Visit 28th March
With a hire car potentially sitting around doing nothing for the day we had contacted Ricky at Finesse to see if it would be possible to do a test cruise. A few things were happening at the yard on Tuesday, but as long as they had been able to take NB Oleanna out themselves to check her out then we’d be welcome.
Ricky had heard from the battery distributors. The good news was that a battery had been made, but it was going to take longer to arrive than first thought! So the two week deadline couldn’t be met. However they were offering to loan us two AGM 12 volt 100 amp hour batteries that would fit in the existing battery tray until the lithium one arrives. This we thought on over night.
On arriving in Sheffield the yard felt bare. Whenever we’ve visited before there have been shells everywhere, but today it felt quite empty. An old narrowboat had arrived, this had been bought by the owner of NB Muddy Waters along with it’s mooring in London. This boat was now surplus to his requirements so was going to be blacked and then put up for sale.Only one other boat was on hard standing, but then there were two in the fabrication shed, two in fit out and we didn’t get to see the paint shed.
NB Oleanna had been turned round in the morning and was waiting for us. A coat of paint had been applied to the inside of the weed hatch. Our current weed hatch opens into the engine bay and the locking lid is above water level. However on Tyler Wilson shells the weed hatch is totally separate to the engine bay and the locking lid is below the water level. This means that there is no way you would be able to flood your engine bay having left the lid loose as on our current boat. Also the lid being under water helps reduce noise.
Chris handed over the ignition key to Mick, no float on it, he had to be careful not to drop it in the cut. Once we were on the stern, Mick started her up, a quieter engine than NB Lillyanne our current boat. Chris untied the bow and gave her a push, Ricky the stern. Once all four of us were on board Mick put her in gear. The test cruise wasn’t far about 2.5 miles round trip towards the top of the Tinsley flight.

In tick over she glided through the water effortlessly with very little wake, the bow wave was almost non existent. This may change when her water tank is full though. Increasing the revs brought with it a bit of singing from below. Ricky thought that the stern gland greaser might need an extra turn as it was all bedding in. The engine hours only read 1.6 when we set out. With the revs higher the noise vanished.
The morse control was easier than our current one which in comparison is quite stiff. In fact watching Mick it seemed like he was hardly making any effort at the helm and she was responding. He also had a very big smile on his face, we were at last moving on our long awaited for boat.
Reaching the winding hole the bow thruster had to be tested, so the girlie button was pressed for the first time by us, Ricky had used it a lot to turn her in the basin earlier in the day. Sorry to those from our old syndicate of NB Winding Down, but NB Oleannas’ bow thruster is far more powerful and she responded, turning with just two very short blasts.
On our return Mick brought her to a halt and then popped her in reverse. After a little bit of initial straightening up she moved through the water as straight as a die in reverse, we were impressed as that never happens, it might be the only time!
By the time we returned there was a little bit of rudder judder, most probably something around the prop, but she still responded well. Mick brought her in very slowly and carefully so as not to leave any marks on the gunnels. A very enjoyable test even if it had started to rain part way. It was a shame that I’d not had a turn on the tiller, but as I’m still wearing a protective boot on my broken foot and on crutches it would have been a bit hard.
When it had started to rain I closed the back doors into the cabin and pulled the hatch shut. This did make me realise that the only way to have both doors shut was if they were locked either with the yale or bolted from inside. We don’t cruise with the back doors open due to our cat (she’s not trusted up on deck) and it would be a pain to always have to have a key with us. So Ricky and Chris are going to see if they can add a catch or a bolt that is accessible from the top of the doors to keep them closed.
We chatted through the battery situation again. Having two AGM batteries would mean that we could move on board, we’d soon work out if our power needs exceeded what they could supply us with. Running the batteries low wouldn’t be a problem to us in the long run as we’d be handing them back. When the second battery arrives someone from Finesse would come out to meet us to fit them, most probably have to adjust the ballast. At least it would mean that the engine bay wouldn’t have to be reorganised around different batteries. So decision made.

We checked through various items with Ricky to see if they were included. The plank and pole rest should arrive in the next few days, but because of Health and Safety we need to provide our own planks and poles. She comes with bow and stern fenders and ropes (but no centre line), Pipe fenders on each side attached to the gunnels. These are fine when you are moored and help protect the paint work when coming in to moor, but we have gained at least three of these around our prop from others that have lost them whilst in locks. We could lift them onto the gunnel, but I have to say we’re more likely to remove them and attach them to fender hooks and hang them from the grab rail once moored so there is no chance of loosing them or them getting in the way. So a shopping list has been made.
Not far off now, a few small jobs before handover. We just have to decide on how to get her to meet NB Lillyanne. No boats are due to be craned in or out in Sheffield so that would mean we couldn’t split the cost of a crane at one end. With transport and two cranes we are likely to be looking at around £2000 to move her. Another option is to hire a car or van and move cruising essentials on board (including the cat) and cruise her down the country. This however is dependant on the recovery of my broken ankle, as I don’t want to miss out on her first cruise, I need to be able to stand at the helm and drive with confidence. This however will mean we have to think creatively about her launch and how to celebrate with our friends.

Visit 15th March
An early start for us today turned out to not be quite early enough.

