On the tiles

Christmas with family in Hull gave me the excuse to detour the car journey via Tamworth, dropping off the recently purchased Zanussi compact washing machine to allow timely installation. I had already been advised the varnishing was complete but was eager to see how the tiling was coming on.

Unfortunately Steve's tiler had taken extra leave shortly after starting, so had been unable to finish before Christmas. He had completed the tiling behind the saloon stove though, complete with grouting.

I suppose I was generally disappointed at the amount of work completed since my last visit a month before, but close inspection showed many small finishing touches including the trims around the edges of tiled area's. Looks like the galley tiles will be next.









The bedroom looked good with varnishing completed to a very high standard in a smooth silk finish.

A closer inspection of the dressing table extension revealed a slide out support. Not sure if I missed this last time or its recently been added.

In the engine room and BMC the undercoat in preparation for scumbling has been applied. This in turn to give an artificial wood grain effect in keeping with old working boats.

At the rear of the engine room the trim around the start of the aft swim curvature can be seen just to the right of the boxed in fuel filler pipe. Its hoped that the large oil tank required by the dry sump engine can be accommodated on supports at this level. This would leave the tank high enough for easy draining as well as allowing  removal of the floor hatch to access the diesel fired water heater below.







I also tried the fit of another recent purchase, a Samsung LED Smart TV with HD tuner. With low power consumption, very thin profile and light weight, its ideal for a compact boat installation. I enjoy my TV, so consider a 32" screen as the minimum for HD viewing. Wireless connectivity to the Internet and my laptop is an added bonus. Steve will have a pattress made to provide a vertical surface for the the mount, counteracting the tumblehome of the cabin side as well as providing a more sound base for securing. As this mount weighs almost as much as the TV, l don't think I will need to worry about security of the TV itself.

After agreeing on the paint scheme we discussed schedules for completion. It seems my boat will go into the paint shop at the end of January so a visit late next month,  just before was confirmed. Final completion date is now back to April - ho hum. Well March would probably be too cold anyway.

A sticky situation

Well as the title suggests my latest arrival at Steve Hudson's yard coincided with the first coat of varnish being applied. Tiles, shower fittings, TV mount and a microwave were first unloaded from the car before a progress photo shoot. This was thankfully managed without getting stuck to the furniture. The saloon and galley had already received the first coat and the bedroom was next.

The pace of work seems to have slowed a little but I guess the finishing touches to the woodwork can take a while. Filling trim between cabin sides, ceiling and floor has now been added throughout as have the interior doors. Seen here the base for the BMC stove together with surrounding molded trim.
In the engine room, couldn't resist taking the tarpaulin off the engine for a photo. A very neat although larger than anticipated box step has been constructed to protect the top of the gearbox, interfacing with the double doors from the BMC. The price I have to pay I guess for having a minimal length engine room. Box can just be seen at the bottom of both photo's. The engine looks very comfortable in its near complete 'ole. Some thought will have to be given to shoehorning in the second alternator between engine and cabinet though, given the tight space.

Just doors and trim have been added in the bathroom pending tiling, but the bedroom now has a substantial shelf over where the radiator will be sited. The fold out dressing table extension has been added although seems to be waiting some form of support. This is to accommodate my laptop. The overhead cupboard now fitted will incorporate downlighters. Finally there is now a the shelf between side cupboards over the porthole matching the one in the galley, as can be seen below.

Slightly distorted image of the bedroom taken with a fish-eye lens. The folding saloon table and support can be seen on the bed, awaiting fitting after varnishing of cabin sides is complete.

Seen here is the neat folding semi-circular galley breakfast table, one and a half inches in thickness! The now wood trimmed doors will have glass panels that fold in from the cabin sides to create a window when its a little chilly. We plan to have two stools at the table, but will have to find storage for them when not in use.

Saloon doors now have their wood inner cladding. This will be later painted and decorated with roses and castles as will the galley and rear doors. The shelf above the radiator can be seen lower left, matching the one in the bedroom. Note how the American oak has taken on a lovely glow after only one coat of varnish.

The saloon stove base has been created with heat proof material lining the area above ready for tiling. I know there has been a recent change in the safety regs for installing them which may account for this. Note also the chimney collar surround in the roof above.















Steve seemed enthusiastic when I showed him the Klaxon horn and soon had a template made up for a suitable support bracket to be welded to the lamp mounting. We also discussed mounting the articulated TV bracket I had bought, on the cabin side. It will allow the TV to fold flush when not in use, although the tumblehome of the cabin sides will need to be accounted for so its level when in viewing position.

