Harvey Eastwood 37

[floydraser]

I forgot to mention:

Anyone following this story may remember in the last video I talked of the possibility of selling the boat. But in the thread about the diesel filter I mention going cruising, and above here I mention buying wine glasses. I could also have said we opened the new cutlery bought for the boat and we are getting a new frying pan.

Yes, we're hanging on to her for a while yet. Work (sorry for the bad language) has arrived again after I thought the pandemic had brought on slightly early retirement. Unfortunately it has been intense during the summer, restricting time for the boat but hey, you can't have everything can you? Where would you put it all? 

[floydraser]

Well I managed to find a couple of days to nip over on Friday 8th and came home Saturday. Luckily I had a good trip over and got there with enough daylight left to get a coat of Toplac on my repairs. Again, there were three tins in the boat, two partly used but this time the first one I opened (the lightest) had usable paint!

That was my main objective for the visit so as to get some decent protection on the repairs for the winter months, so with that achieved, I could relax.

I hadn't set myself much to do inside this time apart from wipe down all the surfaces with anti bacterial cleaner. I look forward to the day I can start revarnishing the it all..... However, with the extended darkness I spent some time assessing the work required for the worst part of the deck repair along the starboard side. I got under the deck from the inside (easier if I were still 30 but just slow everything down!) and shot some video. By the look of it, there has been a lot of damp in one area, for a long time. I'll have to remove the internal panelling to get close enough even to measure, let alone do any work, but I'm more confident as we go along.

On Saturday I had plenty of time to start stripping out the caulking in an area of the deck at the rear port side. I used my custom made tools which turned out to be a little on the wide side but they have since been pruned. The idea was to use my slot funnel for the first time to get some resin into the deck support timbers. On the bright side, I was right with my assessment that they are a bit soft. On the down side they were still a bit damp therefore the resin wouldn't be so effective. I left the slots covered over with tape. Never mind though, I've now trimmed the tools to make the slots a bit cleaner and next time should see some significant progress deckwise.

In other news, I have been playing live online auctions again! There is a space in the saloon where some oaf has cut out some cupboards to make way for a log burner. It's 52” wide, 26” high and 16” deep. I've been looking for an old radiogram or similar to convert into a drinks cabinet as a “temporary” installation until an internal refurb takes place. So this wine rack came up, looking for all the World like a magazine rack, I thought it may be useful with another unit instead of the radiogram.

I was the only bidder at the minimum £5, net £7.50 with charges. It's huge. It's a bit weird in that it is held together with crude pegs, takes 12 bottles, but it's portable! However, as can be seen, it's more likely to have 6 bottles of wine, with gin taking up any available space.

And to keep the glasses in, this lovely little drawer unit.

I didn't inspect the rack before the auction but this I did. I'm no furniture expert but I have seen a few antique shows to have learned something. I removed each drawer and noted they were numbered with the base unit so each drawer was matched to it's own slot. The joints are all excellent dovetails. It was listed as mahogany. The brass bits make it look a bit boaty for me, or military. They are laquered brass and patinated but that's ok by me; I'll not be trying to clean them up. I've waxed the wood and fed the leather top.

How old does it look? Guess the hammer price?

 

And for the Grandchildren: There was a poor picture of a British Seagull outboard in one auction and I thought it would make another little project for the kids to strip down. £15 hammer price. I haven't got it yet, it's still in Norfolk, but it turns and the plug looks new. It's even got the string! 

 

[floydraser]

I nipped over again on Monday with a view to staying a couple of days. First thing I noticed was that the water was as lower than I had ever seen it before. Not as low as some of the pictures I've seen but very low indeed. The Owl was actually aground and listing to port. It was a very weird feeling! Combination of the low water and the chuffing great lake which had formed in the cover due to the recent heavy rain. I hadn't thought to take my spare bilge pump and pipe so I had to stand there with the manual jobby while it syphoned.

