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Nb Cobbett

wrigglefingers

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Well, we've got to the point that I scarely believed was possible this time last year.

 

David Harris started laying the baseplate for Cobbett today.

 

For those of you who haven't read before (and I can't believe there can be that many of you I've been so excited all year) Cobbett will be a planked Josher bowed and sterned 62' tug deck steel narrowboat. Recessed rear panels, boatman's cabin, portholes and Rayburn and frankly not much more except a JD3 engine and PRM 260 gearbox. She'll be finished sometime in Spring 2010 and then Phil's crew will paint her.

 

The plan is to disappear off round the system for a year or so and visit friends. She's been planned as a single-handed liveaboard so the strange fact that I've gained a partner this year is a little ironic but never mind. I'll take photographs as she progresses and keep you posted. It's been a stiff learning curve this year but I've enjoyed the process very much so far. Fingers crossed for the rest .......

 

Wriggly xx

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Daftmare Proficient

Daftmare

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Posted
Well, we've got to the point that I scarely believed was possible this time last year.

 

David Harris started laying the baseplate for Cobbett today.

 

For those of you who haven't read before (and I can't believe there can be that many of you I've been so excited all year) Cobbett will be a planked Josher bowed and sterned 62' tug deck steel narrowboat. Recessed rear panels, boatman's cabin, portholes and Rayburn and frankly not much more except a JD3 engine and PRM 260 gearbox. She'll be finished sometime in Spring 2010 and then Phil's crew will paint her.

 

The plan is to disappear off round the system for a year or so and visit friends. She's been planned as a single-handed liveaboard so the strange fact that I've gained a partner this year is a little ironic but never mind. I'll take photographs as she progresses and keep you posted. It's been a stiff learning curve this year but I've enjoyed the process very much so far. Fingers crossed for the rest .......

 

Wriggly xx

 

Great news! Looking forward to some pics.

Gained a partner this year too eh? Hopefully a boater!

 

Jo.

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wrigglefingers Experienced

wrigglefingersDonate to Canal World

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FANTASTIC!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Good news all around!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Thank folks! It's all very exciting. Sadly said other half isn't a boater but he does show promise; Ellen tells me he'll be fit to be left in charge of the tiller in a few years time. He hasn't fallen in yet and has very poor Squirrel stoking skills for a retired fire-eater! Still he makes tea on demand which is all a girl wants really ............ :lol:

 

Wriggly

 

edited - I wish I wasn't stupid.....

Edited by wrigglefingers
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Bones Veteran

Bones

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Posted
Thank folks! It's all very exciting. Sadly said other half isn't a boater but he does show promise; Ellen tells me he'll be fit to be left in charge of the tiller in a few years time. He hasn't fallen in yet and has very poor Squirrel stoking skills for a retired fire-eater! Still he makes tea on demand which is all a girl wants really ............ :lol:

 

Wriggly

 

edited - I wish I wasn't stupid.....

 

 

He is probably resisting all desires to eat the stove... one can only be thankful!

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  • 1 year later...
wrigglefingers Experienced

wrigglefingersDonate to Canal World

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Okay, time for an update.... and apologies for the decisions I've made (not all of them will make the purists happy) but they've been made for a purpose; to build a boat that's robust and a comfortable home.

 

Cobbett is moving to towards completion steadily. As you know David Harris laid the baseplate in October 2008 and she's been in build since. The shell was completed by June and the sprayfoam was completed in the summer. She's 62' and is a planked josher-like trad shell with short tug deck, she's calculated to draw 28 and half inches empty, so according to David's calculations she'll draw a fraction over 30 inches with my possessions on. It took me ages to confess that Surprise came up by at least 5 inches when we moved off her in October. Anybody want any books? We made some compromises on the length of the deck tug to give me enough space to accommodate all our interior needs, particularly insofar as I needed to have enough space to construct a berth for Ellen when she bounces back from Uni at some point. To that end we originally designed a portholed boat with:

 

a back cabin with permanent bed

a semi-traditional engine room (I loathed cracking two ribs trying to repack the stern gland greaser in the hammering rain, two days before I ran a week of children's workshops)

a small shower room (cassette lav for all you loo-lovers out there)

a dinette that breaks down to form a double for the Uni-bouncer

a large double L kitchen with my beloved Rayburn (brilliant red)

a small living room.

