Model of Shellfen in Prickwillow Museum

Monday13th December 2004.11.30-15.30 4 hr

Before biking along the tow path to the boatyard, listen to a programme 'tales from the towpath' on the radio. The Chairman of BWB Robin Evans argued for the development of marinas while at the same time keeping what he called; 'the Romanticism of the canals'. Some might say that Egerton boats is part of the Romanticism of the canals, it would be hard pressed to describe itself as a marina although technically it is. Somehow I don't think that this is quite what the chairman at BWB had in mind- a working yard with all that it implies- rusting and rotting boats everywhere, engines and debris from dismantled and abandoned jobs, and the half finished shell of a   barge competing for space with a large mobile crane. Containers, sheds boats and piles of jumble. The whole site has a look very like a Giles cartoon without the bracing sea air. Yet, as I was to learn, appearances can be deceptive.

 

 

boat showing original box

Collect the key on Saturday with Grahame Jebb at the boatyard. Spend the day just cleaning up the boat and putting th ecovers back on the central box. Take some photos.   Meet other boat-yarders. Nick and his mate, doing up a narrow boat on the hard standing.   Try to see if I could move the boat away from the bridge and the pigeon shit and debris chucked off the bridge. But Jeff says the boat is too wide to be moved, and there aren't any secure mooring rings in the yard.   Find some tools and brushes on the boat, so only expense so far is one bin bag @ 10p.

 

Tuesday 14th December 12.00-14.30

Again a late start. Wet and cold. Start on the bilges. Borrow a bilge pump to get water out, then ladle oily water into a drum with cat litter in it. Get very messy, and leave. A video tape(Harry Potter, the Philosophers Stone) had been thrown over the bridge and was draped all over the boat when I arrived. Get a key cut for the Gate to give to Graham on Friday. Take photos in to be developed.

Friday 17th December 14.00-16.00 2hr

Rainy day so do paper work in the morning. Graham phones and we arrange to meet in the afternoon. Go down to the boat about two and clean the bilges more, and wash down the deck. Graham arrives, and we discuss work to be done on the reduction gear. Give him a lift to the house so he can get ready to go to a party. Collect film from the developers. Have an accident in the car on the way to the house, and exchange addresses.

Sunday, 16 January 2005 2.00-4.00

Mick and Malcolm drive down from Skipton and examine the boat. Mick thinks that it is probably gasket trouble on the reduction gear rather than a crack. It will have to come off anyway, which may require special tools. It is an engineer's job.   Making new gaskets etc. The cabin cover is going to need to be replaced. Initial budget for repairs looks like being as much as 2,000. Come back to the house for a cup of tea. Discuss the possible ways to tackle the problem. There is a view that we need to clarify share ownership question.

Friday, 21 January 2005 2.00-4.00

Wheelhouse superstructure

Go down and clean the verge of dog shit. Board up the wheelhouse and study the reduction gear. Still uncertain what to do. Bring the broken side back to the house

Tuesday, 25 January 2005

Take some digital photos of the boat. Planning to take side down to Roger's. tomorrow.   Called in at Bedford Basin, and was given lunch with Paul and other's. Return the manual on the engine as I have managed to buy one over the internet for £14.00.

Tuesday, 08 February 2005

There have been some developments after a visit to see Paul Lorenz one lunchtime.   Paul Entwistle was also there and he gave me 'Compo's' number. (Ian Compton)   Phone him and he said he had talked to P.E. in the pub as they are mates, and either he or Paul will come and have a look at the engine.   It is increasingly beginning to look like frost damage, in which case it is an engine out job and much expense…   It may be nothing to do with the reduction gear. Have taken a panel of the wheelhouse down to Roger's to be remade.
Cycled down to the yard and do some more bailing out and cleaning up.   'John', a friend of Graham Jebb arrives and we have a cup of tea. He is keen to start tidying the shed.   I found a few things that belong to the boat while I was tidying; flags, stove etc. which John showed   me. Took a few photos.

