Mermaid’s Meanderings

[YnysMon]

29 minutes ago, kpnut said:

What did that ranger boat have with him?

I was wondering that too. 

[CeePee1952]

I reckon he was advertising how to camouflage your boat when on a wild mooring! 

Chris

[Lulu]

2 hours ago, kpnut said:

No you didn’t!

What did that ranger boat have with him?

Prunings from overhanging branches i assume. 
 

No rain at home in the end. Warm sunshine and blue sky so sorry, maybe we did bring it back with us!

[CeePee1952]

25 minutes ago, Lulu said:

No rain at home in the end. Warm sunshine and blue sky so sorry, maybe we did bring it back with us!

I think we did too 

Chris

[kpnut]

3 hours ago, Lulu said:

No rain at home in the end. Warm sunshine and blue sky so sorry, maybe we did bring it back with us!

Turned out nice!

[YnysMon]

It was horrible around lunchtime, but then the sun came out. 

[Lulu]

2nd August

After what seems like forever we finally managed a weekend out on the rivers. We had been up a couple of weeks ago and just stayed in the marina as Desmond’s foot was still healing from an operation. That weekend we got some more maintenance and tweaking jobs done.
 

 I left work at midday. Graham had the car packed by the time I got home so left straight away anticipating a long journey being Friday afternoon.  Took 20 mins to get past Barton Mills and apart from another stop start at Thickthorn, overall it was quite a good journey.  Got everything onboard and decided on Paddy’s Lane hoping we would find a space before all the Richardsons returnees arrived.  There were quite a few spaces available so picked a spot near to the entrance to the boardwalk.  Graham rigged up two 12v fans, one in the saloon and one in the bedroom. They were much needed. After our usual pasta bolognaise for dinner and watching a bit of the Olympics with the fans on, we were pretty tired from work and the heat so had an early night. 

 

Saturday 3rd August

After a very comfortable night with the 12v fans, we both had had the best night’s sleep in weeks. A lot has been going on at home and work recently and I think we finally just switched off.  We were up early and after a quick walk with Desmond, we set off at 6.50am with the aim to meet up with Kate at Stokesby. Our neighbours at either end were also awake, but even so, we didnt hang about and left as quietly as possible.  The cruise was absolutely wonderful, at that time not many boats on the move and it was nice and cool although as we went past Acle, I sensed a hot smell and saw the temperature of the engine was running much hotter than normal. We were going against the tide and once I dropped back to 4mph the smell went. We wondered if the weed filter needed looking at but all was ok again so Graham said he’d have a check when we had reached Stokesby. 
 

I was in regular contact with Kate who gave me updates that there was space behind her on the BA moorings. As we approached the last bend, she texted to say it was still free and under absolutely no pressure at all being photographed by Kate, we moored up safely.   Kate had been a bit concerned about SR’s batteries so she and Graham went to look at the situation while I chatted with Kate’s friend and let Desmond and Finlay catch up on the latest hound news.   SR and crew then set off for Griffs Corner and we pulled Mermaid forward.   I accidentally found myself in the shop and bought a slab of carrot cake for me and a sausage roll for Graham. We hadnt had any breakfast and carrot cake is vegetables so that justified my purchase…. 
 

Later in the afternoon the Stokesby fete started and we had a wander around for a while. Desmond was very good in amongst quite a few other dogs but decided we didnt want to push things by entering him into the dog show. I later popped back and bought an interesting book about the RAF for my dad.   In the evening we had a takeaway from the pub. This is the second time we’ve had a takeaway from there. To make things easier for the chef, we take our own foil trays with lids. Everything stays piping hot.   A cooler evening, Desmond exhausted by the day, we watched the latest on the Olympics again.  Sadly no sunset which I was hoping for. Another early night as we had an early start in the morning. 