In Sheffield a crane had been brought in to move several boats, one of which was to be NB Oleanna. it turned out that she needed to be moved first and things had started very early. We could see the crane as we approached from a distance. Sadly we missed the strops being adjusted to get Oleanna centred for the lift, the nail biting moments of her being lifted into the air, swung over and then gently lowered into the cut. When we arrived we stood on Cadman Bridge where you can over look the yard and not get in the way. There was NB Oleanna sitting with quite a list in the water. She was having steel ballast added to the starboard side to level her up some.

Her ballast under the floor had been positioned to compensate for much of the internal fit out being on the starboard side. Just about all our storage is on this side so therefore we will be adding weight when we move on to her. Later on in the day we discussed with Ricky how much weight we would be adding, we had no idea really, but a figure of around 100kgs was thought suitable. The extra ballast added can be adjusted when we’ve moved on, being positioned under the galley units and elsewhere we’ll be shown how to get at it all.

We watched as NB Sheffield Maid was prepared and then craned out and swung right over onto a lorry to be moved to the other end of the yard. The crane was then retracted and repositioned so that it could lift NB Sheffield Maid off the lorry and be positioned by the paintshop. Then a sailaway Sheffield Keel was craned onto another lorry, this was heading to Scotland. NB Muddy Waters a Finesse boat was then craned out of the cut onto another lorry, this was heading to London. All this took some time with the repositioning of the crane, strapping down of boats. We did our best to keep out of the way.

When we got chance between crane moves, we walked down into the yard. With NB Oleanna now on the water getting on was going to be difficult for me as I am currently on crutches. With the help of a fork lift and a pallet I was assisted over the gap where I could then shuffle on board. Ricky wanted to show us the jobs that had been ticked off the list from our visit last week and we also wanted to look at the sofa bed that had arrived on Monday.

A double electric socket has been added into the rear port cupboard in the galley, this is so that we can have our hand held vacuum hidden away charging.

A yale lock has been added to the sliding hatch. As Oleanna is a reverse layout boat we really wanted some means of being able to lock the back doors from outside instead of only being able to do it from inside.

A couple of detectors have been put up on the ceiling. We are not sure if these are just smoke or Carbon Monoxide as well.

A slot in the back of the freezer drawer has been cut and the table legs now fit in there nicely.

Walking around on her in the water was very strange. She will be left to settle in the water for a few days and then all the cupboards and drawers will be checked to see if they are still square and that they open and close properly.  One thing that was obvious was that the freezer drawer would need a catch so that it doesn’t slide open. This will be done with magnetic catches so that the drawer can still sit flush.

The sofa bed had arrived on Monday afternoon from Sofabed Barn. Michael had adapted their Hampton sofa and pouffe for us. Made to fit into the space we had the sofa is just a little bit shorter than their 1400 one. The pouffe is normally the same length as the sofa and when made up into a bed the sofa lays flat and the pouffe extends it to the full width of your boat.

But we don’t have the luxury of all that space, the TV would be in the way and so would the pouffe. So he has made us a squarer one which pushes in under some shelving to keep the doorway clear. Then if you want to use it as a seat or foot rest it pulls out. If left at the end of the sofa it makes it long enough to be a single bed. The pouffe has a hinged lid so can be used for storage and the seat of the sofa can be lifted to reveal more storage below.

Once things had calmed down a bit with the moving of boats we sat down with Ricky to discuss the battery situation. He was now in touch with the main man at the UK distributors. Several phone calls were had whilst we were there, but still no solution was offered from them.
Now that she is in the water the final few jobs can be done and then we can take her out for a test, likely to be in about ten days time. Once this has been done and she is signed off we can arrange to get her to Crick for her launch where we are currently waiting on NB Lillyanne.

16th March phone call.

Ricky has at last heard back from the battery distributor today. They are saying that a battery is being manufactured for us in the States and will be air freighted over due to arrive in two weeks. We have all heard something similar to this several times before from them. So they are being given a deadline of when it has to have arrived by. If it does not arrive the original battery we’ve had since October will be returned and the battery trays will be removed, made bigger and AGM batteries will be installed instead.

Visit 7th March
It has been quite sometime since we paid a visit to Sheffield, in fact we’ve not visited since the end of November! Weekly phone calls have been taking place but all of them much the same regarding the Lithium batteries, or lack of one of them! Without the full complement of batteries it has not been worth Finesse putting NB Oleanna in the water as they wouldn’t be able to adjust the ballast or test the remaining systems without the extra battery.

But with several boats being moved next week by crane she will be getting her bottom wet, battery or not. We decided that a visit was worth doing as quite a lot has been done over the last few months and climbing on board next week we would only get in the way.

Chris and Ricky were on hand to show us round and answer questions. A couple of weeks ago NB Oleanna was moved out of the fitout shop and into the yard, she was taking up much needed space and with a full compliment of mushroom vents fitted she was water tight. She has had a bit of a clean up, but not the full works yet, as sitting in the yard she is bound to get dirty. There are also bits of tape left from masking on the hull.

Since our last visit the lower red and cream lines have been repainted, swapped over on the cabin sides to match the original design. The lines have had to be slightly thickened but the shadow of the previous paint is very faint. It may be a small thing to some but to me she looks better with all her red shadows in the right places.

The gunnels have had their top coats of satin black from the cratch board back to the feathers on the stern. This is the area that no matter how hard you try not to, it will always get marked in locks. So I chose the same paint that we have on our current boat NB Lillyanne as it is easy to touch up (when you get round to it!). The rubbing strake between the red and cream on the tunnel band is still to be painted black.