There is a lot of time spent waiting for an engineer to materialise. Eventually find one willing to visit recommended by P. Lorenz.

Monday 3rd. October 2005

 

Reduction Gear, partly dismantled before repair to the casing

Meeting with Adam from PB engineering, who removes the reduction gear without a blink. Lare crack on the bottom will need to be braised.   Also cranks up the engine which starts beautifully. Quite a day. Phone Graham Jebb and arrange to collect the pieces for the reduction gear, nuts and bolts that he has got at home .Tuesday go and collect them from his place of work. Go down later in the week to look in the diesel tanks- in pristine condition.

 

Wednesday, 02 November 2005

Adam arrives at 11 am, and fits the reduction gear and connects the water inlet, and after clearing the airlocks water goes through without any more leaks.   Stretford Marina has had a bit of a tidy up. Start decanting some of the diesel in the tanks to the engine tank with bucket on a string.   Take the boat out for its first spin after pie for lunch.   Roger's new side of the superstructure falls into the boat and glass breaks.   Turn round over the Mersey Aqueduct and moor facing towards Worsley.   Phone Roger Lorenz who will give a preliminary survey Monday morning before he goes on holiday. Have to send him a confirmation that I am the owner. Have a look round Puddleduck; David Harvey might be intending to sell it.   (cost of engine repair to reduction gear PB Mechanical services £268.95)

Saturday, 05 November 2005.   Shellfen leaves for Worsley dry Dock

Robena and Tim come along to help move the boat.   Graham Jebb comes too. Set off just after three and get to the tank as it is shutting!   A boat is going along the ship canal.   They wouldn't have opened it up again if we hadn't been there. Wait for Holly and James to find us, then continue to Worsley after buying some candles for the front cabin.   Watch all the fireworks as we go along.

Sunday, 06, November 2005. 11- 4

Shellfen in dry dock at Worsley

Help put the boat on the dock. Graham and his brother turn up and Graham stays and helps clean the boat. I return at eleven after picking up supplies and Tim to return to the boat to do some scraping of the hull   (supplies scrapers, overalls, boots, £50)  

Monday, 07 November 2005

Roger Lorenz already done survey by the time I get there.   Has ringed 5 or 6 holes that need mending before setting off back to Stretford.   Start cleaning off the top of the boat. Examine and photograph inside the tanks.   Roger L. suggests putting a superstructure on the tanks, and leaving the hull untouched, so that the interior space will act as a buoyancy aid if necessary. (cost of survey £50).

Wednesday, 09 November 2005

 

Welding on the temporary patches to keep the boat seaworthy

Yesterday made arrangements for the welding to be done today. About seven patches altogether.   The hull in places is paper thin and in welding the patches it burns through in places. A slight risk of fire, but apart from a lot of smoke, no danger.(£75)

 

Thursday 10 November 2005. 12-6  

Black the hull with two tins of bitumen from Graham.

Friday, 11 November 2005 12-5.30

Working on grinding off the rust and putting on the 'Rust Konverta' with Graham.   Find a paint suppliers- Brown Brothers in Trafford Park after a brief hunt following a total lack of anything at B&Q. Have a sausage sandwich and a cup of tea at one of the many hot food vans in the area.   Manage to prepare one side of the boat. (Wire brush discs etc. from BQ £47. Zinc primer £18)

Saturday, 12 November 2005.2-5

Finish priming half the deck and the back of the boat and hatch covers. Lunchbreak at the   Ellesmere.

Sunday, 13 November 2005 10-4 Back at Stretford

Tim and I cycle to Worsley where the dock is already being flooded. Lorenz and father are there   to go on to the dock.   We have trouble starting the engine. It takes two,john and p.Lorenz to start it.   Could have been that I had forgotten to turn the fuel on in the first place that caused a problem.   Sail in fine sunny weatherto Castlefield (11.30 -1.00) and lunch at Dukes 92, joined by Wilm, Rachel and Elsa who come with us to Stretford. Graham drains down the water from the engine before leaving as it could freeze soon.

