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Post by pilgrim17 on Aug 9, 2014 20:08:11 GMT 1
With the weather taking a turn for the worse, its time to think about some creature comforts, ready for the winter. The hot drinks & bacon/sausage sandwich problem has been solved (which means the wheelhouse will be nice & warm ) So its time I turned my carpentry skills to creating some sidescreens for the rear of the wheelhouse, we have a roof, all we need now are a couple of temporary sidescreens to provide some sort of shelter should it get too rainy, & provide some shelter from the cold wind. So watch this space & see how I progress with the "Hotel Mumbles Belle" I need about 16mts of 10mm x 30mm "doorstop" to make the frames for these sidescreens, anybody know where I can pick it up? I have the canvas, & I have the stainless screws & washers etc to secure it, but if I can find any doorstop cheap it will assist the OAP a bit. 10/12mm x 30mm either side of the canvas will give it some strength (somebody is bound to grab hold of it) Forget the request for doorstop I have decided to go for 18mm x 44mm because as sure as eggs is eggs, somebody will grab hold of it as if its a handrail, & I don't fancy jumping into Swansea Bay in December to pull somebody out! Weather forecasts make me scream! xc weather gives a forecast of 6/7/10mph W/NW winds for Monday 18th Aug, yet the BBC give it as 16/18mph SW for the same day? Who do you believe? Surely in these days of satellites, drones, computers, they could get somewhere a bit closer than a 10mph difference? Anybody interested in a trip on Mumbles Belle on Monday 18th get your name down, & watch the forecast as the week progresses.
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Post by pilgrim17 on Aug 15, 2014 17:40:00 GMT 1
It's a bit bright! I have finished the sidescreen on the starboard side, & its a "bit bright" to say the least, but it will soon fade to be the same colour as the hull (I hope) I bought the roll of rubber backed material from E-Bay for some stupid knock down price, & I selected "Hot Orange" as the colour I wanted, to make a cockpit cover & an engine cover for my outboard, which would deter people from running into the back of me (which happened & ruined my prop) but that's another story. Anyway I am reasonably pleased with the finished article except for the folding over of the corners, which I found almost impossible, & is one of the reasons I never try to wrap Xmas presents! Anyway it will offer a degree of protection from the elements, & when the port side is done that should provide even more. I have suffered many years of winter small boat fishing, & when it rains, or the freezing wind blows, your only protection is to hunker down into your floatation suit & wish it would go away, hopefully these screens will provide some protection for some anglers, especially those without floatation suits & suchlike! Its still a pity about the colour, it looks a bit like a pikey's caravan at the moment I did tell you it was bright! Well the "Mumbles Belle conservatory" is finished, I really need to put some plywood on top of the engine cover to reinforce it against all you fatty's who are going to run under there when it rains!
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Post by pilgrim17 on Aug 18, 2014 17:42:17 GMT 1
Going to try this I noticed when I had finished the "conservatory" that the canvas was "breathing" when the wind blew, but I can rectify the increase in air pressure, by cutting a "vent window" in each one, with a flap on the outside, so that the flaps will lift to allow any build up of air to escape. I have decided to turn the boat, so that it sits on the berth with its bow into the prevailing wind direction, this will present the full starboard side of the boat to the pontoon to make boarding easier, plus it will throw rainwater from the wheelhouse roof into the marina, rather than onto the seat on the port side, & onto the pontoon, where last winter it was turned into a sheet of ice! If you didn't slip on the pontoon, the frozen water on the seat made sure you did, the duckboards have eliminated slipping on the deck, I now have to eliminate it from the seat & the pontoon, before somebody breaks their leg (or neck). Turning the boat so that it is bow out, will have the desired effect, but it all depends on how difficult it will be to bring Mumbles Belle in stern first! Not being renowned for its manouverability, it will take a bit of practice, & probably some shifting of ballast, to perfect this. If it proves too difficult then I will have to go to "Plan B", but first I have to think what "Plan B" is? Watch this space for updates, poor old Richie will be dragged in as ballast again, & I may need a few sandbags to get full prop bite & steering. Well we turned her Belle is now sat on her berth, bow into the prevailing westerly winds, & access to board is so much better. I took some sandbags, & my fat self, & sat on the stern so that the canoe stern was in the water, & Richie took her off the berth turned & reversed her back in, & it was simple for me to step off onto the pontoon & pull her back to where we wanted her to be. I also fitted proper springs fore & aft to stop her being pushed into the pontoon. Now all I need to do is fit 2mts of square section guttering, a couple of brackets, & a cap end, to throw all the rainwater off the wheelhouse roof into the marina, instead of onto the seat & the pontoon to become an ice rink. It has been a long steep learning curve on this boat, & it still isn't "quite there" with the ballast, but a new member was telling me down the club, that he has some 56lb weights in his garage, if we can get another 6 of those into the stern, I think it will be very close to where it needs to be, at last!
