Hijinks On On Hi-jinks

[addicted]

We returned to the boat on Friday, a last minute decision as medical appointments had made it difficult to plan ahead. We arrived about lunchtime. On our last  visit we found one of the boats adjacent to us had changed and the one in it's place was a boat we have known for many years - since about 1990 in fact. It used to belong to Tony's late brother-in-law. Sadly it was no longer in the immaculate condition we remembered. We were looking  forward to meeting it's present owner. We didn't have long to wait. He arrived early Saturday morning. We introduced ourselves and filled him in on the history of his boat,  which he seemed to greatly appreciate. He worked hard all day cleaning after which the boat looked much more like its old self. It's a Profile 33 which was originally built  for the owner of the company. We left him to his cleaning and went for a short cruise passing the NBN c in c. We waved to  you all as we passed just outside Horning, All your boats looked very smart especially Broad Ambition and Water Rail. We stayed out for a few hours returning back to our mooring late afternoon. We had thought to see if there was  room for us to attend the meet at Salhouse but our central heating had developed a fault which meant we were going to have to use an electric heater making hook up essential which was why we returned to our mooring. We had a very enjoyable meal  at the Ferry. We returned home Tuesday having spent  a very relaxing few days aboard doing very little other than routine maintenance  done by Tony.

 

Carole

[addicted]

We went to the boat last Wednesday, arrriving at about midday, it was our intention to stay for a week. We stayed on the marina  for  couple of days just enjoying the lovely weather. then on Friday we cruised to Womack water ( my favourite destination) to our amazement we had a choice of several moorings. Having moored easily we settled down to watch the comings and goings. We ate on board that evening. Next morning we were  dismayed to find that our inverter was refusing to work which meant we wluld have to return to our mooring to plug in as use of a hair dryer is essential to me. We were also disappointed to find the shop no longer sells newspapers and a trip into the village was necesssary.  We moved off late morning and arrived back on our mooring in time for lunch. Having phoned Gary at Sheerling to ask for advice on the inverter we then unplugged the mains and gave it another try and the pesky thing immediately worked.. Grrr!. We stayed on the mooring and had a very enjoyable meal in the Ferry that evening. the only complaint was that they were  so busy it took 1 hour .45mins for it to be served.  That didn't matter too much because we had got talking to other diners on adjacent tables and were quite content. We had intended to go off  for a few days again, but I received news  of the sudden death oifmy oldest ( 60years) and closest friend which rather  killed my enthusiasm for doing anything much other than quietly sitting with a good book for the next couple of days and we returned home Wednesday feeling very rested and having enioyed the fabulous weather.

 

Carole

[CambridgeCabby]

Sorry to read of your sad news , our thoughts and  condolences are with you .

Simon and Kate 

[Lulu]

So sorry Carole. Graham and I send our condolences x 

[YnysMon]

My Condolences Carole. 

[addicted]

We went to the boat on Tuesday Sept 5th arriving mid - afternoon.  After  unloading we spent  a leisurely afternoon and evening settlling in just having a light meal in the evening as we had a full lunch on  the journey there. Wednesday was spent  pottering about on the boat getting little maintenance jobs done. Thursday we noticed while buying our morning papers in Horning that there were spaces  on the staithe so returning to the boat we wasted no time in  pushing off, mooring  on the staithe about 20 minutes later. We stayed there watching the world go by until early next morning when we set off for Potter Heigham.  Arriving there we were luck enough to secure  a mooring and get plugged into the power supply although we were dismayed to note how many sockets were out of service. Just putting a bag and tape over them rather than  doing the required repair strikes me as a very poor level of service. We met and chatted to several  very nice people while we were there,  staying till the next morning. On our way back to Horning about a mile or so from our mooring at Ferry we came across a boat broadside across the river. We slowed down as we approached and enquired if they were in trouble and indeed they were having run out of diesel! We roped them to our starboard side  and took them to Ferry marina, dropping them of onto the bank by the fuel pumps. They got fuelled up and an engineer promptly arrived to clear the obligatory air lock that had naturally followed running out of fuel, top marks to Ferry marine for the level of service.  We spent the next couple of days doing very little as the heat left little energy for anything else! We returned home today as we are due a trip to London this  week to see the family who have just returned from holiday in Spain.

 

Carole

[addicted]

We've been having a problem with our eberspacher heating for a while. It's been serviced and thoroughly checked but the problem persists. It will run perfectly normally the day after being reinstalled then only for short periods before cutting out. It starts at the correct time and stops much earlier than it should. Penks have had it running for hours on the bench then once its 'back on the boat it stops again sometimes after as little as 6"  and then  sometimes for as much as  40". Anyone got any ideas as to what could be the cause?

