jobs wot I is doing

Needed to reseal the external chimney collar as the temporary-fix of cement (all I had at the time) I used last September was obviously breaking down.

Geocel Trade Mate Plumber flue (black) at Midland Chandlers at Braunston was £23.90, but they had some in stock.

As I'm still at Warwick and had the car, I checked for a supplier closer by.

Amazingly I found the exact same product at Screwfix, Leamington for £10.50 cheaper !

That's one hell of a mark-up and impossible to justify.

I'll definitely be price checking in future.

Rog

Continuing the joys of boat owning/living/surviving

Out of the drydock (a bit early as I said due to the trip boat leaving before I was quite ready)
I won't do the trip up the river to Beverley solo unless it's pure desperation stakes.
There are too many things where you might really need an extra pair of hands.

As a result I am moored outside the drydock in Hull, waiting for crew to be available (Tuesday)
not the best place to be honest as I am tied to a big old dredger and almost in the middle of the river.
But the tides are a better time and not as big then

The survey (bit of a sore point) found some of the bottom was getting thin (4mm)
unfortunately .... he didn't think to mention it at the time as he passed it but then put down those dents for repair
(I strongly disagree with it being a safety matter the plate was 7mm + and there was no real stretching)
Anyway I have decided to bite the bullet and get the whole area doubled including areas that are worn but not as thin.
Works out at about 30 sq metres I was talking with the yard and it works out that the boat mean't to be next has cancelled
So when the current occupant (York trip boat "Captain James Cook") leaves I will be going straight in (Tuesday)

There won't be a full team of welders for a week or so as there are doing a couple of big off site jobs
but that is ok because there is a heck of a lot of stripping out work needed first
(I had been thinking my bedroom and the shower and toilet were starting to look tired and showing their age.
I had decided I would just live with it and let it be someone else's problem, however after the incident with the hot water system
it had pushed me a bit.
Just another reason to get the whole shebang done in one hit .... that should make it certain she will outlast me.

Fortunately there is no need for any stripping out for the area under the saloon as there is nothing to burn under the floor
just some thin wooden battens under about a 4 inch thick layer of steel slabs
Even if the battens burn there is nothing around them that can catch

It will make a fair dent in my savings but as my sister put it
"savings are for a rainy day and at the moment it's pouring"

Had the hull 2packed last year, but sides of boat are wriggly and vertical so tend to scuff on lock walls, now got a couple of bare patches again, swmbo wants it pristine. Another rubbing strake would sort it. So a trip to local steelstock place, 3 lengths of 12 x 50 D bar, engineers supplies for 75 5mm csk hex head screws tapping drill and csk.
Chopped into manageable 5ft lengths and drilling 5 holes per length, it will be above the waterline so I have no issue with screwing to the hull, I'll 2 pack them first and use a pu squidge around screws.
I'm going to hang them off the handrail to line them up and drill holes in hull.

BSS test booked for next Wednesday , using same chap as last time , nothing has changed so all should be well. Got a bubble tester fitted so that makes life easy for him with the gas.

I'd have to find a welder with access to canal etc etc. Then pay him/her/it. Prepped half the steel already.
Ideally it would be done in a dry dock in full length 20ft. I'll be doing it with boat moored where towpath is low. If, in the future, it goes in a dry dock, I can get it welded. It'll do its job for now. It's already costing £240 for steel and fixings.

Now all done, 12 bars, 60 holes drilled and countersunk. Despite a spit or two of rain.

I have 3, 1 with bikes and shit, 1 with gardening shit, 1 with workbench and tools and shit. You can see where we are going. I store almost as much shit as peterboat. The latter shed not being big enough to accomodate and work on 5 ft lengths. It was dry most of the time. 

Now been to boat to collect the tub (s) of 2 pack the boatyard gave me for touching up to paint them before I fit them, also ordered 4.5ltr jotun 90 to do a coat when job done. 

Shit day….Tiller bearing change, ‘no problem mate, 2 hr job’ 👍
7 hours later, after heat, big hammers and brute force, it ended with cutting the boss in half😱, hammering off the shaft then re welding it up…
Ultimately a non earning, crap job. 🙄















And baby girl, after hanging round waiting for job to be done!🙄