andyandsallyb

As a result of various incidents over the years, we have collected a few fenders ourselves.......

HI Robin, With regard to reflections hire boat sales and waterside marine not selling many boats...... I moor in this yard and this season so far at least 10 boats from the woods fleet have been sold to buyers who already had a mooring in the private part of the marina and I know of at least 4 others who have purchased ex woods fleet boats this year who moor else where. Personally I didn't think that was to bad a sales rate.

Problem solved........ Met with John from Herbert Woods on Saturday morning who kindly supplied a couple of BMC filter head gaskets (one each side of the spacer) and longer bolts. All fitted and bone dry ! ! Andy

Couldn't resist...........

Going up at the weekend to try again !!!!!!

If you're interested in how it was made.......... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TYw0-Cb60Mc&feature=youtu.be

I think this should solve my problem!

Hi Everyone, Just thought it worth reporting on a little misfortune encountered this weekend............ While browsing the pages of Ebay one evening a couple of weeks ago I came across a spin on type oil filter adaptor kit to suit the BMC 1.5. After a little research it seems this is quite a popular modification as the "O" ring seal in the old skool canister type filter seems to be quite difficult to seal. It seemed a worthwhile modification, so I ordered one. It duly arrived last week, A filter head casting, gasket, spin on filter and 2 bolts. So off to Potter Heigham we go on Sunday to fit it! It seemed such a simple job.... Remove old engine oil, Remove existing filter head casting and canister, replace head casting and gasket, install new spin on filter then refill engine oil, and you're ready to go? Well that's the theory anyway........ Having completed the change over I left the engine room doors open (Into the galley) and proceeded to the lower helm to start her up....... 20 Seconds of heat followed by a flick of the starter and she's away........ After what seemed a very short time I was horrified to hear the oil pressure warning buzzer. I turned around and to my horror the galley was covered in engine oil I immediately stopped the engine. After a lengthy process of cleaning up I removed the new filter and filter head casting to examine further. What I found and what I now know are a little unbelievable. The filter head casting it turns out is a fairly universal part, apparently it can be fitted to Perkins 4.107 and 4.108 as well as the BMC 1.5 . Many suppliers sell this kit all using the same casting. The oil filter head mounting flange on the BMC block is round. The adaptor kit filter head casting is round with a flat top section. Curiously my engine's mounting flange has what looks like a crescent in the top right hand area and this is what causes the oil to be thrown out by the pump under enormous pressure I have had good advice and help from Calcutt Boats regarding all things BMC and they asked to see a picture my engine's filter head flange. They have come back to me today and said that my engine block casting is at fault as the flange is supposed to be round........ Of course if it was the filter head casting would fit and seal up perfectly fine...... I have designed an adaptor plate that has the face of the block flange on one face and the filter head flange on the other, I have access to a CNC Mill so off to the workshop tomorrow to machine it up........ Andy

Hi Bill, If as you say, you feel you are getting too much bass, the best solution would be to reduce the bass level on your on your radio. If the speakers you have are only 4" units then they are going to be designed to work in what is known as a free air installation which is what you have. The lining panel that the speaker is mounted in is acting as an acoustic baffle and basically it masks the rear firing wave from the back of the speaker reaching your eardrum hence you only hear the forward firing waveform. If you have ever held a speaker in your hand while it is running you would notice that the low frequency response (bass) is very poor, this is because the front firing wave and rear firing wave are both audible (absence of a baffle) and because they are out of phase with each other, they effectively cancel each other out (no bass). What you are attempting to do by covering the rear of the speaker will have the effect of reducing the movement of the speaker cone by using an acoustic suspension (a small volume of air trapped behind the cone) a free air speaker is not designed to work is this way. Bass notes take a great deal more electrical energy to reproduce over mid range or higher frequencies. By physically restraining the movement of the cone in this way to reduce the low frequency output, in the long term will undoubtedly shorten the life of the speaker and in the short term may cause an overload condition within your radio units amplifier, leading to excessive heat and possibly increased distortion. Andy.

Hi John, If there is space we would like to attend on Saturday and Sunday Andy, Sally, Sharin, Lyndon, Megan & Willow the dog. The crew of Evening Star. ! Andy

Job Done!

