Sunday 25 December 2011

Merry Christmas Everyone

I ran the idea by Deb wondering how much time I would be able to have on the boat today?

Answers on a postcard.


 Merry Christmas Everyone

Friday 23 December 2011

A Different Sort Of Christmas Trimming

It's started.  And mighty good it's looking if I do say so myself.


 A bit later:-



Thursday 22 December 2011

Oak Everwhere

Yesterday I went to collect my oak order form DW's.  I have to say I am delighted with the production and the finish.  I decided to get them to finish the wood as they have the setup and its one less job for me.  I'm glad I did, it looks great.

On paper the quantity didn't seem that much, I certainly didn't visualise just how much there would be.  So now I have oak trim everywhere.





Guess what I'm going to busy doing over Christmas.  This is now the beginning of the end of the fit out.

Wednesday 14 December 2011

Lounge Ceiling

I have finished putting up the lounge and kitchen ceiling and additional lights over the hob.  It was touch and go as weather or not I would have enough material.  I did a calculation before I ordered.  Due to the cost of it I didn't want any over.  Looks like I failed ;-)

It was this and the end trimmings

This is the finished ceiling.  It has a light oak grain imprinted in the paneling and its a cellular construction.  Its made for outside cladding so is fairly tough compared to the products you can get in B&Q etc.  It cuts well with a sharp saw but will splinter with a blunt one.  All my engineered products are cut using a Triple Tip TCT saw blade.




Nice and tidy up top, not so below!


Oh well that's just me, I've always been the same.


Tuesday 13 December 2011

Bed Time

After yesterdays mishap, today was considerably better.  I put up another 15 strips of ceiling cladding in the lounge area first thing this morning.  Then it was on to the the bed room.

Last week I made up the top of the bed ready for the base to be constructed.

The panels are made by the same firm as the wardrobes and chests of draws.  The finish is oak with a pigmented lacquer about 30% gloss finish.  The colour is Truffle.

I fixed the wardrobes in place yesterday.  Today I fixed the bedside draw units to the wardrobes, made the frame then clad the panels to the frame.

 The white strips are edge protection tape

The fix is only temporary for now as the bed might have to come out as the floor sheets  might need to be lifted to put trim ballast in.



Monday 12 December 2011

It Was All Going So Well

For the last couple of mornings the CH has failed to start on the programmer but would get going with a bit of fiddling with.  Not exactly what's needed so today it failed to start at all so the control box has gone back for assessment.

Anyway the gas fire soon got it warm enough to work in.I needed the lounge warm to make the adhesive go off on the ceiling cladding.  I can only put up 10 at a time as that's all the props I have so did one lot this morning and one at the end of the day.

So the rest of the day was working in the bed room.  This was going fine until I put a screw through the central heating pipe.  So that took care of most of the afternoon to put right.  Which involved taking off a strip of wallpaper and cutting into the bedroom wall.

Oh well tomorrow's another day.  I did manage to get the wardrobes in position and fixed to the wall though.

Saturday 10 December 2011

Gas Fire Fitted

I bought this fire about 5 years ago with the intention of fitting it in our previous boat but never got round to it.  I got it off e-bay brand new and delivered for a stupid winning bid of £50. 


I then bought the canopy and an LPG conversion kit and that came to £120, so all in all a bargain.

I am glad I didn't fit it in the other boat now as it chucks out so much heat.  It would have been way too much for the space.

I have made the flue from 3mm walled tube which catches and radiates loads more of the otherwise wasted flue heat.


So why a gas fire you may ask as I have oil CH.  Well 3 reasons, as a secondary form of heat in case the CH fails for any reason, as a focal point and also gas because as a second source I'd rather carry a gas bottle than logs or coal and there's no ash to clear up and the heat is on and off on demand.  OK I know firewood can be generally gathered for free, but I really can't see myself gathering and chopping and storing etc.

A local wood turner made me this oak flue trim which I am delighted with.  He is going to make the trims for the mushroom vents when I know the size.