Tuesday, 28 February 2006

 

The repaired reduction gear

The engine is drained down and the boat is on its mooring at Stretford. Most weeks I have been down to do some work on the rust and priming when the weather is fine enough. On sunny days pushing across to the towpath to paint in the sun, as under the bridge   it is cold and damp. The priming is almost complete. I have had to remove the box storage that ran the length of the boat as it   had rotted away.   The 'Tortoise' stove is working in the front cabin and works well.

 

Keir came down this week to look at the boat and has made some enquiries about the possibility of doing the repairs up at Botany Bay in about three weeks time. The situation is still unclear as to what is happening at Stretford after talking to John Baker.   There are still a certain number of 'unresolved' boats   in the way.
Jeff has been busy doing the finishing touches to his barge which should soon be ready to be put in the water soon.

Tuesday, 28 February 2006

Made a rare visit to the boat today, being idle due to the cold weather, and it has also been half-term.   Pigeons busy under the bridge   making a bit of a mess of the paintwork, otherwise much the same at the yard, although there are little signs of activity. Last time I came down there was a lot of activity in the yard,Jeff welding on his boat, and another boat owner testing his engine.

Wednesday, 01 March 2006 11-5

Cycle to the boat, buying coal on the way at the garage. Light the fire and put the kettle on before starting on the painting. Move   the boat onto the tow path opposite to be in the sun. Have a chat with Lionel. His cats manage to eat some of the pigeons under the bridge. Stop in the afternoon to have a cup of tea. Manage to complete the top of the tank at last. Bail out some water from the bilges. Gets cold when the sun goes behind the cinema.

Monday, 13 March 2006

Visit Paul Lorenz at Bedford Basin, and collect some more papers about the boat for the record including the original sale document of the boat from Appleyard's

Tuesday, 14 March 2006

Phoned around the boatbuilders, Burgashell and K.K. Mouldings, in Ely, to find out if they knew anything about Appleyard and Lincoln (boatbuilders) ltd.   They sold the boat to Lorenz Bros in   October 1974 for £1250.   Philip Wenn put me in touch with Keith Porter, who had been the crew for Ted Appleyard the skipper of Shellfen.   Appleyard's had previously purchased the boat at a knock down price from Shellmex   for about £200 in order to carry on   supplying the pumping stations that Shellmex originally supplied, mainly on the Middle Level.

Mr Appleyard on Shellfen

He has fond memories of working on the boat delivering fuel through the locks at Denver Sluice and onto the Bedford arm, standing on the cabin so as to be able to look over the banks at the view. When fully loaded the gunwales would be below the water. He remembers a tricky moment when going out from Denver Sluice the boat turning sideways in the current. The front end of the boat was reinforced to be able to break the ice. Shellfen was possibly the only boat working on the Middle Levels at this time. Often there was not enough water for the engine to work properly, and they would have to pull the boat. If farm machinery or debris caught round the propeller it was necessary to get in the water to cut the rubbish away.   One of the perks of the job was the extra diesel that remained in the pipes after unloading. The boat was always below the level of the ground, the oil in the pipes ran back in the boat, and the crew collected it and sold it to the grateful farmers.   He remembers being able to circumnavigate Ely by water, which is still the case, making Ely an island to this day.   Kith Porter worked at Appleyard's and trained as a boat builder leaving school at 14. He still has all his tools for caulking and working on boats just in case….

Wednesday 10th May 2006

Another attempt to get the engine working properly. Only firing on one cylinder.

Friday 12th May 2006

Adam from P&M Engineering comes out in the afternoon, and cleans out the fuel pump. The engine starts easily.
Graham takes the boat out in the evening and I join him later before the Barton Tank on my bike. Move the car up to Leigh after Worsley, and rejoin Graham at the canal side pub at Astley for a pint before finally arriving at Paul Lorenz's boatyard at Bedford Basin. Paul away for the week-end, so arrange with John on Utopia to leave the boat overnight with the intention of moving on in the morning.

