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Post by pilgrim17 on Apr 28, 2017 18:11:27 GMT 1
Now ready to go! The new starter has been fitted & wired up, & the alternator wiring rejigged to suit the new starter, the auto electrician asked me to test everything before he left & I thought I had, but I forgot the winch & the day after he left I went down to start tidying up & make the battery connections permanent, only then did I see the wires from the winch lying unconnected in the battery box Now both of these wires were attached to the bolt that goes through the terminal clamp, so I just connected them as they were, onto the battery terminal, no winch Nobody told me that one was negative & the other positive did they, so how was I to know? Anyway the error of my ways has been pointed out by Steve & the winch is working again, just in time for the wind to turn easterly & increase However the boat needs to be emptied of the junk used to do the work (& some of the stuff that was on there & never used). Hopefully Richie & I will load it onto the minibus on Wednesday, go down to the chalet & finish cladding the handrail, then drop all my junk off at the house (don't know where I am going to put it all ) The boat started easily even with the batteries low, it threw the engine over straight away, apparently in the new starter, the old solenoid technology has been replaced by a small reduction gearbox, that starts to wind the Bendix up before it engages the flywheel, & there is sufficient inertia to turn the engine over even with low batteries, which is always a comfort to know. So hopefully next weekend will see us out amongst the fishes in the new "Mumbles McBelle"
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Post by pilgrim17 on Apr 29, 2017 17:55:45 GMT 1
Pick up my tape, & do a quick check I needed my tape to measure how much more fascia we need to finish cladding the chalet handrail, so while I was on board I gave the engine a run to help keep the batteries charged, & I checked a few other things to make sure she is ready to go when we get a suitable day. I noticed that I haven't secured the grease pot for the stern gland, I will have to do that next time down. I have a mystery with my crab trap, I checked it the other day & there was nothing in it & even the bones of the herring I put in it were gone I checked it again today & the same thing has happened, so we have a creature living in the marina that eats fish bones? I was hoping to get a few hard crab for a trip on the hounds later on in the week, looks like I will have to go & turn some stones!
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Post by pilgrim17 on May 3, 2017 17:21:49 GMT 1
At last! I have managed to empty the boat of the accumulated tools, & associated crap (offcuts of timber etc) ladder, Workmate, extension leads that were so useful in my "upgrade" of Mumbles Belle. There are still 1 or 2 things to organise (I don't want to take a box with paint, rollers etc) out with me, nor empty fuel cans etc, but the marina authorities seem to have a thing about Mumbles Belle, other boats in the marina have virtual horizontal wardrobes attached to the pontoons but they constantly keep nagging me about anything I put on the pontoon, but the Gin Palaces seem immune to such orders. Similarly when Belle was out of the water recently, some "Jobsworth" came & told me to get my scooter out of the yard At the time there were 3 commercial "marine services" vans, a Range Rover & trailer, & a Land Rover parked in there, so I told him that when they moved so would I, the same goes for the boxes on the marina. Some of the yachts in there have bowsprits that stretch halfway across the pontoon, they leave rubber dinghies on there, I leave a dustbin with 2 empty fuel cans & they have the cheek, to go aboard the boat & put the bin aboard, somebody is likely to get a slap as David Moyes said! Looking forward to Sunday now, hopefully find a spot on Tesco Car Park at Langland & see if the bream have arrived, then maybe a drift or two in the bay for plaice on the way back, roll on summer
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Post by pilgrim17 on May 5, 2017 16:41:36 GMT 1
More electrical problems! Since the winch has been reconnected, most other electrical instruments have gone rogue? The VHF doesn't give a screen display & makes a ticking noise that sounds like the fishfinder transducer pulse? The Chart Plotter switches on & displays "Lowrance HDS" then after a few seconds the screen dims & it goes into "standby mode", The fishfinder comes on & shows a display which doesn't look right & there is a "Low Voltage 10.3v" notice on the screen? The forward bilge pump wont go into "auto mode" Before the auto electrician left I tested everything (except the winch which was still disconnected) & everything worked, & all I can do is disconnect the winch & see if it makes any difference? If it does, I could lift the anchor using the "Alderney Ring" method (the anchor is still rigged for that) & I mainly use my tablet for Navionics navigation, & the Sonarphone for depth sounding, plus I have my own personal handheld VHF. However they are not the "default equipment" of the boat & club, & although I am happy to use them, I don't know how it sit with the club's insurance, plus the issue of the non working bilge pumps I cant cover (except with a baling bucket ) Even if I get it sorted tomorrow it will be too late to cancel as people will have bought/dug bait, so best I make the call now to save time & money, the auto electrician is coming back on Tuesday morning to sort it out, if I haven't managed to solve it before then
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Post by pilgrim17 on May 6, 2017 18:22:00 GMT 1
Spent the morning Looking for the answer to the electrical problem, I disconnected the winch from the battery in case it was that, but it wasn't it, I disconnected the live wire to the volt meter & it wasn't that either, & the advice I had from a guy who knows far more than me was "leave it for the auto electrician" & that's what I intend to do, he will be there on Tuesday. Keeping on trying to make them work if there is some faulty connection could do it harm & a couple of days is nothing saying as I have already been 6 weeks without a trip. Keep the faith troops it will be worthwhile when its finished.
