Wednesday 29 June 2011
the narrowboat formerly known as pearl
just had a quick look at the boat register and noted that my old narrowboat Pearl is now called Lizzie
Tuesday 28 June 2011
Ongoing boat issues
Took the boat out to Branston Bridge 34 for Sat/Sun 18/19 June 2011. Boat ran ok, but, obviously lacks power due to the small two cyclinder 600cc engine and its age/hours - 22 yrs.
Checked the water cap again and noted there was still a leak around the heat exchanger - the fitting appears to be distorted - a temporary solution was to straighten the fitting with a pair of pliers and added a bit of rubber to the cap - the leak is more of a sweat now - still annaoyed that this was not picked up on the service - looking at the engine calcification/loss of paint - this leak has been around for years.
At the weekend I noted that the kitchen window was leaking badly - water ingress into the wood lining. The problem appears to be a small gap in the window, which has obviously worstened as the retaining screws have rotted away. I filled the gap with filler and added some primer to seal.
Must buy some green matt paint to touch up a few areas on the boat.
The rotten window screw problem has prompted me to replace all the window screws on the boat - not a quick job as there are 131 over the 7 windows. On inspection a lot of the screws have rotted away requiring a pair of pliers to remove the old ones. I have gone for a slightly larger size to make a better fit (they have been in for 22 years!). The new screws should last well as they are zinc coated - couldn't afford stainless in that quantity!
Also noted that the rubbing strips have split away from the hull in several areas - problem hidden by the new blacking when I bought it and they have obviously opened up as we have clouted the towpath and lock walls - will monitor the situation - probably due to the very thin rubbing strips used.
No further problems noted at this stage - the batteries appear to hold a good charge - although we don't used the lights and tv much and I have a small solar trickle charger. The winter will be the time to test them! I must buy a charger to run off the hook up power - I have a good generator on standby (and a bad one - machine mart saw me coming).
Checked the water cap again and noted there was still a leak around the heat exchanger - the fitting appears to be distorted - a temporary solution was to straighten the fitting with a pair of pliers and added a bit of rubber to the cap - the leak is more of a sweat now - still annaoyed that this was not picked up on the service - looking at the engine calcification/loss of paint - this leak has been around for years.
At the weekend I noted that the kitchen window was leaking badly - water ingress into the wood lining. The problem appears to be a small gap in the window, which has obviously worstened as the retaining screws have rotted away. I filled the gap with filler and added some primer to seal.
Must buy some green matt paint to touch up a few areas on the boat.
The rotten window screw problem has prompted me to replace all the window screws on the boat - not a quick job as there are 131 over the 7 windows. On inspection a lot of the screws have rotted away requiring a pair of pliers to remove the old ones. I have gone for a slightly larger size to make a better fit (they have been in for 22 years!). The new screws should last well as they are zinc coated - couldn't afford stainless in that quantity!
Also noted that the rubbing strips have split away from the hull in several areas - problem hidden by the new blacking when I bought it and they have obviously opened up as we have clouted the towpath and lock walls - will monitor the situation - probably due to the very thin rubbing strips used.
No further problems noted at this stage - the batteries appear to hold a good charge - although we don't used the lights and tv much and I have a small solar trickle charger. The winter will be the time to test them! I must buy a charger to run off the hook up power - I have a good generator on standby (and a bad one - machine mart saw me coming).
Wednesday 15 June 2011
Boat licence and mooring permit
Boat licence and revised mooring permit arrived on Monday 13/6/11.
The longest I have had to wait for licencing since owning a boat - application and cheque went in on 26/4/11 (licence expiry was 30/4/11).
Given the well publicised financial problems of BW, I can't understand why it takes them over 6 weeks to cash a cheque!
The longest I have had to wait for licencing since owning a boat - application and cheque went in on 26/4/11 (licence expiry was 30/4/11).
Given the well publicised financial problems of BW, I can't understand why it takes them over 6 weeks to cash a cheque!
Sunday 5 June 2011
T T races
Guy Martin at the Bungalow, IOM superbike TT 4/6/11Guy Martin unlucky in first race. Had to retire on last lap when lying second.
A good week for guy in the end - three third places and one second to go with the dnf.
The Suzuki appears to be a reliable machine but not as quick as the Honda engine use by John McPint who won both superbike races.
Hope Guy gets his first win next year - a very popular rider with a very strong marketing team behind him (one pint tea mugs £18! - by 'eck)
Guy's take on the two week IOM TT - blogged 12/7/11
The TT, eh? I suppose I can’t complain about it, eh? I won the stationary show which was the main objective for the two weeks. Talking of stationary engines, as much as I love my early 1990s stuff, you’re only playing at it until you own a Rolls Royce Merlin 26 litre V12 engine. So, I’m knuckling down with the overtime to get my hands on one. Trouble is, they use about 4 gallons a minute so it’ll only be started on special occasions!
Talking of special occasions, this coming week should hopefully be a bit special. Got the Southern 100 motorbike race followed by the Saltzammergut Cup mountain bike race on Saturday. The Southern 100 is my favourite motorbike race of the year and the mountain bike race is the toughest one day race going – so this coming week won’t be easy.
Oh, I never mentioned about the competition winner from last time. Ta very much for all the replies – loads of good ‘uns! It wasn’t an easy choice but the one about the American soldier and the SAS bloke stood at the urinal had to take it. Good work. I’ll go through ‘em again and find out who wrote it.
A fair bit has been going on really. I’ve got a big restoration job on at work – a 1996 143 500 Scania. I’ll get some pictures stuck up but she will be a concourse winner when she’s done. I was at Goodwood last weekend with the future Mrs Martin, if that’s what we’ll call her? Loads of interesting stuff there as usual – and I reckon I’ve seen my new car. I’ll let you know. Oh, and I know I said that I wouldn’t do any more TV stuff but I’ve had a job put to me that I couldn’t turn down. It’ll fit in with work, so it was a no brainer – so that’s another one I’ll keep you posted on (World sheepdog trials in September).
Right – competition time. The question is – if Johnny Vegas sold his wedding photos to VIZ for £1.00, who should I sell Mr and Mrs Martin’s to?
Thursday 2 June 2011
IOM TT
Off to the TT for the weekend
Good luck to Guy Martin (of nb Reckless fame) - second fastest in practice behind Bruce Anstey - hope he manages to navigate the Superbike better than the Narrowboat!
Good luck to Guy Martin (of nb Reckless fame) - second fastest in practice behind Bruce Anstey - hope he manages to navigate the Superbike better than the Narrowboat!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)