 

The engine is a Beta JD3 Tug which was secondhand but barely run in complete with a PRM260 gearbox which David had been asked to replace from another boat and it will drive two Leece Neville alternators (110 and 160 amps). She's coupled to the shaft with a Pythondrive, I didn't have enough room to squeeze in an Aquadrive. The engine is exhausted to the side as I don't like breathing in diesel fumes, but I expect that'll be counter-acted by the pollutants I shall inhale in locks. Still as it's not really a proper engine I'm not too worried and as I keep pointing out to folk, I'm not building a replica. I took the slightly dubious decision to ask David to sit hydraulic bowthrusters for the very simple reason that I shall be singlehanding this boat and whilst I'm not a bad boathandler most days I'm still a bit anxious about my skills in unexpected situations, so they're there for emergencies, which I hope will be few. I did decide to have a speed and gear wheel can't remember why but I think it might have been that Graham Alnwick talked me into it the same weekend at Stourton (Stewponey) when Jane convinced me that a boatman's cabin was the way to go. Ergo, I haven't got any permanent beds at all now, but I can sleep on the bench seat (well, I could if I really got to grips with that diet!). Consequently, the back cabin is now traditional except there's no Epping - the threatened changes to the solid fuel regs seemed to rule that out when I designed the heating system, so I will have a Kabola Old Dutch in the range space.

 

The shower room is pretty compact, but at fitout stage seems to work well which is remarkable given the size of my backside. We had to make some space compromises given that I didn't want her to be any longer than 62' and the bathroom is where they've happened. The other alternative would have been to have squeezed the living area even more, and I dunno about you, but I tend to live in my sitting room more than my bathroom, though there's no accounting for taste, each to their own hmmm? There's a shower cubicle (which I will need to diet to get into) a small airing cupboard with calorifier on the floor, handbasin, and Thetford C200 lav.

 

The dinette is a standard 6'6" double bench seated affair over the water tank. The construction of a large-enough water tank for liveaboard has also allowed the seats in the dinette to raised up so we can look out of the porthole and side hatch. This allows me to construct one standard length bed for the taller visitor and Ellen thinks it will be hog heaven for her at only 5'1''. The drop-down bedflap in the rear cabin will give a bed of 4'2" wide but only 6' long at best and that's with your feet in the bedhole!

 

The kitchen has the Rayburn set at an oblique angle but ongoing modifications have done away with the double L-shaped counter tops and we've settled for straight runs to make the most of the space. I decided to have a washing machine and site it in the kitchen which took up at least one third of the available floor cupboards. One of the lessons I learnt from living on Cobbett is that there is no such thing as too much storage space, but I've had to find a fine balance between storage and not feeling over congested. As she's portholed I feared she'd be very dark. I did consider having rooflights but didn't like the mess they would have made of the roof and so we'll have flush prism lights in the roof which will help to lighten her up I hope. It seemed a strange thing to me to have David build a beautiful shell and then ask him to cut whacking great holes in it (although I know that still doesn't excuse the b*wthr*sters). The kitchen will work, but it taken a lot of thought. One of the big benefits of working on the boat over the winter is that I've been able to see how the fitout is shaping up and make modifications to the overall design as we've gone along. Occasionally the issues have required a lateral step away from the original idea to make something workable. (It's a recurring family joke that she'll be called Cobbett No1 (mod 53 rev f g h)!) The kitchen will also have an Isotherm fridge, a small gas hob, Belfast sink and nothing else except drawers and cupboards (although I do use a Remoska for baking).

 

The Rayburn has caused a lot of headaches, but we think it will work although waiting for the publication of the fire regs has been a pain. At the rate they're being postponed I may not have had to have many of the fire-proofing measures that Cobbett has which has included the use of SuperIsol, the loss of space caused by the new distance requirements, the horribly expensive and frankly unsightly flues and so on. We've had to settle for a pumped water system, with a massive skintank which is operated on a 12v thermostatically operated valve to dump any overheating water into a heat sink. Should solve the ice round the hull if we get another cold spell like this one though! At least I'll know that the boat is as safe as she can be as she's been built to the draft documents which look like they may be far tougher than the eventual regs when they come.

 

The living space will contain just a Squirrel and my spinning wheels. Ellen couldn't live without a Squirrel (not a proper boat without one) though when it's going to get lit I don't know, still it looks very familar as it's in the same place as our Squirrel on Surprise. If I've got any money left, I'll buy a couple of small chairs as spinning standing up is impossible and visitors seem to like sitting down on chairs. Goodness knows why - lightweights! The under tug deck area will be a drying and storage area although there's enough room to get a small bed in, but head room is very limited and so I think it'll be more useful for storage.

 

She's lined throughout in solid timber, oak on the floor, painted pine reed and bead under gunnels, tongued and grooved flat board above and ash reed and bead on the ceiling all three-quarter inch at least, I think the floor is thicker but it's not laid yet and I can't remember offhand.

 

Outside she looks pretty traditional really, I'm going to need a demountable front deck hold for coal and wood for the Rayburn but the final decision hasn't been made yet and will probably be about the last thing to be sorted.

