Out with the old, and in with the new (old).

Monday 28th March.

Hello people, well here we are a typical bank holiday. Wet, windy, cold (outside, toasty warm in here).

There's a lot been going on here over the past few weeks, I am SO loving being retired! I'm not gloating, honest, I just enjoy waking up and pottering about at my leisure, listening to birdsong and enjoying the tranquillity of living afloat. Even when its raining, the sound of the rain on the roof of the boat is somehow soothing and peaceful. I think its called 'living the dream'.

I've been painting, only the inside at the moment. Well much as I love the wooden panelling in Bracken, it does make it a bit dark so I decided to paint the galley area the same colour as the ceiling in order to lighten it up a bit.

Well it certainly worked! The galley (kitchen) area is now a nice bright 'Happy Yellow' (that's the name of the paint colour), possibly needs another coat, (it's had 3 so far) but I think it looks great.

The other 'event' that has been taking place is:-

I took the plunge so to speak, and decided to call in RCR (River, Canal, Rescue) and got them to replace the tired, worn out Vetus engine that I fitted last year. You know, the one I bought cheap off Ebay that turned out to be knackered! Yep thats the one!

I really couldn't face going through the business of fitting the replacement myself, not again, so I decided to pay RCR to supply and fit a 1500 BMC with PRM 120 gearbox.

So it was out with the old, and in with the new. Actually it's not new, but second-hand but I'm reliably assured its a good un, and as it comes with a warranty I have no reason to disbelieve them. 

The fitting of the engine to Bracken turned out to be anything but straight forward.

I'll talk more about that later.

Anyway it is in and running now, just need some adjustments to the gear linkage and injectors and I'll be ready to have a mini voyage up the cut, Hurrah!!

More later.

bfn

Christmas, Health, and the Future.

Monday 8th February.

Hello people, yes I know its been a while since I last wrote, but I'm here now.
Firstly let me wish everyone a belated happy and hopefully Healthy New Year.  

Well, talk about 'the best laid plans'.... My last post was written on Tuesday before Christmas, well the next morning, (Wednesday), I was woken with excruciating pain in the left leg and it turned out I had developed a DVT in the left groin. An ambulance took me to Burton hospital who then sent me to Stoke on Trent hospital where I spent Wednesday night and Thursday morning being injected with clot busting drugs whilst trying to keep my left leg elevated. 

I'm not one to whinge and moan in hospital, I think that generaly the majority of nursing staff do a good job sometimes under a great deal of pressure, but by lunchtime on Christmas eve I had had enough and insisted on being discharged and allowed to return home to Bracken.

Over the next couple of weeks I injected myself daily and gradually regained the use of my left leg, in fact now I'm more or less back to how I was before the DVT. I now have to take Warfarin daily thats an anticoagulant, (stops the blood clotting) to hopefully prevent any more DVT's  fingers crossed!

I also have to go for regular blood tests to check the INR (thats the rate of clotting).

Now you are probably thinking what a terrible Christmas I must have had? Well to be honest I had a lovely Christmas!! Mainly down to my Sister Jenny who was an absolute diamond, and there are not enough words to describe how grateful I am to her. She not only changed her plans for Christmas to look after me but came up to Bracken and finished cooking our Christmas dinner.

Graham and Jaq also came up Christmas morning for an hour or so, so all in all I had a lovely Christmas!

Jenny  also ferried me to and fro to various hospitals until I was able to drive myself again, I don't know what I would have done without her.
I should also like to thank Rod and Sue from Narrow-boat Clara (next mooring to me), they were aboard their boat over Christmas and New Year and popped in regularly to make sure I was ok, and also my good friend Paul, ( next door but one) who also popped in to check on me.
Thanks people I really appreciated your help.

Tuesday 9th February.

Hello again, 

I had to attend Burton hospital today for a blood test. What a nightmare trying to find somewhere to park within 'hobbling' distance of the main entrance! The car parks were full to bursting with queues of cars gridlocking the entrances and exits! Eventually we found a space where some nice person was just about to vacate so we dived in! I say 'we' because Jenny came with me as chief navigator.

