Monday, March 09, 2009

Flying Solo.




Certain logistical facts regarding Wendy being back in the water are proving to be a bit of a culture shock. Some of these are probably blindingly obvious to the knowing outsider. But in our haste to transform our vessel from a gracefully shaped lump of metal in a huge shed to her proper status as an actual floating boat in the big wide world we overlooked a lot, so a few basic lessons are being learned in a hurry. Jan kindly allowed me to climb the first mountain last weekend by granting me the use of Storebror’s RIB tender. I’ve driven it before, but only twice- and then briefly, and only under the watchful tuition of my employer. So my heart was in my mouth last Friday as the sun was setting and I found myself lowering the small boat into the water from the tug’s HIAB crane. After carefully making all the checks I could think of I started the recently serviced outboard motor, cast off, and opened the throttle extremely gingerly. I crawled across the river Itchen to a waiting Tim, and two fine steel vessels.
Over the course of the weekend I made three more short trips, one of which involved collecting Becky (!) and with each I learned something new, and I’m filled with the newly acquired knowledge that this pocket rocket must be treated with the utmost care and respect.

Thanks to Tim, and Jan, for providing me with some valuable insights in order that so far, I’ve not had to learn the hard way, mind you- there’s a first time for everything.


Other news this week is that the weather forecast is looking encouraging for taking Ms Ann round to Littlehampton on Wednesday. Not only am I nervous as all hell, but I’ve an awful lot of preparation to do, not to the boat itself, she’s as ready as she’ll ever be- but I’ve crews to organise, both for the actual trip, and to receive us on arrival, pilots and small workboats to arrange, and a myriad of other details, not one of which can be overlooked.

We live in interesting times indeed.

26 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

For the under-educated of us in distant places - how far is it from the River Itchen to Littlehapmton?

Chris, Sydney, Au

6:18 am  
Blogger IsmilebecauseIhavenoideawhatsgoingon said...

Hi Chris, it's a mere 37.9 miles, or 61 Kilometers, or 32.9 Nautical Miles- in a Straight line. We've a couple of obstacles to drive around but the total distance won't be too much more than this. Sounds like Nothing doesn't it?

6:44 am  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

don't you feel just a little regret about not putting an engine in her?... seems a shame, after all the work you've done on the hull, to have to ask for a tow when you want to move. I can't help feeling a bit sorry for the old girl.. Go on, ditch the third bedroom (or whatever) and give her a heart!

2:45 am  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Thanks for that info! Sounds easy indeed. Good luck with the voyage!

Chris

2:58 am  
Blogger IsmilebecauseIhavenoideawhatsgoingon said...

Hi folks
Just to say we're on our way... this is being typed from the chart table of Storebror.
Weather currently flat calm, fingers toes and knees crossed.

ETA. 11 am
S

5:19 am  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Seb,
A good trip yesterday. Jan & I enjoyed ourselves enormously with the wind-ups!
Seriously though, a great day for you - enjoy the rest of it!
There are a few pics here http://www.mwmarine.co.uk/galleries/2009/wendyann/index.htm
I will send high res ones if you want them.
Cheers
m

10:32 am  
Blogger IsmilebecauseIdo said...

Dear Anonymous that wrote re engine.
How much do you know about marine engines? In order to re engine Wendy Ann we would need the following:
New hydraulics for steerage
New prop and prop shaft
All associated safety/ navigation equipment
Engine & gearbox
In total the cost would run to in the region of 40 to £60,000
Always assuming there are no hiccups!
Aside from loosing approx 1/4 of the boat to engine and associated bits I just don't have that kind of money. Believe me we looked into it and it saddens me as well. The fact is that people like you however well meaning going on about how we HAVE to re engine when it totally out of our league is a bit like telling a homeless beggar that they simply must go and stay at the Dorchester because it is simply excellent. Talk about rubbing salt in!

10:54 am  
Blogger IsmilebecauseIdo said...

Thanks for the link to photos Mick. Some great shots. Unfortunate that you have the name of the boat wrong! It is Wendy Ann 2. Please can you change it

10:56 am  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

HAPPY(belated)BIRTHEDAY!Congrats and Well Done y'all. Welcome to your new home.Hugs all round n' much of the gooey stuff - y'Da

2:34 pm  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

er... ouch, obviously touched a nerve there! Sorry to upset you regarding the engine, really I was complementing you on the thorough job you've done on the hull, and thought it might not be anything like as much work to put in an engine. I didn't "go on about how you HAVE to re-engine".. judging by the tone of your reply it seems I'm not the only one to have spotted an engine-shaped elephant in the room. As it happens, I've just re-engined my own tug, so I do know a little bit about marine engines. I don't know exactly what state your boat was in when you bought her, but unless they were damaged, the prop and shaft can be retained, given a sufficient gear ratio (and the gearbox that was in there must have worked fine with the prop at some point- GB Marine Ltd still supply parts and service Self-Changing Gears, by the way); a hydraulic pump can be bought cheaply on eBay and run off the main engine for the steering; the only nav and safety equipment you need are lights and VHF; an engine (and gearbox) can be had quite cheaply if you keep your eyes open for a while (and you've had 4 years so far..)- for instance, there have been at least two Rolls Royce Eagles in running order on eBay in the past year for a few hundred quid, which would have been direct swaps for the one you removed, thus requiring very little work to the beds etc, just the easy stuff like controls and exhausts to sort out; and an engine and gearbox powerful enough to push along your boat need be no bigger than a dining table (the Rolls Eagle is only 3 feet high above the beds, and 4 feet long plus gearbox, for instance)- I'd guess in a boat Wendy Ann 2's size, you could keep it all low enough to put a floor above the engine space, like they do in those 'tug-style cruisers' you can buy- see http://www.macduffshipdesign.com/misc/4.htm for a 50ft example. Anyway, my point isn't to disagree with your decision- I know as well as anyone how boats can become time and cash black holes, and many a project ends up dashed upon the rocks of indecision. Which makes your dedication unusually admirable, and I salute you and your decision. Just don't get arsey and try to tell me it can't be done on the cheap. Because I've done it myself.

