Bathroom Redecorated

James has been very busy over the past few days, redecorating the bathroom. Before, it was plain varnished plywood, with an ornate cupboard door. Now, it's this brilliant cherry red shade, of an exterior grade paint, and so it feels completely transformed, along with a new cupboard door.

It was a lot of hastle to do, because we've been unable to use the bathroom for the past few days, as James was sanding, priming, undercoating, and putting on two topcoats- but the finished effect is worth it.

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Boat Jobs List

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Refridgerated Duck

So, we have a fridge - 98 litres from Shoreline, very shiny, and with a good sized freezer compartment. Getting rid of the old one and acquiring the new one proved more stressful than we imagined, however! I put the cranky old one up on Freecycle and had about 15 people wanting it. The first one to reply said he'd be over on Sunday and would call first thing to say what time. 4pm rolled around and I'd heard nothing. He had my number but hadn't given his. Exasperated, I called the only person who'd emailed about it who actually had left a mobile number. She and her husband (who happen to know a friend of ours from rowing) showed up within the hour and took it. They wanted it for a relative who was fitting out a boat on a budget, so I was pleased to give it to them - I did warn them that it wasn't the best fridge in the world, though!

Arranging to get hold of the new one wasn't easy either - first off, we thought we'd get one delivered to my work, but it would have been a massive struggle to get it to the boat. A friend offered to have it delivered to her, but I really didn't want to put her to trouble. We decided then to pay a bit more and get one from Ely Chandlery, since James could cruise out there and it would only be a short walk with the trolley. But then, John Pippin saved the day and offered to drive to Jones Marina in St Ives on his day off, so thanks, John! As luck would have it, they had a deal on fridges, and so it was significantly cheaper to go there than buy online or pick one up from Ely. James repaid the favour by doing some anglegrinding and painting of Caboodle. It is wired in and ready to go, but we're not allowed to turn it on yet, which is quite frustrating - the coolant liquids need to settle. But it won't be long now before we are up and running, and able to store lots of tasty food!

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A Plumb Job

Last Thursday morning we had plumbing emergency number 1, when the shower hot water pipe split. It had been under stress for a while, as the shut off tap on the pipe had become stiff and we'd had to use molegrips to turn it on and off! We turned the water off until after work, when James went to buy another short section of pipe to replace the split bit, and a nice new shut off tap. These were soon fitted and we thought all was well.

However, the water pump kept being triggered every now and again, leading us to think that there was probably a leak somewhere. On Friday evening, I was out and James had another look at the compression joints to make sure they were tight. In the process of tightening them, it seem that he damaged further another section of pipe which was already weak and leaking slightly. Plumbing emergency Number 2! Unfortunately, this section was inside the wall. The pipe exited the hot water boiler, made a right angle into the bulkhead, down between the bathroom wall and bedroom wall, and back out into the bathroom. Quite why, we can't work out, except perhaps for neatness.

We decided that the simplest way to fix this was to cut off the section which went inside the wall, and reroute the pipe straight down from the water heater to the T junction with the shower pipe. A trip to B&Q later, we had all the parts required to fix the problem, it didn't take long to put it all together. We do, however, still have a redundant section of pipe embedded in the wall, as we'd have to take the bedroom wall apart to remove it!

New fittings

New Drawers

At the weekend, we went over to Oxfam to collect the new chest of drawers. We strapped it to the sacktruck and wheeled it home. 

 

Earlier we had turned the boat around so that the bedroom side hatch was on the bank side. It was no trouble to wheel home, and equally, when we came to fit it through the side hatch, slid in with centimetres to spare on each side. I had a satisfying afternoon sorting through the clothes and finding a new way of organising everything. I had a bit of a sock anmesty, matching up as many pairs as possible, and discarding the rest. 

 

Meanwhile, James had a go at the well-deck storage. We finally got rid of quite a few things which had been taking up space, and quite clearly we don't use, like a manky old sleeping mat for camping, and a portapotti which is broken. Now we have space for lots of coal storage, and as a plus, I think we've sorted out our slight list, by moving some ballast! A very satifying weekend's work.