A lot of preparation has been going on in the bedroom.  Next week I should finish the bed and furniture fitting.  The bed base is made and the first wardrobe is in place.

Thursday 1 December 2011

More On The Wallpaper

This is the wallpaper that's going in the bedroom.  It's the same pattern as the dark one in the lounge.

Here it is in detail.  You can see the steps I had to take to match the pattern and hang it right.  



All this was done on my dining table in good light and horizontal,  I think trying to do it in the boat vertical would be near impossible.  At least the dark one had some contrast but even then Debbie had to hold an LED light stick so I could move it into position. 

Tuesday 29 November 2011

Wallpaper & Oak Trims

All the oak trims have now been ordered from a company in North London. I found a firm that would produce exactly what I wanted.  As well as their extensive range of standard moldings they also produce to customer requirement.

 
I have various angle beads, skirting, architrave, flats, and special design capping.

Today I hung the wall paper in the lounge.  It was a bastard!  The paper went up well but to find the patten match, well it took ages.  This is the dark one, we are having a light one in the bedroom which is going to be even harder.

Hmm!  Crocodiley

It's amazing how a flash gun reveals what the eye can't see normally

All the panels for the bed base should arrive tomorrow so work on finishing the bedroom can start.

Friday 18 November 2011

Other Things I've Been Doing In The Background.

If you read back over the blog you will see several "more on that later" type comments recently.

The first of these is the instrument panel.  This is how it looked first off.


I really wasn't happy with this so I set about improving it.  First to do was remove all the instruments and to cut out a hole without cutting through any wires.


Then a new mounting board made from a composite board with a brushed stainless finish.



After which a 6mm packing frame was attached to give some recess to the panel, which was then refitted behind the hole and a nice recess oak frame made to dress it. 


I think this looks a whole lot better.  It is now IMO part of the decor not just a bunch of instruments stuck on a board.

I have also finished the hatch, well almost.  It still needs a tiny bit of paint on the inside.  First it was insulated with Celotex then clad out with the same floor laminate as I have used for the rest of the boat roof.




I have also finished the rear door and trimmed them with oak and polished with Briwax.  Again I have used floor laminate to complete the entrance decor.



All the parts needed for the bed base are now on order.  The company that made the furniture will also make finished panels to any reasonable size and finish them as required.  The bed will be a lift up one. 

Also the kitchen is pretty much finished.  I still need the breakfast bar made but my brother is rammed with work ATM because everyone wants their granite worktops done now before Christmas.  When I have time I will clear down the kitchen and photograph it.

Thursday 17 November 2011

It's Been A Buffing Sort of Day

I have been buffing the paint this afternoon.  Its very hard work and not very interesting.


But the result is satisfying even if the reflection shows that ugly mug.


Saturday 12 November 2011

2 years on.

2 years ago today the shell came home.

This is how it looked then.

A fair bit has changed since then.


Here is a photo library     Over 600 on the blog now.  Enjoy :-)

Saturday 5 November 2011

I'm often asked why I'm building a boat.

Well this was my plan, but like all good ideas it's been nabbed.


Don't tell Deb though.

Thursday 3 November 2011

Rudder Stops

Mindful that its now getting dark earlier in the afternoon and that the weather opportunities are closing down for outside welding, today I decided to make the rudder stops.

Normally I'm told the stops should go in the ram ends but because I have made a Shilling type rudder the extra movement of the ram hasn't left enough room to do this, in fact if you read here you'll see why.

So I have put them on the outside of the rudder with adjustments.



To protect the rudder  while reversing I will be fitting a Long Button Fender.  A standard one is 40cm long so I needed to make a mounting extension to make it extend enough beyond the rudder.


It looks a bit like a loco buffer but all will be revealed when I fit the fender.  Finally the rudder and skeg and a few other bits previously welded got a coat of blacking.

Friday 21 October 2011

Floor Laying

Earlier in the week I did some finishing work on the sliding hatch.  More on that later.

