Jump to content

Our 2015 days afloat


Recommended Posts

cheers guys 'n' gal, the infection is a viral thing and could be with me for months according to my Dr. It's the inner ear so no pain just lots of dizziness and feeling faint, not good when your job relies on you being able to drive. Anyway I've got some pills that appear to be keeping the symptoms down to a minimum so life goes on. Lots of people far worse off than me ;)

Grace, I'm a little concerned how I'm being blamed for jaws being a p**s head? I've never seen a pint of wherry disappear so quickly ;)

Thanks MM, glad you cleared that up. I wasn't sure if I couldn't hear Dave or if it was the geordie / mackem accent I was struggling with. I know Dave will now come back and tell me he's not one or the other ;)

cheers

Steve

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

cheers guys 'n' gal, the infection is a viral thing and could be with me for months according to my Dr. It's the inner ear so no pain just lots of dizziness and feeling faint, not good when your job relies on you being able to drive. Anyway I've got some pills that appear to be keeping the symptoms down to a minimum so life goes on. Lots of people far worse off than me ;)

Grace, I'm a little concerned how I'm being blamed for jaws being a p**s head? I've never seen a pint of wherry disappear so quickly ;)

 

Lol yeah Grace not sure steve can be too blamed.. I think the lovely pubs up there are the core problem.. we can't be blamed for the need to frequent! lol

 

Steve, I think we need to do a mini pub crawl on the forth then... Woodfordes ale trail ...I'm sure it would help the dizzyness or at least make it feel a bit more normal ;)cheers

  • Like 5
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Haha I'm sure you are ;)

Ok, so I headed straight up to the boat from work on Friday. Unfortunately Deb was working the weekend so I took the opportunity to go and do a few jobs to allow us to enjoy the full 4 days when we are up from Thursday this coming week.

Arrived at the marina around 4:30 on Friday. Unloaded the van and relayed all the kit to the boat. Boy was it hot. Opened up the sauna, commonly known as Lady Patricia, and got everything onboard. Hit list of jobs this time where:-

1. Fit radio

2. Fit waterlock to exhaust

3. Cut 90* exhaust outlet to make it straight.

Job 1

I had borrowed a generator to enable me to cut the hole in the unit to fit the stereo in. All set up, holes drilled to fit jig saw blade in to start cut and away we went, first part of this job done a treat :). Got stereo, didn't fit. Filed the wood a bit to get it to fit. Great, it looks good :)

post-30525-0-91821400-1435496865_thumb.j

That was that job on hold until I'd spoke to Dave regarding a 12v supply to use.

Decided to have some dinner, a couple of hotdogs, and then went for a stroll. I only got 2 boats along the mooring and got chatting to the couple there (as you do). I was offered a drink and was quick to have a nice cup of tea. Got chatting and putting the world to rights when 2 suspicious looking characters got out of a car. Those two look a bit dodgy I said, keep an eye on them. (It was Alan and Dave) ;), the funny thing is they did watch as the Orca boys walked down to their mooring ;)

I thought it best to explain that I knew them and was just messing about. Didn't want any unnecessary calls to the police.

Anyway I wondered over to Orca and was offered a beer. Sat and had a chat for a while and then turned in for the night.

Saturday

Woke early as usual when in the boat, it had been a warm night and the morning was lovely. Had breakfast and the usual morning cuppa then on with the jobs again.

I thought I'd fit the waterlock first as the engine really was very noisy. The generator running was actually quieter than the engine. Opened up the engine bay and there I found the first problem, not enough room to fit the unit between the engine and the flooring. Alan appeared out of nowhere and asked if I needed a hand as Dave was stripping the engine on Orca and Alan was getting in the way ;). The help was accepted and eventually we found a way to fit the waterlock in. The inlet hose went straight on but the outlet from the waterlock was a lot more difficult. After lots of swearing and the odd socket being dropped in to the bilge and other hoses being removed all was together and tightened up. As I went to seat the waterlock in the correct place we notice the bilge had a LOT more water in it that was there before. We quickly notice the raw water inlet hose was laying in the bilge and slowly filling her up and sinking the boat :(. Luckily I have a bilge pump with a long 12v lead and about 5 meters of hose. After a few minutes of pumping most of the water was out.