BUT.Somehow managed not to know about the problem of PLANK LANE BRIDGE!

John mentions that there might be a stoppage at PLANK LANE BRIDGE so we go home and check the BWB website.   The lift bridge is shut until further notice.   It will be lifted for a couple of hours on the 20th May to allow boats through, so this will be the next opportunity. Had to cancel all the help organised for going up Wigan Flight this coming week-end. Meanwhile hope to leave the boat at Bedford Basin for the week

Monday 15th May 2006

Arrive at Bedford Basin same time as Graham, and set off in pouring rain. Lose my glasses in the basin, and Graham cuts himself badly on the broken glass in the cabin window.   Arrive at Plank Lane with twenty minutes to spare. The BWB Engineer in charge of the rpairs, and the brdge-keeper are there and ask for our licence. I explain the situation that we are on the way to a boatyard for repairs, and like cars can travel without a licence if going to a garage so the same applies to us. The bridgekeeper says “ even cars that are going to a garage require a licence,” but decides that it is ok for us to go, and he will pass the matter on to the office. I argue that since this is a Restoration Project and should be exempt.   The outcome is that we get to Wigan and moor up.   Catch the bus Back to Leigh.

Sunday 21st May 2006

Graham arrives at the house and we get to Wigan just after 10.am. Wilm arrives to help by going ahead on his bike and setting all the locks which will halve the time.   It rains heavily all day. Tim gets the fire going in the front cabin, then gets out and gets wet helping do the locks.   Graham takes the boat through the locks for the first half then we change over.   A Late lunch at the pub of pie and chips at three. Rachel and Elsa have arrived as we came through the last three locks.  

I do a car shuffle with Wilm and Rachel to Botany Bay, while Graham and Tim continue to Adlington where I rejoin the boat.   Arriving Botany Bay about 8pm.

Heavy rain, hail and thunderstorms on the way.

Tuesday 23rd May 2006

Arrive at Botany bay around 11.am to see the boat in the process of being lifted out of the water and put on the hard standing.

Boat being craned out at Botany Bay

Wednesday 24th May 2006

Meeting with Kier to decide a plan of action. Options include: 1. cutting away existing metal to the ribs and replating up as far as the rubbing strake, above which there appears to be already replating. 2. plating over existing metal.. 3. plating sides, and replating bottom at a later date. The engine will be coming out as will the tanks.

(Thursday 25th May-   Thurs 1st June Trip to Emden and Voyage on Excelsior.)

Monday 5th June 2006

Kier stripping down boat to get the engine and tanks out. Remove pipework and pumping gear.

Pumping gear taken out

Tuesday 6th June 2006

Engine ready to be lifted out in the afternoon PB Engineering collect it.   The tank is lifted out spilling a bit of diesel.

The condition of the inside is in much better than we thought.

Botany Bay Boatyard crane in action driven by Karl, capable of lifting forty tons, Shellfen's 9 tons is easy.   In its former life it worked in an open cast coalmine.

Monday 18th June 2006

Kier and I collect the timbers from Stretford Boatyard on Tuesday using a flat bed truck, and then Karl lifts the boat onto them. Finish cleaning out the bilges and 'discuss' restoration options. A decision will have to be made whether to put the tanks back in or else to convert it to original shape. Also   how much of the metal should be removed. Either replacing rotten sides only or else complete replating. Advice needed.
Time to call in the experts...

Monday 26th June 2006

Roger Lorenz spends most of the day at the boatyard surveying Kier's boat and others as well as looking at Shellfen. He says that the good condition of most of the bottom plates will mean that we only have to replace the plate that is mainly along the wind and water line.

Roger Lorenz inspecting the hull

  The corrosion is also caused he says as the plate has acted as a sacrificial surface between the old iron and the more recent steel added during the conversion to an oil tanker in the 1930's.

