Chillllll

Had a nice relaxed day today for the first time in a while, my father came down to look at the boat, had a real good time seeing him and was nice of him to pop down to see how I am getting on, I managed to get a few jobs done today, the electric toilet now works as I only found out today it fills out of the river water so it could have been turned on a while ago, I also got the seals in for the hatches on the front cabin roof.

At last......

Well I managed to cut a hole in the front bulkhead after nearly a day at it. The 9" grinder (when used right) made light work of the sides in comparison to the top which was attacked with a 4" grinder Which was a little more time consuming. The worst part was the L bar strut which provides strength to the bulkhead, which took ages to hack through with a junior hacksaw (wasn't a lot of space). But at least it's done and now can use the stairs I made to access below deck. Just another bulkhead to cut (to the aft cabin) and the bit of metal that I keep banging my head on midway down the stairs.

Kicks like a horse

Owwwww owwww owww owwwww, think that was the series of noises I made when I was cutting through the bulkhead about a hour ago when my 9" grinder decided to kick back and smack me in the stomach, I was not amused to say the least. But on the brighter side I did manage to clear all of the scrap from the engine room, and give the wheel house a bit of a clean and sort out. Now, last night wasn't too bad in the bed I made, it didn't collapse so I must of done something right, but it was absolutely freezing. Note to self, put seals back in forward cabin hatches.
Well I'm decided to head back home tonight so I can stay on a mattress and have a little comfort as I feel like I've been kicked by a horse.
Night all.....

Sleepy, bed, sleep

It been a long day, managed to get the last bits finished on the stairs, thinking of sanding them to see what they come up like. And also as I decided tonight I was going to spend my first night aboard the ol' tug I had to erect some sort of sleeping arrangement, so I set about making my very first double bed. Now it ain't a work of art but as its only temporary, and didn't come out to bad, it can hold my weight and once the mattress is on it should be fairly comfortable. So wish me luck and fingers crossed I get a good nights sleep.
Night......

Stairway to heaven....

More cutting, chopping & screwing is going on, I have decided to make a stair case going down into the engine room, the main reason for this is the dog can't get up/down the original stairs. Making the stairs out of scaffold boards so they will be nice and chunky and should hold down well.

A few neat touches....

Since the electric supply is sorted I have noticed some real neat objects on the boat, firstly the wheel and compass are a work of art in my eyes. I also removed the inspection cover on the water tank to see what lurked in side, well not a lot really, but the main purpose of removing the cover was so find out what the tanks lined with inside. I am still unsure so am getting a second opinion in the next few days so I can get the tank sorted. I also have a few more pictures of the front cabin.

Let there be light....

And so there was, with a little bit of tinkering and some new cable I managed to get the forward cabin lights working. As promised I have pictures, including pictures of the radar, fuse board/switch board, and lighting that's now operational. And I also managed to get the marine vhf radio to power up as well.

Exhausted & frozen

Well the title said it all. It's been a tough day but I finally have the keys to my new tug boat Anetka, after doing the usual sign over and exchange of money for keys I was on board my new vessel, now the fun or hard work (which ever you call it) can begin. And so it did, first off I managed to get a 240v set up working so I can run power tools and the two most important pieces of equipment, the kettle and radio. Then I set up the 240v to 24v transformer, which wasn't to bad until I hit the polish fuse box/switch board. Confused would be a understatement, but with a careful bit of thinking and a cup of coffee in my hand I managed to work out the internal workings of the board. With a helpful bit of assistance from my friend Paul, we managed to get the wheel box lights working, just a case of getting the front cabin lights working, hmmm. Well after numerous testing and probing to no joy we worked out that the reason for the dead circuit in the front cabin was due to the main wiring circuit in to the front cabin has been cut. Doh', but least I know what needs to be done now to rectify the problem. A good bit of sleep needed and a warm room, then carry on with the electrics again tomorrow.
On a small plus note I did manse to get the radar box working including the circling radar bar, not much use but the kudos when it's all switched on will be worth it.

Celebrations......

Tomorrows finally come, I get the keys to the tug boat and I can't wait. Then the real work can begin.

Tap ahoy....

Well my new tap came today, exciting stuff? Well least I finished off my sink unit with the tap and new plug hole fitted, also sorted the consumer box so it's all ready to install.

More shopping...

Not much to report today just a bit more shopping. I purchased a MK dual RCD consumer board with 10 MCB'S, a 10 meter length of 1"1/4 of suction hose (for the water pump), 50 meters of 2.5mm 3 core cable, a tube of sanitary sealant and applicator gun (for the Belfast sink), 20 litres of light grey industrial floor paint and 9" roller pack (for painting the underside of the ply board sheets that are getting used for flooring), and a couple of canvas bags so store some of my tools in when I'm crossing back and forward from the boat. Nothing else of any real excitement today except the fact that in under 2 days I'm getting the keys to my new home.

Tools of the trade

Well on a lighter note I did manage to get a bit of retail therapy done today and purchased some 9" plasma cutting discs for the grinder I bought (for cutting through the bulkheads) and a water pump for pumping out the bilges until I fit permanent bilge pumps. Who ever said retail therapy only applies to women are very much mistaken, after wondering around machine Mart for about 30 minutes thinking of all the tools I could buy, I refrained from buying nearly everything in the store and come out with my 10 cutting discs. Luckily I'm locking the credit card away as there is a nice mig welder I would like to purchase, think i will wait for a Vat free night before I purchase one.

I love the smell of burning rubber in the morning.....