Then it was dark. Damned nuisance these short daylight hours! Then once again, despite a favourable forecast, it rained. Aagh! Cover on.

Nothing to do then so had a beer, something to eat, then stripped out the internal panelling to inspect the starboard deck supporting timbers, or what's left of them. Videoed it and that was that.

Tuesday was nice and bright but the underside of the cover was dripping with condensation so I had to get my waterproof coat on, crawl to the edge to undo the elastics and roll it back. Oh look, frost! I thought about the poor lady who bought the boat to live the dream in Scotland, only to find it leaked like a sieve. She would have had to do the same every morning and then go to work. No wonder she gave up, brave lady though.

I've trimmed down the tools I made for the deck and so I cleaned out the slots ready for resin. My slot funnel worked a treat! I had moved the pillows and spread some old towels out on the bed to catch any resin that made it through the deck but they weren't needed; although some did get through I was able to wipe it away before it got anywhere to make a mark. I was pleased to see it come through though; I know I will have sealed it when I've finished. I need to modify the funnel as the slot tends to close up. I'll add some bits to enable me to squeeze the slot open while pouring. And although it worked fine for liquid, the slot wouldn't be wide enough for fibreglass matting so I'll use heavy duty tape along the slot edges for that.

Back to the starboard deck timbers then. The neighbours wouldn't have appreciated the noise of my multi-tool at 22.00 the night before so I cut away some rot with it around late morning, then measured for new supports. Lunch.

I had planned to have a look at the diesel supply, but stopped after draining the water separator, which didn't contain any water! At that point, around 13.00, I made the decision to come home a day early. I had done all the important stuff and there was a smell of resin around the rear bedroom (sorry, stateroom).

The British Seagull is now here and looking good. It's nothing like the piece of scrap I was expecting. Everything there including a new plug and the mounting. As expected though, no spark. Rare on a BS anyway! So this is where one turns to Youtube. Points cleaned and set, ignition module tested – perfect. But no spark. Tell me you all knew this and I was the only one who didn't: If you remove the plug and spin the motor with an electric drill at around 1500 rpm for 5 minutes, you get a spark. Yep, works.

I'll be cleaning out the carb today and having a go at starting it later....

[Roy]

I can remember these cruisers being sold off from Harvey Eastwood to fresh water cruisers I don’t know if denham owl was one of them.

My dad had a plot of land opposite Harvey Eastwood yard on the dyke I was a child fascinated with all the different boats I’d sit on the jetty on a Saturday afternoon ( handover day) and it would be hire boat after hire boat all Saturday afternoon something you’ll never see again from Brundall. 

( sorry gone of subject)

[floydraser]

14 hours ago, Roy said:

I can remember these cruisers being sold off from Harvey Eastwood to fresh water cruisers I don’t know if denham owl was one of them.

My dad had a plot of land opposite Harvey Eastwood yard on the dyke I was a child fascinated with all the different boats I’d sit on the jetty on a Saturday afternoon ( handover day) and it would be hire boat after hire boat all Saturday afternoon something you’ll never see again from Brundall. 

( sorry gone of subject)

Not off subject at all, welcome any contributions. 

I keep thinking this thread has the wrong name as the Denham Owl is not strictly a Harvey Eastwood. I didn't know that 3 years ago when I arrived on the forum. It's a Santa Caterina Mark IV if anyone cares. She was never a hire boat though. Flip back a page or two of the thread and there's stuff about how I've traced the records. The bunks in the forecabin (or should that be forward stateroom?) are only youth sized due to the original owner's preferences.

[FairTmiddlin]

2 hours ago, floydraser said:

 The bunks in the forecabin (or should that be forward stateroom?) are only youth sized due to the original owner's preferences.

Maybe he was the father of Peter Pan?

[floydraser]

6 hours ago, FairTmiddlin said:

Maybe he was the father of Peter Pan?

He clearly didn't intend keeping it until they had grown into to adults. 

