Independence | Upadates & Cruising

[MapisM]

I don't get the "overfuse" problem when attaching a 32A cable/plug to a 16A shore supply.
Sure, if and when you would try to draw more than 16A, the shore breaker will trip, but that's to be expected, and doesn't make any harm.

There are alternatives, like my notorious LBOK (if you don't mind the risk of killing someone), or other more civilized solution like the use of an inverter, typically to support the initial peak of current draw from A/C compressor(s). But other than that, it's just a matter of being frugal with AC usage, whenever you've got only 16A sockets on the dock.

PS: as an aside, I hope you don't mind me telling you, very frankly, that the length of a video like this could easily be shortened to one third or even less, without losing one bit of information and actually getting MORE attention from anyone watching it...

 

[londonrascal]

Thanks for the tips on videos - but the original came in at over 2hrs! I condensed it to 1hr 20m and so then further made it in to two parts. I have experimented with videos over the years and have found you cannot please everyone, go too short and people moan, go to long and people moan but since I have a lot of 'geeks' watching my content they tend to love the long format talking (indeed my main audience is made up of men 52 to 63 years of age) which means they are the ones who most complain at the music choices I make lol. Also, many who watch my videos are not boat owners, but enjoy boating - or are boat owners but own small river boats so that over explanation of things that may frustrate some, enlighten others.

These are after all literally video diaries 'as it happens' with the most minimal editing to keep it as 'live to tape' as possible and also count as digital notebooks for me to refer back to over time, my core audience though judging from the personal messages are missing and wondering if my hire boat blogs will make a return, so to keep them happy looks like 2018 is going to be a mix of Trader blogs, Broad Ambition Blogs and Hire boat Blogs - just need some time now to do it all.

As you will see in part two of this video, there is more we find out, including a bunch of corrosion to the centre tank port side outlet and valve assembly - all more work, all more cost - I have just ordered a 60L/per min fuel transfer pump,10 metres of hose, a litre of fuel biocide, 3 new wipers (need also 3 new photograph wiper arm assemblies in near future as they are not so happy also) and 2 new LED lamps for the fly bridge spreader lights. But it did not end there, so a pressure washer and a telescopic ladder finished the order.

I have arranged for Speedy Hire to bring a 2,000 litre fuel tank to the boatyard in January, and got the OK with the boatyard that 'Crew Indy' will transfer the fuel to this and then dismantle the entire fuel balancing pipe system and replace all valves - treat the corrosion on the centre tank outlet etc. Oh and while am at it I am seriously considering having new Racor filters - the twin type with the pressure gauge fitted - and this all before I even have begun with the upgrades I had already talked about so far as the electronics/navigation which, having now used the old Raymarine plotter and Simrad autohelm really is a must. The old stuff is simply too slow and cumbersome and akin to using and old laptop running Windows Millennium Edition - you can do it, but you pull your hair out in the process.

 

[East Cardinal]

Been reading your boat buying threads just now. You have bought a very nice looking craft.
I would have thought a few hours at sea (maybe in company with a safety boat) would be more
productive (and enjoyable) than many hours in the berth. As preparation for the repositioning to Easr Coast I would
use up the diesel currently in the tanks to give the engines a good run at sea.
No engine likes to sit idle for any length of time. Would then give you chance to
check tanks, valves etc and refill, avoiding hiring a tanker and pumping fuel around for hours.
Good luck with the passage next year.
EC

 

[londonrascal]

I hear you EC, but as you may have noticed from the start of this I am not doing things as most would - this boat will have a couple of hours run out in January but once she is taken to Norfolk she won't get much sea use anyway then just likely the odd trip here and there which you and others may think is crazy to have such a capable and large boat and then not bother to want to use it as intended considering many of these boats end up cruising such large distances - indeed she went to Spain and Gibraltar in her early years and back. Her last owner too hardly used her for very long distances which goes a long way to explain while her engines only have 609 hours on them in 15 years.