Everything back together the engine was started and I must admit it has made a fair bit of difference and made the engine quieter.

Dave then arrived with one of the biggest recipricating saws I've ever seen. Out came the generator and the exhaust was cut like a knife through butter. Now we can see the water coming out the exhaust which in turn gives us that piece of mind that the engine is running ok.

Now was time to get back to finish off the stereo. Dave kindly suggested a safe place to take the 12v from and all was connected. Pressed the on button and ..........nothing. Meter out, 12v at feed, 12v at radio plug but nothing working. By this time I was very hot and not very happy that I'd got a faulty radio off the internet. Decided it was time to load the van, head home and get another radio to fit when up on Thursday.

Once home I got a message from Alan asking how I got on with the radio (Orca was out on a test run when I left) and I told him it was dead. "Did you connect the memory wire to the 12v as some radios don't work without it being connected" came the reply. As you can probably guess I hadn't so will try that when next there.

That was it for this visit. As far as the jobs went, in the words of Meatloaf, Two out of three ain't bad ;)

cheers

  • Like 7
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thursday 2 July

After an uneventful drive up from Hampshire we arrived at the marina at about 3pm. We unloaded the car and loaded up Lady P. It was a rather warm afternoon and when we opened up the doors to Lady P's cabin the heat inside hit you like opening an oven door.
I quickly got the stereo working (after the advice I was given last weekend when I fitted it and it wouldn't power on) and tested with phone. All music plays, Deb was a very happy bunny now she can listen to her music ;)



One more job was to replace the hose that comes off of the water pump. The old one had a big 'kink' in it and was probably not allowing flow as it should.

All little jobs tidied up we decided on a short run up to the Bell Inn at St Olaves. We arrived at around 5:30 and moored up. I can never understand why this pub is not a lot busier. The food was good, the beer was good and the evening sat in the garden watching the sun set was fantastic.



Retired to bed feeling well fed, well watered and extremely happy to be here :)

cheers

post-30525-0-44705700-1435922375_thumb.j

post-28066-0-21798200-1435925170_thumb.j

Edited by JawsOrca
Span poor LadyP round the right way..
  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

You cannot pick yer nose on this Forum in private :naughty: . Very impressed how you moored LP upside down Steve :naughty:  As for The Bell, could not agree more. I think the fast tide there, puts a lot of peeps off mooring.

 

 

cheers Iain

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Friday 3 July

I was wide awake at 5:30. It was a lovely sunny morning and I sat with a cup of tea just watching the flow of the river and listening to the birds singing (and Deb snoring) ;). By about 6:15 the quiet was being interrupted on a regular basis as people started to motor over the bridge on their way to work.

Deb woke about 7:30 and was presented with her morning cuppa. We decided to head down to OB and moor at the yacht station. We arrived mid to late morning and found room to moor by the office. I was surprised how busy it was for the time of day but the weather was great and lots of people where out enjoying the sun.

A B.A launch appeared and promptly stuck a notice on the private boat moored next to us. After taking several pictures the ranger went in to the YS office. I was sat on the wall enjoy the sun, and a smoke, when he walked back. He stopped for a chat and I enquired as to the reason for the notice. No tolls have been paid on the boat was the reply. Oh, how much is that going to cost them I asked. Nothing he replied, they just need to pay them in the next 4 weeks, if they don't then it goes to court. It's now July, if these people had any intention of paying then they would have by now IMHO.

There was uproar when the 'owners' returned, cans in hand and several expletives in every sentence (that was before they read the notice stuck to their boat).