Having parked up we then made our way to the blood test department only to find it absolutely full. They were attending to number 11 ticket holder when we entered and I was given number 36 so only 25 people in front of me! Good job I wasn't planning on going anywhere I thought. Now I have to wait for a phone call to tell me whether to alter the dosage of Warfarin or continue as I am.

I'm glad I dont have to inject myself anymore, The injections had to be into the stomach area so after 14 days my stomach was a mass of bruises!

I thought I'd publish some photos in case my readers were getting bored with all the hospital talk, so here we go..........

My bestest little sis cooking Christmas dinner on Bracken.

Number one Sister in Law Jaqi

Bestest Bro, with HAIR!

House sparrow.

Tree Sparrow.

Mrs Moorhen, up the tree as usual.

Coal Tit (I think) or might be a Great Tit.

As far as the engine is concerned, I am waiting for RCR (River, Canal Rescue) to get back to me with prices for supplying and fitting a second hand BMC engine (with warranty. They've been out and assessed the job and given me a rough estimate. Now I'm just waiting for firm figures and to give them the go ahead.

I did the majority of the work myself on the fitting of the present engine and I really don't want to do it again so I'm going to let someone else do the work this time and with a warranty on the replacement I should have some peace of mind. 

thoughts for the future concerning the engine and some seasonal greetings to all.

Tuesday 22nd December

Greetings people, on this wet and windy day!

I suppose it could be worse, we could be knee deep in snow, or iced in and unable to move anywhere.

I thought it was time I wrote a few lines as a few friends have been contacting me due to the lack of updates to the blog. Sorry all, I promise to try and do more regular updates in the future.

The engine saga is an ongoing story. The installation of the engine is finished now. It starts, runs, and drives the boat forwards and backwards. BUT......unfortunately there are issues, issues that require much thought and decisions that need to be made in the future. 

When I bought the engine, (ebay) I took a tremendous risk. I bought the engine unseen and untested and relied on the sellers assurance that it was a good engine. To be fair the seller had never run the engine himself but had bought it for a project which never happened. When he bought the engine he was assured it was a good engine. Well unfortunately it aint a good engine! It is actually a very tired engine. It is low on compression, and also has very low oil pressure. Also, to be honest at 25 hp it is not powerful enough for the size of propeller fitted to Bracken. I must confess this is not something I fully considered before I started looking for an engine. I think the prop on Bracken is around 17 to 18 inch diameter, whereas the recommended size for this engine is 15 inch diameter. So basicaly if I keep this engine I will need to have a smaller prop fitted.  That entails removing the boat from the water to change the prop (more expense).

In truth, I tried to do the job of replacing the old engine on the cheap and basically came unstuck. So now I have to decide what to do about it. Fortunately I don't have to go anywhere, i'm quite happy living at Kings Bromley Marina, but it would be nice to go off cruising next spring if only for short periods, however I dont feel confident enough in this engine to venture very far. 

So, after the festive period I shall be considering my options and perhaps seeking some estimates.

The visits to my Oncology consultant are now every Two months instead of every month and so far all is well, (fingers crossed), although I am due to see the Cardio-Vascular team in January due to a narrowing of yet another artery that showed up on my last CT scan. (No additional problems as yet).

Thought you'd like a few pictures of some of my visitors. 

The Kingfisher seems to have moved his territory as he no longer sits on next doors boat, but I still see him around fairly often.

This Robin is a frequent visitor.

.....Usually when I've just filled the feeder.

Bluetits are always on the feeders.

The Tree-sparrow is usualy round the bottom underneath the feeders clearing up what gets dropped.

As does Mrs Moorhen when she's not climbing the tree!

  Well people, its time I wrapped this up as my tummy is rumbling!

I'd like to wish every one a happy and festive Christmas, and my very best wishes for 2016.

To every one in the boating communityI say, eat, drink and be merry, but try not to fall in!!

Some wiring and the panel is fitted.

Saturday 24th October.

Hi everyone, its raining here so what better time to catch up with the blog.

I've been sneezing a lot today so I do hope its not the onset of a cold. I was filling the water tanks on mine and Pauls boat earlier today and got drenched whilst trying to repair a leak in my water hose, in the pouring rain. Snug and warm now though.