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Post by pilgrim17 on Aug 24, 2014 12:13:35 GMT 1
Starting to get Very disenchanted by the lack of enthusiasm to get this boat working, I either get no response from club members to go out in it, or I get negative responses to my efforts to improve the boat, & to encourage more people to use it. Having ploughed a lot of my time (& money) into improving it, I am seriously considering removing all I have done to it, & leaving it for the hawks who want to either sell it for what the engine is worth, or part exchange it for something faster! After many years of "small, fast, boating" I can assure you that the limitations that go with it, in terms of weather restrictions, running costs, comfort, & space, means that whoever gets "Mumbles Belle" will get a far more versatile craft than whatever "hot hatch" MMBFC replace it with! Rant over!
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Post by pilgrim17 on Aug 27, 2014 13:16:48 GMT 1
Do we have a volunteer "Sparky"? I have picked up a couple of 12v x 10w LED floodlights to go on the front & back of the wheelhouse roof to illuminate both fishing spaces now that winter approaches. I have also fitted an led stern light (because there wasn't a stern light fitted?), & I would prefer it if an electrician would wire them up, especially the stern light, because it needs to be wired into the existing running lights circuit. The floodlights are not so critical because they will be run off a "stand alone" 74AHC battery so that it doesn't affect the boats wiring in any way. I could do those myself, & I will fit the lights & the trunking beforehand, & I have plenty of butt connectors & male & female bullet connectors, & I have a good ratchet crimper, & heat shrink tubing, its just that an electrician would do a neater job than me, so do we have a volunteer? The only thing I don't have is cable, so if somebody wants to point me in the direction of what cable would be needed, I can get that before we start. Well I got the bits & bobs I needed from Tom Whitehouse in the market, inline fuse holders & blade fuses, inline switches, butt connectors, crimping pliers, waterproof shrink tube the Full Monty. So tomorrow will see me doing my electrical thing, I will be as neat as I can, but finesse has never been my strong suit, but the important part is, that electricity goes in one end, & light comes out of the other, agreed? I surpassed myself, even if I do say it myself, maybe not as pretty at the battery end, where the toggle switches leave something to be desired, but I will make a switch panel to mount those to pretty it up, but at least I have power from a battery through 2 inline fuses, through switches to both LED floodlights fore & aft. However I am pleased with the trunking it fits in beautifully with the wheelhouse. In fact I would go as far as to say, that with the exception of a few more 56lb weights in the stern, Mumbles Belle is fit for service
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Post by pilgrim17 on Sept 5, 2014 19:19:19 GMT 1
Looking for Anglers For Sunday 7th Sept, currently only 2 of us down to go out on Mumbles Belle? Excellent forecast, HW at 1750, so a 9am lock seems more civilised than 8am on Sunday morning, & back in after HW 1750, names asap please. That had the response I wanted, we now have 4 to go on Sunday, wonderful thing this www. TRIP NOW FULL
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Post by pilgrim17 on Sept 10, 2014 14:50:33 GMT 1
Testing, testing, 1,2, 1,2 Going down to Mumbles Belle this evening, to test & adjust the newly fitted LED floodlights, a bit worried they may be too bright, but if so some coloured cellophane, or some lens paint will take the edge off the brightness, I just hope I have wired them up properly? Back to the drawing board, the one for the front worked perfectly & lit up the bow like daylight, but the stern one never worked, so its down with the tester today to find out where the problem is, it cant be much, either a fuse, a dodgy toggle switch, or a bad connection, should be easy to remedy.
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Post by pilgrim17 on Sept 11, 2014 17:36:38 GMT 1
Testing, testing, 1,2, 1,2 Going down to Mumbles Belle this evening, to test & adjust the newly fitted LED floodlights, a bit worried they may be too bright, but if so some coloured cellophane, or some lens paint will take the edge off the brightness, I just hope I have wired them up properly? Back to the drawing board, the one for the front worked perfectly & lit up the bow like daylight, but the stern one never worked, so its down with the tester today to find out where the problem is, it cant be much, either a fuse, a dodgy toggle switch, or a bad connection, should be easy to remedy. "It should be easy to remedy!", it nearly drove me crazy trying to trace the fault! Battery to fuse "check", fuse to toggle switch "check" power through switch when switched on "check", power from switch to light "check", power through the light "check", power from light back to battery "nothing"! Where I had crimped the eye to connect to the battery, I had crimped too hard & although the cable was held really tightly (indicating a good connection) the wires inside had been sliced through, remade the joint & bingo floodlight in the stern too! I told you my "Sparking" ability left a lot to be desired, but its all shipshape now, bring on the dark winter evenings!
