Back to the yard

Over this weekend the boat has been moved back from Hatherton to Dadford's Wharf where the fit out will continue tomorrow.
Whilst waiting at the top of Bratch Locks I was able to take this 3/4 view.

The boat handles very well - except for sluggish reversing and stopping which is an effect of the shortage of ballast.
By way of explanation:
The counter (at the back of the hull) is about 3 inches above the water line.
When travelling forwards the counter is pulled down into the water to an acceptable level and the prop operates efficiently.
In reverse this does not happen and the propeller sucks in air from the surface and runs in froth rather than "gripping " the water.

Back in the water and cleaned

Today Glennys and I spent another day cleaning.
Now the boat is out of the grit floored poly tunnel we could make a serious attempt to complete the cleaning. This involved getting all liftable floor panels up and once again going round with the vacuum cleaner. The entire interior was also washed from the ceiling to the floor.
This took us about six hours but the interior is now completely fresh and clean from ceiling to bilges.
( Complete with the fragrant smell of lemon Flash )
The photos below show the boat with brassware, slides etc reinstalled.
Even though small portholes have been used - and sparingly at that -  supplemented by prism rooflights, the interior benefits from plenty of natural light.
The prisms light below the front deck and bathroom very well even without any portholes.
I will add photos later.

More ballast will be added to put her about another 2-3 inches lower in the water.
As described earlier the overall brunswick green (which I think looks a bit drab) is not the final colour but is just to provide weather protection untill the final paint job in the spring.

The grit blasting was carried out at Phill Jones' yard at Hatherton.
It was well executed and competitively priced.

Holding coat.

Above is the boat in the first holding coat over the primer. As per yesterday's post it is blue/grey.
Below are photos of today's work, a second coat in mid brunswick green and deep brunswick green - depending which can we had open at the time. This will provide protection over the winter until the proper paint job in spring 2013.

On Monday 17th the portholes, prisms, hatches etc will be fitted and the interior will be washed out and cleaned again. The boat will be returned to the water mid week and over the weekend or early the following week the return trip to Dadford's Wharf to continue the fitout will be made.

Shotblasting

Over the last week the boat has been shotblasted.
It was taken out of the water on a trolley and pushed into a poly tunnel for blasting
Briefly the events were as follows:

Monday   Portholes etc removed and blanks fitted over all apertures.
Tuesday  Blast hull in morning and black hull in the afternoon.
Wednesday / Thursday  Blast cabin in morning and spray primer in afternoon

I couldn't contribute much to this process so I stayed away until today when Dave, myself and Glennys (Mrs W) went down to clean out the boat, remove the blanks and masking etc, spot prime where the post blast spray had missed and get a coat of gloss over the primer.

Quite a large amount of grit had got into the boat so Glennys spent most of the day mucking out with the vacuum cleaner. A grim job.


The photos below show the boat in the poly tunnel with the spent grit on the floor. (and inside the boat).
The primer used was Rustoleum ,which being based on fish oil has not been affected by the VOC2010 paint regulations.
The blacking used was Dacrylate 2 pack.

By the end of the day the areas seen in primer had been painted with a gloss holding coat made of  paint from John Sanderson's left overs. It is a sort of bluey violet grey but will be given a second top coat of Brunswick Green tomorrow.

Preparations for first voyage.

This week the oak flooring was substantially completed and treated with oil.

The fuelling problem causing the engine to stop and need bleeding after 2 hours running has been traced and rectified. A small hole in the secondary filter housing to the return fuel system was found to be blocked. This allowed bubbles to build up at the highest point in the system until the fuel level dropped below the feed from the filter housing to the injectors. Clearing the hole allows the system to self bleed and engine runs of up mto 6 hours have been made.

Drawers have all been made for the back cabin cupboards and galley.
These have been brough back home and await painting in my garage as time permits.

The engine controls have been reinstalled after being painted brunswick green and completing painting of the back cabin ceiling an undercoat in the engine room areas which are difficult to access with the controls in place.

Final preparations have been made for the maiden voyage when the boat will be taken to shotblasting on Monday.
This has mainly involved all hatches and apertures being or made ready be blanked off  and fitting locking systems to all hatches doors and lids.
The trip will take about two days to complete so I will be "camping" on board.

Incidentally the boat now has a name: Primus.
This was the name carried by the first diesel powered tug on the Birmingham Canal Navigations and according to the register is surprisingly not used on any narrowboat.

Oak floor completed and oiled.

The oak floor has been laid from the front bulkhead back as far as the engine room.
The section through the engine room on the port side will be laid later.
The floor has been treated with polyx oil on both sides and the top given a second coat.

The hearth is inset by about 5mm as the quarry tiles used were 14mm rather than 19mm as these tiles have gone out of prouction. The 5mm downstand to the hearth is not considered a problem and could even be advantageous in retaining any spilt dust or cinders.

Although it hardly shows in this photo, the galley units have received a coat of cream undercoat.

Summary of work to 24th August

Last week the engine was test run for a day although a small air leak into the fuel line between the tank and engine lift pump means the engine stops after 2 hours (exactly). The engine easily restarts after bleeding the air from the top filter housing.
Over the next week the connections in the fuel line and primary filter will all be remade and the return fuel route (which should self bleed the system) checked.
This will hopefully fix the problem.

Dave has continued making galley doors and is currently laying the oak floor.

I have, as usual, mainly been painting.
The central heating system was filled and after replacing a faulty drain valve (which would not close) and refitting the radiator valve connectors with LSX to seal the thread wher they screw into the rad, the system held water.
The boat is due at the shotblasters on 4th September so the maiden voyage is imminent.