So, how are we doing? I hear you say, well I'll let the pictures tell the story.

As it used to look.......

........ and as it looks now.

 Two pictures don't really show the amount of work that went into installing the new panel. On removing the old panel a mass of wiring was exposed. Some of it was needed and some was redundant. Also, the hole in the bulkhead had to be enlarged so that the 'guts' of the new panel would have somewhere to go.
I removed as much of the redundant wiring as I could, and then last Sunday Paul and I drove Bracken out of the Marina just up the canal and moored against the towpath to use an angle grinder fitted with a cutting disc to enlarge the hole.
Quite a momentous occasion, Bracken moving under its own power!! The first time since taking Bracken to the wharf to have the old engine removed!
I had the panel connected with the 4 metre wiring loom and propped up on a box to be able to start and stop the engine! It took us a couple of hours to enlarge the hole, Paul on the angle grinder and me inside the cabin with a fire extinguisher -just in case! There were sparks flying everywhere!
Once we'd cut the hole big enough we returned to the Marina where over the next few days I proceeded to remove the panelling from below the window to route the thick loom from the engine bay, through a one and a half inch diameter hole in the steel bulkhead, up the inside of the cabin wall and into the cupboard behind the Fusebox and engine panel.
A very messy job as the wall panelling is stuffed with fibreglass insulation which had to be removed and then replaced after the wiring loom was installed.
 

Cupboard behind engine panel contains........

.......Domestic fuses all 12 volt, and the back of the engine instruments.
The thick grey cable at the bottom is the connecting cable to the engine wiring.

Quite a marathon job fitting the new engine panel but it looks good I think.
Still some fiddling to do like sealing round the panel on the outside.Also I still need to set up the throttle and gear linkage as it's still a bit notchy, so I think next job will be to strip down the 'Morse' lever control and give it a good overhaul.
 So, getting there slowly.

A few pics of our resident Kingfisher. This first one I took with my phone camera, the rest were taken by Graham Haygreen.

Mrs Moorhen having a feed.

Sitting on my boat just in front of one of my boxes.

Sitting on Pauls boat. (No its not snowing!)

Well thats about it for now People. Bfn.

Update continued.

Monday 5th October. And it's raining!

Hello again, I didn't write yesterday because it was an absolutely beautiful day and too nice to sit indoors.

Jenny text me Saturday eve and invited me to join her for breakfast Sunday morning at the Kingfisher cafe at Fradley Junction. Normally she works on Sundays so this was a rare opportunity for us to have breakfast together. A lovely way to start the day.

I didn't do much after, chatted to some of my neighbours, watched the wild birds empty the seed container, refilled the seed container, and generally enjoyed lounging in the sunshine. It was one of those days that make you feel glad to be alive.

Over the past few days a Kingfisher has been visiting our end of the Marina, and seems to have taken a liking to sitting on or near Pauls boat which is the last boat off our pontoon. I managed to take a photo of him but it isn't very clear as he's too far away from me. However, Paul took this next picture through his window, simply superb.

Picture courtesy of Paul.

In the afternoon Graham, Jaqui, and two of their friends called in to see me and have a coffee. They were on their motor bikes and on their way home from Matlock in Derbyshire where they'd been for the weekend.

Not only did they see the kingfisher close up but also the Great spotted Woodpecker who has become a frequent visitor to the seed feeder. I've not yet managed to get a picture of him as he's a bit camera shy but he's really colourful.

Returning to the engine installation subject.........

A couple of weeks ago I reached the point of 'turning the key' so to speak, the cooling system was complete, and filled. The Diesel system was connected and bled as best as I could manage with a gravity supply, (this became a problem). And the electrics were connected.

On turning the key the engine turned over albeit slowly but failed to fire up.

On stripping the starter motor down we found the brushes seized and rusted up. Cleaned up and re-assembled the engine spun over a treat but still failed to fire up.

Suspecting a lack of compression, we removed the glow plugs and squirted loads of penetrating oil down the cylinders in the hope of unglueing  the piston rings which we suspected were gummed up.

Still the engine refused to fire up although we felt we were now getting some compression.

By now I was convinced I had bought 'a wrong un' and was feeling pretty downhearted as you can imagine.