The bow and stern fenders have been fitted, chains hold them in position. On lengths where the chain may rub the paintwork plastic tubing has been added over the chain for protection. The stern counter, not in any photos has also had a coat of the gunnel black as this area will also get a lot of wear.

Below the gunnel there is one chrome surround on the shower outlet. We are not sure whether the other outlets will be getting these or that it has one because there is a pump on the other side. On the other cabin side the outlets for the urine tank have been labelled.

The internet aerial has been fitted onto the back of the cabin, this will fit under the pram cover when it is fitted. The other box on the back of the cabin is for the TV aerial. The Iroko locker lids are in position and a top has been put on the morse control. So should we want to we can sit there without getting a chilly bum.

 

The roof is looking cream and shiny with the neatly positioned mushroom vents and her tall chrome chimney. There was only enough room for the size of solar panel we wanted above the bathroom. It’s position here does mean that it is unlikely to get walked on much or have the centre line left on top of it, so hopefully it will stay cleaner longer and therefore be more efficient. There is the ability to be able to add a second panel when we can afford one.

At both the bow and stern we have a hook up point. Our current boat has one either end and we like the freedom of being able to moor either way round in marinas.

The locker lid on the floor is for the bow thruster.

The gas locker is all nice and clean, no canal water in there as yet! We will have to find ourselves two gas bottles and for the first time pay the deposit on them.

To the right of the picture you can see a fairlead on the bow. This is so that we can direct our ropes when mooring and not damage the paintwork, hopefully.

Sitting on the front of the cratch board all proud and slightly frog like are the horn and tunnel light. The cables for these go through the cratch board. The two plugs hanging down are so that should we want to remove the light or horn then we can cap off the power.

We didn’t expect a two trumpet tooting horn, it certainly looks like it means business. We haven’t tried it out yet.

On the front doors the coverings were in place. Here we couldn’t have a conventional blind as there wasn’t enough space above the doors to house one and the door handle sits too proud. I’m not a great fan of bungs as we’d need somewhere to store them and curtains would cut out too much of the light. So Kim suggested having panels that popper onto the doors and roll up when not in use. The closed effect is great neat and simple. I may have a little tinker with them to see how best to roll them up though.

 

The memory foam mattress has arrived. The infill section sits nicely in line with the bedside cupboards when the bed is folded away. The bed extends by pulling out the end and resting it on a ledge on the cabin side, the infill section will then slot into the gap. I suspect the infill will end up just being folded ontop of the rest of the bed so that it is easier to make it up at the end of a day.
The linen blue curtains are up and have small ties on them. These are very neat sitting on their brushed poles.

Ever since the floors were laid they have been covered in protective cardboard whilst work was on going. Today is the first time we’d seen the bathroom floor. It sits well with the blue and wood.

The urine tank pump has been tested with water, we will need a section of hose and a bottle to pump out into. The bucket however has not been tried or tested , that will be left for us.

The sink top has been mounted with a longer reaching tap than I’d originally specced as the rim of the sink was too thick for it. On the side of the under sink cupboard on the left is a shaver socket. Kim has made us cream bungs for the portholes in here. For much of the year I suspect we won’t bother with them, but they will certainly be used on those bright sunny spring mornings when light floods in and works its way into your sleepy eyes.

The gas pipe that sits under the gunnel behind the stove has had some fireboard put in front of it along with some stainless steel to protect it from the heat.

The top of the flue has been trimmed off with stainless steel.

We now have a TV. The one that we had specced has been superseded by one that was 5mm bigger! This meant that the housing for the radio had to be reduced in width for the TV to fit. The PVR is still to go in, we just hope that the space for it is still an okay size. The Houdini shelf is in which I know Tilly our cat will appreciate when she moves on board, just so long as her tail doesn’t get in the way!

From here on in there may be quite a lot of masking tape in the photos, this was used to help keep cupboards and drawers closed when they were moving her out from the workshop.

The wooden floor is now visible and needs a final sweep and clean.

The curtains are fitted in the main cabin. To be able to wash them I’ll have to undo the end brackets on the rails, but that should be easy enough.
The space for the sofa is ready, that will be delivered next Monday from Sofabed Barn.

The dinette cushions were in position. The red shows up as being paler in the photos. One extra cushion is needed to make this up into a bed which can live at other times behind the long side of the back. To make the bed you lift the front edge on the long side and pull the seat towards you. The cushions then lower flat onto the base and adding the extra cushion in behind them fills the gap.

The dinette table was in it’s storage position, but nowhere had been found to store the legs other than under the seating. The gap at the side of the freezer came to mind. They fit in width ways quite well, but the drawer was too short. Ricky is going to see if they can add a short extension to the end of the drawer so that the legs can be stored there. I’ll put a bit of felt in between them to stop them making any noise. The drawer extending further into the dinette won’t be a problem as that section will be for things that we rarely use.

The galley worktops and splash backs are in along with the sink and taps. The worktop looks better in the flesh and I’m glad we eventually found something with a vein to it. Grooves have been put in the worktop into the corner from the sink to act as a drainer. Apparently my choice of tap has been popular, other owners have asked for the same one as it nicely mirrors the angle of the cabin.

The blinds have been fitted and look great. They have hold downs in the bottom corners that keep them in line with the cabin sides. A twist of the wand and you can open and close the slats. Or you can pull them up out of the way totally. The wand and cord loop can be held out of the way with the fixings on the bottom right. Here’s hoping they are cat proof!