Storage Solutions

We have a clothes storage issue on The Duck. We always have done. We have a chest of drawers and a top entry wardrobe under the bed but there simply isn't the space for two peoples' clothes to all fit in the the same time. Even with the wardrobe and drawers full, some are always on the floor/on the chair/in the washing bag.

However, I think I may have found a partial solution. In Oxfam on Burleigh Street I found a lovely little chest of drawers for £10, and so reserved it and measured it up. Back home I measured the space between the top of the desk under the bed and the underside of the bed. The chest of drawers will fit perfectly on the desk under the bed if the legs are removed. And it will fit in through the side hatch.

I just love the little round handles.

Now the next step is to get it home Luckily Oxfam is only a 10 minute walk from the boat. and I think that if we strap the drawers closed, and secure the chest to the sack truck, we could probably wheel it home. Its all flat and the paths are smooth. I shall post the results of our endeavours soon.

Grand Onion Pale Blue

Our tin of GU Pale Blue just arrived from Craftmaster. I am dying to know what it looks like!


Note the name!

True Blue

The Duck is now undercoat blue. I'm quite taken by it, but it will eventually be Craftmaster Union Blue. And the window? It needs a bit of extra waterproofing following a mishap! More on that later.

Bigger Battery Bank

The more orange one (top right) is the latest addition. As you can see, four 100Ah Elecsols fit perfectly in the box (which came with the boat). We started with 3, just in case the 4th didn't fit, so we could put them the other way round, with some supports if necessary. But the three fitted so well and left such an invting gap to be filled, that we always planned to buy another. So when we found that the three were struggling to keep up with the solar panel's output, this was the catalyst for finally buying the fouth one.

The only annoying thing is that the terminals are the other way around, as can be seen from the photo! It just makes the wiring slightly less neat.

And we're noticing the difference already. After an evening of TV/iPlayer watching (cathing up with Dr Who etc), the 'traffic lights' on the regulator still show amber, not red!

Perago a Go Go

This little wonder is a Perago Triple Blaster. It's a series of rubberised star-shaped discs with sharp tungsten-carbide teeth, and is apparently just the thing for removing paint from narrowboat cabins. Jim recently used one on Chertsey's cabin, and as it came highly reccomended by him, we've gone ahead and bought one to continue with the grand repaint in the half term.

I've also reserved an amount of serious kit with HSS, including a large rotary angle polisher which takes abrasive discs, a bigger version of those recommended by Neil on Herbie. Last night the Herbies were in town visiting their son and made a quick exit from the Beer Festival to visit Amy and very kindly give us some left over discs and abrasives.

We'll try out the Perago and see how we get on. Hopefully we'll have no need to hire the stuff we've reserved.

Solar

Well, what a glorious weekend! We felt even more privileged than normal to live where we do, as people flocked to the common to sit by the river, picnic under trees, and generally enjoy the sun.

On Saturday, we both went rowing early, then I had another outing at 11, and James came home to intall the new 100Ah Elecsol (more on batteries and solar panels later). After lunch, Charlotte came over and she and I headed for the Jesus Green Lido. Built in 1923, it is the longest outdoor lido in the country, at 100 yards (91m). It is unheated, but since it was so hot, we thought that this was the day to try it! At first it felt bloody freezing, but after a while we got used to it, and spent about 45 minutes swimming, which was very enjoyable.



On Sunday, it was too hot to lie in, so by 9am I was sitting reading in the shade on the bow deck. Later on we both raced in the Champs VIIIs Head, which I thoroughly enjoyed, despite the heat. James coxed my boat. Video here.


Waiting to race

Of course, the sunny weather is also great for our solar panel. In a recent comment, psladen asks: Two months on and I'd also be most interested in an update for how the panel has been holding up! Thoughts/annoyances? Any leaks from the bottom-mounted cables? MPPT tracker holding up?

