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Post by pilgrim17 on Apr 4, 2018 18:16:32 GMT 1
Well my reciprocating saw has arrived, along with the transfer name for Mumbles Belle (it has a slightly oriental style about it which I like) I have made a wooden plaque for it to be stuck onto & when it is painted & the transfer applied I will give it a coat of lacquer to protect it. Hopefully it will be dry tomorrow & I can start carving the old wheelhouse down with my new toy, it certainly worked well in the workshop making sort work of some 2" x 1" I had lying about, so demolition should be quite quick & painless. I would like to be up & running before the end of this month, & provided I don't hit too many snags it should be ready before that, once the old one is removed & I can se where I need to make bearers etc it should be easy, at least I don't have to keep going down to Cilonnen daily, the journey kills me after a while.
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Post by pilgrim17 on Apr 8, 2018 18:26:20 GMT 1
Well at last the new wheelhouse is completely finished, even down to the new nameplate, I attached the fiddle rail to the roof this morning, & apart from screwing the nameplate on its complete. I have taken the roof off the old one (or should I say that Brian of the William James attacked it) & after falling through the hole where the skylight used to be, he wrestled it off I went down on Saturday & cut the sections down into pieces small enough to bag up. Having the correct saw blade helps & the one I had for cutting wood is a cheap & cheerful "come with the saw" & it soon blunted & bent, & the other one which is supposed to be for metal, struggled through any "semi rotten" ply still attached to the fibreglass. I have ordered some new "aftermarket" demolition blades so lets hope they will be a bit better. Having asked for, & not received, any help in dismantling the old wheelhouse (apart from Brian) I have decided that I will show a similar response when we are up & running, & that a "regime of austerity" will be introduced, where if you want a hot drink when you are out, then bring a flask with you, & if you want hot food. This is a blessing in disguise, warming rolls & pies & asking people what the want on their roll "Brarrrrrrn saws wiv a tach a mustad" etc, & "tea black no sugar & leave the bag in the cup" etc was getting on my nerves, so dropping the food & drinks will make things much easier for me, I wont have to get pies, sausage rolls, bread rolls, milk etc, & I wont need griddle, frying pans, plates, cups, & washing up liquid etc, things will be a LOT easier for the skipper & give more room in the wheelhouse which I sorely need.
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Post by pilgrim17 on Apr 11, 2018 16:40:07 GMT 1
Cleared the last remnants of the old wheelhouse yesterday & started to erect the new one today, & discovered that there is going to be a lot of "fettling" to get it to fit, both boat & wheelhouse will need a "nip & tuck" to get it to fit properly but nothing too serious, & the few gaps that are showing will be glassed over to keep the rain off poor little me! One of the adjacent berth holders asked why I never made it into a forward wheelhouse, & I could have kicked myself for not thinking of it, the control cables & hydraulic pipes would have had to be extended, but it would have taken less timber so it was swings & roundabouts. Maybe I will do some measuring up & designing once we are up & running, maybe a project for next winter?
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Post by pilgrim17 on Apr 14, 2018 19:24:29 GMT 1
As I predicted, the square & vertical wheelhouse doesn't fit on an out of square, out of vertical boat! so I am going to put the wheelhouse together as it should be, clamp all sections closed, sealed, & squared, & make Mumbles Belle fit her new wheelhouse! Whoever made the boat must have used an elastic band or a wellington to measure with, & a corrugated sheet as a level! Nothing, but nothing is symmetrical , no two supposedly identical parts are related, let alone twinned. The only things I find that are square, symmetrical, vertical, are things I have made & fitted, & wondered why they never fitted properly, now I know why There will be "Nips & Tucks" done here & there, stiffeners bolted in screwed to, & fibreglass mat & resin will be used to fill gaps, & seal any gaps there may be. With the forecast looking good for next week,I am hoping to have her up & running by next weekend, all shipshape & Bristol fashion, looking forward to getting afloat again. The only hold up could be the "Heel Test" that Trevor feels needs to be done because of any "structural changes" that may have been made? The weights are similar (rotten ply weighs about the same as healthy air dried larch) the structure is much stronger than the original, & the dimensions are very close to what the original wheelhouse measured, it is about 6" narrower but I don't think that will make it weigh much different. The remaining sections should be delivered down to the marina on Monday morning (provided Colin's pick-up passed its MOT) & I will assemble the remaining sections together place it into position, & then saw & grind Mumbles Belle into shape!
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Post by pilgrim17 on Apr 23, 2018 20:41:30 GMT 1
Not posted on here for a while, but Facebook & here gets to be a pain in the bum. The new wheelhouse is on the boat & screwed & bolted down, new windscreen fitted because the old one was too big for the new structure, but managed to salvage the port & starboard windows which have been installed, I have reinstalled the VHF, Chartplotter, Fishfinder all appear to be working fine & the engine starts first turn of the key, & the batteries are charging well @ 13.6v. I have yet to refit & connect the running & anchor lights but they will only take minutes to screw on, so basically we are ready to rumble! I was considering posting a trip for the coming weekend, but the forecast is for brisk SE wind which is no good to man nor beast, so the return of Mumbles Belle will be delayed I fear, it will give me chance to finish all those little jobs that need doing, all of them are 5-10 mins (until you start on them) then its an hour or the rest of the day I am going to have a good clear out of stuff I carry on board that is never going to be used, but I keep, "just in case" I have more spare anchors, chain & rope than Force 4 I think, some of it needs to go regardless of "Just in case". You may notice that there is a slight list to port on the boat, well there isn't, its the new wheelhouse that is listing not the boat! Measurements were taken many times from the old wheelhouse & transferred to the new one, unfortunately the sections were "dry fitted" together on a level floor, & all the vertical measurements were done at 90 degrees, well Mumbles Belle isn't level nor vertical & the new wheelhouse fits where it touches . I have "fettled" as much as I can, but I think I will have to move some ballast to "split the difference" between hull & wheelhouse to reach a middle point halfway between hull & wheelhouse being both a little bit out Keep your eyes on the booking calendar if you want to take a trip on Belle, because as soon as the weather is suitable I will be taking her out to try & get back into some fish!