A pull out larder unit has been added into the 300mm wide cupboard next to the dishwasher. Depending on what food items go in here I might see if I can get another basket to fit it giving us three shelves.

Under the corner worktop by the cooker there is a panel that opens to access the gas isolation valve.

As the cooker had to be positioned slightly forward of the other units the worktop has been shaped to accommodate this.

Behind the cooker there is a gap in the splash back and a section of white stainless steel has been added to help deflect heat away from the cabin side from the hob and oven. The pan supports are still to be put on the cooker.

The electrics cupboard is finished neat and tidy.
The switches panel is all labelled up and it’s position inside this cupboard means that you can’t accidently knock anything off as you get in and out of the boat.

The water tank was partially full, but no diesel was registering on the gauge. We don’t think she’ll come with a full tank!

With power to everything on board and all the lights on, the solar panel was managing to bring in a bit more power than was being used
.
A short list of jobs to be done was made. A surveyor did a BSC last week, everything passed but he requires us to have larger fire extinguishers due to our boiler being inside the cabin and not the engine bay. Positions for these were discussed along with the fire blanket.

Covers are still outstanding. When she was going to be launched in Macclesfield we were going to use All Seasons Covers as they were local. Now that we have reverted to the original plan of launching at Crick we are in other companies areas. But they all have waiting lists, some of months. So as soon as we decide which way we will be pointing her bow from Crick we shall book her in. We’ll most probably have most of the summer without covers, as long as they are with us by the autumn that will be okay.

The main missing factor is still the lithium battery. Several solutions were discussed with Ricky and we are all still hoping that the company will send the right battery before we are at the yard again next week. If not, we will have to chose which way to go with the power so that the remaining tests can be carried out and we can have our new boat.

Ending on a lighter note here is the galley again.

Phone call 23rd January

Since our last update we have been in touch with Ricky nearly every week. The worktops were fitted when planned. There was one slight hiccup as the tap we had suggested for the bathroom sink didn’t have a long enough reach. So different taps were suggested, our choice was made and the new tap fitted which would manage to put water actually into the sink.

The central heating has now been commissioned. There was a slight problem with the water pump, but the chaps contacted Alde and talked it through with them and all is now in working order.

The repainting of the lines on the cabin sides has been done and the gunnels and stern deck have now been painted in a black that is easier to touch up.

There is a short list of jobs still to be done but for most of these NB Oleanna needs to be on the water and settled. The major thing lacking is still our second 24volt lithium battery. The manufacturers in the States eventually came back to Ricky with the news that they didn’t have one. The 12 volt versions have proved so popular that not many 24 volt ones are available. The batteries were originally ordered before the Brexit, since then the prices have gone up. Ricky has stuck to his guns with the company as the price he was given was pre-Brexit. A couple of weeks ago we were informed that a second battery had been found for us in Germany and should be with us by the end of last week. Well it still hasn’t shown up! Ricky is on the case and hopefully will come back to us soon with news.

Our concern now is that if we find that a third battery is needed to ease our power needs will we be able to get one!

We are wanting to time our next visit with NB Oleanna going in the water in Sheffield. A Tyler Wilson sailaway has been in the way for a while but has now moved. But until the battery arrives there is no point in her going into the water and sitting there, if a crane is needed at the yard for another boat then she will go in the water sooner.

So we sit and potter up and down the Macclesfield Canal waiting. The stoppage on the Bridgewater Canal still hasn’t happened and we have toyed with maybe crossing back over the Pennines and heading back to Sheffield to swap boats. But there is a closure due to start in Doncaster on the 6th February, we also would need rivers to behave level wise and the canals to not freeze to make it in time. But managing to do 8.5 hours cruising a day in winter would be cold, soggy and not fun. So we may change our plan of where to launch her and give ourselves more scope for cruising whilst we wait.

Phone call 8th December

With everyone likely to shut up shop in two weeks for Christmas we thought we’d best give Ricky a call over at Finesse. If Oleanna was going to be ready for a launch this side of Christmas we would need to be contacting Tuckeys to arrange transport.

Our new blinds had arrived, but hadn’t been checked to see if they would fit as yet. Keeping them wrapped up save having to dust them down!

The company doing the worktops had been to do templates last week when they said they would and were expected next Wednesday to fit them. At last I will have something to chop my veg on! The work tops we have gone for in the end are still a bit over budget, we will pay the difference.

After the worktops are fitted there will be a couple of days work for Kris to finish sockets, switches, fit the sink etc. All things that have had to wait for the worktops to be fitted. Then she will be ready to be craned into the canal next to the yard to check the ballast and systems out.

Craning can only happen when Jonathan Wilson is about and he is on holiday for a week, but his return is likely to be well timed for Oleanna to be ready to get a wet bottom.

There is one thing still missing though. Our second Lithium Battery, it still hasn’t arrived from the States! Ricky is trying to find out if it is possible to run a few cycles on one battery so that they can test the systems, or would that cause problems in the future. So this may well hold up the final stages of the build.

The red line has been repainted on the cabin side the cream line is still to be done. The temperatures haven’t helped over the last couple of weeks, but with the forecast getting better this should happen soon out of normal working hours.

Once Oleanna is in the water and ballast adjusted she will be left for a couple of days to settle. Weight distribution on land is very different to being afloat. Once she’s had some time then the snagging of cupboard doors etc can happen.