Just thought I might add this picture as we also had the upper helm seating area retrimmed ! Andy

Hi Neil, A little bit of background info..... Langstone Harbour "Class" Aquafibre Lowliner 38 4 craft originally fitted out by Harbour cruisers B14 Langstone Harbour 1 Sold to Herbert Woods circa 1995 and then to Sumercraft circa 1998 now known as Glamour Girl B15 Langstone Harbour 2 Sold to Private Buyer circa 2000 now known as Mickshirls W554 Langstone Harbour 3 Sold to Herbert Woods circa 1995 then sold to me 2009 now known as Evening Star N562 Langstone Harbour 4 Sold to Herbert Woods circa 1995 now known as Ring Of Light Langstone Harbour 3 & 4 had the aft door added and the configuration of the aft cabin adjusted by Herbert Woods when both craft were renamed Twilight circa 1996 ! Andy

So I'll kick this section off if I may...... My wife Sally and I are the owners of an Aquafibre Lowliner 38 "Evening star" We have owned her since April 2009 and she has undergone much work and improvement since we purchased her as an ex hire boat. Just how much can be seen by comparing her to "Ring of Light" on the current Herbert Woods fleet, her sister ship. There are a number of these boats now in private ownership so if you read this forum and are lucky enough to be one of those owners please say hi ! ! Andy & Sally

Fenders and socks back on, Antifoul applied and ready to go back in the wet stuff early next week. A huge thank you to all the staff at Herbert Woods boat yard, in particular Fiona and John. The pictures I have posted here really don't do job justice..... ! Andy

Evening star was internally refitted three years ago, and to be frank and honest the only thing Sally and I have never been that impressed with was the saloon seating. Not that there was anything wrong with the trimming of course more than the design lacked any real comfort if you were sitting on it for any length of time. We were both in the boat yard at the time sovereign light was finished and lucky enough to have a look around her. After seeing the way the seating area had been made and trimmed (a decent rake and lumbar support for the back) we decided to ask the Herbert woods trimming department if they could make the same setup for Evening star. And they could........... Picture 1 Mk1 Original design Picture 2,3 &4 Mk2 Modified seating (and very comfortable it is too!!!)

Got back quite late on Friday evening after sitting on the greater London orbital car park (M25) Dartford crossing for over 2 hours...... Grrrrrrr. But it was all well worth it..... I have recently posted a few pictures of the removal of a dividing cheek which separated the quarter birth from the main saloon area. What the pictures did not show was the remainder of the structure where it met the inside roof lining. As can be seen from the first picture there was roughly 20 - 30mm of panel remaining. Its a great shame we had not considered removing this cheek when the interior was originally refit 3 years ago but you know, hindsight and all that..... To put things right has been quite a task, and involved a new section of timber frame and three roof lining panels. Fortunately the vinyl used was still available..... Picture 2 shows the completed rood lining. Picture 3 shows the outcome of a discussion between myself and the Herbert Woods trimming staff. This is the section that you can see in picture 2 with the top access panel missing (Upper helm instrument cluster rear access) this was previously covered in a cream coloured carpet type textile and time has proven that it really shows the dirt after only a short while. Evening star has quite a bit of this type of interior surface covering and I can see a longer term project here replacing it all.

Hi John, I'll be up in Potter Heigham tomorrow (Friday) to tie the fenders back on. The hull's had a good polish and antifoul application. I spoke to Woods today and they tell me that the upholstery is nearly complete, and she should be back in the wet stuff on Tuesday next week, so all being well, we should be out on the river next weekend ! Andy

Well a year has passed since the last major work was completed on Evening Star and she has just been lifted for her annual pressure wash and anti-foul. Sally and I have had some upholstery work done while she is out of the water and once it completed I'll post a few piccys...... ! Andy

Well things have been really quiet over the winter, just waiting for the weather to finally buck its ideas up..... spent a few hours just browsing hire fleet operators boat interiors particularly aquafibre 38's and 44's looking for interesting features that may find their way into out little project. I have learned a few interesting facts... Evening star was one of four aquafibre 38's originally fitted out by an operator known as "Harbour Criusers" and I have managed to trace all four (Very Sad) All four were known as "Langstone Harbour" When Harbour closed one of the four boats went straight into private ownership and has recently been sold by NYA. another found its way to "Summercraft" of Wroxham and is now known as "Glamour Girl". The remaining 2 boats went to Herbert Woods after we acquired ours "Twilight 2" the last one has remained in the Woods fleet under it new name "Ring of Light". Herbert Woods yard made a modification to both their boats by adding the stern door. Later aquafibre mouldings had this as standard. Anyway to get to the point of all this? Harbour Criusers also fitted out a number of Aquafibre 44's of which Caribbean and Astral Light are also in the Herbert Woods fleet. Viewing the pictures available on HW's site and using the 360 view of the saloon, the 38 and 44 fit our are very similar. Having the main difference being either a sideboard (38) or additional seating (44) port side. If you look back through this thread you can see we originally had the side board arrangement but that was actually one of the first things I changed. Leaving the floor to roof end cheek in place. This makes making up the quarterbirth a major pain in the backside. So a time for change........ Armed with toolbox I arrived on Friday evening ready for battle........ ! Andy

Hi John, Is there any space left? If so, count us in..... Andy, Sally, Megan / Evening Star / Sat-Sun / Stern / No ! Andy

And a rear view camera !!!

Update: Not much been happening over the last couple of months, as we have been spending our time out on the river.... Did get a chance though to install the new Marineline batteries..... Andy.