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Post by pilgrim17 on Apr 30, 2018 16:28:42 GMT 1
Took the boat out on Saturday with only 3 of us aboard, but it was good to get out after so long, the boat went well, everything was fine & the new wheelhouse served its purpose. I still have jobs to do like wire up the lights, but the essential electrical stuff, plotter, sounder, VHF are all working fine, although I am still concerned about current leakage if I leave the isolators switched on, & I switch them off now when we are anchored up just to make sure. The new wheelhouse width makes moving from stern to bow to get to the anchor etc much easier & now the practice of laying rods on the seat shouldn't result on me walking on them anymore We didn't have a spectacular day in terms of fishing, we had a lot of dogfish, quite a few dabs (some keepers) small pouting & whiting, & George lost "something big" on his sprat bait (which we reckoned was a smoothhound). Kept the engine at ~2000 rpm & in the 6-7 knots area which seems to be the most economical setting, in fact I have to dip the tank often to make sure it is using fuel at all Maybe we will be a little more adventurous next Saturday when we are next out. I am still short of storage space on board & I am going to have to decide very soon just how much "necessary" junk I carry, & be like most other boats & take the minimum of "essentials", & rely on other boats, or the RNLI to get us back home if things go wrong. Maybe 4 anchors, 3 anchor chains, 4 anchor warps are too many? Maybe the folding canvass chairs can go? reduce the size of the toolbox, etc, etc, etc
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Post by pilgrim17 on May 11, 2018 11:56:39 GMT 1
Been out again since the last report,k we went looking for bream down Langland but never had a sniff of one, we had masses of dogs & huss, conger, pout, whiting, & a small codling. We drifted on the way back to the bay for Pollack but again nothing, we ended up in the moorings where we had more dogs & small dabs. Going out again next Monday 14th hope to fish the muddy stones if the tide run isn't too strong. Trevor & I fitted a new split diode to the boat & after leaving the isolators switched on for 48 hrs (normally 2 flat batteries) the batteries have held their charge & she has started on the button straight away, it seems that "The Oracle" has solved the long standing electrical leakage on the Belle. Now I wont have to switch everything off when we are fishing in case she wont start again, or carry spare batteries & jumper leads, so nice one Trevor
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Post by pilgrim17 on May 20, 2018 19:41:58 GMT 1
Well we are now using Belle regularly now that the new wheelhouse is operating & the electrics have been sorted. Trevor fitted a new split diode which turned out to be the cause of the batteries draining, if I accidentally left the isolators switched on, now that is done the batteries are charging & holding their charge perfectly. There are still things to be done, I need to refit the navigation lights, anchor light cabin lights etc but seeing as we don't work in the dark there is no rush, the electronics & the VHF are working which are the important things. I made the mistake of putting a plastic box with the lights wires fittings etc in it in the bow with a rubble sack over the top to stop the rain getting in & I held it in place with a spare 5ltr can of engine oil, well either the cap was loose or it vibrated loose & when it rained, the oil & water ran down onto the deck, into the anchor locker & made everything like a skating rink. Luckily I had Phil Cryer on board (who is a boat owner of many tears standing) so with Phil using the winch to recover the oily-water soaked anchor rope, & me taking us ahead slowly to take up the slack we managed to get the anchor aboard, DESPITE THE OTHER 2 ANGLERS STOOD LIKE LEMONS WATCHING HIM STRUGGLING UNTIL I ROARED AT THEM! Anyway the following day I went down to wash the anchor rope in soapy water, & spread it down the pontoon to dry, & washed out the anchor locker & the deck with detergent to degrease it. Whilst doing this I was obliged to move the 2 folding canvas chairs I put on board for angler's comfort, & the plastic buckets I have scrounged for then to have water to wash their hands etc during the day. Whilst moving the chairs I found empty bait packets & dirty rags stashed underneath, & there were similar items in buckets which had other buckets inside them, sheer laziness, so the chairs & buckets have gone, to be replaced by a waste bin, & also I found lots of pieces of mono & braid on the deck where they had been discarded! Left where they were they would have washed into the bilge & no doubt would have found their way into the bilge pump stopping it from working! Of course nobody was responsible for it, it must have been "Mr Nobody" again? I am sure some people are incapable of forward thought, well from now on nobody gets the fob to leave the marina until I am satisfied with the condition of the boat, some people seem to enjoy austerity! I am sure that some anglers think that the skippers & crew are employee's of MMBFC & are paid for their services, instead of us paying the same as them, apparently one angler asked a crewman on Oystercat to take his fish off the hook because he was crew Methinks he might have been swimming home, had the crewman not seen the funny side of it. Done our "annual works outing" to Oxwich on Belle yesterday, it was a lovely day out but a waste of space as far as fishing was concerned, Sam had the right idea of how to treat the conditions!
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