12:11 am  
Blogger IsmilebecauseIdo said...

Thank you anonymous for explaining where you are coming from. I didn't mean to come across as catty as I did, it is just that I would love to have an engine! When we bought the boat she had a six foot section of keel missing and a hull the thickness of a coke can- complete with more holes. She was only just floating and was basically fit for the scrap yard. The Rolls Royce Eagle that was in her was not her engine- it was half the power that we would need and v broken. Her prop and prop shaft were still there and in good order but the size of engine we would need to turn the 5 bladed 4ft dia prop would rule out Rolls Royce Eagles. We were also warned off Rolls Royce marine engines as they are expensive and hard to find parts for and apparently not that reliable. We always looked on the internet etc for cheap suitable engines but we always had something more urgent to spend the money on- like steel plates for the hull/ welding stuff!
I understand your discussions about the space issues- but like I said we have thoroughly looked into it and because of the layout of the tug we would have our engine in our living room and it would stick up into the space quite far. What do we do with the need to insulate our living space against the fumes/ filth of effectively having an engine room in the middle of it? How often are we going to move her and therefore justify fitting an engine?
Yes it would be wonderful to have an engine like her original- a Lister Blackstone 400 but realistically the cost and the sacrifice of space just doesn't seem worth it we do not have the money- even to do it on the cheap. We have run up huge debts doing this project so far- we are struggling as it is and I have just been made redundant so dreaming is all we can do. So thank you very much for your advice and your compliments but I think we will have to leave this project static as we need to put all the money into making her habitable- we loose our current accomodation in August. Having said that if miracles happened in 5/10yrs time then we have left the stern tube etc so it could be re engined.
Sorry if I pissed you off I didn't mean to I am just finding the realities of life a little bitter at the mo.
Do you have a blog about your tug?

9:03 am  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Congratulations on being afloat! I found out about your boat/blog about a week ago and read every entry over the last few days... wow, what an amazing effort! Someday I'll own a big steel boat. Reading your struggle has probably pushed that day off by a year or two. <grin> Someday, though.

So sorry to hear that you're losing the steady job and flat on land. Good luck getting Wendy Ann 2 full-time habitable by then! The location in Littlehampton looks idyllic. Hopefully it's not too hard to drive [or bike?] to.

-erik [Boston MA, USA]

11:38 pm  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

No worries, I wasn't pissed off, but I guess the answer to my original question "don't you feel just a little regret..." is a resounding yes! But with good reasons, of course. I don't have a blog about my tug- nobody had the internet when I started doing mine up... So I completely understand about the time/money sacrifices that need to be made. In fact, I originally bought my boat as a liveaboard, and removed the big old engine to create more space (it was knackered anyway, and I thought I'd install a little modern one instead.) I loved it, but then I got my girlfriend to move on board with me. BIG mistake. Why didn't I first sort out the lack of toilet/shower/bed/wardrobe etc? Er, not sure. Something to do with chromosomes, probably. But, bless her, she stuck it out for several months (we were in a marina with showers etc, so it was a bit like living in a caravan,) before deciding to visit a friend in america for a month. She didn't say it explicitly, but it was clear- I had to get a flat, or she wasn't coming back. Thus ended my life afloat. And a few years of never mentioning the boat lest an argument started about the mooring fees we couldn't afford. An argument I could never win. And without an engine, what was it worth if I decided to sell? But, if I'm honest, I really didn't want to sell her, even though I knew there wasn't a single sensible reason for keeping her. And not having a clear idea of why I owned the thing meant that any decision on how to fit it out was impossible (hence I think you've done the right thing to focus on what you need, and work to that end.) So she stayed the same for several years; a slowly rusting, guilty secret that I visited every few weeks to check she hadn't sunk... Then, 18 months ago the same girlfriend and I had a son, and on a day out to the thames estuary, an idea formed- a weekend retreat! Cheap muddy estuary moorings! (we live in london.) The best of both worlds! Now the engine room could remain an engine room, since less space is required than full-time live-aboard-ing, so no more indecisiveness on my part. Hence the recent engine replacement (although my lack of time means progress is still painfully slow, but at least I now know what I'm aiming for.) And best of all... the missus thinks it's a great idea.

4:38 pm  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

prop shaft and bushings can be an expensive affair, but engine gearbox, lights and stearing can be bought quite cheaplly. I have sailed a number of vessels of considerable size with small engines, the record beeing a 23 m dutch barge with a 21 hp lister, once you are used to it it's no problem, i would go for a small uncomplicated, compact engine that could be relied upon. i would not go over 100 hp, fuel comsumption beeing a consern.

henry

10:30 pm  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I agree with Henry there- the original engine in my tug was an old plodder rated at 100hp, and swung the 40" dia x 40" pitch 4 bladed prop fine without any gearing. Lots of large barges have small engines- it's surprising how little power is necessary to push a displacement hull through the water. As long as the reduction gear can handle the torque necessary at the correct shaft speed for the prop, the engine needn't be particularly large. Of course, towing is a different matter, so you'd need your Blackstone or whatever; but just to push herself along, 100hp would be plenty.

8:10 pm  
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