When all the commotion had settled down we thought, ah great, back to enjoying the sun and watching various craft come and go ....... WRONG, the music started blaring out of the speakers on the boat with not tolls. Shame they never sold the big speakers to pay it ;)

We decided to go for a walk around the park. We grabbed an ice cream from the stall in the park and I got talking to one of the local fishermen. He advised the fishing was pretty good in the area so I decided it was about time I 'wet a line' ;)

On returning to the boat the music and foul language was still carrying on. We decided we would leave the moorings at the YS and see if we could get moored on the tea garden moorings, I think that is what they are called, the one on Oulton Dyke. As we turned the corner there was plenty of space so we moored up, I set my fishing gear up and Deb retired to inspect the inside of her eyelids :)

1 VERY small roach and two hours later we decided to look for a place to moor for the night. As we cruised up Oulton Dyke towards the Waveney. It was then we noticed some steam or white smoke coming from the exhaust. As I dropped the revs the vapour got less, as I increased them so the vapour increased in volume. Not being sure this was correct we decided on a very slow cruise back to the marina. The reason we are not sure if this is normal is because Lady P's exhaust used to be fed underwater by a 90* hull fitting and a piece of exhaust tubing. We removed this so we could see water being pumped out of the exhaust after our 'overheating' issues.

We did have a stowaway on the run back up the Waveney. A duck decided to help itself to a free ride on Lady P's cabin roof :).

On arriving at the marina it was decided we would order a curry from La Bone indian take away and must say it was lovely.

cheers

post-30525-0-93480800-1436029020_thumb.j

  • Like 5
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Saturday 4 July

Wow, what a night that was. The storm came over the marina at about 3am this morning. The noise and the Lightning was like none I'd seen or heard before. By 3:30 both Deb and I were wide awake drinking a cup of tea and listening to the rain lashing down on the boat.

Then, as the rain subsided we heard the dreaded 'drip, drip' of water as the downpour started to make its way in to the boat. A leak from a fixing by the front hatch, a leak from what we suspect is the fender cleat on the port side (wet carpet under gunnels) and a few drips coming from our nice new ceiling we fitted over the winter, we think this is from the grab rails on the cabin roof.

With the now very wet duvet and the issue with other leaks and with the engine we decided to pack up and head off home. We had come up in the car and all sealants are in my van at home ..... The one time we decide to give the car a run :(

its not all bad news though. On Sunday we took a trip to the boat jumble at Fareham.

I managed to pick up a new fuse block, a 360* all round nav light, a vetus muffler and we even had a hatch cover made while we waited as Deb, being as organised as she is, had the measurements with her :)

We will be going back up this weekend for a work visit armed with the new bits we brought and various fillers / sealants

cheers

Steve

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

P.s I've Kinda liked that comment... huge shame about the leaks guys and shame you cut it so short. Although we will catch you this weekend.. maybe go out for a quick spin and check on the smoke if you like ;)cheers

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...

Thursday 23 July

Back onboard for the NBN 'summer' meet.

We left home about 8pm for the drive up to the boat. Arrived at the marina just after 11. Our neighbour in the next mooring was onboard his boat and came out to investigate the torch light outside and we got chatting as you do. It turns out he is also a member on here but only logs on every now and again. He did mention his username but as I type this it's gone out of my head :o

Anyway everything stored aboard we had a quick drink and retired for the night.

Friday 24 July

Woke early as usual and made Deb her cup of tea. The plan was to leave the marina about 1pm and cruise down with John (HA). After all the morning rituals I decided to get on with the engine / boat checks while Deb finished off putting the odd bits away.

Weed filter checked and cleaned, engine oil checked and gearbox oil also checked. Turned the engine over and Lady P coughed in to life. The engine note did not sound right, poked my head out the canopy and there's not water coming out of the exhaust. "Oh what now" was the thought that went through my head. I cut the engine to investigate.

I checked the seacock to make sure I'd turned it back on after cleaning the weed filter - all ok. Water flow to the engine - all ok. Popped the casing off the water pump and there it was, another impeller had broken.