We continue to be impressed with our wonderful photovolatic panel, having only run the genny a couple of times in anticipation of a lengthy iPlayer session! We have had the fridge on constantly (something we could not have contemplated before) and there is plenty spare. Ours are not bottom mounted : the wires exit from the top of the panel and go into the pigeon box. But others who have the bottom exiting wires have not reported any complaints. The MPPT tracker seems fine, no issues there. We haven't got a device to measure the current output of the panel, but on a vaguely sunny day the batteries are normally fully charged by the afternoon. Just this week we bought another 100Ah Elecsol battery to complement the three we already have, in order to keep up with the panel output, and try to store more of it. The only struggle encountered so far is keeping the panel clean. It has a rough texture which traps dirt and blocks the light but I struggle to keep it completely dirt and dust free. It seems to work fine despite this so its only a minor niggle.

Soaking up the Sun

Last night we fitted our solar panel, and as we speak, the batteries are being happily, quietly, and renewably charged by the sun. It makes us very happy!

We began by checking that it would fit. And, in a way that makes it feel like the boat was designed for a 5486 x 394 panel, there were millimetres to spare in every direction. Then we rolled it back up, and I prepped the roof - cleaning and sanding it to key the surface. As I did this, James installed the Steca regulator, with its much simpler display than the one we had for the wind generator. It simply has four LEDs, from red through orange and yellow to green which show the status of the batteries. But it is capable of handling two of the large panels like ours, so no need for a new one if we decide to get another panel later. It optimises battery charging and is considered to be one of the best solar charge controllers about.

The next stage was to stick it on. We were glad to have the help of (big) James who has experience with this from installing his own similar panels last summer. We stuck 6 inches on while flat, then rolled it back up to carefully unroll it again, which took three of us, me unsticking the backing, and both Jameses controlling the panel as it unrolled, carefully avoiding the mushroom vents. Sticking it on in the cool of the early evening was the best time to do it according to big James, who struggled to install his in the hot sun, with the glue melting! Unfortunately the very end of the panel is under the cratch cover, but modification of the cover would allow light through, and in the meantime, the panel has by-pass diodes, which allow shaded panels to be ignored with no ill effect.

Connecting the panel to the batteries was probably the biggest job. The kit we bought from Midsummer Energy came complete with rolls of copper wire, and these had to be crimped on to the wires which connect to the panel. We decided to enter the cabin through the pigeon box right next to the panel, and then took down part of the inside of it to allow access to the roof void. This was interesting in itself, as the Duck has two roofs, the top one covering the old one underneath, and we were finally able to answer the question of what insulation existed between the roofs if any.


You can see the wires are going through between the two roofs here, andthe rockwool insulation between them.

We used a coathanger wire to bring the wires across the roof, to the side hatch, where they dropped down to below gunwhale level and from there to the back of the boat and regulator/battery bank.

We celebrated getting everything connected up with a trip to the Elm Tree with (big)James, Elisabeth and Steven (a rower) who was enjoying his last night in the pub before heading off to Greenland for a field trip today.

This morning wewoke to a bright day, and 13.8V from the panel, and the batteries (which were 12.2V last night) at 12.6V. Very pleasing.

On Curtains (net and otherwise)

Boats, especially ones moored in public places (as ours now is) are subject not only to the idle curiosity that most of us have about our fellow humans but also to the curiosity which land dwellers have for those of us who have chosen to live an alternative lifestyle on a boat. While I would feel embarrassed to dawdle for too long outside the window of a house, I have seen many people openly pointing and discussing the interior of my boat and its contents. "Oh look, they've got a sink and a cooker and everything!". And while I don't mind this now and again (in fact it makes me feel proud that my home is worth commenting on), until now, I've never moored permanently in an area where this could happen all the time.

So, our thoughts have (as I mentioned in a previous post) turned to privacy and therefore the need for some better curtains in our bank-facing windows. With its small portholes and foam stuffers, the bedroom is easily kept private, but the kitchen, bathroom and saloon are very much on display to passers by.