 

In terms of progress, David is nearly there, we're hoping to float her at the end of January which, contrary to my firmly held belief, will be a very gradual affair as she's slid into the basin. I was hoping for champers hitting (well, a bottle of Batham's finest Delph bitter in memory of Surprise - a Delph Marine boat!) the hull and a Big Splash! Apparently if that happens we are in Big Trouble! So slowly, slowly, sleepy does it. The final fitout will be finished by mid to late February; I then get to catch up on the painting as I've been too slow and too inept with the painting and tiling business really. She goes up to the shot blasters after the 12th March when the stoppages are over and then she comes back to the basin for John and Chris to coach paint her and then Phil and Meg to work their magic on the signwriting. I think we're all agreed that she'll be green with red panels, FMC style and carry the legend Shepherd and Daughter. I was originally going to have Bradford on Avon painted on her but as we don't have a mooring there anymore it seems wrong. So, I'm toying with 'Carriers of Stuff' instead but can't decide whether anybody will get the joke and indeed whether I shall think it quite so clever in a few years time! As Cobbett is named for the great 18/19th century radical having a textile historians' pun on the side seems vaguely amusing, but probably only to me.

 

So that's it, for all you worrying about boat builders I can honestly say that it's been a great experience, I owe an enormous amount of goodwill (and money after Cobbett is painted) to Phil who put me in touch with David in the first place and that was after a forum spate that caused me to rethink my approach to boats and how to live and look after one. Phil was absolutely right about David being a thoughtful, careful and clever builder; I've learnt so much from doing this and even after 2 and a bit years remain really excited about my beloved Cobbett. It's been bloody scary at times, but I hope my Dad, who enabled this to happen, is proud of the decision I took to build her.

 

I'm going to post this and will try to upload some photographs later, 'cos it's taken me hours to type this and I'm on a dongle so don't want to lose it.

 

Love an' all that stuff, Jill

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Lady Muck Veteran

Lady Muck

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Oh thank you, Jill, I'm eagerly awaiting the photos.

 

You are doing what I would eventually like to do - getting a boat built having spent years as a boater, deciding exactly how you want it to be!

 

Good luck!

 

ETA, you said

I'm going to post this and will try to upload some photographs later, 'cos it's taken me hours to type this and I'm on a dongle so don't want to lose it.

 

If I'm in a flakey area and I don't trust the dongle/connection, I type in a text file and C+P.

Edited by Lady Muck
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wrigglefingers Experienced

wrigglefingersDonate to Canal World

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Oh thank you, Jill, I'm eagerly awaiting the photos.

 

You are doing what I would eventually like to do - getting a boat built having spent years as a boater, deciding exactly how you want it to be!

 

Good luck!

 

ETA, you said

 

If I'm in a flakey area and I don't trust the dongle/connection, I type in a text file and C+P.

 

 

Good thinking, it was only going to be a short post and simply grew and grew! Back to photo problem ....

 

eta no luck with getting Photobucket to work - will try again tomorrow as I'm knackered.

Edited by wrigglefingers
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wrigglefingers Experienced

wrigglefingersDonate to Canal World

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Looks v nce Jill I can smell the timber you must be v pleased that bow its very nice in contrast to the "stub that Ive achieved with a nine inch grinder :lol: You, ll will be on the water to enjoy the best part of the year.

 

Stuart

 

Yep, that was the plan, but I think I may need to do some paid work before I can head off up the cut!

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PaddingtonBear Rising Star

PaddingtonBear

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Looking good, is that the best you can say? as I have said oft before, this boat is going to be SENSATIONAL - one of the best boats on the system - one against others will be judged.I just hope there is time at the coming fun and frolics at Phil's for me to have a wee look, I will feel very privleged.

Edited by PaddingtonBear
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  • 2 months later...
wrigglefingers Experienced

wrigglefingersDonate to Canal World

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Cobbett is now a boat!

4425990648_1cde6abd58_m.jpg

 

Dave added the propeller today (20 x 20 x 1.5, I think) and she'll be floated on Monday at about lunchtime (ish). Can't wait to see her as a boat not a rusty lump of metal as she's been a work in progress for so long (2 and half years and still counting). If anybody is in the vicinity of Dadford's Wharf and would like to see her, please pm me and I'll share the details.

 

Photos of her in the water later ....

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soldthehouse Influencer

soldthehouse

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Cobbett is now a boat!

4425990648_1cde6abd58_m.jpg

 

Dave added the propeller today (20 x 20 x 1.5, I think) and she'll be floated on Monday at about lunchtime (ish). Can't wait to see her as a boat not a rusty lump of metal as she's been a work in progress for so long (2 and half years and still counting). If anybody is in the vicinity of Dadford's Wharf and would like to see her, please pm me and I'll share the details.

 

Photos of her in the water later ....

Good luck Jill, you deserve it.. :lol:

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