Its Been A Expensive Week

I am determined to buy as much as possible before the VAT rate rises in January.  

This week I had to pay my engine and bowthruster and all other parts for the movement & steering of the boat.  That was the big one!  I have also ordered the Victron Multiplus inverter charger, the bathroom, including the shower, toilet and tanks, cabinets and big heated towel rail.  The Mikuni was also paid for this week and was delivered today.

We have decided on the kitchen and just waiting for the quote for that.  Screwfix have done well this week as also.  75m of 15mm speedfit pipe 25m of 22mm pipe and a big bag of fittings.

I have also order a fair bit of "extras" from the Vetus catalogue.  And finally I have been told the oak window frames are ready and need to be paid for.

Phew.  I was going out for a drink, but can't afford it now ;-)

Its Been A Year Now

Well folks, its been a week over a year now since the hull arrived home.  It would have been nice to have done this post on the day but I only just thought today it must be about a year.

If you haven't read to the start of the blog, this is what it looked like then.

Transportation Day

I am very pleased with progress so far.  I initially planned it would be a 2 year project.  Without wishing to jinx anything I would hope for it to be ready to float by late spring or early summer 2011. 

I have nearly everything I need to finish the boat either on order or in stock.  Its my intention to have as much as possible paid for before the VAT rate goes up.  Our second lounge looks like a chandlers shop.

Back On Track Again

Following the radiator debacle I am now back on track.  I have all the radiators hung and the plumbing on the port side in.  I have used Speedfit for the plumbing.  Both lines tested and they held 2 bar for 30 minutes each. So, happy with that I have now started fixing the side panels permanently.

The mess on the floor is insulation cut away for the pipes

I have also wired up the port side mains and put in the bow thruster control wire and a heavy duty 7 core cable for the tunnel lights and horn and a few spares.

 Used cable ties stapled to the baton to secure the wires

Sockets are temporary

The wiring will be zoned and fused to 16amps each.  There'll be bedroom, lounge, kitchen sockets, individual kitchen appliances, washing machine which will be acced forn the bathroom and an external  MCB RCD unit for the rear deck.

I have decided to use 12v lighting throughout so these and the other 12v appliances will be on their own consumer unit.

Yesterday Was A Bad Day

Yesterday was wasted day as a result of the radiator company suppling 2 different pattens of radiator. 

I can't tell you how pissed I was about this, especially as I didn't find out until I had already hung the first 3 and then they couldn't confirm if they could match the wrong ones.  Turns out they can't, so this morning I spent 2 hours searching down the right ones elsewhere.  Also the boat had stared leaking from the roof. 

I thought the boat was fairly well sealed up.  I had waterproof tape (supposedly) sealing the mushroom vent holes in the roof.  Although I hadn't finished the hatch, it too up until a couple of days ago was keeping the weather out.

Then we got a shed load of rain, strong N.E'ly winds and this pushed water under the tape and in the gaps around the hatch.

So today I have silliconed plastic sheet over the holes and finished building the hatch.  I suppose I should have finished it before now but there was no pressing need.  So while waiting for the replacement rads it seemed the obvious job to do.

I feel a bit happier this evening.

Edit to add.......  Looking out of the window this morning I think I'm going to be glad I did what I did yesterday.  Its howling and raining big time.  Probably was a good thing after all that the rads didn't come otherwise I still wouldn't have finished the hatch.

Diesel Heater Ordered

After a lot of reading and deliberation I have decided that this is the heater for me.
It's basically a small central heating boiler that runs off the boats normal diesel fuel.  There are several makes out there, indeed I even have one in my car and it seems all have their fans and foes.  Seems this one has more of the former from the feedback I've had.

Lets hope I have made the right choice.

Now the science bit:-

SPECIFICATIONS:

• Output:7kw (Hi) 2.4kw (Lo)
• Voltage: 12V or 24V DC.
• Power consumption(L/H): (W) 56 (Hi) 49 (Lo)
• Fuel Consupmtion (L/H): 0.86 (Hi) 0.43 (Lo)
• Control Temperature: 78 - 80 C
• Weight: 7.5kg
• Dimensions: 384L x 178W x 200H (mm)

  1. Description.

  The Mikuni MX60 is a 7kw diesel fired water heater which is suitable for providing hot water for heating purposes via radiators or matrix heaters and also domestic hot water via a calorifier. The Mikuni MX60 is fully automatic in operation featuring glow plug ignition and microprocessor control for full temperature regulation. The heater will cycle automatically between 7kw and 3.5kw depending upon demand, this ensures that the MX60 is very economical in operation. Suitable for boats from 40ft to 50ft.
  

  2. Marine Applications.

  The Mikuni MX60 is supplied pre-wired with anti – vibration mounts to prevent any resonance through the boat. The kit is complete with full wiring loom and thermostat, exhaust system c/w silencer, lagging and brass through hull fitting, fuel system with copper fuel line, shut off cock and tank standpipe. The water circulation pump is built into the heater body which has a spigot to accept 19mm rubber heater hose.
  

  3. Installation.

  The fitting kit that is supplied with the Marine version of the Mikuni MX60 heater has been designed to keep installation as simple and quick as possible. The electrics just require connecting to a 12/24 volt D.C. supply and then the cable routing for the timer/stat and on/off switch. All the necessary cables and fuses etc are supplied in the kit. The exhaust pipe is only 28mm diameter O.D. and is manufactured from convoluted flexible stainless steel which is then fitted with a heat resistant glass fibre sleeve. The exhaust pipe is taken by the most direct route to the flue terminal via the stainless steel silencer. The fuel system for the heater is 3/16th copper to comply with the current boat safety scheme and includes stop cock and all necessary compression fittings to complete the installation.
  

  Kit Contents

  7kw Water Heater, control box, fuel pump, water pump, 3.3 metres fuel pipe, 2 metres exhaust, s/s exhaust silencer, brass exhaust terminal, switch panel, anti-vibration mounts and all clips, fixings etc. with 7 day timer/thermostat
  
  
  

Walls Done.

Its been a few days of making the bulkhead walls, not whole days of course, I have been shopping for ply again and B&Q for radiators and pipe, this once again involved making more templates.  Fortunately the hull is made from computer guided laser cut steel which has very precise location marks.  The result is each side is virtually (within a couple of mm) identical so the template made for one side worked for the other.

This is the template for the front walls

Front starboard

 Fitted

I have left these long as they will be trimmed once the front doors are done.

 Port Side

Rear bulkhead

And finally

The lounge / bathroom wall (bedroom /bathroom wall is the same)

I'm glad thats done I don't like woodwork at the best of times.  I know ply is not "real" wood for the purists but that and MDF is pretty much my limit.  I just think of it as sheet steel, just different cutting tools.

I have spent a lot of time on the loo today, but more of that later.

What's In The Box?

Rupert's not sure

Still under wraps

My Engine & Gearbox

Vetus DT44 with Hurth ZF45