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Post by pilgrim17 on Sept 14, 2014 18:45:22 GMT 1
The origins of the smelly smoke/steam I lifted the rear hatch on Belle today to try to establish where the smelly smoke/steam was coming from under the deck near the stern, & I found what I was looking for! During her "unloved" period, water had been draining from the deck, into the compartment just in front of the steering mechanism, which contains the rear section of the exhaust pipe, the exhaust is wrapped in some sort of heat resistant rope, which has become impregnated with dirty/oily/smelly water, which steams/smokes when the exhaust gets hot. I doubt very much that this will dry out if left on the exhaust & exposed to the elements, it is more likely that it will partially dry, then get wet again when it rains, so I propose to change it for new (pending the outcome of Monday's Management Meeting). It may be possible to remove it & wash it in a washing machine, (depending if the wife isn't about for a couple of hours), but at the moment it smells like a wet dog, & when it gets hot it smells like a wet dog on fire. The small bilge pump I have put in there will keep the water level down in future, stopping the covering from getting saturated again, but the smelly damage has already been done
Somebody on WSF just said "Have you considered taking the exhaust up the outside of the wheelhouse? That would solve all your problems"! Don't you just hate it when somebody else comes up with the perfect solution, he is absolutely right, no more pumping/sealing bilges to keep water levels down, exhaust up the outside of the wheelhouse with a heatshield around it, a "flapper" on top to stop rain getting in, or a bend to guide the exhaust gases backwards, job done! Attachments:
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Post by pilgrim17 on Sept 16, 2014 11:23:23 GMT 1
I MUST sort this exhaust problem out now Now that Mumbles Belle has been given a reprieve, I must sort out this stinky/steamy/smokey exhaust problem somehow! Either I remove the pooling water from this part of the exhaust, or I remove the exhaust from the pooling water, but which will be the easiest (& cheapest). The water that falls onto the deck/seats/superstructure is supposed to run through drain holes into the bilge, where an automatic bilge pump removes it, when it reaches a level set by a float switch in the bilge. This works perfectly in 95% of the boat, but this small sealed compartment at the back of the boat, receives the water that drains into it from the deck near the stern, & because it is quite a small compartment it doesn't take much water to fill it. Normally this would not be a problem as a few strokes with a whale pump would empty it, unfortunately the last section of the exhaust pipe also runs through this compartment, & when it fills with water that section of the exhaust is submerged, & its wrapping gets wet & impregnated with whatever is in the water (oil, fuel, etc) & when the exhaust gets hot the wet wrapping steams as it dries & whatever else is on it dries as well, causing fumes, which worries me! Options! (a) Fit an automatic bilge pump into this small compartment (not practical as the pump would be off/on all the time when it rains, & quickly run down the batteries) (b) Re route the exhaust above the deck (not practical as it would be a real trip hazard) (c)Re route the exhaust up the outside of the wheelhouse & fit it with a heat shield (a second hand lorry exhaust would be suitable & already have a heat shield fitted) (d) Re ballast so that all deck water runs through the existing drain holes into the bilge & not into the rear compartment (not practical as that would cause the stern to rise & take us back to cavitation & loss of steering) (e) Drill holes through the wall of the compartment so that the water can drain into the bilge, & be pumped out with the rest of it by the automatic bilge pump. (IF the compartment is ABOVE the level of the water in the bilge, if not, then it isn't an option) There are so many problems that arise from carrying out a conversion like this, that almost as much time has to go into the planning, as goes into the actual manual conversion, & as usual money is not an option, "Just don't ask for any!"
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Post by pilgrim17 on Sept 17, 2014 15:51:50 GMT 1
We wuz lucky! Richie & I removed the hatch cover & the ballast from the rear compartment, & sponged out the dirty water & deck rubbish that had washed into it & gave it a really good clean out so the dog could see the rabbit. I found what looked like a drain hole in the bottom of the compartment & when I pushed a welding rod through there it moved the crud that was blocking it, & we could see the wire poking into the main bilge. We enlarged the hole & poked away the foam to give a clear drain hole, & drilled another hole the other side of the prop shaft to make sure. We put the hose pipe into the compartment to check that it was now draining, & watched it drain totally into the main bilge (which cut in, & pumped it out again), another little success story. I took the old exhaust heat wrap off the exhaust pipe (well it mostly fell off) & it smelled like the back of the old coal merchants lorry? I tried to lay it out on the pontoon to measure the length but it fell to bits as it was straightened, but it was ~7yds so a 10m length has been ordered off E-Bay complete with stainless ties to secure it, for the grand total of £11.69 (please don't begrudge us that) hopefully that will be here Friday, & fitted Saturday, & in use on Sunday when we are due out. A short message to the "cabinet maker" who fitted the stern rail, I removed the two bits of "kindling" that were being used to hold the rail in place (it was only secured by 2 out of the 4 screws that had split the "wood" that was supposed to be holding it), & replaced them with 8 off 6mm stainless nuts & bolts. I actually saw somebody use that rail to secure us in the lock it was purely by accident that I saw that "carpentry", when I was working in the rear compartment, I happened to look up & saw it. I don't think I should look under any other "strongpoints" in case I find more of the same.