Paint scheme was discussed and it seems that there is one boat ahead of mine to go through the paint shop. This after the present one leaves. This will probably mean the projected finish date is put back to March. Also discussed was the tiling patterns but expect to be able to see the results when I next visit just before Christmas.

Distraction

As alluded to earlier in this blog a secondary interest sprung up in the form of buying and restoring vintage car horns. Since the first Desmo one I've learned something of the history of various marques. Interest has moved towards the motor driven types where a spinning serrated rotor acts on a hardened steel stud riveted to the centre of a spring steel diaphragm. The resulting sound is best described onamatopoeiacally as awoogah and typified by that heard on many vintage cars. Early versions were manually operated directly, usually with a push button driving a flywheel, but later an electric motor was used so they could be operated remotely. Both sides of the Atlantic the Klaxon brand name became synonymous with the generic type.

Having acquired a Klaxon Klaxonet, I was impressed with the quality of construction as well as the sound. When I learnt of the existence of the big daddy A1 model, also known as the model 20 in the USA, it became a must have. Its monster size and weight, 8 inches across the trumpet and nearly 4Kg, fitted in well with the OTT image I planned for my boat.

These horns are very rare particularly the long trumpet versions, but do appear very occasionally on eBay, although usually with unrealistic starting prices. I did eventually manage to acquire one privately though.

This particular horn is a long trumpet French version from Klaxon's sister company in Paris, probably built in the 1920's. Strangely it doesn't have a model name, just Klaxon being displayed on the plaque. Many of the British built A1 models had a mounting bracket supporting the bottom of the motor and attached to the lower part of the trumpet flange. This one has the bracket incorporated in the trumpet flange which is reversible and better suits my needs.

Solid brass construction apart from the brass and copper plated underslung motor suggests yet still more polishing experience. Although the plating on the cast iron motor housing is worn, I have just polished and lacquered that part for the moment. The sound is vicious, almost frightening in intensity and not dissimilar to a very angry duck, which sits well with its future location on the water. Just need to find a place to mount it now.

Although the recording (on my phone) doesn't really do it justice, you can hear it for yourself


Needless to say interest in the Desmo one has wained and its already been sold on eBay to help finance this purchase.

Taking shape

I guess everyone having a boat built goes through the frustration of waiting for the fit-out to be completed. Even when its proceeding at normal pace it still seems to take forever to get from one stage to the next. Certainly the woodwork fit is the longest with almost every part being custom made. My now monthly visit to Ecky Thump revealed through a thick layer of sawdust, the end of this stage at last in sight though.

Starting from the front this time. The saloon corner cupboards have been completed with a single matching overhead one to port. The starboard side area is reserved for a TV on an articulated mount so it folds out of the way. Phil, the carpenter assigned to my boat, was completing the shelf over the radiator in this area which, save cupboard doors and some trim, is complete. His work area inevitably getting smaller.

The galley looks more recognisable now with worksurface and cut-outs awaiting sink and gas hob. I noted the gas pipe has been run from the bow storage area as well.

Fridge, Oven and Microwave stack awaiting appliances to left. Cutlery draw to right.

No further work on the essentially complete bedroom but Phil had been very busy in the compact walk through bathroom. The quadrant shower tray is fitted and plumbed. A low cupboard to fill the gap between cabin side tapering to open towel shelves to the ceiling.

Unfortunately the position of the porthole precluded the planned corner facing vanity basin worksurface/cupboard. It was decided that a plain corner unit would sit simply on top of the now boxed in poop tank with a shallow overhead cupboard over the loo, leaving plenty of room for a mirror above the basin.

The engine room has the floor to ceiling utility cupboard fitted, another Hudson trade mark. The upper door hides the DC control and monitor panels, the lower AC switchgear with the external engine panel in between. Note that even this room receives beautiful wood mouldings ready to be scumbled, with the cabinet receiving traditional decoration of roses, castles etc. Bottom left can be seen the ceiling trim ready to fit below pigeon box.

The boatman's cabin (BMC) is probably the area with the greatest concentration of woodwork given its compactness. Pleased to report its essentially completed with all cupboard doors fitted. The larger one folds down to rest horizontally on the settee support opposite. The mattress within can then be unfolded from the bed'ole. This will be Ecky Thump's guest bed.

The steel rear doors have received their wood inner lining with matching trim each side. Note beautiful hardwood step with another to follow below. Also mouldings to the left and original style cupboards, shelves and drawers all completed.















Completion of woodwork is expected in about three weeks. The porthole trims are fitted at a later stage after painting. I understand all doors are made though and ready to be fitted. After that varnishing will start followed by tiling, so a trip to the the local Topps Tiles is scheduled.