Today, I picked up a large bedspread from a charity shop, which happens to be the same colour and fabric as some of our cushions, so as a temporary measure I will cut that up into some simple drapes to cover the three windows in the living area which are not above the hobs. In the long term I'd like something a bit thicker and fade-resistant, such as velvet, but first I'm going to have to learn to use my sewing machine properly!

I have also been thinking about getting some modern version of net curtains, so that in the summer we can let some light in too. Nothing nasty and floral, or even traditional boat lace, but something plain in cream voile perhaps, with only a subtle pattern if any. But only on the bank-facing side will they stay closed. Part of the reason I love living afloat is being able to watch the swans (and now rowers) passing the windows. I'd like to be able to close all the curtains for warmth at night, but in the day, I want to be able to watch the world go by!

Further Electrickery

Overview of all the wiring. The junction box housing the main positive busbar has a lit to be fitted; tonight, I'm going to Maplin and getting covers for the other busbars.



New fuse holders, and busbar supplying the power to all the circuits. Labels need to be made, but all the connections were crimped with my ratcheting crimpers- a fantastic toy!



Bus-bar and loom for the 12v lights. Annoyingly, they are all orange, so fault finding could prove problematic....



Negative busbar- returns from all the domestic wiring, and connections to the charger, wind-turbine regulator, and the inverter negative. Space to add more connections if needed- and FAR better than a mess of wiring, bodged onto the battery terminals, as it was before.

Newly installed are several busbars, to allow fault-finding, and all the cables have been cut to length, securely cable-tied and made into looms, and routed sensibly so fault-finding is easier.

Duck Out of Water

This morning, at about half-past eight, the Duck went up the slipway at Fox's. We were very impressed with the efficiency of the guys at the boatyard- they arrived and went straight down to it, helped us move the boat back over the trolley, and then slowly and smoothly up the boat went. More photos to follow... We went through the list of stuff to do, and departed, leaving the Duck in their capable hands- and, before we'd even left the yard, they were sweating over the prop, having a go at removing it.
They certainly don't hang about!
We're currently in the public library in March, waiting for our train at 1pm to Peterborough, then trains to King's Cross and finally Exeter St. Davids, arriving in the early evening.
The week could see an altogether different kind of boating, because if conditions are right, we might go to sea on Amy's Dad's trimaran. Exciting stuff- and far less boring than the Middle Level!

Electrickery

This week has been a real mixture, of both stress and relief. We joined RCR on Monday morning, and arranged for one of their contracted engineers to visit us that afternoon. Unfortunately, the Duck's wiring was- in his opinion- in a pretty poor state, and he wasn't able to make a completely safe and reliable repair under the terms of his RCR contract, which like the AA will get you going again but not do too much work.
We arranged for him to return on Tuesday, but he had a sinking boat to attend to so came briefly on Wednesday and today. We've had to disconnect the domestic supply as the wiring had an earth leak somewhere and it was causing the ignition to fail.
But we got the engine started, albeit with no instrumentation, and Amy and I set off for Ely at 3.30. We stopped after Bottisham Lock to flush the intake, but couldn't start the engine again. The solenoid would fire, but the engine wouldn't turn over. I turned it reasonably easily with an adjustable spanner, so reckoned the problem was not mechanical, but electrical.
It turns out that the starter battery is more useful currently for ballast than engine starting. We tried wiring in one of the domestic batteries, which are dual purpose, and it started first time. Relief!
Thinking about it, the starter battery has probably always been a bit naff; in the past, due to the selector switch being faulty, it has always had the leisure batteries to back it up; on its own today, for pretty much the first time, it showed its weakness.
The engine eagerly turned over on one of the elecsols, and we had a pleasant cruise into Ely, arriving at a quarter past six.

Moving at last!