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Post by pilgrim17 on May 10, 2017 9:43:46 GMT 1
More electrical problems! The auto electrician came to the boat yesterday & quite quickly identified the VHF as the problem, because it is linked to the plotter by the GPS, both were affected. He ran a new earth from the engine to the back of the instrument panel (because he considered that could have been the cause of the problems) We opened the engine compartments to give him access & he shook his head at the wiring, he said it was a quart in a pint pot, & compared it to the wiring on the "Integrity" (the boat in Alaskan Bush People on Discovery channel) He managed to get the plotter & sounder working again, but the rev counter, the horn & the ignition light are still not working, he is coming back on Thursday when he has more time. The consensus from the boat committee is to buy a new radio (repairs could cost as much as 75% of cost of new) but I have asked a guy who does radio repairs for a living to give me a quote before I lash out £120 on a new one. I will keep you posted on how "Integrity" is shaping up
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Post by pilgrim17 on May 15, 2017 11:59:56 GMT 1
Not posted for a few days Sorry Huw I know you like to read it before you go to bed but it has been frustrating having to cancel trips because of mechanical problems. At least it had nothing to do with my modifications to the "furniture" that was responsible, apparently it all stemmed from a poor earth that went from the alternator/starter to the panel on the dashboard, which feeds power to the instruments. Seemingly if the earth isn't working then in the case of the VHF when you key the mic to call, & the earth isn't working, it causes some kind of problem in the workings, that affects the "foo foo valve" or similar inside. Anyway the VHF was knackered, I could send but not receive, I could hear myself calling the marina office (on the radio of a boat opposite) but got no reply. The consensus was that trying to get it repaired would be false economy, so I bought the cheapest model available & fitted it, so now we have VHF again, (but the DSC still has to be connected). It also seems that the "Blocking Diode" is knackered & needs replacing? The auto electrician has created a "harness"? to get the batteries charging, & everything working. To cut a long story short we are now ready to go & I have arranged a trip for Wednesday, where we go & what we chase will depend on wind & tide, but at least we will be out at last!
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Post by pilgrim17 on May 16, 2017 19:13:58 GMT 1
Off in the morning Richie & Stan have joined with John Jones & come over to the "Dark Side" for a trip out tomorrow on Belle, forecast is good & if we set off early enough we should have a few hours on Langland Reef before the run gets too much. As long as we have an uneventful trip mechanically I don't care, but a few fish would be a bonus as well. Pies & sausage rolls have been bought, I will pick up milk in the morning, & I hope I can remember how to call the locks to get out , will let you know how we get on.