Steve has updated the finish date to February now with the best part of a month in the paint shop during January. I'm assured he can get a nice fug going in there. Can't wait to see the progress next month.

Well tanked up

A long train journey was broken with a detour via Tamworth to view the latest build progress. The boatman's cabin had received most attention. All the furniture is built and installed with the exception of the bench seat which was being worked on. This includes the bed'ole with fold out door forming the bed base, three large cupboards above plus a wide shallow draw below.

The very robust fold down table with the crumb draw below.

By the rear doors the storage shelves and slots each side plus of course the authentic ticket draw used in the past to store documentation for loads carried. Some thought will have to go into the placement of bowthruster, tunnel lamp and horn controls in this area although the panel is already made. A compact marine VHF unit also needs to be accommodated, but that will be on the opposite side of the doors.

A little extra work had taken place in the galley. The washing machine cupboard had been fleshed out with a large solid cutlery draw above. It really needs the L shaped worksurface adding to better see the layout. We discussed and agreed the placement of the small semi-circular folding breakfast table on the opposite side of the galley. I had intended that this would line up with the galley double doors, but it seems the worksurface is a little longer than planned with a lesser radius possible on the edge. This is a knock on effect of the thickness of wood used. Its easy to think in terms of house fittings, but of course a boat requires more solid construction and Steve doesn't seem to skimp in this area. In any case an offset of five inches placed the table with space for a couple of stools and the front edge in line with the opening doors to still allow al-fresco breakfasts.

Supply and fitting of an all black Shoreline 100 litre fridge was discussed, a little larger than planned and matching the black microwave/grill I've already purchased. This in turn to match the charcoal/brushed stainless theme of the galley as a whole.

It seems all the cupboard doors have been made. I saw a stack of various shapes and sizes in the galley. The solid wood relief is mated to a thick plywood backing.

Finally the two stainless tanks have been fitted. The water tank of 128 gallons situated under the well deck was already plumbed with filler and exit with valve. A little disappointed that this fell short of the 140 gallons promised, but won't shed any tears over it. Some small amount of water plumbing has been added in the galley as well. The large poop tank was fitted in the bathroom and when boxed in will provide a step down from the engine room with a further step down to the main bathroom floor. The loo will sit conveniently on top of tank.

I think next time I visit the woodwork will look much more complete and recognisable. Dotted around the boat were the frameworks for both front saloon cupboards and the one overhead cupboard. A second overhead cupboard was spotted destined for the bathroom I believe, plus the front of the engine room cupboard, all waiting to be fitted.

Work will now continue from back to front. After completion of the boatman's cabin the engine room cupboard will be built to house electrical switchgear. The bathroom will be next with quadrant shower already on order. Completion of woodwork expected in about six weeks.

Steaming ahead

Returning from a family wedding on 2nd September, we routed via Tamworth to view the build progress. Arriving during the lunch break in a car loaded with everything including the kitchen sink, we had an excellent photo opportunity without tripping over workmen.

We had previously been told that the woodwork had started in the bedroom, but were pleased to see it almost complete including the requested slatted bed base, only requiring cupboard doors, a shelf between side cupboards and the porthole lining.

Wardrobe and dressing table with overhead cupboard which will include a downlighter. The shallow table will have a fold out section to accommodate a laptop.

Although we had recent phone discussions on the galley layout, we were again surprised to find the woodwork nearing completion. I guess I'm definitely paying Steve too promptly. The partial bulkhead from saloon can be seen in the foreground with overhead and under worksurface cupboards. To the rear is the fridge/freezer, oven and microwave stack. Still awaiting the worksurface of course. We were advised to reverse the planned orientation of the kitchen sink so the integral draining board would work given the boats slope down from bow to stern.

To the left of picture the space for a compact washing machine can be seen. It will be completely hidden behind a door, with gas hob recessed into the worksurface above. Between the two will be a cutlery draw. There is a small semi-circular fold-down breakfast table to be added on the opposite side of the galley in front of the opening doors.

Compact saloon awaiting cupboards and main fold down table. A stove will be fitted just the other side of the galley bulkhead on the right. Corner cupboards will be added each side of the front doors.

Bare boatman's cabin now with floor. Furniture is being completed and will be fitted soon. We also found the non-slip engine room flooring had been completed with large access cut-outs to the under floor equipment on both sides. Just a tall corner cupboard to be fitted there to accommodate the DC and AC electrical switchgear.

In all excellent progress considering the two week break Steve and his staff have mid summer. From now on I will be visiting regularly every three weeks or so to monitor the fit and discuss the inevitable issues that arise.