So, for now, I have put one of the old leisure batteries in the well deck next to the water pump- because we do need to flush the intake- and I've put the inverter back onto the batteries so we can use the 240v lights as the 12v have no power.
Another job to put on the list for March to look at; and so there may be 12v rewiring when we return to Cambridge.
Lyra, by the way, is very confused that her home was moving. She sat on the engine cover at our feet, yowled a bit to indicate her displeasure at us having the temerity to make her home rattle, shake and move, but she soon settled down.

Where are we?

Time's onward March

This week is going to be an eventful one. The Duck is booked onto the slipway at 8am on Monday 26th; we have to get from here to March before then, with the added complications of working every day, three rowing outings, and getting Lyra to our land-dwelling friends who have arranged to cat-sit for the week.

Then we've got to hand over a list of work to Fox narrowboats, and depart to Devon by train for the week, as we can't stay on the boat whilst it's on the slipway. This is going to be a much needed holiday in the half-term week, and we've saved up what would have been an impossible amount to achieve when we were cruising last year to get the boat fixed, and ensure trouble-free cruising.

It's a little like the Spanish Inquisition sketch by Monty Python: "NOBODY knows the amount of work we're having done! Our main problem is the cooling system and prop-shaft... our TWO problems are cooling system, prop-shaft, and engine bearers.. our THREE main problems are cooling system, prop-shaft, engine bearers, and engine alignments... our FOUR- no, AMONGST our problems are such diverse elements as...."

But the first handicap is getting the boat to March in the first place. We plan to leave on Wednesday night, going up to Ely where we will spend the rest of the week, commuting in and out by train (and possibly doubling back to Little Thetford, or on to Queen Adelaide moorings, as that's more than the permitted 48 hours), before dropping Lyra off on Saturday morning, and heading up to Denver for the 10am tide on Sunday, and then travelling from Salter's Lode (with a £5 bet riding on the score I achieve steering the boat in...) to March on the Sunday, and celebrating with CHIPS in the evening, before having the boat hauled out on Monday. If their winch and tractors can cope with Kestrel and Pippin, the much-smallerDuck should be no problem- although Amy's collection of handbags and shoes makes the Duck much heavier than it looks...

Today, however, I tried turning the engine over to check it worked. I'm glad I did, because- having worked on the electrics several times since last moving the boat, changing all the batteries, and generally playing around, I can't get the engine to start. I'm sure it's an electrical problem, because there's only 0.24 volts showing at the ignition switch, on the alternator warning bulb and the oil pressure warning bulb, and the oil-pressure warning buzzer isn't sounding. The starter battery is, by the way, nearly fully charged- that was the first thing I checked!

I spent a good hour with the multimeter checking the ignition system out, but I can now hold my hands up and say it's beyond my competence to deal with it. I could take the whole system to bits, but I'm not sure I could put it back together again reliably enough to make it work!

Rather than calling in favours from friends and family, as we have in the past, we've decided to dip into the savings a little bit and join River and Canal Rescue, and call out an engineer to have a look. Big John on Pippin, Andrew Denny on Granny Buttons, and several other bloggers have nothing but praise for the organisation. We've got a very busy schedule this week, and so have decided that- although this is expensive- it's not as expensive as I had thought, being £150 for the timeframe and immediacy that we need, plus it should also give us great peace of mind in future.

This is the crux, really. We have to get the boat to March, at all costs, else we'll lose the slipway booking, and upset all these plans. In the short term, RCR's guarantee of help or a tow is just what we need. Plus, it means that, in future, if anything serious or minor goes wrong there's going to be massively experienced help only a phone call away, which is immensely reassuring! Combined with the repairs March are carrying out, it should help us enjoy stress-free cruising, compared to what we have had before, and so I will feel comfortable enough to take the Duck to Bill Fen, around the Middle Level, and ultimately onto the canals next summer for a holiday- something we've not really been able to consider yet.

We'll be able to use the Duck as a boat again, to cruise into Cambridge when we like, or up to Ely or further afield, with no worries. At the moment, she's a static houseboat- but, soon, that will all change.

And I'm certainly looking forwards to it!