At some point with everything finished a surveyor will give her a look over and she will be given a Boat Safety Certificate, if everything meets with the regulations. We will also have a try out over in Sheffield before she’s handed over to us for launch.

So with all that still to happen we’d be cutting it very fine to launch her before Christmas.  A shame, but we don’t want to rush the last stage. So Oleanna will launch sometime in the first couple of weeks of January, if the battery turns up!

Visit 28th November

We were in Sheffield very early today so that we could meet up with Andy Russell the sign writer.

Andy had arrived before us and was starting to mark out Oleanna’s name on the cabin side in china graph. The pictures of my model had been printed out for him. Rather than measure up he had gauged the size I was after by eye and was using his mahl stick as a straight edge and to measure up. He worked quickly and efficiently.

I was wanting the lettering to match the cream and red that had been used on the boat already, these he would mix from his stock of paints as he went.

These photos are a little confusing due to reflections of the boat next door. Oleanna has had the lower lines masked and sprayed out blue on both sides. The rest of her had been covered in brown paper to mask out when the spraying happened.

The new lines will be sprayed in soon the right way round. If you stand in line with the cabin side and look along it you can just make out the shadow of the previous lines. This position, when she is in the water, will be a very unusual one for anyone to be at, so hopefully any shadow will not be obvious.

As the cream dried off a bit he painted on Oleanna’s C&RT number. We had applied for this a couple of weeks ago (cost of £20) so that it could be painted on rather than having the number plates propped up in the windows. Because we will be having a pram cover we decided that the position of this should be just forward of the drain on the roof, so there is no chance of it being covered over. We also asked for the C&RT swan and bridge symbol. The masking tape is masking out the box for this. I’m not sure whether Andy just freehands the symbol, suspect he does as he must do it very often.

The control panel is in position behind the little hatch at the stern. The engine temperature gauge has been installed above the electrics cupboard along with switches for Nav lights and the tunnel light, not sure what the third one is yet.

Here is the engine all green and shiny. There are still various things to happen in the engine bay to do with electrics which will happen this coming weekend.

The hospital silencer is installed, top right hand corner of the bottom photo, this basically makes the noise coming from the exhaust quieter, so less shouting at each other on the back deck will be needed.

Two batteries were on the trays. The one to the left is the starter and is a wet cell battery. The one on the right is one of the Lithium Batteries. The second one is still on it’s way from the States and is expected sometime this week. Space has been built in should we find we need a third battery.

The two brass fittings attached to pipes above the batteries are bleeding nipples! We think. They are on the same side as the radiators and are higher so we suspect these are valves for us to be able to bleed air out of the system.

In the starboard side rear locker there is the header tank for the Alde Boiler, tucked into the corner. The water level can be topped up here and anti freeze can also be added to the system.

The prop is now fitted.

Inside the electrics cupboard  more has been happening. The top panel of switches are for the 24 volt electrics, such as fridge, water, lights.

Below are switches for 12 volt electrics which is stepped down from the 24 volt supply.

The Victron Battery monitor sits next to the water tank gauge (held on with masking tape), the hole next to this is for the diesel tank gauge.

The Alde controller is on the lower door next to the battery isolators.

The white box in the photo on the right is the 240 volt distribution box. This will also go in the cupboard. There is a possibility that with the boiler running and all the electrics going that they may have to add some forced cooling from the engine  bay, by means of a fan. This won’t be known until everything is rigged up and working.  Next time we visit the spaghetti mountain in the cupboard should all be sorted and connected.

There is still the MPPT controller to be fitted and space for our router. The router may have to go below the boiler, dimensions have been passed onto Ricky and if the cables need routing to the lower portion of the cupboard then this will be done.

We had brought along one of our Brompton bikes to check on the areas where they will be stored. The slot next to the fridge has a gas pipe running through it and we wanted to check that the bike would not touch this. The small shelf created by the swim in the slot means that the bike cannot touch the pipe. The bike does slightly protrude from the slot, but we knew this would be the case. On our current boat the bike encroaches the corridor a little bit more than this, it hasn’t been a problem to us in the last couple of years. The bottom of the rear port side cupboard accommodates a bike wonderfully, this will be where our second less used bike lives.

The cable in the bike slot is for power to the fridge.

Some curtain poles were in place. Kim had managed to get them to put some up so that the curtains could be made. They will only be put on board once all the messy jobs have been completed.

What we call the Houdini shelf has now been fitted above the TV shelving. This is so that our cat can sit and watch the world go by and stalk passing ducks and we can keep a few bits and bobs ontop of the shelf unit. I’m hoping my model of Oleanna will fit there.

The blinds for the galley are having to be remade so that they fit in the recess of the window frame. The position of the extractor above the cooker was causing issues, so this is the best solution. So if you know of anyone who could do with two dark blue metal venetian blinds please put them in touch.

Worktops have been ordered. The sample that I selected only comes as a jumbo sheet therefore there is more wastage than normal. Once it arrives with the chap who will shape it, he will be able to see if a usable off cut can be left for a future client which will reduce the price. It will take two weeks for him to shape before it can be fitted. This is now what will hold us up getting Oleanna into the water. Various jobs cannot be done until the worktops are installed, final sockets in the galley, steel backing to the cooker etc.

