so this post appears rather obscure if not taken in context.

This is a technical record of Narrowboat Nuggler, a 60 foot narrowboat on the British Canal System. The boat is nearly 2 years old, built by Tim Tyler to Jonathan Wilson design and fitted out by Braidbar Boats. So far there is about 1000 hours on the engine and two summers worth of cruising.

November 2003

I'm not getting the boat out this year, her bottom was scraped last January. Although I will be interested to see how the Comastic (3 coats) has survived when we go through this process again next year.

I have continued to touch up the paintwork as necessary, but particularly
odd perforations from millscale
occasional minor damage
the well deck which got a lot of scratches
the counter likewise
rubbing strakes
The technique that has worked well is to scrape back to clear metal edges in the case of millscale and apply a dot of Screwfix antirust paint. This dries black. Likewise this works well on the rubbing strakes and leaves a black finish. After a while a dot or brush application of finish paint does the job. The silky finish black paint is applied to the lower hull (above the lowest rubbing strake) about twice a year and seems to keep the worst of the rust deterioration at bay.

As for this winter:
- An oil change has been done.
- Battery water level checked - nothing needed (I have only had to top up once this year)
- Solar panel works well to keep the batteries in good condition
- Antifreeze checked. Engine coolant is borderline for strength, so might need a top up if the weather gets really cold
- Water tank and calorifier drained and monoprolylene glycol added to water system.
- Solid fuel stove cleaned