Someone suggested that the gravity fed fuel supply might not be sufficient to actively 'bleed' the system as this engine is supposed to be self bleeding. A small electric pump was inserted into the fuel line, it actually came with the engine but I hadn't fitted it because I thought the gravity system would be ok, - how wrong was I?

With one wire from the pump to the battery, and another wire from the heater plugs to the battery, after a few turns of the key the engine burst into life! accompanied by cheers from yours truly and various neighbours that had watched  with interest my efforts over the weeks of installing the engine.

There are still a number of jobs to do, like setting up the gear linkage, and throttle, and the electrics to work from the new panel and not the old one but I've run the engine several times now and it starts and runs ok.

During the writing of this I have used the phrase 'We' a number of times. 

'We' consists of Matt, who has helped a lot especially with the climbing in and out of the engine bay. Matts' mate Phil, who's stripping and re-building of the starter motor helped enormously. Paul and Dave, who assisted me aligning the engine on its new bearers. 'H' who provided the flexible exhaust at a very reasonable cost, and also much advice on the installation and commissioning of the engine. Graham and Dave for the loan of the battery cables.

All these people have helped me over the last few weeks, and I am grateful for all their assistance.  

An update at last!

Saturday 3rd October.

Hello people, yes it's been a while hasn't it!

Actually I promised myself that the first rainy day that came along, I would bring the blog up to date. Unfortunately for you readers, but fortunately for us boaters, it hasn't rained for oodles of time! However today was cool enough to persuade me to light the fire, so here I am indoors trying to bring you all up to date with progress.

Compare with the heading picture taken one year previously.

First I thought I'd post an up to date picture of Bracken, flower tubs are looking good aren't they? They've been a riot of color all summer. They're a combined effort between my sister Jenny and myself and I think they're lovely. That's my idea of Gardening!

So, hows the engine installation going? - I hear you say. Well actually it's going ok now. 

The exhaust flange finaly arrived from Vetus in Holland after a ridiculous 8 week wait and what a disapointment that was. I was expecting a nice Vetus yellow, casting, and what i got is an unpainted, inch and a quarter BSP socket welded to a bit of 3/8 plate with 4 bolt holes! If i'd known what was coming I would have had one made for me in a quarter of the time it took for them to send it.

Having acquired the flange, I was able to connect the exhaust through a flexible pipe to the silencer and then lag the pipe work after installing an angle iron to support the silencer.

Stainless steel flexible pipe.

Cooling system is complete and filled with 50/50 water and antifreeze.

I have wired the alternator and starter motor through the old engine panel as a temporary measure as I have aquired a rather posh MP34 Vetus panel. However the wiring is proving a bit of a headache so I'm using the old panel for a while.

The brown terminal block had been snipped off by the previous owner, so I had to rejoin all 12 wires by soldering and crimping and then heat shrinking the insulation on each wire.

beautiful panel, £600 new from Vetus, a lucky find on ebay for less than a quarter of that. Fingers crossed it works! Now waiting for the 4 metre extension cable from Vetus to connect from engine loom socket, to panel socket.

I'll continue this tomorrow.

work continues slowly, and some very welcome visitors.

A wet August Bank holiday Monday!

Hello people, it's been raining on and off most of the day, a typical Bank holiday in fact so I thought it was time I updated the blog.

Work on the engine installation continues slowly, mainly due to waiting for spares to connect the exhaust, and the fact that I now have a dodgy knee so climbing in and out of the engine 'ole is to be discouraged.

The engine is now bolted down on the new bearers which in turn are bolted to the original bearers thereby raising the engine to the correct height and alignment and in fact the engine is now connected through the gearbox to the prop shaft.

I'm waiting for the exhaust flange that bolts onto the heat exchanger then the exhaust system can hopefully be connected up. I have the necessary hosing to connect the cooling system so hopefully that wont be a problem to assemble. Then theres the fuel system, and the wiring to figure out..... What fun!

Last week I succeeded in obtaining and fitting a replacement alternator as the one that came with the engine was so full of rust and spiders as to be extremely suspect. Also when I had it examined and checked I was told it was only capable of a 30 amp output, not really big enough for my requirements. So I now have a clean, shiny, replacement capable of 75 amps which should be sufficient.

