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Robert B.

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  1. As Sara's former owner I can confirm that there is some confusion in the advert. Sara is believed to have been based out of Banbury but probably built elsewhere, she also has Harts Hill Iron Co. rolled into her knees. The best guess for her construction date was based on stylistic grounds and comparison with other vessels, the consensus appeared to be C. 1855-1865. Regards, Robert
  2. T'is the same here in rural Norfolk. We took delivery of a ton of coal today that will feed the stove and back boiler through the winter. Back on topic, I was once evacuated from student lodgings when a fire took hold in the gas bottle storage of nearby Falmouth docks. Actual end-of-the-world air raid sirens certainly got my attention.
  3. It was a bit of a wrench finding this thread - my wife and I lived on Sara for four years and regretfully sold her 11 months ago for 10 K less than currently advertised. We had an opportunity to purchase a small thatched cottage but soon found more work (and expense!) and realised we wouldn't have the time or finance Sara needed. I can see that she has been blacked in the last 11 months and her cushions re-upholstered. The rope fenders are new too. The Lister Petter TR2 was new in 2010 and had C. 650 hours on it when we sold her. I believe it was one of the last engines to come out of the Dursley site. She had a fair turn of speed, a little over 8 knots on one memorable occasion with barely 3/4 throttle (that got me into trouble as the crockery fell out the cupboards and went everywhere!). The propellor and shaft were fitted by us in 2017 after major fatigue fractures saw the original finding a new home on the bottom of the Welford arm... She has a square elm keel that keeps the C of G low and minimises her 'tender' qualities; her previous nick-name was Weeble as she wouldn't roll over. She was a delight to handle and could stop and turn in her own length. She is a dear little boat and we had a wonderful time on her. I hope whoever ends up with her falls in love as much as we did, you'll always find yourself in conversation wherever you go (How old is it? Is that a steam launch?). If anyone has any questions do feel free to drop me a line. I should point out that we are completely unconnected to her current owners. Regards, Robert
  4. Your supply may also 'droop' if you have busy moorings with lots of power being drawn (e.g. liveaboards running electric heaters etc). I've measured as low as 190 volts incoming at the marina in Ely.
  5. I had a go today at deciphering the faintest suggestion of a foundry marking on one of Sara's frames yesterday. The original lettering does not seem to have been particularly bold and several thick coats of paint had made all but the TS fairly indistinct. After a bit of wet n dry I had the following results: I'm not so sure about the characters either side of the rivet, but TS HILL IRON Co looks fairly convincing to me. Poping that string into google brings up HARTS HILL IRON Co. of Dudley, established in 1846, which agrees with an assumed 1850's date for the hull. This raises the question of whether they simply supplied the raw stock for someone else to make the hull, or did they build it themselves under contract? Interestingly they appear to have built other boats - BHP No.2 still being extant (Edit: unless this is a modern attribution due to being displayed in Dudley close to the iron works site?). The overlaping plates on Sara's bow and stern are very much in the style of black country day boats.
  6. Another good word here for Boatman stoves. The one on Sara is ten years old now and we've had no trouble. The rope seals get replaced every other year and the glass has cracked twice, but Northern Fabrications will sell you replacement glass or you can send them the door and have it refurbished.
  7. Is that not a PRM 120 mechanical box? Looks identical to the one on Sara, which is a 120.
  8. Siren is our mooring neighbor and a member of the Thames classic boat club/register (I think I got that right?). She is not a lifeboat but a mid 1920's Thames launch that has been converted to fully electric propulsion. It is quite something to watch her glide silently past. I appreciate the sentiment though. There are plenty of attractive classic lifeboat conversions out there that were done because they were, in their day, affordable vessels that also happened to be of suitable dimensions for many inland waterways (typically around 30 foot by 8). Completely impractical for a narrow canal though. Quite aside from the CC'ing/mooring/shuffling back and forth arguments around the OP's original proposal, what do you plan to do when it becomes necessary to get to a wharf/yard/slipway to have your vessel out of the water for maintenance? Our first vessel was a heavily built fifty year old GRP hull that came out every two to three years to service the rudder, check the prop, monitor any osmosis and receive fresh anti-fouling. Her subsequent owners have more or less abandoned her and she is looking very sorry only four years on.
  9. We were heard in Iceland the other day - does that count? The Off switch is top left. It is the only control the wife knows how to operate ? Caroline are now licenced to use the former World Service facility at Orfordness, 1 KW on 648 khz into a 350 foot mast. I do find it amusing that the former pirate is using an ex-BBC facility that was paid for by the foreign office... An overnight transmitting session on the Sailor 76D installed on Sara:
  10. I think the sailor series of radios must be some of the best general purpose receivers ever made. We have a 66T in daily use here on Sara, usually tuned to either Radio 4 on LW or Caroline on 648. It also sees use on the amateur bands with the companion 76D transmitter. Tuning coastgaurd broadcasts is a little fiddly and requires safe cracker fingertips!
