Not a great deal done today, the bulkhead below the door is now finally fully welded in. The wood is holding the right hand metal sheet back as it's very wonky and always has been. Some internal bracing and the U section outside for the deck boards should hold it back in the end.

After the doors comes the sliding hatch.

A 2ft square hole is cut in the roof.
Before I did this I felt it would be prudent to cut and half tie a tarpaulin in case it rained. In the end, it didn't.


The hole from the outside


40mm Equal angle makes up the runners and centre stop.
The straps help get it perfectly square, the angle at the front keeps the front at the correct width.


Welded up (still only tacked at the back), looking good.

The next job is to create a sliding cover for this. I have a temporary wooden one on there now for security, but I'm going to create a metal one shortly. Need to get some brass strips cut down too for the runners. All the welds need prettying up too.

Whilst the whole generator/engine debacle was going on, I had been making up the new two 1/2 doors at home.

Now comes the time to rip off (carefully unscrew) the old doors and to weld on the new.

The rounded edges of the bulkhead door frame are cut off and new angle edges are welded on.
The doors are already attached and line up with minor jiggling.


The new doors have in-line overlaps which will have draught proof strips stuck to stop rain and draughts.
The red straps are there as I was worried the roof may distort when the door sides were cut. It didn't pose any problem.


From inside. The new doors will be lined with battens and sprayfoam with ply over the top.
You can make out the angle put onto the bottom of the doors to stop water splashing or dripping inside.


The old doors temporarily cover the hole in the decking.
Underneath a sheet of steel is welded to fill in the bottom part of the doors, creating a new bulkhead.

Just before my Dad and I were going down Bradford-on-Avon lock the previous week, we realised that the generator would fit on the front deck.

It's not too heavy, more awkward, especially when you have to lift it over water, onto something that can (and will) drift away from you.

We took the generator up to Avoncliff, trundled along to the boat, removed the wheels and handle, then in a surprisingly easy show of manly skill, lifted the generator onto the front deck and secured it (both form rocking and pinching).

I stunned myself by making a pretty damn good cover for it too from a tarpaulin and sewing machine (not pictured).

Back in Avoncliff, no generator though.

I found a replacement AC2W for sale in North Wales. It's been taken out of a salty-type yacht as the owner wants more power. His loss is my gain.
I drove up to Port Dinorwic to collect it the following day.

Snapped: AC2WM shortly after possession is taken


Fitted and running the very next day.

One small problem was a corroded-through oil supply pipe to the front bearing which spurted oil everywhere. This was swapped with the 'spare' from the old engine.
The alternator pulley and belt was a fun swap. The pulley needs to sit behind the pump pulley, getting off the existing pump pulley from the new engine was almost impossible. It ended up coming off in bits, but we had the 'spare' from the old engine :o)

The steps were removed at the same time, won't be needing those anymore!

Taking the generator to and from my boat each time I want to use it isn't going to be possible due to it's size and weight. I'll have to leave it at my boat.

The options are to leave it on the towpath (in the hedge) which I'm not keen to do, or to put it on the boat.

A plan is devised which involves putting the generator onto the roof of the boat by taking the boat to Bradford-on-Avon lock, rising the boat so the roof is level with the lock sides, then rolling the generator across over a laid flat door.

My mum and I move the boat from Avoncliff to Bradford-on-Avon so the following morning my Dad and I can bring the generator and execute 'the manoeuvre'. All goes well, we arrive at the lock, ascend it, then as we're winding at the top to face back around on the 24hr moorings, disaster! The engine gives up, belches black then white smoke and is unstartable.

Fortunately we drift to the towpath side. It starts raining, typical.

The following morning my Dad and I arrive and try to start the engine, it won't go and we can't figure out what's wrong. Advice from Canal World Forum members is tried and fails. I decide an open-bay-engine-transplant is required.

I notify BW that I may be there for more then 24hrs.

I found a generator on eBay advertised as a 5KVA Lifter silent petrol. It's a ex-hire company but looks tidy. I go that night after work to collect it from Kent, it slides into my car after the wheels and handle/stand are taken off as if it were made to fit. It's pretty heavy but rather quiet.

Part of putting on new doors means I need a generator as I hate bothering the nice people in the local house and need to be more independent for my power.

I want something that will be quiet and powerful enough to run my welder. People on the Canal World Forum advise me that I'll need something meaty to deal with teh startup surge the welder requires. It's rated at around 2.5Kw.

Work slows down as I decide I want to change the doors at the back.
The existing wooden ones are nice, but they open inwards which is not going to get on well with the kitchen worktops, the steps down to them also take up a LOT of room in the engine bay.

I have decided to change them for a more traditional two 1/2 doors and a sliding top, all made from steel. This will be more secure as it's steel and opening outwards will make them harder to kick in.

Inward opening doors: So last year

After the sprayfoam comes a replacement floor.
The existing floor had more of that filler/grab adhesive stuff that doesn't like getting wet. It was ripped out and the baseplate treated and painted.

A new 'skeleton' of beams were run in, as it's a V hull there's not a lot you can do. i stuck with the same design as before but gave it a twist at the front.

Looking towards the front, tidy new 18mm WBP ply. Existing ballast is ontop.