Over the last few days I have started fitting the flooring.  We have chosen laminate flooring as it is very durable, attractive, stable, and easy to replace in time.  Modern Laminate is IMO better than real wood in appearance.  The one we have chosen for the lounge is a thicker than normal.  Its 12mm not the normal 6-8mm and a good textured surface with enough grip for our aged dog.  I have used a 5mm HD foam underlay for a bit of extra insulation, it also has a foil layer supposedly to reflect heat back up.

Before

After

This is a far as I go for the time being.  The rest will be laid once the boat is afloat.  I need access under the floor to add ballast to trim the boat.

Of course in the kitchen nothing other than Sicilian Slate could be used.  OK, its expensive but boy does it look good especially now its oiled.

Before

After

Other jobs done are some work in the bedroom on the ceiling and making the steps to the bow doors, and dressing the stern entrace to the boat.


You will notice all the wires. I'm redoing this as I wern't happy with the appearence.

In fact I have a lot of small jobs on the go, but noting complete enough to be blog worthy ATM.

Tuesday 11 October 2011

More Plumbing

I think I have finished the plumbing.  I can't see anything else that needs doing, but I'm sure something will crop up, but in anticipation of this I am going to clear away the plumbing stuff.

So hopefully this is the last plumbing job.  Because the washing machine is cold fill only is seems a bit daft using the boats electricity supply to heat water when we will probably only use the washing machine as we are on the move or when when we have a tank full of hot water heated by the engine.  As the calorifier will make hot water from either the engine or the Mikuni it will heat up to about 80°C which for general wash cycles is way too hot. So to ensure the temperature of the water going in doesn't exceed 40°C which is the most common wash cycle I have installed a TMV (thermostatic mixer valve).  This mixes hot and cold to produce and maintain the set temperature exactly like a good shower mixer does.


This one has the advantage that the hot can be turned off so the rinse cycle is done with cold water.

Then other thing installed is an expansion vessel.  There are 2 reasons.  First to reduce the water pump cycling when the tap is on a low flow setting and the other to accommodate the expansion and contraction of the water in the calorifier as the water heats up or cools down.

2L expansion vessel

Finally today I cut and edged the back panel for the kitchen units.  This is easily removable for service access.
Before

After


Tuesday 4 October 2011

Little Bit Of A Setback

I've had a little bit of a setback of late, I've been watching it hoping it would go away, but as its getting colder its getting worse.

So what is it?

The laminate flooring I used to line the ceiling is distorting. I suppose as the boat gets a tiny bit shorter.  Essentially is compressing and was beginning to ripple midships.  Other option is that the laminate is expanding with the damper weather.

Normally when you lay this sort of flooring it's know as a floating floor because its not fixed anywhere and a 10mm gap is supposed to be left all around the edge of any room its laid in to allow for expansion etc.

Compounding this also is:- 1. I have had to glue it to the roof batons to keep it in place. 2. on the port side I did the whole boat in one continuous length of about 12.5m.  Its only this part that's distorted.

The planned repair is underway and involves removing the affected mid section and cutting in a expansion joint above the bedroom door separating the run.

So this is what its looking like.


I shall leave it a couple of days for it to normalise, I have cut some more of the glue to free up more movement.  Then it will be all put back up again and hopefully that will be the an end to the matter.

Saturday 1 October 2011

The More You Know The Less You Know

I was reading a forum item about water up the rudder stock tube.  This was something I had never considered or been told about although on very hard reverse on my NB I would get water up the tube.  I just put this down to poor design because of its age.  When the water came up it just ran off the self draining read deck, but on this boat it's going to go into the engine room bilge.......... Not good.

As I hadn't considered this I needed to work out how to retrospectively fix it.  Much head scratching and I came up with this idea.

I disassembled the rudder, ram and removed the stock.


I then slid a length of PVC pipe over it having first coated the shaft with silicone grease.




I reassemble the rudder and stock then filled the gap between the stock tube and the PVC tube with closed cell expanding foam.



Once cured I trimmed off the excess.



I think this will solve the problem.