Well it's been a exciting evening, NOT.
I made tonight the night to endure the mind numbing, eye scratching task that is cutting holes in tyre so that firstly I can use them as "buffers" for when we move the tug so help it bounce off other boats we pass, and secondly to tie around the hull when we are moored up to stop the tug knocking into the boat we are next to.
At first I thought it would be a simple and quick task of simply putting a hole saw onto my drill and drilling 1 hole in the bottom of the tyre for drainage and drilling 2 holes on the top to tie the rope through.
Nothing is ever that easy hey, well the hole cutter wouldn't cut through the steel bands that run radially around the tyre so it ended up have the hole saw as a shallow cut template, then running a 10mm drill bit through the centre, then using numerous blades cutting round with a jigsaw... By the time I finished the 5th and final one of the night I was ready to jump off the nearest bridge. Ok maybe not a bridge but I was bored stiff. Just to think that I have got to do approx 80 more at some point as I want to have a continuous band of tyres around the hull, this has made me think there must be a easier way? But I have yet to think off it. Any ideas please send a SAE Envelope to: mindless jobs
London
E** *FO
And I will post back any resemblance of the discs I cut out.
But in all seriousness if you have a better/easier/faster method I would really appreciate the help.
Time for a well deserved kip I think.

Smokin' baby

Had a clever idea to use the funnels which sit on top of the engine room to let any fumes out, the plan is to connect two of them up to the flue from the log burner which will be in the engine room. So in theory it should from the outside look like it has a functional engine room below deck with smoke puffing out, least I have thought of a use for them rather then they have no use or just for show as would be a shame to not use them.

Change of scenery ???

Well tonight plans were made on moving the tug down water a few boats so that I can get better access to the old girl, also it would be right outside my workshop which would make the refit work a bit easier as have less time to travel back and forwards from the workshop. So the plan stands that on the 2nd of April we will move the old girl down on the outside of another few boats then on the 7th of April she will be place on the inside of a boat called the warrior and next so the wall so access at high tide should be a lot easier.
But with all good plans things can change last minute and can easily go wrong, especially with no work boat. All the moving will be done by man power and with the help of the tides should hopefully be straight forward. Watch this space.....

It's alive... IT'S ALIVEEEEE.....

And Frankenstein was born, okay maybe not but the transformer kicked into life tonight in superb sparking fashion. Considering I've never played around with a big transformer before it was rather exciting to power this old unit up. With new fuse holders and some new wiring I cautiously wired a mains 240v plug to the transformer and plugged it into my workshop supply, as soon as I flicked the switch the unit sprung into life with the voltmeter showing just under 24v which made me a very happy man, next was to figure out what the bottom and right selectors do, so in true boyscout fashion I just twisted the selectors to see what happened. The bottom selector is simply a on/off/on/off, but when I twisted the right selector I noticed the voltage rise so I continued to twist and when it hit position 4 the transformer started building up and a almighty set of sparks and crackles happened. I felt like a mad scientist bringing life to Frankenstein, but back to reality, the transformer works a treat and has a slight new feel to it. Will be hoping to replace alloy checker plate with some nice brass plates eventually and some fancy glass fuses at a later date.

Baby steps

Plan of action for when I get on board:
Remove any rubbish and pump out bilge in front cabin so I can get the cabin liveable, remove scrap from engine (going to be a tough one) then cut through bulk head connecting the front cabin to the engine room, refit steps to engine room, lay temporary flooring in engine room, fit 240v to 24v inverter (to get the cabin lights on),fit temporary sink and connect waste.
Going to be a busy few days......

The plan.... For the minute.....

Well as far as planning the layout of the boat I only got as far mapping a plan out in my head so here goes.
Going to keep the aft cabin at the rear of the boat as a bedroom due to the fact of there is not to much natural light entering the room unlike the other two rooms. I plan to have a en-suit w/c in the bedroom in place of one of the hatches as there is plenty of headroom.
The engine room and front cabin will be a big open plan kitchen/living room with the kitchen starting in the engine room. There will be a bathroom with shower in the front cabin and I will be keeping the boiler cupboard. I plan to keep a industrial feel with the design inside the boat. I also plan to keep the outside of the boat looking like a working tug boat so you would not realise that anybody is living below deck.
Also plan to have the wheel house as a reception room but retaining the wheel and radar/radio equipment.

Let the sparks fly

Sunday just gone I finally purchased a 9" angle grinder, just waiting to go buy some 2mm thick plasma cutting discs so soon as I'm on I can cut two holes out in the water tight bulkheads that seperate the front cabin/engine room/aft cabin. This will open up the boat so that the result will be approx 40 foot of living space, maybe more if I cut into the front rope locker.

It's all temp......... Sigh.......

Due to the fact that there is no kitchen on board and that a basic human needs are food, water and some sort of hygiene I have made my temporary sink for washing up and also washing my self. It's a old Belfast sink I found at the bottom of my garden. New waste fittings and tap on the way.

Brain numbing

Well decided last night I would waste a few hours down the workshop getting a few bits ready for the boat. I wen out and purchased a load of stainless steel dome bolts, washer and nuts to fix the grills to the hatches that sit on the engine bay hatch, and also made a few checker plate panels for the 240v to 24v inverter to fit new blade fuse holders.

Make do and mend.

Exactly what it says on the tin, as with most people at the moment money is at a squeeze so for a while I will be living to a very slim budget meaning That I can't spend a lot of money for a while. Hence any freebies going I will gladly take of people's hands.

Time is of the essence!

Well with under six days to go I find myself having to pull my finger out, I have packed most of my belongings up as I will be living on board from the start of the month, as the ship was operational there isn't much space straight away. Luckily there is no engine on the boat so I can cut through the water tight bulk heads connecting the front cabin to the engine room and the engine room to the front cabin. This will give roughly 40 foot of living space. All there is onboard is a flushing toilet, the rest is up to me.

A few oldies....

Here are a few old photos I found of anetka.