Kris talked over positions for aerials at the stern and double checked where we would like the bow thruster control to be positioned. Both he and Ricky reckon that she should touch the water in Sheffield before Christmas, we are hoping that this will give us enough time to have her launched before Christmas in Macclesfield.

All the time things were being discussed Andy kept painting and we’d pop back into the workshop to have a look.

I’d discussed with him about the lettering having a red shadow as if the light source was at the bow. When I popped back in to see how he was doing the port side Oleanna had almost all of it’s shadowing done, but on the wrong side! He was painting the shadow on the left which (excuse me if I get this the wrong way round) is how boats in the north of the country traditionally have their shadows painted no matter which side of the boat. It turns out that the shadow will be northern on the starboard side and southern on the port as my interpretation of shadowing comes from one light source and not tradition.

Andy was very good about it and immediately got a rag out and with white spirit wiped the cabin side clean. My heart fell, he had to remove the cream as well as the red shadow. But he straight away redrew the lettering and started painting it back in. When I returned a while later he was just finishing off the port side shadowing and about to start on the other side. As he moved round he made sure which side the shadow would be on.

With shadows added to the bow Andy was finished and ready to move onto sign writing NB Muddy Waters one of Oleanna’s neighbours.

18th November

Oleanna is now with engine! Well the engine is in the engine bay, not commissioned as yet.

Someone is coming to look at the worktops today or Monday.

A choice of mattress has also been made today. On our current boat we are on our second memory foam mattress as the first one wasn’t very good at remembering. But at home we have one that has stood the test of time, so we have gone with the standard memory foam mattress, the lead time is only a couple of days.

We have contacted Gary at All Season Covers to make us a cratch and pram cover for her. He is based in Bolton and our proximity to them may mean that we get covers made quicker than if we were some distance away. However he will only measure up when Oleanna is launched, so we will have sometime without covers.

Tuckeys have got back to us with a price for transportation and craning in. Our original choice of launch site would have meant a bigger crane, therefore more money. So it now looks like she will be launched in Macclesfield. Tomorrow we will cruise past on NB Lillyanne and take a look, hopefully sus out where the bubbles will be drunk too!

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.

Visit 28th October

We’ve been busy moving our current boat Lillyanne to be past upcoming stoppages and I’ve also had a few days work, which has meant that getting to Sheffield has been impossible for the past few weeks. So it has been four weeks since we were last at the yard.

Orders have been slow to arrive which has held progress up, but the advantage of not having seen her for weeks is there was lots of new shiny things to look at. There were a few questions as always about positions of speakers and how to fix the composting toilet to the floor. Our choice of worktop was of course the most expensive one in the Silestone range, we can’t help having good taste! This does mean that it is more expensive than the budget, so prices are being sought for our second choice.

The main thing to discuss was the position of the Alde boiler flue. The boiler has been installed under the electrics cupboard and the flue currently comes out onto the gunnel. Long discussions have been had over the phone, email etc over the last few weeks to find a better solution.

Ricky had been in contact with Alde over the matter. One solution had been to have a recessed panel, sinking the flue and surrounding area out of harms way, but as it is a balanced flue Alde would not be happy with this. There are minimum distances from over hangs etc to take into account. Mounting it on the roof is not possible as it would be sited inside the pram cover, be close to us whilst out on the stern and it is too close to the rear hatch, so fumes could enter the cabin.

So we are left with moving the flue up onto the cabin side. In this photo the flue currently goes through the hull just below the shelf that the cables are on, it will now be brought up through the shelf and exit the cabin side where the black dot is (half way up on the spray foam to the left). There is a minimum radius that the curves in the hose can be, so some of the space in the electrics cupboard will be taken up just by the hose.

This will have knock on effects possibly to the inverter. The Victron inverter that we were going to have is quite bulky and needs minimum air gaps around it, which now may have a flue pipe reducing them. Once the pipe is in situ dimensions will be checked to see if a smaller bodied inverter is needed. This is likely to have a cost implication, but may mean that there is an MPPT controller built in that would deal with the solar panel, therefore saving us some money there.

Drawn in the dust on the side of the boat is where the new position of the flue will be. The white plastic will be painted to match the cabin side. This is a better solution, moving the flue out of day to day potential harm. It will not be totally safe in it’s new location, as on larger waterways you can get high overhanging moorings not designed with narrowboats in mind. But at least these are not the norm.

The current hole in the hull will be patched up, the advantage of having Jonathan Wilson only yards away. The paintwork on the gunnels is still to have it’s final coats of Epifanes Multiforte Black so all will be made good.

The lower stripes on the cabin side will be repainted with the red line beneath the cream as originally intended. This is likely to happen over a weekend in the fitout shed as Oleanna is now too heavy to get back into the paintshop.

Andy Russell has been booked to do our sign writing, but as we don’t require much he will also be there to work on another boat. So a meeting will be arranged when all of us are free.

The pump and pipework are all now in place for the urine tank from the toilet. The tank sits below the toilet, all of the pipes and gulper pump are normally concealed behind a removable panel.

Should we need access to the tank in future we will need to remove the vent pipe to the roof, undo the urine pipe at the rear of the toilet and then lift the floor section. Not the easiest thing to get at, but we don’t plan on doing it every week.

Kardean tiles have been laid on the bathroom floor and what we could see of them looked good. They have been covered over with cardboard to help protect them whilst work carries on.