Dr. Lorenz explains the findings of his survey. The hull construction is thicker than we thought. a 6mm bottom plate, with 4 to 5 mm on the rest.

Two visitors from Loughborough arrive, Mr C. Lines, a model maker and his friend who have been searching for Shellfen in order to measure and make drawings for a model that Mr. Lines is going to make for Prickwillow Pumping Station on the Fens.

A brief lecture about plating

 

Kier makes a start on the removal of the plate by removing the rivets.

cutting out the corroded metal plate

On the October 24th 2007, Receive pictures of the model which now resides in the Prickwillow Drainage Museum near Ely.

Tuesday 27th June

Removing the thin plate along the waterline

Monday,Tuesday,Wdnesday 10-12 June 2006

This week started with the welding into place of the new plates to replace the metal corroded along the waterline. Manage to weld a two metre plate in about six hours by the end of a long day on Monday.

Debbie cutting out the metal

Today Debbie helps with the cutting out and the preparation work, and the third plate is put into place. It is hard work, but it is possible to see the results. I have also cleaned off all the bolts for the tank and put on the nuts with Vaseline to protect them.
Debbie helps with the cutting out and welding, and by the end of Wednesday the replacement of the one side is almost complete. Kier takes a break for 10 days holiday in France.   Time to think about tank conversion.

Clamps welded into position pull the side into place

Some strange markings discovered under the bitumen. Could be part of a former name?

With the current rate of work, it should be a couple of weeks to completion for the welding depending on other schedules of work. The boat will be back in the water hopefully sometime in September. The debate is still going on as to how to 'convert' the tanks. The objective is to keep the boat much as it is while at the same time improving the accomodation. The hull will remain in tact and any conversion will be done to the tanks, although if Kier had his way he would want to restore the side combings and make it back into a nice looking dutch barge.

Tuesday 8th August-Thursday 10th August 2006

Returning from a week in Sussex, to find that Kier has already begun to replace the other side of the boat after his week away in France. More cutting out and welding and discussion about how far to go in replacing the sides.

I make the tea and coffee and go for the pies at lunchtime. By Thursday there remains one plate to be welded into place to complete the main sections.

Thursday 1st September 2006

Work on the re-plating is almost complete.   The rubbing strake put in place.   Today the generator for the welder refused to work so work abandoned while it is repaired. The engine is ready to be put back in the boat, but there is still some more welding to be done before it can go in.   Start work on the cleaning up of the inside of the boat, while Kier is off working on welding water tanks for his boat.   Pump out the bilges in Phoenix which have filled with water on the hard-standing. Get a phone call from Kier that Pauline is going to go down the locks at   Johnsons Hillocks. Join the boat through the locks.   Call into see Kier on the moorings and go out in the little boat with the electric motor, before eventually getting home just in time to take Tim to his first Kendo session.

The completed job showing extra patch put on over weak area along the water line

Welding on the rubbing strakes

Adam and assistant starting up the engine in the workshop. Runs very quiet and smooth. Ready to go back in.

Friday 8th September 2006

Spend the day scrubbing and removing gunge from the bilges. Paul Lorenz calls in after their walk picking mushrooms around Angelzarke. Discuss the work in progress, and the possibility of adding a further rubbing strake which he thinks is a good idea. Inside looks a bit cleaner.

Monday 11th September 2006

On the phone tracking down the 'anti-corrosive' grease for covering metal between tank and the hull like there was on the boat before. Find with the help of information supplied by the chap in 'Puffer Parts' a   local supplier in   Manchester of 'Tecktyl 506', made by Valvoline a Dutch company.

Tuesday 12th September 2006

Spend the day looking for 'Jizer' to de-grease the boat. Call in at P & B Mechanics to tell them that it wont be till next week that the engine will be ready to go back in.   Make a start on the preparation of the engine compartment.

Wednesday 13th September 2006

More cleaning and scraping in the engine room.