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Post by pilgrim17 on Sept 18, 2014 17:33:54 GMT 1
The heat wrap arrived! I only ordered it yesterday, & it arrived this morning! Going out fishing on "The Pallet" tomorrow, so I will fit it on Saturday, ready for Sunday's trip, hopefully there will be no more "smoke signals" coming from under the deck. It's getting to the point where there will soon be nothing left to do, except dip the oil, check the water, & start it up & go fishing. Maybe its time to get another one to keep me occupied? It does want lifting out scraping off re-antifouling & the blade on the steering tube extending to give better helm response, maybe even a lick of paint? maybe a change of colour even? But that can wait until the lock gets serviced in the New Year!
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Post by pilgrim17 on Sept 21, 2014 11:03:17 GMT 1
Who can you trust? I called off todays trip on Belle because last nights forecast was 12-15mph Easterly wind, on top of the last week of easterlies, & because Oystercat reported the conditions not to be good yesterday. As it turns out there appears to be very little wind at all (so far) today, so it seems like a I made the wrong call, still as conditions usually change with the change of tide, lets see if at 1200 if my decision was the wrong one, if it was sorry guys better luck next time. The BBC are now boasting winds of 3/4/5 mph hr W/NW how is it that 12 hrs ago they were predicting easterly winds of 15mph+ which caused me to call todays trip off! What do you do? bring people from Ammanford & Llanelli down to the marina early morning & then tell them that its off? Or do you contact them the night before, & using the best "scientific weather predicting service" tell them its off, only for the BBC to get it TOTALLY WRONG making you look a absolute plonker! I am open to any suggestions during next week when the wind seems to be set from the west again, send in a request if you want to go out.
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Post by pilgrim17 on Sept 24, 2014 19:31:54 GMT 1
Wind looks favourable For a change, W/NW most of the week but swinging back to E/SE on Saturday & Sunday but it is forecast to be only 5/6mph with gusts of 10/12mph which should be ok as long as we don't try to be too adventurous. So far there are only 3 of us down for Sunday, but that doesn't worry me, I want to try a couple of spots, & as long as I have enough on board to grab the ropes in the locks it will be ok. With HW at 0915 it should be pretty calm on the ebb with a E/SE wind, & if it starts to get choppy on the flood, we will fish in the river for an hour until we get enough water to get the 4.30 lock in I am here for a long time as well as a good time Well didn't get any more anglers for Sunday at Club Night, in fact we couldn't have raised a football team, it seems too many members have too much money & are wasting it on foreign holidays So there are still places available for Sunday morning 8.30am for 9.00am lock out. I am not taking any notice of BBC on Saturday they cocked it up last week, so the decision will be made at 8.30am on Sunday morning (before I buy my bait) today was supposed to be blowy, but I went down by the observatory, & the bay was as flat as a witches t*t, & that is how I will judge it on Sunday morning, forecast is 5mph SE swinging to 5mph SW in the afternoon, so Belle goes! (ding ding)
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Post by pilgrim17 on Sept 27, 2014 11:28:15 GMT 1
Still only 3 of us for the Belle for a 9am lock out on Sunday morning, I have a cunning plan which may or may not work Ken Davison has a very expensive drifting trace he bought in 2012 which he wants to try out, (which he will probably lose after 5 yds) I will be going for the sausages & rolls soon & if only 3 of us turn up, we will have to eat 2 each. Good trip today, we had a million growlers, a few hounds, a little s/e ray, gurnard, & some very nice plaice, weather was perfect Ken Davison looked like "Muhat mucoat" with a towel over his head to stop being fried. Caught SOMETHING all through the day which is nice, (Ken's "Fisher Price Super Drift Trace" didn't work) , boat went very well, I gave us 45mins to get from Singleton Hospital to the lock, & we did it is 30 mins , starting to come to terms with the lack of response in reverse (it doesn't like going backwards ) Cant wait for the whiting, codling, fat dabs to appear on the Green Grounds, then "Victor's Taxi" will come into its own, yeah!
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