 

Carole

[Turnoar]

One thing that could vary between the workshop and the boat is the power supply perhaps. Maybe replace or bypass the existing supply wire on the boat and test again to see if it makes any difference?

[Smoggy]

Air getting into the fuel supply needing re-priming or the fuel pump at the wrong angle (they are quite picky), mine once had a issue cutting out and it was the air return ducting restricted so it was cutting out due to overtemp error, what control do you have as some give error codes with the right button presses.

[addicted]

Thanks so much for the response. Its got an eberspacher timer control but it doesn't seem to have shown any error code although I know it does have that feature. I must admit we haven't looked for one but have looked at the control when its malfunctioning so feel we would have noticed an emblem that isn't usually there

 

Carole

[Smoggy]

Have a scout around on the link below and you'll likely find the info on how to get error codes on that controller.

https://www.letonkinoisvarnish.co.uk/eberspacher_intro_1.html

Looks like if the timer has a white logo it doesn't have diagnostics but if it has a blue eber logo it does.

[Mouldy]

1 hour ago, addicted said:

Thanks so much for the response. Its got an eberspacher timer control but it doesn't seem to have shown any error code although I know it does have that feature. I must admit we haven't looked for one but have looked at the control when its malfunctioning so feel we would have noticed an emblem that isn't usually there

 

Carole

When we bought our boat, the Eberspacher heater could be heard, but it wouldn’t fire.  When we arrived at Swancraft, I spoke to Paul about it and he suggested that it may be the fuel pump.  He investigated and found the pump at the stern, near the heater, but he moved it to near the fuel tank, towards the bow and it worked perfectly.  The pump pushes fuel more efficiently than sucks it.  Might be worth seeing where your heater fuel pump is located in relation to the supply.

[addicted]

Well, thanks to the flood water that is still impacting on Ferry marina, there''s  no hi jiunks to be had on Hi Jinks as there's no  chance of getting to her . As it's been so long since we were able to go we got a bit anxious  and phoned  the marina manager to make sure the boat was safe and very reassured to hear that they check the ropes every day. Good service. What did rather shock us was to learn  from him that the pump that was installed to combat flooding on the marina  had been sabotaged - twice, with a large lump of wood having been jammed into it to prevent it from functioning . The only possible reason  we can think of for someone to do this if it isn't  just mindless vandalism is if the noise the pump presumably makes  was annoying someone. Even so a pretty vile thing to do.

 

Carole

[OldBerkshireBoy]

Wood tends to float, pumps tend to flood the inlet so not impossible that the wood is being drawn in and jamming the pump.

[addicted]

Received an e mail from the marina  advising us that the water had subsided enough to allow  us access to the boat. So we drove up today  to clear off those things  we take home  and to winterise the engine etc. We were very relieved to find no water ingress in the boat (the low bathing platform makes it vulnerable when on a  fixed pontoon) The  marina had thoughtfully moved it along to a more accommodating mooring.  The whole marina is in absolute chaos as they are doing major works to the road to alleviate the risk of flooding  in the future  and there is no mains power available. The boat is absolutely filthy particularly our beige, 18 months old canopy which is liberally splashed with mud and the Spring clean promises to be a really hard task. We got everything done and because the Ferry looked as if there was no access we decided to drive to the  White Heron for lunch. I must say the decor is more welcoming than  when we went before. The meal was first class but the wait for it to  arrive was far from first class  - almost an hour!

 

 

Carole

[addicted]

We went to the boat last Thursday. Our first visit since October! The marina being flooded prevented us  from getting on board till now. I must say we found it really hard not being able to get there right through the winter. Our normal winter routine is  to go and check the boat  every 2-3 weeks or so.We spend a short time on board and then go off for lunch somewhere, then home. it makes for a nice  regular day out to break up the long winter months and we really missed  it this year. 
We were dreading what we were going to find after all  the flooding. The boat was undamaged thank goodness just filthy! Top marks  to Ferry Marina for the level of care. Our first tasks involved getting unpacked and stowing everything away which took a while. The boat was surprisingly clean inside and no damp, the  damp traps  having done their job well. The boat didn't even feel particularly cold which was  fortunate because the problem we had with our central heating at the back end of last season still hasn't been resolved due to the flooding preventing access. Sadly we have now  discovered we need a replacement unit as all other remedies have failed. That evening we had dinner in the  newly re-opened Ferry with friends and a lovely evening was enjoyed by us all. Because the season came to such a  sudden end last year we were unable to fit the winter  cover and the canopy was left exposed to the elements thus very dirty and will need cleaning when we return.  The  weather got very cold during the rest of the weekend and our  little heater struggled to cope and we were happy to go home first thing Sunday morning. Hi-Jinks were most definitely absent from Hi-Jinks on this occasion.

 

Carole