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Post by pilgrim17 on Jun 10, 2017 16:19:39 GMT 1
It's been a while Since I posted on here, & I get reminded that not everybody is on Facebook to read the news on Mumbles Belle, so I will keep you up to date. I am currently having problems with the electrics on the boat, firstly the solenoid went on the starter, & then that seemed to start a chain reaction, with the alternator not charging, the rev counter not working, the split charge diode not working, seemingly the failure of the VHF was down to using it when the voltage was low. The low voltage also affects the chart plotter & the depth sounder, & the auto electrician is almost as confused as I am by the tangle of wires in the engine compartment, & behind the dashboard, the back of the rev counter looks like a magpies nest! I am currently running trips using 3 fully charged batteries that I keep charged using trickle chargers, these make sure we start ok, & I use the Alderney Ring method to lift the anchor to conserve battery power. The instruments work fine on fully charged batteries, but I have my tablet as back up, which is internally powered & has 2 Navionics Navigation Apps on it, & I have a Sonarphone which doubles as a depth sounder. So if the worst came to the worst I have a navigation system which is superior to the boat instruments to get us home. Fishing wise we have had some mixed trips catching bream, Pollack, codling, pouting, even garfish, but unfortunately we have had lots of smoothounds & huss which are an occupational hazard over Langland Reef. We have drifted in Swansea Bay several times for plaice & dabs but had no luck due to the Mayweed & the perishing smooth hounds which take pleasure in taking tiny flatty baits & running for Singleton Hospital with them! Next time out I think we will try the Green Grounds to see if we can get away from them, & get a few flatties for the pan! The deck changes on Mumbles Belle have made it into a different boat, there is now plenty of room front & back to fish comfortably & move about, & the sliding window in the wheelhouse means that all I have to do is make tea/coffee/pies etc, open the window & shout "Service" & they vanish as if by magic. It has been christened "The New Good Karma Mumbles Belle" & anglers who have never set foot on there before are threatening to come out, I even have a trainee skipper of Oystercat who wants to serve his 40 days before the mast, & find out how the other half live I am hoping to get the auto electrician down to the boat on Monday/Tuesday to assess the essential wiring work that needs to be done to make the electrics reliable, I have asked other members of the boat committee to be present to confirm that it will be the assessment of the electrician as to what needs doing (& not any fantasy of mine ) & how much he will charge to carry out the work. I will keep you informed of what transpires after the meeting. You are all welcome aboard the New Good Karma Mumbles Belle for the real angling experience, & meet the chef who is applying for a Michelin Star
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Post by pilgrim17 on Jul 4, 2017 17:17:38 GMT 1
At long last! The charging problem has been sorted by an AA man! He scratched his head many times, & even went home to get another alternator to try it. In the end he ran an "exciter cable" live feed direct from the battery to the alternator & it started to charge, & the rev counter works & the voltmeter now tells me that the batteries are charging. The only things not working are the ignition warning light (not important as long as the voltmeter is working & showing charge) & the odometer? (that tells you how many hours you have run) isn't working either, but I have a pretty good idea how many hours I run in a day anyway. So it seems that the problem is a wiring breakdown on the ignition switch/odometer circuit (which also includes the rev counter) I don't care about that now that I have the alternator charging both batteries when I am running. So its back to normal business now, I would have taken a trip on Thursday but I have to collect "er indoors" from Bristol Airport so Sunday will be my first available day. No doubt Langland Reef will look like Tesco's car park but we will muscle our way in & sort out a few bream not doubt!
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Post by pilgrim17 on Aug 14, 2017 19:00:25 GMT 1