Also last week I splashed out on two new leisure batteries as previously I had only had one leisure and one engine battery so when the leisure battery died I was reduced to just one battery for everything. Of course by then I was engine- less so it didn't matter too much. Anyway I now have two 110 ah leisure batteries and one 110 ah engine starter battery, a much more satisfactory arrangement. There is still room to fit another leisure battery if necessary but at present my power needs are small. Especially as i'm connected to shore power whilst living in the marina. I shall, at some point, need to get an inverter as I have now bought a small fridge/freezer to replace my gas fridge. I would have liked to have bought a 12 volt fridge/freezer but I really couldn't justify the £600-700 cost when Currys can sell me an 240 volt under worktop fridge freezer for less than £120. Even adding the cost of an inverter for the occasions when I'm out cruising still doesn't come to anything like the cost of a 12 volt fridge freezer. 

I had a lovely surprise earlier in the month when my youngest sons' wife Emma phoned me on a Saturday evening to ask if I would be at home the following day as they were driving up from Kent to see me! Their eldest daughter Charis had offered to have the two youngest ones overnight so they were able to come see me for a couple of days. How great is that!! They left home early and were here by around midday Sunday, they'd booked into a travel lodge for Sunday night so we were able to spend loads of time together. It was Emmas'.  first visit to Bracken, as Simon popped up briefly last November. As an Oncology nurse, Emma gave me a lot of support in the early stages of my Cancer treatment, something I will always be grateful for.

Great to see Simon and Emma, and wonderful to welcome them aboard my home.

They are about to become Grandparents as Charis is expecting, so good luck to all.

My idea of fishing doesn't involve fishing rod, line, and hooks. All you need is patience and a handful of bread or duck food as these pictures show.

I'm told they're a mixture of common Carp, Mirror Carp and Grass Carp, all I know is they're ugly!

I suppose this means the spiders will be migrating indoors as the weather is getting cooler.

My second lot of visitors arrived on Friday last. 

My eldest son Matthew, wife Louise and Children Lee and Elise came up from Kent for the Bank Holiday weekend.

It was their first visit to Bracken and it was brilliant to see them all and welcome them aboard my home. They were staying with friends in the area, but came over on the Friday and Sunday so we were able to catch up, and they even enjoyed some fishing off the pontoon, although they didnt catch any of the really big ones, thank goodness!

Great to see my Grandson Lee, and second eldest Grand daughter Elise. Maybe next year I can press-gang them into becoming crew! Ha! 

The Smiths'.

Bracken has an engine!

Friday 24th July

Hello people, dosn't time fly when your having fun! 

As you'll have gathered by the title of this post, Bracken now has an engine.

It's not attached to anything yet, not bolted down, not connected to the prop shaft or anything else yet, but it is in the engine bay!

In my last post I spoke about the big clean up in the engine bay. That took a lot of days of crawling around with the de-greaser,rags, and eventually paint. The end result was well worth the trouble.

I did paint the centre and the bearers, but forgot to take picture before the engine went in.

In between painting out the engine bay I was  also actively looking for a replacement engine.

 I found one on eBay, in Sandwich, Kent of all places, so hired a van for 4 days and popped down to Kent to see family and friends for a few days. I stayed with my good friends John and Dee, and also managed to pop in on Bev and Darren, and Chris, (another old friend). 

It was great to spend some time with Family as Matt and Lou had a bbq on the Sunday, to which Margaret, and Simon and Emma and all the grandchildren were there. Good times! And one day i'll remember to take photos!

John and I went down to Sandwich where I examined and paid for the Engine, Its a Mitsubishi Vetus engine. 3 cylinder diesel with a Hurth gearbox included, and although it hasn't been run for a couple of years I'm assured its a good one, hmmm we'll see in time.

On returning to home I dropped the engine off at my brothers house as I wasn't quite ready for it. (still bit more painting to do).

I pondered for some time on the best way of getting the engine down the 'ole so to speak, and eventually decided to use the lifting gear we'd used in removing the old engine, that way nobody was going to risk putting their back out with any heavy lifting! This meant taking Bracken back down the canal to the wharf. Fortunately, I have a very kind and considerate next door neighbour, Ann, whose boat is called Jennyanydots, and she offered to tow me down to the wharf and back!