Looking towards the back, more new ply!

This new floor covers the kitchen and saloon. The bathroom (now at the front) is different as I have decided to install a wetroom type shower. This means that you will be able to stand up and shower! I'll post some pictures of this area at a later date.

More battoning and DIY sprayfoam on the bottom half but before that, electrical conduits are run in.

View towards the front left, the water tank has a feed for playing with water. 12v and 240v sockets for the kitchen are visible in the foreground.

View towards the front right, bags of waste cut back foam, a few more 12v and 240v socket enclosures. The patch next tot he fire extinguisher needs to be resprayed.

Looking backwards, not a lot more.

People at work decide I need a boat mascot. They adopt a duck for me.

After the watertank was sorted I started thinking about gas. Love or hate it on boats, it's the only proper way to cook. With the current rear deck there was nowhere to put one bottle let alone a pair, I had to find somewhere else...

Here's a convenient place, I can fit two Calor 7Kg butane (6Kg propane) bottles in the dead space behind the water tank.
It means moving the fromt T stud though.


The hole for the old water filler has to be dealt with too.


I made up a container to 'drop in' at home, the square plate in the middle keeps it square whilst welding in.


Gratitous leg shot.


A solid drain pipe will deal with any leakages.


A lid, again made up at home, finishes it off. The T stud has been reattached further back too on the right.


All done, a good days work.

The water tank support was pretty naff, a sheet of ply was glued accross the bow of the boat with some kind of filler/grab adhesive. This glue had been used all over the boat and where it had become wet it was falling off. I concluded it was unlikely this would bear the weight of the water.

I decided that I would have to make a new support. This was a learning process.

Piglet model #1, the wooden years.
Attempt #1 was made up of three 'beams' running from side to side, these were joined by two front to back beams. Two legs per beam gave vertical support. It was rubbish.


(Image pending)
Piglet model #2, metal mania
Thanks to the kind people at The Farriers cottage in Avoncliff for their power, I was able to cut and weld a metal version using 800x400mm box steel.
This is the current model and appears to be holding up very well with a full tank of water.

It seems that I did take a picture of my boat moored at Devizes Wharf, the night it was floated.

You can see one of the new fenders at the back.

I felt that I was rapidly outstaying my welcome so it was time to move. Kings Haulage of Bristol were able to move my boat using a lorry with it's own crane. I was a bit worried that it would be too heavy as I'd been told it weighed 5-6 tons.. When it came to it, the driver said it was more like 4. Phew!

Crane meets boat. Ready for lift.


Lift off. Nose is a bit heavier, we adjusted the straps for this when offloading.


Touch down onto the trailer.


This truck was awesome.


Strapped down, almost ready to go.
It was a bit annoying that I had told Kings that it had a V shaped bottom, sent them a picture and they told me that they would bring chocks. They turned up with nothing so we used the 4 vehicle ramps that it had been on previously.


Backing out was... fun. Fortunatly the road isn't that busy.

Arrived at Devizes Wharf car park. The council run this car park and you can book the use of the coach bays for £70 per day for craning in/out.


Straps adjusted to take the nose weight into account.
Just after I took this picture the chap took out a digital camera and said "I'll take a picture now incase anythign goes wroing". Erk!


Despite the council erected 'No mooring' signs, a boat was moored at the wharf. Grrr! It had a tall TV ariel. Double Grrr! Luckily the crane was able to lift my boat over it.


Just. You can see the vast crowd of people that gathered on the towpath to watch.


This is the last picture I have of the launch. After this it went in and I shot inside, checking under the floor like a paranoid man for leaks. there were none.
IAfter I helped the driver pack up I dropped into Devizes Marina for a couple of fenders, windlasses and an icecream for a job well done.

I slept on the boat that night and although cold, it was most enjoyable.

I've found some more pictures taken during the months at Evesham. They were taken with a cameraphone at night, so the quality is a little poor.

Battoning and spraying of the topsides and roof.


Doors at the rear, engine controls on the left just visible. You can make out the welded angle brackets securing the battoning. There is 'Wet Grab' glue holding the battons to the shell too.

A deal was struck and the chap selling it allowed me to leave it in his garden for a while so I could work on it to get then engine in and BSS compliant.
Over the next many, many, many months I travelled the (2hrs each way) journey from Wells to Evesham to work on my boat.

The engine and fuel tank went in. The flexible fuel pipes were later re-routed so they could be inspected easier at BSS time. Cable trays made everything ziptie-able and tidy.


The hull got three coats of blacking. This was in the summer and was one of the more satisfying jobs. It made it look so much better.


A cover was made up to stop rainwater entering the engine bilge. The decking I made in haste was not very good at running the water off.
The stern drive is visible in this picture too. It has its own F/N/R gearbox.


I made up a pair of doors and fitted them. Note also the steps that were made and installed.


The whole of the inside was ripped out and stripped back to the shell. Fresh battoning was glued and screwed through new welded on angle brackets. The shower went :o)


Battoning along the side is being installed, the top sides and roof have been DIY sprayfoamed.
Three fire extinguishers for BSS compliance.


The doors open inwards, steps lead up to the deck.


I made the tiller the day before the boat was moved. Somehow I'd forgotton all about it!