New Page 4

I hope to do quite a lot of work on her this winter. It has the wandering steering that others mention and a rather unprofessional looking interior. I don't think the water heater will pass the BSS, nor much of the electrics, and I am going to have to make a proper locker for the petrol tanks - the present arrangements allows fuel vapour to drain down into the bilges.

I have changed the engine to a 15hp Honda with electric start, I renewed the whole gas installation and rewired the battery, fitted a new switchboard with tinned copper wire throughout, and I am just completing a new console so that the engine start/stop and oil pressure light are all in front of the helm and not underneath the guests sitting in the cockpit! The next projects are the water system, lift out and scrub and fit a paddle wheel for the log, sealing the leaky windows, and doing lots of new carpentry inside! That should take several years

This first picture shows my new console made for the new engine (15hp Honda electric start so I thought I would bring the start / stop to the helm position) The structure is varnished plywood held in by wooden blocks at one end and a cheap lock at the other. The black panel is tufnol sheet bought on eBay with Letraset labels and varnished. The oil light and stop switch are the ones removed from the engine

The next picture shows the work I had to do for the BSS inspection, I took out the old gas locker which was rusted but sound and treated it to 3 coats of Hammerite, I put in a 3/4" drain with new fuel hose to connect it, then I replaced the regulator and its hose and added a bubbler

The other major change has been a complete re-wire. I built this unit out of plywood, basically a set of shelves with a front fitted. The top space is for future 240V installation, the middle section hinges open (again held closed with a small lock) and the bottom part is a useful shelf.