Wednesday 20th September 2006

Hire a generator as the old one is still not working as work resumes on the final welding. Finishing off on the rubbingstrakes and filling in the welds with several runs of weld that is a long business. Preparation work on the inner surface and ribs,,scraping and wirebrushing and cleaning of the bilges in the engine room completed.

Friday, 22nd September 2006

Extra help on scraping and preparation with Christophe working on the bolted surface for the tank. Almost completed on the welding with perhaps one more day on Monday. Repairs to the odd patches that need replating on the deck, and the last bit of the new plating still to be finished.   Roger Lorenz is due to inspect the work next Wednesday by which time it should all be complete. The tank is scheduled to be put back in the following Monday with the engine going back in at the same time.

Monday 25th September 2006

Last day of welding on the boat. Finish by making a few patches in the areas where the corrosion is worst along the deckm filling in the holes. Priming and painting started on the bolts for the tank. Treating the rusty metal with some rust curer first.

Attempt to 'straighten' the rudder: First attempt to bend it by using the weight of the boat, but only succeed in lifting the boat. Kier takes a cut out of the bar to assist bending, then weld it into position. Much improved. Use a piece of plastic tubing on the end of the bar to make it more solid.

Wednesday 27th September 2006

Roger Lorenz comes to inspect and take notes and photographs ot the work so far. The second coat of blacking goes on.

Christophe stirs the   bitumen paint from Worsley Dock made to their own recipe

Thursday 28th September 2006

Work in the engine room with the grinder with the soft disk preparing the surfaces for painting. All three of us paint on the primer and luckily it doesn't rain until the evening.

The boat gets a third coat of bitumen.

Friday 29th September 2006

Discussing the arrangements with Shaun to move the tank next week, a two-hat problem.

Tuesday, 3rd. October 2006

Moving the tank. Tight on the corner, so have to remove some of the superstructure. Try again in the morning.

Wednesday 4th October 2006

The tank goes in successfully, but decide it is too wet to do anything else today.

Thursday 5th October 2006

A day working in the rain . Using a Spanish Windlass and some stout timbers and by brute force manage to pull the sides into line to locate the bolts. Took all day and hard work.

Friday 6th October 2006

End of a hard week. Engne arrives and is loaded into the engine room. Finish off work on securing the tank and leave early.   Work still to be done:install engine, do the rest of the paintwork,restore front cabin, survey,   and then back in the water.

Thursday 12th October 2006

The oil tank has to be moved to make room for the diesel tank and the engine is ready to be connected up when the boat goes back into the water on monday. Re-installing the planks under the back deck and repositioning the superstructure done.

Tuesday 17th October 2006

The boat is back on the water, craned in yesterday. Some muddle with the engineers about when the fitting was to be done. Waiting for Mick to find the time to come and connect up the oil and diesel, and get moving. Meanwhile waiting on the British Waterways mooring on the other side of the bridge. Travelled to Chorley by metro and train as the car has engine trouble. Paid the bill for the time we have been on the yard- just under a grand.

Wednesday 18th October 2006

Mick from PB connects up the diesel and oil. Engine starts on first try. Set off to Wigan, filling up with diesel at LL cruisers, and reporting to Mick about the crack in one of the cylinder heads.   Stop at Red Rock for a pint before mooring up at the top of the locks. "Kevin with the Kelvin" gives us a lift back on his boat to the car, as he is just setting off for Botany Bay. Catch the train and tram back to Manchester.

Thursday 19th October 2006

To Wigan Flight on my bike from the railway station in the pouring rain. Kier, Christophe and Jane have begun to come down the locks. Start the engine, and Kier takes the boat while I cycle ahead to set the locks. Lunch of beer and sandwiches after lock 14.
Take the car forward to Dover Lock Pub and cycle back to join the boat. In the pub by 5pm. and get a lift home. Car finally gives up on the way to collect Tim from Kendo. He gets a lift back from one of the Sensei.