Sunday 4th August

Another great night’s sleep. Oh so different from home.  We got up at 6.15 , Desmond really was not impressed by this but eventually bribed him out of bed with a gravy bone. Quick walk and gave him his breakfast and we set off at 7.00am. The water was like a millpond on the Bure.  Boats were starting to move as we approached St Benets.  We followed two up the Ant and we all went under Ludham bridge with thankfully no one wanting to come through from the other-side.   We passed Springers Retreat at Griffs Corner. Kate kindly sent photos of us on the move. Scuse the very dirty fender socks!  
 

Graham then took over helming while I cleaned and did the final bits of packing.   The overheating issue from the previous day hadn’t reoccurred. Graham had found a bit of weed in the weed filter but not that much.   We arrived back at the marina  and moored much easier than usual as we turned around and came in from the opposite direction which seemed to work better with Mermaid’s quirky reverse crabbing. Packed the car up and left around 10.30.   A really lovely weekend. Lovely weather, albeit overcast at times, but so nice not having to wear coats or drag mud into the boat.  Graham has just got some advice from JanetAnne re the engine issue and we will probably be getting a new impeller and raw water pump drive belt. 

 

[Andrewcook]

It's a very nice and well-taken photo to see the very few  Hampton still the Broads and may it continue for the future.

[NeilB]

The other items I’d check that may cause overheating are:

The pump itself as they can wear out.  Check for debris in the gearbox oil cooler caps and the black rubber connector onto the heat exchanger - you will loose coolant when you do this.  The tube stack in the header tank can also become blocked with scale deposits, they can be soaked and cleaned using Rydlyme.  Don’t use any old descaler as some can affect the solder used to hold the stack together.

[Broads01]

1 hour ago, Andrewcook said:

It's a very nice and well-taken photo to see the very few  Hampton still the Broads and may it continue for the future.

Yes it's nice to have a photo of your boat on the move. There are loads of Hamptons still around Andrew and long may that continue. It's such an iconic design and built to last it seems.

[Lulu]

27 minutes ago, NeilB said:

The other items I’d check that may cause overheating are:

The pump itself as they can wear out.  Check for debris in the gearbox oil cooler caps and the black rubber connector onto the heat exchanger - you will loose coolant when you do this.  The tube stack in the header tank can also become blocked with scale deposits, they can be soaked and cleaned using Rydlyme.  Don’t use any old descaler as some can affect the solder used to hold the stack together.

Thank you Neil. Very useful info

[MargeandParge]

The Plate on our pump is reversible when worn by the impeller not sure if it's the same on all but worth a look.

Kindest Regards Marge and Parge 

[YnysMon]

I love your reasoning that carrot cake is vegetable, so good for you. I anticipated this by having a lime and courgette cake this morning. (They called it lime and zucchini, but I think that’s either because they thought zucchini sounds posher than courgette or that it sounds more appetising.) Anyways, it was yum…must try to find a recipe! 

[JanetAnne]

On 04/08/2024 at 22:24, NeilB said:

The other items I’d check that may cause overheating are:

The pump itself as they can wear out.  Check for debris in the gearbox oil cooler caps and the black rubber connector onto the heat exchanger - you will loose coolant when you do this.  The tube stack in the header tank can also become blocked with scale deposits, they can be soaked and cleaned using Rydlyme.  Don’t use any old descaler as some can affect the solder used to hold the stack together.

We are pretty sure the pump is partially seized so not rotating properly more than likely jammed up by impeller failure. A reduced flow out of the exhaust confirms this. Anyway, the tight pump has damaged the belt so replacing at the same time is advised.

[Lulu]

Graham left early this morning and now back home after replacing the impeller and cleaning up some rubber debris. We invested in an impeller puller, expensive but worth it for the ease.  The impeller was quite squidgy and pitted. Mermaid is running nicely now so hopefully that has sorted the overheating issue.  We will get a spare and change it annually. 

[MargeandParge]

Looks like it was time for a new one. If the picture is the new one you've been ripped off 

Kindest Regards Marge and Parge 

[Lulu]

That was definitely the old one 😉