Denis R

Here's my "two penny worth" Cassette loo Easy clean flooring A decent double bed with a good mattress A diesel fired heater that doesn't sound like an RB211 starting up (my Webasto does) Plenty of storage lockers Chances are that if what you find feels comfortable and 'right' it probably will be....

Let's try this one, thinking out loud.... Within the boundaries set by regulation the acceptable 'distribution' of behaviours is that set by the opinion or norm of the majority, thereby defining the 'culture' of the community. Behaving outside this culture, at whatever end of the scale, irrespective of it being within the boundaries set by regulation, will be deemed unacceptable. Do we want to move into the bar to discuss this further? I think I need a drink.

Thanks for the ideas everyone. I quite like the idea of using an analysis book, so I'll have a wander round Office World and see what they've got(the 6424's now obsolete). I thought about using the laptop to generate something, but on balance I'm more attracted to an 'old fashioned' book with 'proper' binding - I have a habit of 'roughing up' or losing ring bound sheets, despite the use of hole protectors and so on.

Well, last week's maiden cruise did have a fair degree of entertainment, ranging from being pushed into a gorse bush by a wayward hire boat - lovely new paintwork is no longer new, 'sniff', to me falling in "you tried to get onboard a ghost boat, daddy", interspersed with the throttle cable detaching from the injection pump just as I was entering a lock, oh and a complete white-out blizzard at Claydon Top Lock as we were mooring up. Apart from that it was a great break and the kids loved it. I've kept my notes so could write it up in Cruise Diaries.... Trouble is, it would probably sound made up!

Good one Alan! Thanks for that. I like the idea of customising my own - might just get a quote and see what the dmage is....

Anybody know where I can get a decent cruising log? All I've seen are crappy plastic ones with inserts that look like something the kids knocked up on a wet Sunday afternoon. I'd like to be able to record the boat's life a bit 'Tom Rolt' style - locks, engine hours, miles, etc in something that looks like it's got a degree of provenence about it.... Any ideas? I did a search of the forum but didn't turn up anything meaningful.

Peter does thoroughly paint the inside of the hull - mine was painted with what would normally be a hideously expensive finish I think - one that he uses on sea going vessels, which he used because he apparently had 'some left-overs from the last job hanging around'. Luckily I didn't have to pay extra for it....

Peter's team do do a good job on the cabinet making. The bits you don't see are equally as neat. It's a good workman like job, nothing 'arty-farty' - they're not into 'precious' detailing, but that's not what I wanted anyway. I'll try to get some shots of the rest of it at some point.

Well and surprisingly, stowing all my belongings didn't completely cancel out the built-in list to starboard so a bit of re-triming to port is going to be required. The mattress arrived today so I won't have to slide around on the air bed any more, some of the odd jobs are being done and due to a vast improvement in the weather Beccy's been able to get on with the signwriting. Here's a view of the starboard side. BW licence number to add at stern in Arctic White, but apart from that, it's not having any further embellishment. I promised to add a couple of shots of the Boatman's Cabin. This shot taken through the front doors showing the Boatman's Table. Then from the Galley showing the light oak finish, no embellishment and functional layout that I'm really pleased with - flooring not down yet.... Finally, here's a shot of the stove - a bit more room than in the average Boatman's Cabin as this one is 11' 3" long, compared to, i think, 9' 6" in the typical worning boat. Tea can is one I picked up years ago when my 'hobby job' was steam engine fireman. Beccy's painting the port side today and a cabinet's going up in the bathroom. Carpet laying in the 'captain's cabin' starts tomorrow, maiden cruise starts Saturday. Oh yes, and BT were on site today sorting out my broadband connection, so we're getting there.

I'm not getting a warm and snuggly feeling about this. My 'two-pennyworth' would be - get the survey done. If the vendor/broker are less than co-operative be prepared to walk away. There will always be another boat that's as appealing. Do't get sucked in by the 'somebody else is prepared to buy on spec if you're not' nonsense. I wonder if it's not a condition of the marine mortgage that a survey is done?

Bottle, you're right about the lack of contact angle in my mind. The belt manufacturer will have a chart that calculates the amount of torque the belt can transmit for a given pulley diameter and contact angle. I can't see from the picture if it has one already, but if not it might need a poly-vee, like a power steering belt on a car engine. They transmit far more torque than the traditional vee belt. Your idea of an idler to increase the belt wrap is no bad idea, especially if includes a spring loaded tensioner too....

I've had a go at re-sizing the pictures in Photobucket and it seems to have made a bit of an improvement.... Interior pictures to follow - the guys are busy finishing the varnishing at the moment, so I thought I'd wait until it's there in all its glory. Hopefully the better weather today's giving Becky a chance to get on with the signwriting too. The children and me are looking to crack open the champagne this Friday afternoon when I plan to move my possessions on board. Carpet and wood laminate floor go down next week after they've corrected the trim due to the offset loading of what remains of my clutter. (Never realised clothes were so heavy until I started to move them out 'en masse'....and how much you can get rid of if you're being ruthless!!)

The Launch Here's a shot of the boat going in the water at Braunston. The crane was booked for another job so we took advantage and got them to do this the same day. Unfortunately I was working so didn't get to see it myself, but hey, it's not like sending it down a slipway so I wasn't overly bothered. Hopefully I've got the image size a little more under control this time - sorry for sending everyone off the end of their screen before. You can't see here, but the bottom plate is fully painted and the anodes are retained with non-ferrous nuts on welded in studs.