It is also that much more difficult to take a boat like this out to see when you are doing so much of the work alone and only every now and then can you get together a group of like minded enthusiastic boating friends to take time out of their schedules to crew and lend a hand. I should really have a much smaller easier to handle and less complex boat, but they would be to practical and sensible for me lol.

 

[petem]

Been reading your boat buying threads just now. You have bought a very nice looking craft.
I would have thought a few hours at sea (maybe in company with a safety boat) would be more
productive (and enjoyable) than many hours in the berth. As preparation for the repositioning to Easr Coast I would
use up the diesel currently in the tanks to give the engines a good run at sea.
No engine likes to sit idle for any length of time. Would then give you chance to
check tanks, valves etc and refill, avoiding hiring a tanker and pumping fuel around for hours.
Good luck with the passage next year.
EC

I agree. Assuming the engines draw their fuel from the respective tanks I can't see why the boat can't make the trip as it is. In fact, if you can use half the fuel then you can pump the fuel between the tanks to do further diagnosis.

 

[londonrascal]

Just when you thought you could take no more, along comes another 45 minutes of video - where we see how and iPad might aid navigation, how I've won the war agaisnt the local Seagull population and if you can get past that, we delve back into he engine room where I make some more discoveries as to the fuel pipes, valves and discover some corrosion to the out let and valve on the centre fuel tank.

Until the New Year then, if you've been following along with the adventure it has been nice to share it with you, even if some of you will have no doubt rolled eyes and said a few things to the screen watching the videos. As ever, there will be 'more as it happens' in January

 

[Pinnacle]

The capacity of the centre tank is shown on the plate on top of the tank - I think it said 90 gallons (presumably US gallons).

 

[londonrascal]

The capacity of the centre tank is shown on the plate on top of the tank - I think it said 90 gallons (presumably US gallons).

It is, so that is about hmm 340 litres I think - not the biggest, and no it does not go back under the galley as I suspected in the video but it would be nice to get things working as they should and would have worked when she was built. It makes me also wonder why the Racor filter was taken and moved so far to port so she has some history down there and fuel wise for sure.

 

[Portofino]

It’s not clear from the two vids the relative hight of the middle tank to the P + S tank .
If the middle tanks exit connect is lower than the pick ups in the main ( P +S ) tanks. —- how does it top up the two main tanks ?
Normally a spare long range additionally fitted tank(s) exist is higher than the main engine tank(s) - so you can open a cock and allow it/ them to fill the main tank(s) without a pump incase your V is down .

Re - balance between the main P+S connect if I understand things correctly you think it’s blocked ? Right ?
Or does this connect run through the middle only , ie NOT just connect the P+S ? —— it’s not clear to me - sorry .

If it’s just a simple balancer between the two main tanks ( P+S ) why not close the two cocks and loosen the pipe ( you think it’s full of “tar “ stuff ) - have a bung ready and use babies - pampers to absorb a little mess etc .
You will know with in 10 secs and 1/2 L if the cocks are indeed closed .
If they are remove the pipe - inspect / clean / renew -
Then care fully ( with napies ready open the cocks to check for at least patency .
Reassemble.
Just one more thing on the open / closed / fractured ball / dunno the position - confusion ?? Of the cocks - re the handles in confined placements where there’s limit leverage arc - sometimes folks ( builders + bodgers ) refit the handle to it can arc , but now there’s a possibility ( depending on brand / not always ) of the handle actually reversing visually the actual position of the cock .
Ie the handle is now parallel with the pipe - but the ball is closed ——- hence the confusion.
I would be very surprised if the handles have some how fractured ie NOT turning the balls —- it’s just exactly where are the balls if somebody has repositioned the handle ?

Hope this helps

 

[Martyn2461]

Hi Robin,

One hell of a task you have gotten yourself into there, It’s nice to see you are taking to the sea it was my maiden cruise down the east coast Gt Yarmouth to Shotley marina. This year 2018 I’m planning on take SEA TREK up to Loch Ness by the Autumn. The first leg will be Horning to Hull marina ( crossing the Wash maybe fun for a Wash newbie)
It was a weird mixture of fear and excitement. I would recommend doing a RYA course I started out doing the online essential seaman and navigation course. Anyway very good fortune to you and your endeavours.