Under tow just heading out of the marina.

So, with Paul on the bows of Bracken with a pole to help with steering, me on the tiller of Bracken, and Ann with the two dogs on Jennyanydots we set off down the couple of hundred yards to the wharf where Matt 'the man' was waiting for us.

Unfortunately I didnt take any photos of the engine going down the 'ole, just a few pictures of the journey there and back.

                                       

Arriving at the wharf, Ann cast off the towing hitch and whilst Paul and I poled Bracken into position under the lifting gantry, she did a superb job of reversing Jennyanydots into position for the return tow back to the Marina. Dropping the engine into Bracken only took 10 mins or so. So easy with the right gear!

On returning to the Marina, again Paul and I poled Bracken onto the mooring whilst Ann showed off her reversing skills again and brought Jennyanydots onto her mooring. A job well done!!

The engine is too low, and doesn't line up with the prop shaft. I have some new bearers to go on top of the original ones to lift the engine 4 inches which should then bring the gearbox drive flange into alignment with the coupling on the prop shaft. Once I'm sure everything lines up then I'll bolt the engine in position on the new bearers. Fortunately the coupling on the prop shaft will fit the gearbox drive, so I've not had to replace it.

This is a very different engine to the one I removed. Consequently nothing is going to be straight forward about fitting it. However, it is quite a modern engine, and all the spares are available so it should be easy enough to maintain.

Its a real ongoing project and I'll try and update the blog as I progress.

Thought I'd end today with a nice picture of Ann's dogs, Izabel and Zac, theyr'e quite well behaved and nice natured dogs, the sort of dogs you don't mind living next to. :)

bfn

Stage 2 continues.

Friday 19th June.

I've had a productive day today, not so much on the boat but 'other' things like, monthly check up at Derby hospital with my consultant Mr Laughan. All seems OK so far, and he commented how well I'm looking.

Back home and succeeded in filling in and then posting a rather in-depth form to the DWP, (pensions). Then a good ring around to book the hire of a van at the end of the month to travel down 'sarf' to pick up what I hope will be a replacement engine for Bracken! More about that later.

This week I have been busy with stage two of the engine bay, i.e. the clean up. On Monday I went out and bought the necessary cleaning stuff like biodegradable degreaser, disposable wipes, etc. etc. and set to down in the depths of the engine 'ole. With my feet in plastic bags as I don't own a pair of wellies, and wearing old clothes under a boiler suit, and armed with rubber gloves and a 'Benny hat' I waded in.

By late afternoon Monday, this.......... 

had become more like this.........

And the area in front of where the engine sat was also starting to look better.......

After degreasing, I'd started painting the walls but then decided to scrape the flaky paint away back to bare metal.

Once it's dried out it will be painted.

I've left it a couple of days as I want to give the floor (which is actually the base plate) time to dry out before painting it as once the replacement engine is in it wont be so easily accessable.

That's tomorrows job.

I couldn't resist putting this picture in. 

Mrs Moorhen up the tree again to get at the seed feeders. When the seed gets low she grips the perching peg in her beak and bangs it to make the seed fall to the bottom, how clever is that!

Bfn.

  

Home and settled.

Sunday 14th June.

Finally back in the marina, moored safely in my usual spot after a good and peaceful nights sleep. All thanks to Paul, my neighbour and my bro Grummy who very kindly came and hauled me back to the marina yesterday afternoon in the drizzling rain. I so wish I'd taken photos of Paul and Grummy trudging up the tow-path, like a couple of shire horses hauling Bracken on the end of tow ropes. I didn't like to ask them to pose in the drizzling rain for fear of being left on my own!

Once we got to the marina we used the poles to 'punt' Bracken onto the mooring.

Tomorrow I shall obtain some degreaser and some oil absorbant pads (nappies) to begin the clean up.

Notice the carefully cultivated stinging nettle on the rear fender (button), I keep removing it and it just re-grows!

A couple of photos to show how much higher in the water the stern is without the weight of the 'lump' (engine).

bfn.