BOATS AND CANALS

Calcutt have managed to do nothing in two weeks and now have forgotten that they ever where going to do something! They have restarted the process we have already discovered a flaw in the original plan as the cookers they supply require 240v but Dotterel is a 12v only boat.

Cheers Graham

Not very good service, don't they book in repairs with a proper 'work to be done' sheet. I would have thought it would be automatic to check power supplies etc. when jobs are booked in requiring this kind of work.

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Maurice

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Calcutt have now fitted the cooker, serviced the Alde boiler and given the boat a BSS. There were a couple of wiring issues apparently which were trivial enough to fix but, as of this moment, I'm not quite sure what they were. I'm up there Thursday so will find out then.

Now I'll get my neighbour (he works for Direct marine Components at Braunston) to fix the pipes in the water tank, they are very corroded internally.

Cheers Graham

Cooker fixed, goody, we'll all be round for sausage and bacon butties.

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Maurice

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This is the new cooker, the kettle was on where were you all?



We had a few gripes about the installation and have spoken to Calcutt about it.

The boat was moored with the normal bow rope left on the centre ring and the tastiest bit of rope on the front frayed to less than a third of its normal thickness. it was a miracle the boat was still tied up!

Secondly, one of the front door bolts had been broken.

I'm also a little unhappy with the design of the installation. They have connected the cooker to the fridge wiring. this means that the inverter runs wherever the fridge is on. This wastes power and makes a noise. I'll re-wire it to have a separate switch.

On the plus side of our visit the new electric blankets work a treat and we do have enough power on board to run them for a short period when away from shore power.

Cheers Graham

Yes maybe but I can't see any sausage and bacon butties.

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Maurice

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Sometimes I just don't understand the stupidity of some "Workmen" I needed some rewiring done after a fire in the engine room.I had to use the marina's "Engineer". He rewired the starter etc but didn't connect the bilge pump, slightly important in my opinion.

Needless to say any jobs I needed after that I either did it myself or got someone I could trust in to do jobs on my boat. After getting my own man in to do a job, I got a letter saying I had to use their "Engineer".

I left the marina and now have a much better mooring, which is 30% cheaper, they don't care who comes to my boat.

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Laurie Booth
http://www.pamelasalem.net

I've been up at the boat again for a couple of days.

I've sorted out the fridge/cooker wiring.

When I moved the fridge I found this:-



The inverted was loosely held in a tie wrap.

And this:-



This is the junction between the incoming supply, the fridge and, now, the inverter. Now I'm pretty sure that the fridge/power line connection dates back to the boat's days as a hire cruiser but I think it's not ideal.

The wiring is now all properly supported with only the fridge wires loose to enable the fridge to be moved. The inverter is now fed via a new switch so it can be switched off when not in use. I've also mounted the inverter on a new shelf above the work top. I like things to be accessible and it is now supported well. I may swap it another one which only switches on its fan when it needs to - which for the current draw for the cooker means never.



It was a bit cold outside but with my new electric blanket and the heaters in the beddroom I woke up too hot!

This was the view from the bedroom in the morning.



Sort of slushy ice.

I've also been doing some wood work on the door liners (after we had the side hatch doors replaced).

We are next up in a week and Jo wants to decorate the bathroom so I've been sanding. She has been watching too many design programs on TV

Cheers Graham

They are maintenance jobs that are better and safer sorted, before something goes wrong.

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Maurice

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I thought I was bad at electrics, well done for tidying up the mess.

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Laurie Booth
http://www.pamelasalem.net

We arrived at the boat yesterday to find the canal up a good 6 inches, we loosened the ropes a bit. This morning we awoke with a list. The canal was now 6 inches down. After a lot of shoving we managed to get the boat away from the bank and are afloat again.

I have cleared out the under bed storage in the back cabin. Just how many odd bits of wood and pipe do I need?

Jo has been priming the walls in the front loo and I have painted the underside of the hatch.

I've also done some gardening. Bramble clearance and some digging to clear the old ant hills.

Cheers Graham

Won't be long before you can both start cruising again. Lucky Things

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Maurice

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The canal is back to its normal level. It was a bit touch and go - water actually went over the path above top lock and closed down through the car park.

Cheers Graham

Of course the canal is privately owned isn't it, so I won't get notifications of flooding etc on the canal from C&RT.

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Maurice

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Maurice, I'm up on Ditterel on the Grand Union not on the Basingstoke, There have been lots of report on various canal groups about flooding but nothing from C&RT. I think they have been a little busy sorting out the problems.

Cheers Graham