I got our spare and had it fitted in 10 minutes. Deb fired up Lady P again and all was ok with the exhaust.

We decided on a change of plan after this. We had listened to the weather forecast of rain and strong winds moving in early afternoon. With the impeller having just been replaced for the 3rd time in as many months we decided to take a slow run down to beccles before the weather turned.

We made it down there after a lovely slow run and got moored up. Swordfish, le grand cru and braveheart were already there. Unfortunately the weather was not playing ball so only quick hellos were swapped.

We decided to head up to get a few bits of shopping in beccles and had a spot of lunch when we returned to the boat, that's when I realised my mistake. Being the idiot I am I'd left a bag in the car, normally not a problem but this bag had my medication in it. John and MM had arrived while we were having lunch so a quick hello and we had to head back to pick up my pills. Although raining the cruise back was not too bad.

Our plan now was to get back to WRC for the night. We had spotted Orca there on the way back and they were still there when we arrived.

Said hello to Alan and Dave and we agreed to meet them in the pub after we had eaten. We only had 1 drink and then went back to chill and chat on Orca. Before we knew it several beverages had been consumed and Deb and I climbed back on Lady P at around 1:30am. It turned out to be a great night with great company ;)

Tomorrow we head back to beccles

cheers

  • Like 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Saturday 26th July

What a night that was. Wind and rain right through. Woke early as usual and made the tea. Deb had to sleep with a towel over her side of the bed as an old fitting for a hatch cover was dripping in the constant rain. The towel was soaked by the time we woke.

The wind was pushing us against the quay heading and there was no way we were moving anytime soon. A quick chat with the crew of Orca and it was agreed, after checking the weather that we wouldn't head for the meet at Beccles until the afternoon.

I think it was about 1pm we decided to try and get out of WRC. Both Orca and Lady P nearly made contact with a small sailing boat that had arrived behind us as we were about to leave. They were asked to move back a little to allow us to manoeuvre out but the woman just stood there and did nothing, some people are so helpful.

Out on the river we had a lovely run down to Beccles. I believe it was Paul (Paul&Lorna) from the forum that joined us on the last part of the journey in to Beccles. I must say what a lovely boat he has :)

We arrived at Beccles and slid straight back in to the mooring that had been kept for us from yesterday. Orca was quickly tied up behind us and Paul went stern on behind them. Walked over to say hello to all the members there before we headed off to get a few bits for a BBQ tonight. Alan and Dave have been trying to get us in to this geocache thing. We decided to give it a go and found 2 in Beccles. I was fun and Deb and I will do some more back home. Tesco visited and back to the YS with our goodies.

We arrived back to find a rather high state of water and were told it was still 3hrs before high tide. Fenders adjusted and the highest available ground chosen for the BBQ we settle down for a beer or 3 ;)

As the evening went on we were joined by Ian and Marina from sweet kingfisher. A really enjoyable night followed crowned off by Deb and Alan ( they are like naughty children when they are together ) running along to all the moored boats at the YS and placing NBN cards on EVERY boat :o

We retired to our bed about 1am and slept rather well.

Up and away by 10 as Lady P can't be run with too many revs at the moment and we knew it would be a slow trundle back. Arrived back at the marina around 1pm, tied her up, tidied up and we were on our way home by 2:30.

We will hopefully be back up very soon :)

post-30525-0-95576500-1438241336_thumb.j

post-30525-0-13744200-1438241358_thumb.j

post-30525-0-90828700-1438241370_thumb.j

  • Like 8
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

Not a blog as such just an update.

Went up to spend the weekend on Lady P and do a little more work trying to find the cause of the white smoke / steam coming from the exhaust. Turns out we have both head gaskets weeping and both blocks cracked on our Volvo Penta md11c. If anyone has one of the old engines laying around or knows of one please let us know

cheers

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Restore formatting

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

For details of our Guidelines, please take a look at the Terms of Use here.