Monday, October 25, 2004

The Rudder has been repaired.

This weekend I went up to stay on Sirius for the first time, and Yvonne came too, also to stay, and to see Sirius for the first time! While we were there we saw the rudder that Alan Pease had repaired for me.

A before and after photo can be seen below:

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Monday, October 18, 2004

Rudder repairs.

Sirius should by now have had her bottom blacked. Last week Alan took Sirius's rudder back to his workshop to repair it. He sent through a couple of photos yesterday. It's certainly looking a lot better than it did before!

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Friday, October 15, 2004

Sirius Dry Dock Survey Photos

Here are a few of the photos taken which Sirius was in a Dry Dock having a survey.
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A couple more photos inside Sirius, the Engine again and the second stove (surrounded with clutter) in the Engine room.
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Survey Day.

Well, I drove up to Castleford on Wednesday evening, I had intended to leave work in good time, but in the end I did not leave the office until gone 10pm, which meant I arrived in Castleford at about 1:20am feeling very tired!

I stayed in a Travel Lodge (note to self the Premium Inn around the corner was cheaper!) and this morning I drove over to the Hargreaves dry dock.

On arrival I found that Sirius was not in the dry dock, and infact, another boat called Sagacity was in the dry dock, after having it's bottom blacked the day before.

A couple of hours later, the guys at Hargreaves had sorted things out, and Sirius was at last dry docked.

The Surveyor Bill then set to work checking the Hull, along both sides and on the bottom, not the most pleasent part of his job! The thickness of the steel was between 8mm and 4.6mm, which apparently should be fine for another couple of years, after which some replating may be required.

Bill then had a good look at the Engine, and determined that there were quite a few problems with the engine, starting with the electrics, the fuel leads should be re-routed and the exhaust pipe needs repairing.

Bill also pointed out quite a few smaller items that would require attention to ensure Sirius would passed a safety certificate inspection.

Because of the additional work, I offered the owner a lower price, and we came to a satisfactory mid point :) which I think is a fair price for this condition boat.

I will post some photos in the morning!

Chris

Friday, October 08, 2004

Nicholson Waterways Guides

These guides seem to be recommended by everyone, I had a look at them today in the local bookshop, and these seem very comprehensive, so I'll probably get Guide 1, 3, 6 & 7 to cover my trip.

Waterways Guides Updates

Thursday, October 07, 2004

Bedroom, Bathroom and Engine !

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Photos of the living room and kitchen

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The first photos.

Here are the first few pictures of the outside of Sirius, as you can see, she needs a good bit of TLC.
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Could this website be mentioning Sirius?

I did a search on Sirius and found this website mentions passing a narrowboat called Sirius! TNC On Tour 2003 Page 1

Part of their tour is also the reverse of the trip I need to make to bring Sirius down from Goole to Reading.

CANALPLAN AC - Canal Route Planner

I found a site that enables you to plan your routes along a canal, might be of use for my trip. CANALPLAN AC - Canal Route Planner

Survey Date is booked.

Lynn has called me this evening to say that the survey has been booked for next thursday, (14th October) so I will need to book the day off work.

Apparently I need to be there at 9:30am, which could mean a 5am start :-O

Saturday, October 02, 2004

Visiting Sirius for the first time.

Well, I drove all the way up to Goole, to meet Alan Pease, who is the boatbuilder / broker selling Sirius.

We drove from Alan's boat yard to where Sirius is currently moored so that I could have a good look over her.

First impressions were that she was in the state already described by Alan and Lynn on the phone, no worse, no better :) As I looked around the boat, I did find a few things that needed some serious attention, but all in all she had not been cared for in a long time, and needed a good amount of TLC.