May see you on the broads at some time this year.

Fair weather and calm seas as mate the commodore always said

Martyn

SEA TREK
Horning

 

[londonrascal]

Time for a bit of a progress report.

Oh and of course no update would be complete without a video too - so here is almost an hour of me urm..talking and showing you around things:

Moving on then....Having spent 11 days on a very different type of boat on the Norfolk Broads over Christmas and the New Year, I had a call from Mount Batten Boathouse in Plymouth. They wanted to send a couple of guys over and inspect the engine room on Independence to see what they would have to do with regard to the generator being serviced, a set of spares to have to hand for the Yanmar main engines and the fuel system and balancing of the three fuel tanks.

And so I found myself hurriedly leaving Norfolk for an overnight stop back home in London before the following day off to Plymouth and the joyful times of rail fare increases and yet the same old delays. Leave London Paddington at 14:08 arrive Plymouth 19:15 – compensation claim duly filed it was off to the Marina.

Storm Elenor had been through a couple of days previously and I knew the area had seen some pretty high wind gusts – but thankfully the only evidence was the fact my ‘seagull scare tape’ had vanished, the windscreen cover had two loose fasteners and my open array antenna of the Radar was no longer in its usual parked position.

It was however very wet so other than popping out for a Curry it was an evening of feet up and a DVD. The following morning I was up early anjd got set to taking apart the Ocean Air branded ‘hatch blind’ over the forward double berth. The blackout part roller spring no longer retracts the fly mesh part is frayed and sags – what a faff about it was only to find there was some more issues with the small plastic runners that fit between the metal tracks, I got everything back in situ but if I want a working blind I will have a new unit, for the time being it looks as it should but is not functional.

Other points have been my monthly Marina electric bill reached new heights of £85.00 (495 units used) I have no idea how that happened, that I have a leak in the port side aft wardrobe from the deck above - and it is not a deck drain as I said in my video.

I then made the beds ready for the arrival of ‘Team Indy’ on 18th January which will see 6 of us onboard for a few days and tackling a host of issues, I have a plumber who is also a diver, a carpenter, an electrical expert and a tiller that just leaves a former Policeman and myself as not representing a trade. However my bed making all ground to a halt when I found that I was missing the flat bed sheets, having mistaken pillow cases for them – the mind boggles. It would therefore need to be a trip to town for more bedding.

The engineers had still not arrived so I got on with sorting out curtains – prior to the Teak Blinds the boat had some very nice, fully lined curtains but these had be put in plastic bags and stowed for a few years getting damp. The result is all the hooks have rusted away – almost embedding themselves into the actual fabric and naturally caused a right mess. I am not sure if these are able to be salvaged but it would be nice since curtains in the winter time do add some extra insulation at the windows compared to blinds and because the blinds have been put in front of the old runners for the curtains you could have both.

The engineers duly came, had a chat and a look round and are ‘confident’ they can sort the issues – I am not sure how they will with full fuel tanks, but that is their call and I will allow them to start work when not on the boat come this Friday. They are also going to flush through the air-con/heating system and run this up and supply new Racor filter elements so we have nice clean ones in with the spares I already hold. After the meeting I popped into the town and rectified my bedding issue and also got some wood polish and restorer so the galley floor is now spotless and has a lovely lustre to it. I also got the seagull scare tape back up (it really does work even if it looks a little garish).

Once that was all sorted out it was time to head back to London, and joy of joys that would be even worse going back as a would be a Coach from Plymouth to Tiverton Parkway then train but it all is worth it and I get a real sense now of things cresting a mountain and the last push before we sail on 2nd February.

I’ll be at the London Boat show this Saturday which will be nice and I am sure a few more bits and bobs will be bought there so currently things have a real boat vibe to them.

 

[londonrascal]

Having spent Saturday at the London Boat Show it was nice to have a look about some of the new stuff on offer - and found myself surprised that some of the fit out of Prestige was to my mind bettered by that of the cheaper and smaller Sea Line offerings. My overall feelings was despite it being an acquired taste to many, the 'old school' joinery on the Trader makes her feel such a more pleasant space to spend time in, shame the external lines are so ill thought out though.