It's been a while Since I posted on here, as the Facebook page seems to be the flavour of the month, but I have been prompted about my "political correctness" on a couple of posts. & it seems to be losing its personal appeal to me, & we already get a "disinfected" angling report weekly in the Evening Post we don't want another one like that I am not going to ramble on about how many fish we have caught, or not caught, because you cant compare chalk with cheese, & if you want to go mid channel hunting bass, or Oxwich moorings then Mumbles Belle is not the boat for you, we can barely make Langland Reef & back in a single day, & our electronics are somewhat "Entry Level" which limits where we can go, & what we see when we get there & our engine only develops 29hp at 3000rpm (which we have never yet achieved). Plus we are unfortunately having a bad run of electrical & mechanical problems which don't help or inspire confidence. We have overcome the charging problem by using a "Jury Rig" instead of going through the ignition light (as it should) we have rigged an alternator "exciter cable" from a live feed, rather than through the ignition warning light which is where it should come from (the ignition warning light should go out, when the alternator is "excited" then go out when it is activated) at the moment it gets exciter charge permanently? We have a long standing problem of the wheelhouse rotting around me & dropping bits on my head (this is in hand), & now the hydraulic steering has gone kaput! This happened last night as we were attempting to pull a grounded yacht off the mudbank in the river, we managed to get him off but he engaged forward instead of reverse & ran himself back onto the mud only deeper. In the ensuing attempt to pull him off again the steering stopped responding, & we were without any means of steering across the river by the ferry terminal. luckily Belle has an emergency tiller control which I engaged, & we made our way up river to the lock (against the wishes of the lockmaster) who wanted us to tie up on the outer berth, rather than run into any posh boat in the already quite full lock, with myself on the throttle & engage lever, & Martin Morgan on the tiller, & the others on ropes, we got in & out of the locks no problem, well done the crew. On a lighter note earlier on in the day we were heading towards Singleton Hospital when the lifeboat went past, very close across our bow at full speed & sent 2 big green wake curlers over our bow, & over the 2 guys who were sleeping in canvas chairs on the bow deck, the rest of us thought it was funny. So you can see that our days are never without incident, but the continued work needed to keep it fit for sea, & the continued effort to try to make as effective as it can be, then the problems of people booking then cancelling at the last minute, & standing on the wall shouting for you to drop what you are doing to let them in, then wanting you to organise who out of the 6 gets the 2 parking permits available, & who gives who a lift back. Then when you have made "tea milk no sugar" "coffee black with sugar" then want you to carry it up to the bow for them, or they want brown sauce on their sausage rolls & want you to put it on for them. It is getting very close to the last straw to be loaded onto the camels back, but I will sort the steering problem out before anything else. However Mumbles Belle is starting to become more of a chore than a pleasure.
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Post by pilgrim17 on Sept 5, 2017 18:16:36 GMT 1
Been a few weeks now Since I last wrote on this members forum , & seeing as there is ALWAYS something going on with Mumbles Belle, I am remiss. We had a couple of fairly mechanically uneventful weeks, where we got out & got amongst the bream & codling & Pollack, on our last trip we had 9 species (including a red mullet), however the day did not end well, & I had to towed in from the Tawe Lock by Oystercat, because the starter motor packed in again! Its a long story but you are going to hear it anyway! There are an unknown number of keys to Mumbles Belle knocking about throughout the club, & I am used to going down & finding things not as I left them, wheelhouse unlocked, isolators switched on, VHF on, mains electric plugged in etc. I am always glad of extra help to "keep an eye" on things, but recently these actions have cost the club money, the isolators left on & the VHF switched on meant the VHF was on & running on low voltage which damaged it & it had to be replaced. The bilge pumps had been switched onto "manual" to remove water from the bilges, but were not switched back to "auto", which meant that the engine compartment filled with water, & the starter & alternator were submerged for a few days, & they never dried out as I had hoped, so they had to be replaced. The hydraulic steering hoses were sat in water behind the rudder & they perished, & the braided inner core rusted, & had to be renewed. Tedious & time consuming you might think, but also damned expensive, a total of £900+ much of which was unnecessary, had people did things properly, or left well alone. I am now going to fit a hasp & staple on the door & keep the key myself to prevent it happening again. Tomorrow should see the new starter fitted & the engine run up the batteries. Unfortunately the weather for the next week is bad, so although the boat is ok, the weather is not so hopefully an "Indian Summer" is just around the corner, hopefully before the cod season starts!
