Visit 15th November

Now that we’ve cruised through all the winter stoppages that were in our way we are freer to visit Oleanna again.

Very similar to Silestone Lyra

Since our last visit worktop quotes had come in and sadly Silestone is way over the allotted budget. Ricky had found something similar, but the sample looked quite bland when we took it onto the boat. If it was our original choice of granite that was going to be over budget I’d have considered the extra money but not for second or third choice. So we looked back at the samples in the office. One had been very similar to our third Silestone choice. Hopefully this one will come in on budget or somewhere close. The lead time on them is likely to be about two weeks and they need to be fitted whilst Oleanna is on land due to their weight. Fingers crossed.

The Alde flue has been moved up onto the cabin side. Where it had been has now been patched in, welded and made good. The gunnels are still to have their final coats of Epifanes Multiforte Black applied, so hopefully this will disguise the patch well.

Alde are against the flue being painted to match the cabin side, so for the time being we will have to live with a white flue. Being on the cabin side it isn’t totally safe from being broken as occasionally river moorings can be quite high with an over hang. Should we need to replace it in the future we’ll see if we can get a darker one so that it blends in better.

Inside the electrics cupboard things have started to happen. The Alde flue pipe has had to come through here and has been boxed in, which meant that we may have needed to get a different inverter. But with the right amount of space above and below with plenty of grills in the doors for ventilation we should be alright.

The flue pipe is behind the boxing in below the inverter.

To the right are two wooden panels, which are indeed doors. The top one will be where all the switches for the electrics are positioned. The lower one will be for the battery isolators. Behind the doors is still the cable spaghetti waiting to be connected.

All the switches and controls are waiting to be installed inside the cupboard.

The small silver control is for the Alde boiler.

The morse control is in position now. Along with this will be the control for the bow thruster and horn.

Mick had wanted to have a delux control panel in the little hatch on the rear bulk head, but the dimensions of this are too big for the alloted space. However some of the dials on the delux panel would be surplus to requirements. So we will have a standard one fitted in the hatch. A coolant temperature gauge will then be fitted under the sliding hatch above the electrics cupboard, so still in view.

The head light and nav light switches will also be positioned here inside. This means we won’t need weather proof covers on them, which after a couple of years the rubber perishes and are likely to fall off. Hopefully the position of them will mean that they don’t get accidentally switched on. We’ll see.

In the engine bay the battery trays have been welded into position. There are two, one for the leisure bank of two lithium batteries and one for the starter battery. If in future we find we need more than the planned two lithium batteries there will be space to add a third. The handles I am assuming are so that the batteries can be strapped down. Instead of having cables connecting the batteries we will have bus bars. If we do end up needing a third battery then we will also need new bus bars to connect all three together.

Below the trays is the skin tank. This acts like a radiator in a car to cool the engine as it is right up against the side of the hull below the water line. The cables visible on the right are from the morse control, one is throttle the other forward or reverse gear.

Across the back of the stern doors, under the engine board are the pipes to and from the radiators.

As you can see there is still no engine. This will be going in later in the week. The engine tends to be the last thing in the engine bay as it is very heavy and gets in the way.

A date has been made for Andy Russell to do the sign writing in a couple of weeks time. The lines on the cabin sides will be started by then. The painter has been and had a look and the solution will mean painting the new lines just slightly wider than the existing ones and also elongating them to cover any confusion. The bow area will get it’s final coat of paint, this is where most of the comings and goings have happened so scrapes are very hard to avoid.

All the window liners are now in place which means that once the curtain poles are up Kim can make the curtains.

The blue aluminium galley blinds have arrived. These will be fitted along with the soft furnishings shortly before handover so they don’t get in the way or get dusty. The tops of the blinds will be capped off with a bit of oak.

The speakers are up.

Cupboards were checked for shelves and hanging rails. At the moment one cupboard needs a hanging rail and a shelf, another needs a larder pull out fitting.

In the bike slot Mick noticed that there is a gas pipe going across it. This has happened because the cupboard to the left is shallower than the slot and the plumber/gas engineer didn’t know what the purpose of it was. Measurements were taken of where it sits to be checked against one of our folding bikes.

After checking it may not be a problem, but we will double check when we next visit by taking a bike with us to try. If it is in the way or in danger of being biffed there is an option for it to be moved back slightly.

Don’t know what the cable is for, will have to ask when next we visit.

In the bathroom the chrome porthole liners have been fitted and look very nice. So has the mirror on the cupboard above the sink.

The sink unit is still not in position, that is because the top will be in the same material as the kitchen worktops. The position of the sink has been amended on the template that will be used.

A shaver socket will be inside the sink cupboard, the blue ring main cable can be seen. This is so that the 240 volt cable won’t cross over the 24 volt cables, which is against the rules.

The bathroom doors are held back with what I call Cluedo Magnets. The button fixed to the door is on a spring and the cluedo figure has a band of magnet around the top which holds the button. To close the door all you do is pull the door behind you, much better than a hook catch.

The mirror has been attached to the side of the cupboard at the front and has been finished top and bottom with a piece of oak.

There is now a vent in the top step into the bow.

The bow shoreline seems to have been forgotten about, but Ricky said that it would be fine for them to pull through cable for it. Our current boat has two one in the bow and one at the stern, not that we spend much time in marinas, but we do find it useful to have the choice of which way round to moor when we do.

The lock for the stern doors was discussed again. As Oleanna is reverse layout we will tend to use the stern doors more than the bow as this is the end that we will be living at. So Ricky is finding us a suitable lock for the job.

Oleanna once fitted with the engine and worktops and the sign writing is done will go into the water here in Sheffield to check on ballast and for us to have a try out before she is handed over to us. Then a crane will be needed to lift her onto a lorry to transport her across the Pennines for launch. If this can be done on a day when they want to move another boat by crane then the cost will be split between Finesse and us, otherwise we’ll be covering the lot. For road transport and craning in we have been talking to Tuckeys. Our preferred site however would mean needing a crane with a 12ft reach, NB Oleanna is going to be around 19 tonnes so a bigger crane would be needed or a change of launch site.

Fingers crossed that all happens soon, before Christmas takes it’s toll and gets in the way.