Now that is a landmark! Sure it's not on the latest 1:25,000 OS map as an island? Reference the long overstayers, I guess it would not be unreasonable to call BW and ask them to make sure they keep you informed of what they're doing about it. In my mind, it would also not be unreasonable to chase them up regularly in the (unlikely, ha, ha) event that they don't keep you informed, or the boats don't move on....

Yeah, sorry about that. They look c***, don't they? I didn't think about it until it was too late.... The next lot should be a little more user-friendly.

I promised to post more details and I seem to have started this blog somewhat backwards, so here's my attempt to put it back into some semblance of order.... A Brief Overview of The Project This project started 25 years ago when I first looked at having a narrow boat built. I decided then that I wanted a tug and visited Peter Nicholls at Napton - I'd already decided that of all the ones I'd seen, his appealed most. For various reasons nothing came of it. Last year, after a very, very long dormant period the project came out of the 'pending' file once more. To cut a long story short and after a long trawl round various builders and boat shows, I called Peter to see if he might be interested in building a tug again. Although he now concentrates on widebeam barges and other more sophisticated craft, he was very positive and after two meetings to discuss the specification and price I signed the order at the end of October 2005.... The Boat 48' 3" liveaboard 'dormitory' for me with facility for my three children to stay at weekends. Many of the interior features are their design. From the back, there is a Beta Greenline 35 under the raised floor with a single berth at the side. Then comes a wardrobe for my clutter followed by my double bed, lengthways along the boat. The bathroom features a 'short bath' and shower, cassette loo and a wash basin and the door is off the 'corridor'. I didn't want a 'walk through' despite the extra space it would have given me. (My eldest likes a bit of privacy to put on her 'war paint' and she didn't fancy having to make way for somebody trying to get through, especially her brother!). Forward of the bathroom is the galley featuring a Smev combined hob/sink/drainer unit, a Smev oven, a fridge/freezer (with a decent percentage of freezer space) and opposite a Candy 3.5Kg capacity washing machine. Double doors lead into the 11' 6" boatman's cabin which contains all the usual features including the drop down double and a side bed for my two daughters or other visitors. Heating is by a 5KW Webasto unit and the engine also heats the calorifier. Cooking is by gas and there is a 120 gallon stainless water tank under the short well deck. Lighting is either by LED downlighter or halogen downlighter with a number of strategically positioned contemporary wall-lights. No fake oil lamps or lace in this boat! The fit-out is in light oak all through with carpet at the rear and along the corridor. Wood flooring completes the galley and boatman's cabin. Tunnel light is an 11" diameter Francis searchlight off an old fire-engine. Fuel is 100 gallons capacity and draft is about 1' 9". The Name The name comes from my late father's association with 10 Group RAF during World War II. He was variously stationed at RAF Colerne and 10 Group HQ, Rudloe Manor. RAF Colerne was the home of 263 Squadron after their famous exploits in Norway with the Gladiator bi-plane. Upon their return, they re-equipped with the new Westland Whirlwind twin-engined fighter, which was a very distinctive looking aircraft with a very heavy armament. A colleague of my father's Squadron Leader Geoff Warnes DFC was lost on operations after seeing one of his wingmen ditch in the channel after a ground-attack mission on the northern coast of France. Seeing the pilot in difficulty and failing to get his dinghy inflated, Warnes ditched alongside to help but both were swept away. My father learnt of this from a signal he received in the Ops Room at Rudloe Manor. Whirlwinds were favourite models of ours during my youth and there was often at least on Airfix model to be seen about the place. 25 years ago I decided that would be the name of my tug - suitably 'tuggy' - I'd seen names like 'Hurricane' and 'Tempest' so I thought, why not 'Whirlwind'? It's ficticious fleet number will be, perhaps not surprisingly, 263.... I'll post some pictures of the signwriting once the weather's improved and Becky's had a chance to finish it! Construction 10/6/5/4 To Peter Nicholls' usual high standard - all material the EuroNorm equivalent to BS4360-43A from Corus Steel. Here's the boat shortly after construction commenced last November. Shortly before Christmas 2005 most of the superstructure was complete. I'll post some more details of the interior in due course, and one or two of it going in the water.

Whilst on my search for a boat, I looked at a couple of Black Country tugs with a view to a partial re-fit to my requirements. They seemed a pretty workmanlike job to me and I quite like their lines. Black Country were very friendly and helpful when I enquired about the boats' history and what they might be able to do in the way of a re-fit. I was told that they no longer build their tug style boats and to cut a long story short, I ended up commissioning Peter Nicholls to build me a new one. However, if I'd continued with my original plan, they'd have been on my list. At the end of the day, if you get a comfortable feeling about it all, it's probably not a bad decision to go with it.

Some of you may recall I thread I posted some months back regarding tugs with the boatman's cabin at the fore-end. Well, tomorrow I'm going to make the acceptance trials of my new tug that Peter Nicholls has been building for me over the last few months. The major feature of this boat is a 'contemporary' boatman's cabin (natural wood, no paint and scumble, LED and halogen recessed lighting) leading out on to the well deck at the front. I've been keeping a photo record of the build and I promised that I'd post some pictures of the cabin details once finished. I'll also add a few datails about the rest of the boat too. All of a sudden this project is getting very exciting!! Watch this space! For the time being here's a shot of it by the fitting-out shed awaiting final ballasting, its interior and external details, just after it was put in the water.

Could be the mud-box is clogged. Some systems used to have a means built in for back-flushing. Could you try to rig-up some contrivance to blow water backwards through the strainer and mud-box?

Blimey! At first glance (skimming 520 pages!) this looks onorous. In due course, I look forward to an informed explanation from somebody who understands it!! Think I'm going for a lie down....