[floydraser]

 

[grendel]

i do like the commentary over the decking piece, thats the most sense i have heard for ages.

[floydraser]

1 hour ago, grendel said:

i do like the commentary over the decking piece, thats the most sense i have heard for ages.

From me anyway...

[Smoggy]

On 05/11/2021 at 19:53, floydraser said:

He clearly didn't intend keeping it until they had grown into to adults. 

Or maybe he didn't intend keeping the children that long.

[floydraser]

Just nipped over yesterday (Saturday 18th) and came back today (guess?).

Very damp weather so everything outside was damp. Massive lake in the cover again, this time though, on the starboard side and therefore easier to access. I had envisaged this and taken my electric bilge pump and that, along with syphoning with the manual pump, made short work of it. I had also bought some new elastic shock cord because I reckon the present stuff should be coming to the end of it's useful life.

Anyway, I got there about 2pm Saturday and managed to apply some foam filler outside and replace the structural bit of wood mentioned in D.O. 23 above. Job done then, all I had to do Sunday was tidy up, sort out the cover and have a steady drive home in daylight.

Nope. I noticed a "surface" appearing on the doors again so gave them a clean with mildew remover. Then I set about the cover. I therefore put on my old Regatta waterproof top, fleece and a pair of kneed pads before getting down under there to sort things out. I managed to tighten up some of the exsisting cords as they seemed ok, replaced one then climbed out from underneath and onto the jetty. As I stood up my phone "submarined" from under my fleece, bounced once on the jetty then escaped into the water. Oops.

Some times your planets just line up don't they? Not today.

Usually the water in BGM is crystal clear, not today. And it was high tide. I could reply on any of my neighbours in the marina to help and two of them offered to have a sweep under the boat with fish landing nets, but to no avail.

I've messaged Virgin's diabolical customer service, lost/stolen phone department with the details and they reckon to get back to you in an hour. Three hours and I'm still waiting....

Oh just a minute, what's this? It says, "If you don't receive an email, text us on XXXXXXXX". Brilliant.

[grendel]

thats as good as our IT department - we have emailed your new user his password and login details..... doh at least copy his manager in so he can pass on the information

 

[oldgregg]

14 hours ago, grendel said:

thats as good as our IT department - we have emailed your new user his password and login details..... doh at least copy his manager in so he can pass on the information

I've had that from our IT people. Like how can anyone possibly think that would work or be useful. 

[Bikertov]

15 hours ago, grendel said:

thats as good as our IT department - we have emailed your new user his password and login details..... doh at least copy his manager in so he can pass on the information

 

Did they at least email the username and password separately, and not in the same email  

[Smoggy]

Along the lines of "keyboard error-press F1 to continue"...

[OldBerkshireBoy]

A true story recounted by a friend working in a forensics lab used by a police force.

"Hello inspector Donut here,can you lift fingerprints from a cheque?"

"Yes we can"

"Great, I`ll fax the cheque to you"

[floydraser]

In fairness to Virgin: I reported the SIM lost at 4pm Sunday, I received an email confirmation at 05.00 Monday and 2 hrs later another email saying the replacement was on it's way. It came Tuesday by first class post. I never thought I would say it but well done Virgin for being adequate.

The blurb with it said it could take up to 24 hours to activate, it may need a pin number and I may have to restart the phone. No pin numbers asked for but I restarted it (my old phone) a few times but to no avail. If I rang out I would get a sweet asian lady telling me, "This number are not currently available, please ring customer service on 789". Thank you Madam, I will. 

I did and the same lady repeated, "This number are not currently available, please ring customer service on 789". Hmm. I decided to ring the customer service landline which would cost me I think, but it was me who dropped the phone... A very nice asian man explained that reporting a phone lost or stolen puts a block on the account, and the SIM, so once that was lifted and tested I was back in business. 

My grandchildren think it's funny that "Eric the Pike" from Brundall keeps using my phone to post on the family Whatsapp group.

