|
Having paid the deposit, what did we have to do? Sit and twiddle our thumbs until September? No. The questions started coming. What type of windows did we want? What colour? What sort of corners? How were they going to open? Well, we were going to the Boat Show in January because they had a canal boat section for the first time. Channelglaze were exhibiting there and we spent some time talking through the options with them. We had already decided that we were having windows in the salon, galley & bathroom and then portholes from there and that we didn't want a brass finish to the portholes (I do the brass cleaning and I didn't fancy standing on the gunwales, hanging on with one hand and polishing with the other - where would I put my tin of Brasso?). The standard choices of finish were either aluminium or a 'gold' finish. Newer developments have the window frames 'powder coated' which is supposed to give a more durable finish. Whilst we liked the smooth finish, we weren't that keen on the 'gold'. Channelglaze sent us all the possible colours available with powder coating and after quite a lot of deliberation, we decided to go with a cream colour to the windows and portholes. We'd settled on the external colour scheme, dark blue with cream coach lines - so we hope that the cream windows will go. Then we had to decide what shape we wanted. Square or radial corners? All the same or square at top and radial at the bottom? Well, until we were asked we hadn't even noticed that there were these corner combinations. It appeared that there were almost endless combinations of how the windows could open because you can combine sliding panels with drop back panes. And that's before you start on double-glazing and the actual size of the windows. It was important that we got the windows sorted because the shell fabricator needed to know what size holes to cut in the steel and where to put the holes. Once we'd made the decision on windows we couldn't change our mind. We signed the window plans off at the beginning of February and things did go quiet for a while. This was because we were waiting for our shell fabrication slot at Jonathan Wilson. Darren was working fitting out a couple of hire boats so he wasn't sitting around waiting for a hull to work on, but when he was offered a slightly earlier build slot than originally booked, he took it. Which was just as well, because there then appeared to be quite a lot of delays due to steel shortages. The shell was finally started in April and, much to our disappointment, we weren't allowed to go up to Sheffield to see the fabrication in progress. This came as news to Darren as well, but Wilson's told us that they only allowed 'direct' clients to come on site and, in any event, they weren't open on a Saturday or Sunday. During the fabrication, lengthy telephone calls, e-mails and letters were exchanged concerning the propeller. We began learning a new language - skeg, uxter plate, pitch. Apparently getting the size of the prop right is a fine art and involves the engine size, the gear reduction ratio, the size of the vains on the prop. Having had a quick course in propeller lore from our surveyor, it was capped off by a remark from someone (can't remember who) that even if it all looks all right on theory, sometimes it doesn't work in practice! We'd also specified that we wanted rear stools on the stern. However, Jonathan Wilson are no longer prepared to put rear stools on due to possibility of them causing an obstruction and leading to an accident. Our surveyor said that rear stools were allowable under the Boat Safety Scheme, but Wilson's were not budging on them. Eventually the great day arrived and our boat was due to come South down the M1 (on a low loader) from Sheffield to Clifton-on-Dunsmore where it would be put in the water. We set off going North up the M1 but got stuck in traffic. Switched to the A5, got stuck in traffic. We were going to miss our boat getting afloat. We finally got to the yard, to discover that the low loader was stuck in traffic - phew! About 90 minutes late the low loader arrived, the crane swung into action, the boat was in the water - and we owed Darren a fair chunk of money! |