  11. The knees on Sara are thick with paint, I might have a session with some stripper and sand paper to see if anything is revealed... What is the history of Ice Dragon? We would like some more pictures if you have them. for comparison purposes you understand!
  12. The 1850's iceboat Ross can be seen here. Whilst the overall shape of the hull is quite different (more of an ice 'ram') the method of construction, with alternating doubler plates and frames, is very familiar. I do wonder if Sara, Ross and others represent a transitional period in which the builders of the day were still following work patterns established in a previous era of wooden craft construction. It is clear that she was constructed by a yard whose expertise was in boats rather than, say, boilers. I assume the frames have been delivered from the mill as long straight forms to be cut to length and bent on site? By my reckoning there are 35 metal plates that form her hull plus 20 frames and 20 doubling straps in her 30 foot length. The curves in the bow are quite complex and I assume the plates were offered up to check the fit at intervals whilst being rolled. Ultrasound shows them to be thinner in the middle and thickest at the edges, which makes sense as that is were they are drilled and held by the rivets. Talking of rivets, I notice that we have two varieties. A conical headed flat topped sort that I assume is of later origin for use with riveting guns/presses, and a hammered flat version that are probably original to her construction. These latter rivets only survive in areas along the bilge well below the waterline. Given that iceboats had a propensity for wasting rivets due to ice abrasion this probably represents her last major overhaul. I had noticed that the margins of the plates are rather ragged. The blade used appears to have been an 1 1/2" inches wide. Robert
  13. Hello everyone, I spent a lot of time squeezed and contorted into various small spaces below decks yesterday whilst I tightened our stern gland and sponged out a quantity of greasy water from the bilge. I spent some time examining Sara's construction and it occurred to me that her frames are not as thoroughly fixed as the doubling straps where adjacent hull sheets are abutted and riveted together. You can see a frame in the image below with two such straps either side, this area being in the curved butty style stern. I always assumed that the frames would have been used to form the curve of the hull first with the hull plates applied over them (as in conventional ship building), but in places the frames do not conform too closely to the hull - at their lowermost ends I can usually get a finger between them and the baseplate. Looking closely and the image of the bare hull it is clear that none of the frames form a continuous a piece - they are more akin to an elongated knee as might be found in a conventional work boat. The hull plates are sandwiched between these extended areas and the base plate, showing that they were already in place before the frames were secured. I take it then that Sara was first laid down as the base plate (in four sections) with the one piece stem and stern, then the hull plating was rolled and riveted into place. The substantial frames then went into the hull, most (but not all) attached to both the hull sides and baseplate. It seems a backwards way to do things and there must have been a reason for it, but I can't see it. is this the way a conventional work boat would have been built? Are the frames purely intended to limit the spreading of the hull in the event that any loads were carried? Or are they to maintain hull shape when riding up onto (and plunging through) ice? They don't seem to have much to do with re-enforcement as there are none in the bow where the brunt of the ice breaking loads would have been borne. I think I'll crack open another can on this fine evening whilst I ponder things... Robert
  14. Your water may also come in from the stern gland - the point where your propeller shaft exits the hull - if it is worn. Usually this consists of a flat metal plate with a set of bolts that can be used to tighten up any slack. I had to tighten ours yesterday to sort out a slow but persistent drip. I've attached a picture of ours and the greaser tap that lubricates it - putting in a couple of turns of grease may help if this is your issue. In your picture it will be attached to the end of the black tube exiting the top of your stern gland. Our engine is also an air-cooled Lister and your layout is very similar.
  15. I'm not entirely sure what the 'NA' in your designation refers to. Admiralty pennant designations begging with 'N' were reserved for minesweepers, whilst the suffix 'A' was awarded to coastal motor boats (small wooden gun/torpedo motor launches) so I suspect these probably don't refer to an admiralty designation. Maybe 207A is the original builders hull number? There is a lighter X-207 (X= special craft) on the list, but this refers to a motorised vessel built to land troops and supplies on beaches in the Gallipoli campaign. Admiralty supporting and harbour service vessels of the first world war can be found here, although this list is woefully incomplete for minor vessels like your barge. unfortunately the few YC service barges listed don't have any dimension particulars, making them difficult to compare. Section 52 deals with lighters and barges, although the list is very short compared to the numbers that must have been in use. There are some internal photgraphs of the hold in the listing for YC74. Do they compare well with your example? Robert
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