The shower cubicle is now fitted and very shiny indeed. The sink is waiting for it’s quartz top, the sink has been moved to look more central and a new template cut.

The Portholes in the the bathroom have been fitted and are awaiting their chrome liners, then Kim can make the bungs for them from foam and cream waterproofed fabric that I found in a remnant shop in Skipton.

The porthole liner for the bedroom will be oak so that it matches the window opposite.

The starboard side galley window is the only one that slides. This is so that you can give the ducks and fish crumbs from the breadboard before washing it up, it also means we can add more ventilation easily if we want to.

All the other windows are hopper windows. The advantage for us with these is that you can take the glass out to give the channel a good clean. You also can also clean both sides of your windows as and when you want.

The oak liners are on their way, final fitting and sanding before they have lacquer applied.

Why the extensions at top and bottom? These will have the curtain poles attached to them and it means that the curtains will extend past the opening so when they are open they will cover less of the glass.

On the galley windows we will have blue aluminium blinds as the cooker is too close to have curtains. Blind Boutique had sent some samples through and there was a perfect blue that will match the curtains at this end of the boat.

The side hatch glazed doors now have the glass in. There is a swivel catch top and bottom to hold them closed. These at the moment are brass, but as everything else is chrome we are hoping they can be swapped.

The little studs on the bottom of the doors are magnets so when the glazed doors are open they hold back to the cabin side on these.

The bubble stove now has a hearth and the backing is made from a large cream tile surrounded with oak. As the gas pipe runs under the gunnel here some steel will be added as a shield to protect this.

The chrome flue has been fitted and where it meets the ceiling there will be a chrome collar.

The flue is double skinned to meet with the regulations. But luckily we will have space for a cooking pot on both sides of it.

A radiator has gone into the bedroom, under where the pullout for the cross bed sits, we’ll have warm toes.

Then a second larger radiator has been installed by the dinette. Beyond this is where we’ll store the dinette table when the bed is in use.

The table is in on two chrome desmo legs, glazing is in the cupboard at the end of the dinette and all the sockets and cat 5 are finished.

Speaker positions were discussed. If they were to be positioned symmetrically one would be just at head height at the end of the galley, so it will be moved towards the stern to be out of the way.

The radio and CD player is now in. The panel of wood it is fixed to hides the power sockets for the TV.

The PVR and TV will soon be ordered.

The flexible solar panel was in position for us to see. The only space big enough for it was above the bathroom, but this has meant that it can’t be central on the roof because of the shower mushroom vent.

The position will of course affect the power it generates, but we are hoping that when we can afford a smaller second panel we can position that to compensate for it.

Now that we have given the okay for the position it can now be stuck down.

Iroko locker lids have been made for the stern lockers. These can withstand the weather better than oak.

A small scallop will need to be taken out of them so that the cabin back doors can hook back open.

Positions of aerials was discussed. The internet one will sit as high as possible so as to be outside the faraday cage effect that the hull gives.

Just inside the engine bay is the stern gland greaser. This is positioned here for ease of access, so you don’t have to open the engine right up to give it a twist.

Fuel filters and the prop shaft have been installed waiting to be connected to the engine.

An engineer had been booked to start fitting the engine yesterday, but unfortunately the engine arrived at the end of the day. A folk lift had popped it up high out of the way until the engineer can come next.

Ricky opened the box up for us to have a look. All very green and shiny (sorry for the girl comment there!).

Instead of fitting the engine the engineer set to fitting the bow thruster which is now all in along with it’s batteries. At first it was thought that the batteries would have to go in one of the bow lockers, but they have managed to fit them in with the bow thruster.

A chat with Kim regarding how we can cover the front door windows came up with a good solution. Living with a cat, dangly things on blinds are not such a good idea, especially when on doors in your bedroom. I’d got a couple of quotes for roman blinds, but really did not want to spend £100 on each blind. The solution was to have a lined covering for each window that will be poppered onto the surround of each window. During the day they can be rolled up and held in position with a tab. Much neater than blinds and taking up less space than bungs.

One of the lithium batteries has arrived the second one is being shipped over from the States. Luckily the quote Finesse had got for them had a price guarantee of 30 days, so the pound plummeting has not affected the price we will pay for them.

Several prices had been sought for the pram and cratch covers, but as we had put quite a bit of work into this when at Crick we will take over on arranging them. We can get them measured up at the yard and then we will most probably have them finally fitted when Oleanna has been launched. It may mean that we have to cope for some of the winter without covers.

Once her engine has been fitted Oleanna will put her toe in the water in Sheffield to check on ballast and other things close to home. Ricky has suggested that we take her out along the cut to try things out. This will mean that any snagging can be done at the yard before she is transported to the Macclesfield Canal for launch.

Despite Oleanna having had her bottom wet we are going to class the launch near Marple as The Launch, where I suspect there will be some bubbly wine to celebrate. Still a while to wait, so no need to chill the fizz just yet.

27th September

Our cruising has brought us to Sheffield. The hope some weeks ago was that Oleanna would be ready for us to move on board in Sheffield, do the few jobs to Lillyanne that were needed for her to go on the market and head off into the sunset on our shiny new boat. But her build can’t be rushed and at the moment she doesn’t have an engine to be able to sail off anywhere.

Instead we made use of the time to do some of the jobs on Lillyanne and visit Oleanna.