De-fuse-ing the situation

Wednesday was, for me, a day off due to it being a training day at work. Apparently, I require no training, and so resolved to work on the boat instead.

So I decided to sort out the coolie hat- no, sorry, the "Chinese Rain Hat" (to use the PC term)- and mount it on brackets on top of the chimney, to keep the rain out.

The coolie hat itself was a gift from Big John, who had in turn been given it by John III on Monty. Confused as to all the Johns? Me too.

Either way, it is brass and shiny, and will polish up a treat. The first task was to make the three supports, which will attach onto the bolts holding the outer and inner skins of the chimney together, so I used a piece of flat steel bar I had bought from Mackays yesterday, and cut each support to length before drilling the holes for the bolts in the chimney, and the bolts in the hat itself, and then finally bending them to shape in Big John's Workmate.



The final mounting looks OK, but I think I'm going to drill another set of holes further up the supports so the cover will sit lower; the gap is a little big at the moment, and it hasn't completely passed the aesthetic review by Amy, so it will need fettling at some point in the future.



The next job was to replace the fuseboard for the 12v supply, which powers all the lights, pumps, and the domestic electrics. This job took all afternoon, interrupted for a spectacular lunch with John.

The old fuseboard took "Continental" fuses, and was extremely corroded. Getting the old one out was simple- snip the "busbar", which was in reality a tiny little wire soldered to all the contacts, and unscrew it from the plastic box housing.



The corrosion and the age of the fitting meant that it was becoming unreliable. Having lost power to the lights four times on Tuesday night- once when Amy was in the shower!- this job was bumped up the list of things to do.

I had bought two fuseholders (each holds four fuses, and I needed six) from a local motor factor, for something like 15% of the price of a "proper" Vetus unit! Yes, these ones might not be as neat looking, or as splashproof, but they will do adequately, I think.

Mouning the fuseholders was easy, but supplying the six positive terminals from one power feed was going to be interesting! I was tempted to use a chocolate block and many wires, going one to the next, but came up with a far neater- and probably quicker- solution.

I took a thick copper cable, that had previously joined two batteries together, and stripped off all the insulation leaving a core of copper wires. I twisted them and made branches off by each terminal for the fuses, and then bound the whole thing in insulation tape for safety and to hold it together, and crimped on the terminals with my new ratchetting crimper tool, bought from Mackays yesterday.




I connected up the power feed, and then spent nearly an hour fiddling about trying to reconnect the feeds to the 12v supplies. It was frustrating, but I managed it in the end.



I attatched the lid, tidied away all the cables, and finally sat down for dinner and an (I think) well deserved cuppa.



Long-term plans include changing the short piece of cable between the master switch and the fuseboard for something a little heftier, as the exisiting cable (the brown one entering the white fusebox on the right hand side in the photos above) is a little small, and so the lights tend to flicker whenever a high-current demand, like the water pump or the inverter, is used- which is annoying when showering, as the lights dim and brighten in time with the cycles of the water pump! But it is still slightly better with the improvements I made, there's just a little more to go.

Winter Plumage (Part II)

Much better. All the work over the summer has paid off!

WInter Plumage

It's not just real ducks that turn shades of grey or brown for the winter...

Lucky Duck is no exception. Having spent several weeks over August angle grinding, filling, and priming, over last Saturday and Sunday I spent the majority of the days outside, working on finishing off the paintwork.

And it does look, if I'm allowed to blow my own trumpet, rather splendid. The roof (including pigeon box, handrails, and all the fittings) are now a lovely shiny mid-grey- International's Atlantic Grey Toplac, to be precise. The sides of the "Lid", which were once red, and the yellow stripe are now gone; Toplac over where the red used to be, with several coats of primer underneath where the stripe was, and a neat dividing line after I spent about 5 minutes getting the masking positioned correctly, knowing that Herself would not like a wonkily painted boat....

The chimney collar and Morco chimney are finished in black, to make a nice contrast.

The sides are still dark blue, although this is looking very much the worse-for-wear now in comparison to the shiny new paint.

Photographs to follow......