Today (Monday) Mount Batten Boathouse were to be working onboard Independence to go through her fuel balance set up, service the generator and test the air conditioning in both cool and heat. Having heard nothing about what was going on I was therefore anxious things may not have proceeded as well as I had hoped.

At just past 4:30pm I got a call from them with some very good news. They had isolated the fuel balance pipe - then carefully removed the top inspection cover of the centre line tank - no gushing of fuel meant the four isolation valves were working. The centre tank was then pumped down - and being the lowest point in the system the starboard side fuel valves were opened the result was fuel gushed into the centre tank - so that side was clean and clear and working as should. Having closed the starboard valves it was time to repeat with the port side and again fuel flowed freely into the centre tank. The cause seems that not enough time was taken to allow the fuel to transfer from one almsot full tank to another almsot full tank (my bad) should have just left the valves all open over several hours to see what happened but nothing has been lost because at least I know the valves work and the tank and its fuel are in good condition.

Considering this centre tank was never touched when the fuel was polished, I was pleased to hear there was no crude, corrosion, or water present in this tank. The inspection hatch was then replaced and the fuel valves left in the open position. Next up was the sight gauges on the tanks were replaced (this can be done in situ since they have valves top and bottom to isolate) and the net result is I have fuel 4" from the top of the tanks - so this is just going to need a small top up to bring the system to a full state.

They then got on with servicing of the generator, this proved to be in excellent condition - the impeller which was changed despite laying in situ since 2009 was in a subtle condition and returned to its usual diameter upon removal, this therefore has been saved as a spare. The anode however snapped as was removed so this took some time to get out, but has come out a new one has been put in. It was then run up under load and works well - this then meant a full check on the air condition and heating (reverse cycle) which did not throw up any error codes but as I was told is just a very inefficient and noisy way to heat the boat and should consider getting a Diesel powered boiler (or wet heat system) to heat the domestic water and heat the boat - this I am already set on but will be something to be carried out when in Norfolk.

So more good news, more good luck in so far as no new parts have been needed and sounds as if the time taken to figure things out has not taken too long so labour rates will not have gone through the roof.

This Thursday see's 'Team Indy' arrive to tackle the outstanding issues and put in place our multi-point check list for the sea trials which we will be undertaking for about 5 hours likely on the Saturday. One hopes that nothing breaks or shows up as being in need of work, but if it does we can easily get to the yard where spares are easily had and can get on with sorting anything over the next couple of days. All this will be filmed along with the other works from cleaning to carpentry that will be going on prior to our actual departure for Norfolk in just over two weeks time.

 

[londonrascal]

The fuel issue is fixed!

Here is the video sent to me by Mount Batten Boathouse (I had not asked them to film this but nice of them to do so anyway) and it shows they have removed the inspection cover on the centre tank, pumped some fuel out and then having done so open first the starboard side valves in the balance pipe (and you see fuel gush in) and then repeat with the port side. This shows there is no blockage present and all valves work as should and my three tanks can now 'talk to each other'.

What I was really pleased to see was the lovely condition the interior of the tank is in - no rust, no crude and this was never touched when I had the other tanks cleaned and fuel polished and being lower than those tanks over years would have acted as a sort of sump for particles to accumulate in. Considering she has not had any fuel treatment chemicals I am happy to see where usually you cannot, things are healthy and my fuel system is now a weight taken off my mind.

 

[East Cardinal]

Independence,
Weather looks as though it will give the boat a good shake down this week!
Hopefully a bit calmer for Saturday. Good luck with the sea trials.
EC

 

[petem]

Good stuff Robin. Looking forward to seeing some pics of the boat out on the water.

 

[East Cardinal]

Any update? Or, are you all in the pub!