Ken was about and with a bit more info regarding an MPPT controller from Victron,which has six settings the sixth being for Lithium. This is cheaper than the one Mick had found. Ricky had figures for us but the battery price needs checking as it may now be out of date. Once we have this we can finally make our minds up.

It was decided that having the PV panel on site along with speakers, radio etc would now be useful. These would all be extras so we will order them for delivery to the yard.

Kris was on hand as always with questions for us. Today was mostly about shelves inside the bedroom cupboards. I’d asked for a couple of drawers to be put in my bedside cupboard, I’d intended that these should be low down, making access to the very bottom of the cupboard easier, but they had gone in the top. Kris will move them down. Most other cupboards require a couple of shelves.

The drawing I’d done for the herb rack had one bit of information on it that had led to a misunderstanding over depths. So today I’d brought along my smallest and widest pots to try. Two of the racks were fine, but the third was just a bit too narrow. Kris will alter this for us.

Sockets in the bedroom will be swapped for those with USB charger sockets as well as 240v.

They are still waiting for the windows to arrive, this means that the internal linings can’t be fitted as yet. But Kris had started on one which was in position in the saloon.

The corner Bubble Stove had arrived and was sat on top of a small cupboard. Our current stove sits on something similar, which means that you can store all the fire lighting paraphernalia inside out of sight.

The surround and flue are still to be sorted all to meet with the Boat Safety Scheme. These stoves normally come with a fiddle rail which stands above the top surface. We have gone for one without this so that we can stand a kettle and cooking pot on top.

We will need a narrower coal scuttle if we want it to live next to the stove.

A hole has been cut in the ceiling above the extractor in the galley. This will have a mushroom on the roof.

We chatted about a bathroom cupboard and mirror above the bathroom sink. It was decided that it would be nice if it mirrored the shelf unit above the toilet and had one opening door that could be mirrored.

Sighting of a longer mirror was chosen on the side of a bedroom cupboard and dimensions were taken for the mirror to be ordered.

Things are starting to happen in the engine bay. The calorifier was in position with pipes coming from it for heating and hot water. On the wood below are pipes for deisel, leading both to and from the engine.

In the starboard rear cupboard the Alde Boiler had been installed under what will be the electrics cupboard. This leaves a small area below it for something.

The Alde Boiler came with a roof flue to fix through the roof, but this would come out inside our pram cover, so a skin fitting had been bought and fitted. However the fitting is fixed between the two rubbing strakes on the gunnel at the stern, which is where the greatest impact is on a boat. The fitting is plastic and protrudes further than the rubbing strakes. A couple of solutions were talked about, one of a metal strap over the flue to protect it. But this would be even more proud and have the possibility for catching in a lock. Bolts could be used to hold the strap in place that would shear off should the need arise.
 More thought on the matter is needed as we are not convinced the flue would last long in it’s current position.

The blind that we had been thinking might be a possibility for the bedroom doors can’t be used. There is little space for it and also the front door handle is quite deep, so any window covering needs to be fixed to the doors. We have three options, narrow blinds, separate curtains for each window or bungs. Something for us to mull over.

30th September

A second visit before we left Sheffield to take some measurements for possible narrow blinds and to see if any more samples had arrived to look at.

Kris was busy fixing the navigation lights onto the cabin sides.

He had also made the bathroom cupboard which was fixed in place to look at. This will give us somewhere to store drugs etc and have a decent sized mirror on the door.

New sockets were waiting to be swapped. Some samples had arrived for the cratch and pram covers. There was a good blue that would compliment Oleanna’s exterior blue, but none of the samples had a pale backing to them. We are quite keen on a pale backing as on our current covers as it keeps the well deck and stern quite light. So more samples are to be sought.

Dimensions of the front door windows were taken. A hunt for some narrow blinds will be made. So far the narrowest I’ve found are 30 cm wide, these need to be at most 20 cm! Separate curtains would be a bit Grannyish and bungs we would have to store somewhere.

The prices of the Lithium Batteries hasn’t changed so we have given the go ahead.
The boat is going to be a 24 volt boat so we are going to have 2 x 24 volt 50 amphour batteries wired in parallel. This will give us 100 ah at 24 volts. As it is 24 volts this is equivalent to 200 ah at 12v. With lead acid batteries you can only discharge them to 50% capacity but lithium batteries can be discharged to about 90% without damage and they turn themselves off before you can damage them anyway. So in theory we will have the equivalent of a 400 ah 12 v battery bank. The time to charge to full capacity is much reduced compared to lead acid batteries and with a 250 watt solar panel connected we are hoping that engine running just to charge the batteries will be much reduced compared our current boat.  Hopefully with our first few months on board being in the winter we should soon find out if an extra battery is needed. Space is being provided for one. We are hoping that the longevity of the batteries (hopefully 10 years) will meet expectations and that we won’t need to buy new batteries until 2027. Watch this space!

An extra 240 v power socket will be put in a rear cupboard so that we can charge our handheld vac. This will be on the back of one of the galley sockets.

We raised the subject of the Alde flue again as it is concerning us. No matter how careful we could be mooring, the flue in it’s current position will not last long. Even with a protective strap across it it will get damaged. Our preference would be for it to be recessed and have a strap guarding it too.

Other fabric samples still haven’t arrived and Julia hadn’t heard back from Tucky’s about where would be a good place to launch Oleanna near Manchester.

Winter stoppages mean that we need to start moving Lillyanne across the Pennines, so we will be getting further away as things are completed.