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).
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