 

[londonrascal]

From 18th to 22nd January myself and ‘Team Indy’ worked on Independence from simply chores like cleaning ropes, to getting to grips with the mechanical side of things in the engine room taking apart the Racor filters to clean and inspect. During this time I filmed as much as I was able between working on items myself and as a result over two hours of footage has been captured. I have created a four part series taking you along from the initial works being started, to her sea trials through seas with 18ft swells and having to return to port with only our starboard engine operational.

Part One:

I had come down to Plymouth on the evening of 17th January after work and by the afternoon of the 18th was all ready for the various lads who were heading down to begin arriving – the first was Simon, a former Royal Navy man and experienced electrician who lives locally to the Marina, later Charlie, Pete and Brian would arrive from Doncaster while Daniel will be arriving in the evening having come down from London.

We had produced a list of items to attend to, and after a coffee and a briefing it was hands to decks – Pete set to removing the galley port light that was leaking and had rotted some of the surrounding wood, Simon had the fridge Rectifier apart, Charlie and myself were cleaning the Teak decks, Brian was on with Fender cleaning – it was like ’60 Minute Makeover’ with people busy with their tasks in just about every part of the boat.

Small items that you may consider to take a short time turned into more complicated drawn out issues (how true is that with boating) but we all got on very well and there was a real ‘team spirit’ despite the chilly weather and wind. I also spent rather a lot of the day traveling about getting stuff - A new Rectifier for the Fridge, a New six man life raft, fuel cans, sealants, fuel itself, oil, and various other items brought the days spend to over £2,000The first day ended with use trying out the Crane, uncovering the Williams RIB and figuring out how such worked ready for launch and testing – but the fact the sun had set stopped play so to speak and that would have to be put off.

Considering the distances and time taken for people to travel down and work only stating in the late afternoon we already had accomplished a bunch of items of our list and so it was time to change, relax and head out to the a local Fish Restaurant where I treated the crew to a yummy Fish & Chips supper before we headed off for a few pints in the Dolphin Hotel, where we met with Daniel who had arrived having driven down from London. The following day was going to be starting far earlier and we were eager to get more items off our ‘to do list’ and begin to make our preparations for sea trials to take place on Saturday.

 

[londonrascal]

We continue in making discoveries about the boat preparing her for her forthcoming passage - tomorrow will be our sea trails so we have needed to work hard today and long hours to get everything in order for that to be able to happen.

The crane is alive and works but we ran out time and light to use it in anger and launch the Williams RIB - it is very clever in so far as it has stops in the arm swing to prevent it from hitting the stainless steel radar arch, it also beeps as it moves and has flashing red warning lights in the arm - just to you know, get you more noticed when using it than anything to do with Health & Safety.

The fridge Rectifier was changed by Simon and is now fully functioning, Pete sorted the last of the Port light sealing and is now sorted, and Charlie spliced some new rope on one of our large fenders. Dan got a plastic plate and created a system whereby it can be used with a weight to sit on the silt and not sink in when he measures the draft - Brian helped with more cleaning and then we 'secretly' took her mooring lines to the laundry room and with some Daz they came out looking great!

We then needed to drain the large Racor filters, remove the filter element, clean the transparent bowl and re-fill with fuel and put our new filter elements in. This mean finding a couple of 5 Litre containers to hold the fuel out of the filters - Brian and I headed off to the local ASDA Petrol Station and took advantage of their screen wash promotion - two for £4.00 and thus was a cheap way to get two 5 litre containers.

Racor filters duly cleaned, it was time to run up the two Yanmar engines to temperature - this being done after 9:00pm but was needed because of our sea trials the following day, it sure reverberated around the Marina and I actually have come to love the deep tone of the exhausts compared to the very much more muffled modern performance boats.

Watch all the action in Update 6:

 

[ashtead]

Following with interest all your posts but how's the weather looking for tomorrow?

 

[londonrascal]

Following with interest all your posts but how's the weather looking for tomorrow?

Tomorrow in the post was written in the sense of the story and updates as they come - not actually tomorrow if that makes sense.

Our actual departure will be 07:30 2nd February so am keenly looking toward this and annoying the wind seems to be forecast to grow stronger each day we get closer to this - what would be great is a big blow, then 24 to 36 hours of calmer wind to let the swells calm down.