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Post by pilgrim17 on Sept 11, 2017 14:57:45 GMT 1
Update on Mumbles Belle 9th Sept 2017 After a series of electrical problems (not all completely solved) we are now back to "operational readiness" on Belle & we have a trip planned for Sunday 17th if the weather holds good. After thinking that the electrical problems were over several weeks ago I went down to the marina one day a few weeks ago, & found the stern to be well down in the water, so far down in fact that I couldn't start the engine because the water was covering both the starter motor & the alternator! So I luckily have an emergency electrical bilge pump, & I carry a fully charged spare battery, so by using these I was able to reduce the water level below the starter & alternator, & then I started the engine to use the bilge pumps to do the rest. Before starting the engine I have to turn on the electricity isolators situated between the rear of the engine & the fuel tank, to my surprise they were already switched on? I went to the bilge pump switches & they were in the "Off" position & not in the "Auto" position that they should have been in ?. I have a "shut down list" which I go through before I leave so it is unlikely that I left them switched on, anyway everything SEEMED to be ok once the engine was switched on, the bilge pumps emptied the water quickly, & the voltmeter showed a healthy 13.6v charge from the alternator, the engine started, & the bilge pumps worked so I was fairly confident that "I had got away with it". We went down to Langland one trip, & off Mumbles on another trip, then coming back in one evening we were last out of the lock, only for the engine not to start. Nobody was prepared to give us a tow "You cant tow with an outboard" "we haven't got a strong enough cleat" & several other excuses & eventually Oystercat towed us back to the berth & put us safe & sound (Thanks to Dean & his crew). I investigated all possible reasons for the starter not to work (not out of gear properly, loose battery terminals, loose wire on starter etc) in the end bite the bullet & take the 4 month old starter off, & take it for inspection only to find it was full of water & knackered & it had to be replaced at £138 Anyway it has been replaced & is working fine, as is the alternator, & the rev counter unfortunately the ignition warning light isn't working but the voltmeter gives me visual reference on the charging. Also we had a steering problem, the hydraulic steering hoses burst behind the rudder where they were sat in water, & they had to be replaced at a cost of £137 so Mumbles Belle needs to run trouble free for a sustained spell to repay the costs! We are coming up to the time of year when Belle comes into her own, doing Bay trips for cod, whiting, dabs & a 30 minute run puts us as far as we need to go & gives a good return for the trip so hopefully this winter will "clear our slate" as I am aware there is still a "sink the Belle lobby " should we suffer any more breakdowns. The new wheelhouse will be fabricated over the winter & fitted next spring during the "dead period" when there is nothing much to catch. That brings you up to date I think, if you want to join us keep an eye on the booking calendar or ring me on 07814528082 if you want to go, remember you don't HAVE to go to Lundy to catch fish
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Post by pilgrim17 on Sept 15, 2017 12:02:23 GMT 1
Ready to rumble Just about done everything mechanically possible to ensure a trouble free trip on Sunday, new starter motor fitted, new steering hydraulic hoses fitted, & I have even sorted out the "trampoline" section of the deck just outside the wheelhouse door. The ply underneath the firbreglass had got wet & rotted (surprise surprise) & whenever I lifted the duckboard to work on the engine, it was like walking on a trampoline, so I ripped the fibreglass up (not difficult as it was no longer stuck to anything) & cut & fitted a new piece of plywood which can be lifted to allow me to pump any water out that gets trapped, hopefully under my feet in the wheelhouse should stay dry.
People in the marina say that I spend too much time messing about on the boat & that it isn't worth the effort that is put in, but there is always interest when I post a trip, & it has to be pointed people that it is probably the only boat in the marina not being used for the purpose it was made for. It has been converted to an open boat when it was intended to be fully enclosed & watertight, & unless you do a 100% job on the conversion you are going to get problems, & unfortunately they are all arriving at the same time, & its all due to the fact that rain is getting in, & because it was designed to be enclosed there is no provision for it to escape, everything has to make its way into the bilges & be pumped back out, which is why I am always checking the bilge pumps, & lose my temper with well meaning people with access, who switch the pumps to "manual" to pump any water out, but don't switch them back to "automatic" when they have finished. This has cost the club £260 in the last few weeks for hydraulic hoses (which perished) & a starter motor (which got submerged), such things do not help the Mumbles Belle cause. Sometime in the future hopefully I will have replaced all the rotten bits, & drilled holes in all the water traps so all the water will drain into the bilges & pump out, then like every other boat in the marina, Mumbles Belle will be "fit for purpose"
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Post by pilgrim17 on Oct 3, 2017 19:34:52 GMT 1
Not a good forecast for the next week, the wind is a bit too high for Mumbles Belle because the whiting & dabs are not inshore yet. We could hide in the moorings but at the moment the fishing in there isn't good, & 17-24 mph SW winds makes anywhere further out uncomfortable, even though there is no danger who wants to be "rock & rolled" all day for a skipload of growlers? I will keep my eye on the forecast, & keep the boat ready to go at short notice, but until there are fish to catch there is no point in taking it out to get thrown about for small returns. Keep watching because as soon as its suitable to either go out deep, or productive enough to hide in the moorings, I will post a trip hopefully for whiting & dabs. Vic
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