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Friday 21 November 2014

Repairs made during 2014.

Moving batteries..............268-92
Tiles for bathroom...........104-29
items for tiling work..........11-55
Engine hole seals...............24-78
Fit fairleads........................40-00
Dry dock for bent prop....892-80
fabricate fit fuel lock.........72-00
Hurricane fittings............144-30
Total                              1558-64
Insurance payout...........  767-80
Total                                790-84


Originally the batteries were sited in the engine hole and so close to the deck above that I found it impossible to even open some of the caps for the wet cells. Consequently the batteries were hardly checked in two years. (Fortunately one of those years the boat was more or less idle). I had them moved up in to the locker above. This has meant the I can easily check them on a regular basis and so hope that the cost will be offset by an improvement in the life of the batteries. I am still not happy so I hope to have them moved out again and line the space better and plug the drains that allow water in to the engine space. This job turned out to be the most expensive of the year and perhaps the least value for money. I had negotiated with the mechanic doing the job but had not realised that the billing would come through the marina, as it was carried out on their property, and was presented with a very inflated invoice. Believe it or not I negotiated a reduction but it was still a 'dear do' as they say round here.

The bathroom shower tray had been leaking slightly and I couldn't find where it was coming from. I eventually tracked it down but not before the damp had caused the waterproof layer on the plyboard to come away. I thought about covering in plastic sheeting but wasn't confident in my skills with this material where as I had done a fair amount of tiling over the years so settled on that. Mind you I am no master and the cutting of the big tiles we had chosen was not an easy job. The final finish is okay but no a professional job but it seems to work. I had been worried that the tiles would come away with vibration etc but they seems to be holding fast.

Starting the job is always the hardest part!


When the boat was at Shobnal Basin in Burton on Trent I asked the engineers if they would fit a couple of fairleads on the roof rail for the centre ropes, one either side. I had purchased the fairleads myself. I should have bought different ones as the rope comes out too easily, but still save the paintwork. They also managed to free the fuel filter on the engine for me in the price. The first fuel filter replacement had come due but I couldn't shift it. It took them a goof bit of effort but they managed and fitted the filter that I supplied.

The boards over the engine hole are resting on metal edges and two removable bearers across the boat. I thought that the noise and vibration would be reduced if I put seals between the boards and the steel edge. It worked a treat and the noise is much better now.

The largest outlay would seem to be the dry docking and refurbishing of our bent propeller. However with the money received from the insurance company that only cost us £125. I say only through gritted teeth though!

This little feller got left behind in the dry dock. Mind you it wasn't that little. It is an 'Austropotamobius pallipes' or more commonly called a white clawed cray fish and they can grow to 12cm (5" in old money). It is called a white claw as the underside of the claw is pale. (Pallipes means 'pale footed). This one was near to full size I would say.

Whilst in the dock I had them fabricate and fit a locking device for the fuel filler cap on the stern. You hear all sorts of stories about fuel being syphoned off, although I have never spoken to anybody to whom it has actually happened, and with us bound for the place of dark deeds and trickery, London, I thought we should have something down. I had looked for locking caps etc and for other systems. I had toyed with the idea of drilling right through the cap and pipe and use a long shank padlock but could see problems in the future. The result was a pretty good solution and although quite expensive was about the same as a good quality locking cap for other types of filler.

Locking bar across fuel filler pipe.

The last repair was to the Hurricane heating system. I don't expect this to happen again as they are known for their reliability. They only require servicing every 1000 hours and we have only done 148 hours in two years. After the air lock was identified it was found there was no easy way to bleed the lines immediately out/in to the unit. Two bleed valves are usually sent with the kit but the builder had neglected to fit them. The addition to the lines means that now there will be no problem in me bleeding the system if it should happen again.

The two blue right angled hoses ensure that there is no air trap at where the hose leave the Hurricane unit and the bleed valves can be seen just where the blue hoses joins the black hoses

As to next year I want to get the battery locker sorted properly and it will be two years since the last blacking so maybe that will be done so I am hoping for no more than this years outlay again.

3 comments:

Marilyn, nb Waka Huia said...

Hi Tony and Helen, Reading about your outlay has cheered me - David and I didn't keep records of our expenses; as I've noted before, the thought was too scary ... I know we spent more than you have this year, but in a perverse way it is cheering to note that even on a new boat things go awry. I guess, apart from the prop, you two are rectifying things that you have found don't work as well as they could. Much of that on Waka Huia was probably done some years ago to suit the original owners, and we have done some more of it to suit us, as well as rectifying some faulty stuff. We have already paid next year's licence fee and it is less than 6 months till we are back!
Hugs to you both, Marilyn and David

NB Holderness said...

Hi Both, Boats are always bottomless pits. The next biggest hole in the finances are houses! How is the move going? I haven't seen any photos yet! I am already counting the days until we are back aboard. Cheers now.

Marilyn, nb Waka Huia said...

Hi Tony and Helen, I posted about the new house with photos earlier today. Check it out. It is going to be lovely as all the trees house lots of birds so we will have lovely bird song from morning to evening. Wonderful!