Fast lane

When Steve starts building a boat he doesn't hang around. By early June, just four weeks after first steel was laid, it already looked like a boat complete with roof. Maybe I was paying him too promptly ;-) The small lug left on the base plate which you can see if you click on image, is to tow out the boat during launch. Its cut off before it enters the water.

On June 20th it was launched. You can see it had to be restrained such was its enthusiasm to be in the water. Next job was to fit windows, portholes, roof vents and generally make it rain proof. Pigeon box's, I have two, will be fitted later so the holes were just capped over.

At this stage it might be easier to refer to the boat by name. A short list was made, added to, changed etc. I used to be indecisive but now I'm not so sure springs to mind. I wanted something with a northern ring to it given my Yorkshire birthright. Naming it after one of my favourite beers also seemed appropriate. I designed my own take on an Old Thumper beer bottle label (see upper right). This will be reserved as a name and logo for the engine though. Val came up with Ecky Thump which seems to have stuck although with Lancastrian rather than Yorkshire origins.

Early in July I visited Steve at Tamworth to view Ecky Thump for the first time in the water. Another proud moment especially as the engine had now been installed, sitting in its rightful place on iroko timbers. Note integral full width fuel tank of about 90 gallons immediately behind engine. Fuel will be hand pumped from this to a gravity feed day tank to supply engine in the traditional fashion.




Hear it starting up

Steve's classic take on Josher bows. Note also hatch to gas bottle locker and custom mount for Francis searchlight. Side lockers in well deck can just be seen, one of which will house bowthruster batteries.

Ballasting, spray foam insulation and battening had already been completed. The 18mm ply flooring had also been fitted. It continued to surprise just how quickly this had all been completed and I found it hard to believe it wouldn't be complete before Steve's estimate of March next year. Of course this is just the start of the hard slog of fitting out a boat.

Steve's annual open weekend on the 23rd/24th of July provided another opportunity to view progress. Val and I came up on the train and stayed overnight in Tamworth. Old and new customers make this an annual event taking advantage of Steve's generous hospitality. Its a unique opportunity to view at least five boats under various stages of construction as well as seeing completed ones shown off by their proud owners.

As little time had passed since my previous visit, only a modest amount of further work had been completed. First fit electric cabling mainly for lighting had been installed and most of the oak bead and butt planking to cabin sides and roof had been fitted. Cheaper softwood had been used for engine room and BMC as they will eventually be scumbled in the traditional style. Hardwood frames to match the surrounding wood had been fitted around the three side doors.

Bells and Whistles

Whilst waiting for the boat build to start and engine rebuild to complete, I became actively involved in a couple of canal boat forums. This gave a dramatic boost to my knowledge of narrowboats, but it was whilst browsing a canal boat magazine that I saw featured a boat with an oversize searchlight mounted on the bows. Investigation revealed it was from the renown manufacturer Francis. It just looked so right albeit way more powerful than needed for a tunnel lamp. Nevertheless I just had to have one.

By chance I discovered a lady whose late husband rebuilt ex fire service ones, removing the chrome and highly polishing the brass body underneath. She had one left at a substantial price so I initially tried bidding on similar but unrestored ones on eBay. This proved fruitless so I bit the bullet and bought the 11 inch F type lamp from her when she agreed to throw in an original brass base.

Further investigations of antique brassware evolved into a secondary interest and other modest purchases followed including a three bell terret to be mounted on the engine room pigeon box. I could only get excited about items I could see fitting into my boat concept though. Some items just looked right others didn't. So far I have old kitchen scales, a twin burner oil lamp, miners safety lamp, copper kettle and the ubiquitous horse brasses to adorn the boatman's cabin.

Following visits to various narrowboat rallies I saw many boats toting vintage brass trumpeted horns. Back on eBay after much web surfing I began to get a feel for what was sort after. After failing on the bidding for several classic horns I took a gamble on a vintage Desmo one from the prolific manufacturer in Birmingham and finally won the bid. The chrome on the trumpet was worn in places to the extent that I could see the brass underneath. After at least twelve hours of hard labour which included rebuilding and re-painting, this was the result. I have since fabricated a mounting bracket.

At the Braunston historic boat festival I bought this huge old oil pressure gauge. The calibration was just right for the Lister and as soon as I saw it, pictured it sitting on the engine room bulkhead. This will be complemented by the brass tidal clock and copper anchor lamp I already owned plus an extremely cheap old brass grease gun, another eBay purchase. Another smaller brass oil pressure gauge will sit mounted on the roof behind the pigeon box in view of the steerer.

Clearly I'm going to get plenty of arm exercise in the future.