Next was arranging survey but as the boat was at Wigrams Turn Marina and had to be moved to Whilton Marina we asked if we could come for the trip. This gave us a lovely day out on 7th August moving the boat as well as a chance to see how she handled and make sure the engine ran ok and there were no major problems. Some photos of the trip can be seen below:

Leaving Wigrams Turn Marina

Braunston crawl!

Working through Braunston Locks

We somehow got to the top of Braunston Locks (after towing a boat off that got stuck) in time to moor up, have some lunch and still get away ahead of the boats queuing in front of us at the bottom!

Waiting at Buckby Locks

Arriving at Whilton - apparently the turn into Whilton is quite tricky but the steerer surprised us (and himself!) with how easy it went round and said the boat handled far better than most boats he moves.

We used Craig Allen for the Survey and it was booked for 10th August. We had an anxious wait for him to turn up but the survey went better than expected and only picked up on everything I had already found when looking round and some plating needed from well deck drains back 4' which considering it was the only plating needed was better than expected. Also deeper pits along side needed filling with weld. It turned out the whole bottom had been replated recently and was in perfect condition.

Overall we found Craig very helpful and he answered any questions we had as he went and even charged less than quoted as it was in better condition than expected! His opinions on the cracks by the front window was the same as mine - that there was nothing to worry about and it had probably been involved in a collision with a bridge at some point causing the welds to crack. It turns out they were not seam welded and the tack welds had cracked - more in a later entry!

On slipway waiting for survey to begin

First thing was to go round the whole boat hitting it really hard with a hammer

Then clean off patches along the length of the boat to take the ultrasonic thickness measurements