Saturday 21st October 2006

By bus from the Trafford Centre to Leigh, another bus to Abram, and the Dover Lock.   Engine refuses to start so set of on my bike to Leigh to get help.   Chat to the bridge keeper, who suggests asking the owner of a boat on its way back to the mooring at Dover Lock. I cycle back and the man on Pendragon lends me his spanners and helps kicking the compressors. After a cup of coffee and some flapjacks on his boat the engine starts. Call in at Bedford Basin to see Paul Lorenz and buy some stern grease. On to Worsley and leave the boat. Return to go out to the ballet 'Alice in Wonderland' with Tim and Janet.

Thursday 26th October 2006

Moved the boat to Castlefield, and tried to move it but failed to start the engine on tuesday. This evening Graham Jebb managed to start the engine on first go. I had forgotten to wind the expansion chambers in before starting. We cruise down in the dark to Stretford and put the boat back on the moorings. It takes about an hour to cruise from Castlefield to Stretford. Back at base at last.

The engine will need to be looked at by Adam from PB Engineering to do the fine tuning. There is a suspected crack on one of the cylinder heads that may be causing a loss of compression and explain why one of the cylinders is running hotter than the other. The next stage is to alter the tanks by adding some form of superstructure. Current favourite idea is to raise a box-like structure running through the middle about 4ft 6" wide.

Friday 3rd November 2006

Tidying up the yard. Use the pump to empty more of the bilges. Cover the windows to stop rain getting in the boat. The superstructure is in a rather sorry state, and will have to be replaced as probably won't last the winter- especially the back door section. Waiting now for Roger Lorenz to come back from his holidays so that the Boat Safety Certificate can be issued, and the boat will be able to be insured and licenced.

Monday 20th November 2006

Adam from PB Engineering inspects the engine and gives instruction for the maintenance of the engine.

1. 1. fill rocker cover chambers with mineral engine oil HD30 perhaps once a week. Keep them topped up.
2. 2. grease rocker cover nipples (2 on top of engine at least once a day when running)
3. 3. tighten grease screw tops on the water pump every day when running.
4. 4. drain diesel overflow every day when running.

Gearbox oil: E.P.90 needs changing.

He felt the crack on the cylinder head is nothing to worry about for now. The overheating on the second cylinder was because the water was not getting round the engine properly as the tap was not in the on position.

He is going to put a tap on the drain plug for the reduction gear unit to make it easier to drain the engine down. He is also going to make a gasket for the leaking gearbox cover.

Lionel feels we need to 'clarify' the situation with the running of the boatyard. We should write a letter to Egerton Boats. PB Engineering may be interested in being involved with the running of the boatyard, that is if the lease can be renewed. It depends what the landowners want to do with the site. It would not take much to put the site back into action after many years of neglect.

Roger Lorenz has arranged to come next week and examine the boat for the safety certificate and insurance. This will complete the current chapter in the boat restoration.

Hopefully the repairs to the hull and the re-conditioning of the engine will be good for some time.

Friday 24th November 2006

Fitted two fire extinguishers, one in the engine room and one in the front cabin. Requirement for Boat Safety Certificate.

Tuesday 28th November 2006

Roger Lorenz surveys the boat and issues the Boat safety Certificate. He is also writing up   a report for the insurers. I will provide some pictures of the work in progress.

Sent in my subscription to the Bridgewater Canal to the Manchester Ship Canal Company. Enquired whether they are interested in offers to take on the lease at Stretford when it comes up for renewal in January. Meanwhile there is no electric, no phone, etc. so unable to make a proper start on the next phase of restoration until the ownership of the yard is resolved. May be possible to get electric from the neighbours, Stretford Boat Club in the meantime.

Saturday 16th December 2006

Adam from PB Engineering arrives to fix new washer on fuel line, new gasket for gear box and drain tap for reduction gear.   Take the boat for a cruise up as far as the new marina with Graham Jebb steering with the re-fitted wheel. Steering the boat with the wheel is a completely different skill especially when turning or mooring. The boat is much lighter now the pumping mechanism has been removed and needs weighting down at the stern in order to avoid 'skating' round corners.