[floydraser]

This is probably the most boring of my vidoes to date; a lot of it is me talking about parting company with the boat.

 

[floydraser]

Managed a trip over on Tuesday 17th May, in between family commitments. The Wymondham roadworks didn't seem to be a bother so arrived at around 16.15. The plan was to stay for two nights and return late Thursday.

I was really hoping to get there early enough to sand the caulking I had put down last time and get the first coat of varnish applied. This would mean (weather permitting) I could get at least another couple of coats on this trip. It's only a very small area but it would mean a vulnerable part of the rear was once again waterproof.

Did that, then put sterilizer in the water tanks to work over night.

I put the cover back over for the expected overnight downpour, which only lasted 5 minutes from 23.00!

Wednesday I managed to replace some wooden quadrant, painted the horrible woodwork above the bed and applied more varnish to the deck.

Having forgotten the Fry Light again, I used the excuse to nip up to Roys (how much??) but accidentally slipped into Angling Direct and bought some terminal tackle. 

I actually had to nip into Norwich because I have found it easier sometimes to order stuff click and collect on the way to the boat or nearby. On my last trip over I called in at Toolstation in Thetford as my local branch couldn't supply, and the Thetford branch has easy access from the A14. This time it was Euro Car Parts in Hall Road.

Wednesday night's forecast included quite a monsoon so once again the cover was applied and I slept “upstairs” in the saloon due to the smelly paint in the bedroom. The noise started at 01.30 and went on most of the night. I will NEVER understand why anyone would want to live on a boat.

Thursday all I had set myself as a target was another coat of paint, another coat of varnish (making a total of 4) and apply a repair patch to the repair of the cover.

I had repaired the tear in the cover a couple of years ago with strong, black tape from Screwfix, putting it on both sides of the material and sewing round the edges. No, I'm not sewing your button on. The weather and direct sunlight had taken it's toll on the tape so it was time to repair the repair. I found this Flex Patch online and it looked worth a try. One box contains three bits of repair tape: 1 x 5” square, 1 x 3” square, and 1 x 2” x 8”. In the pic the yellow strip is the 2 x 8 with backing still on. The 3 x 3 is the clear patch on the fabric. I used a combination of them to cover the tear but if you use it be careful; once you've removed the backing the next thing it touches is where it's going to be stuck for ever. There's no second chances, no re-applying it and it takes no prisoners. And that's if you can get it off your fingers to start with! Looks promising but time will tell. I forgot to take a pic of the final repair though. Toolstation have it at £9.99 per box or Euro £4.49 for the same thing??? The only difference is that one gives the sizes (approximate) in imperial units! 

[floydraser]

The patch above is not pretty but it looks like it's doing it's job for now. But look at this:

She's naked!

Taken this afternoon, Tuesday 05.07.22. Complete with 6ft Pointless Mast.

Currently onboard and as the marina are quite rightly IMO clamping down on scruffy boats, I thought I should make a bit of effort. Although I still have a bit of neglect in the bank compared to those behind me. I've also tried to get the green off the cover. Progress moves on.. diesel filter tomorrow.

[floydraser]

I'm just nailing together D.O. 25 for youtube but I thought I'd post a bit of an update here. I went over on Tuesday 2nd August and the first job was a bit of rubbing down and the first coat of varnish for some of the repaired woodwork. 

Wednesday's main job was to re-start the engine after over two years being stationary. The story has been covered in the post about diesel filters, but it started, hooray! New engine battery next time then.

Work went well in the heat, but even without the heatwave it was "too darn hot". Surrounded on three sides by trees, the mooring is great most of the time as it traps the heat. Not complaining though.

As work went so well I was able to push on with the starboard deck area where it has gone soft. I was ready to do what I had already done in a couple of other areas but this time I discovered I was wrong about the deck support being rotten. As I removed the caulking I could see what looked like wires running under the teak planks. I poked them and they felt like wires. It turns out that the deck support has bowed and someone's "solution" was to apply silicone sealer in strips to bridge the gap between support and planking. Now I would understand if anyone accused me of bodging the job, but at least my bodges have a bit more engineering thought behind them. Otherwise you would never here about them for one thing! 

For two of the planks they have cut off the screws and relied on the silicone and caulking to hold them down. My solution is to soak the support in resin, then insert Upol f/glass under the planking to form something of a girder bridge layout. I'll then add further support on the underside of the support plank from inside the saloon. On my back again!!

 

And then there's the cleat mounting...

This cleat came adrift way back when it was moored overnight in Clyde Boat Yard during a gale. Not clear in the pic but when I removed the caulking I could see foam filler below, and not structural foam either, the same stuff I found in the back which acts like a sponge! I'll definitely be making a big hole here and re-plugging with hardwood.

I have now braced the subject of me selling the boat privately, with marina and they seem to be ok with it. We agreed that none of us (especially other boat owners) want anyone coming to the marina uninvited to look around. So I'm mentioning it quietly.... whispering even.. I would rather it be moved on by word of mouth before we get close to mooring renewal next April. If anyone is interested pm me to arrange a viewing. In the meantime work will carry on as normal and if Ernie picks out one of my numbers I'll keep it. And get some other b*gger to do the work! 

[floydraser]

I've just nipped the 142 miles over to Brundall to put some varnish on, then nipped back. So this picture is out of date already:

The bit of hardwood in the top of the hole is just poked in to get a rough idea of size, the finished version fits a lot better. So two of the cleat screws were in solid wood (at the bottom) and the other two were relying on just the strength in the planking. Oh, and the sponge filler of course. I had already relaid the planks and finished this cleat mounting before today but I just wanted to get some varnish on the bare wood before the weather got more damp.

There was another reason to go today, to do with the sale. I decided to get my finger out and get it advertised after seeing the thread about hire boats going onto the market at the end of the season. I've given Facebook Marketplace a try first of all, mainly because searches are related to location and I can specify where the boat is. Within hours the first enquiry was from Boatshed offering to sell it for me. Thanks.

Next was someone who wants a trendy liveaboard, firing off questions to which the answers are in the advert. Couldn't see the videos because "the link doesn't work". It's not a link, it's an address and if you can't work out how to put it into youtube and find the videos, how are you going to restore a boat? The ad has had 1,471 views and just the one idiot so far.

Then the good news: someone who works with Nick Eastwood saw the ad and asked him about the boat. Nick has been in touch and wants to come over and have a look around. He says he can remember his Dad building these! He's not going to buy it but who better to get an assesment from???

It didn't happen today but it will in due course....

 

[floydraser]

This video includes a bit where I change the diesel filter as advised on the forum - thanks again. 

The potential sale goes on as Ernie seems to have forgotten my numbers. I hate selling large items like cars etc. Even as I type this I have a very stroppy bloke on Messenger being a pia. Just accused me of hiding something because I won't drop everything and take him out on a trial run? Do I come accross as dishonest?

[floydraser]

Well after the worst day on Wednesday, Friday turned out to be one of the best.

Mr Nick Eastwood came aboard the Denham Owl to have a look around and remember his Father's old business. The first thing I notice with Nick is his obvious passion for boats, sailing, the Broads and his family's history within it all. We had a couple of hours chatting and I learned a lot about the boat and the history of the Eastwood family in the Broads. I now know that there is no chance of finding any of the original drawings for my boat as they have all been lost as the business changed hands.

I'm pleased to report that Nick was kind enough not to make comment on my woodworking efforts, and I think it was brave of me to allow him to see them! 

I never realised that the original owner, Sam Hornor was a long time personal friend of Len Eastwood and in days gone by, the families were very close. I am going to try and reconnect Nick to Sam's son Peter and there may even be a reunion aboard the Owl!