Fit Out - November/December 2004
6 November: Today's been a bit of a mixture, been up to the boat again and started the engine, but have had to postpone the handover date. Darren has been ill so hasn't made the progress he wanted to. We have agreed to postpone the delivery date so that he can still finish things off to his normal high standard, rather than cut corners and rush things. When we were deciding which builder to choose one of the things we thought about was what would happen if we went with a small firm and the main builder became ill - thought about it, weighed it up, decided to live with it should it happen. (Update 2005: Darren isn't on his own now - www.darrenaldridgeboats.co.uk)
Everything forward of the cratch is finished, even down to the front fender being in place. Working back from the cratch and there has been progress in a number of areas - Darren's 'trademark' ceiling beams are in back to the bathroom. The corner cupboards and shelves are built (with CD multichanger underneath). The light & speaker boards are up. All the gauges are in and connected up. Gas is connected up. Engine panel and throttle in. There must be diesel in the tank because the engine now works. Some of the soundproofing is in around the engine compartment. We do have a new handover date but am keeping quiet about it with our fingers crossed - not going to tempt fate this time! Will definitely be visting again before handover but have two busy Saturdays coming up. No further update expected until after 20 November.
Click on a thumbnail to see a larger picture
22 November 2004 and Ian went up to the boat as the blinds were being fitted by Jamie from Morgan Gilder. Darren is back to full health and there has been a lot of progress - all the varnishing of the cabin sides has been done, the lights are in, the mushroom grills on, the cratch cover fitted, the fin rads in and the rear cabin taking shape. Despite suffering from a cold, sore throat, aching limbs and generally feeling wretched, Ian was still able to work up enthusiasm for what he saw. We will be going up again on 27 November.
27 November 2004 - we have toilets!! Strange how you can get excited about the oddest things. People seem inordinately interested in what we do for toilet facilities. The rear cabin is taking shape, we now have lots of dials and panels - will probably take us several weeks to read through all the manuals we are going to have.
We are getting very close to the boat being completed and it is actually quite scary. Pretty soon we will be cruising out of the shed and onto the cut with our boat. Still can't believe that she is really ours.
2 December 2004 - What is it about boats and loos? Unexpected visit to Per Angusta today as Darren wasn't happy about how the loo and the towel radiator in the bathroom were working together position wise. We talked about various different combinations but it was very difficult to imagine them without actually being there. I had planned to go Christmas shopping so detoured from Milton Keynes to Rugby to look at the loo in situ. We came up with a solution which is much better than the original plan, it gives us more space in the bathroom and and makes it more symmetrical - don't know why we didn't think about it in the first place. Loo sorted and then 9 hours shopping in MK - my poor feet (and even poorer wallet!)
Per Angusta is out of her shed now - getting acclimatised and ready for the off. We have may be one more visit before handover - so watch this space.
16 December
2004 - well, what a few weeks these have been. Where do I start?
How about the central heating - Darren had problems with it, the boiler
wouldn't run for more than 3 minutes and wouldn't draw the fuel. In
the end, he had to get the engineers from Eberspacher in to find the
root of the problem; changing where the fuel was drawn from in the fuel
lines finally solved the problem. Then there was a bit of a problem
when the washer/dryer was unpacked for installation - it wasn't a washer/dryer!
We had ordered and had delivered a washer/dryer from Argos back in July
and, rather stupidly, we didn't open it up to check. When Darren unpacked
it 5 months later he discovered that it was only a washing machine and
that it was damaged. Ian got on the phone to Argos who deserve a huge
pat on the back for being so helpful and understanding - they have agreed
to take the machine back and refund all our money. Well done Argos.
Life was getting complicated though. Darren had rented a boat shed on the canal to build Per Angusta while he was looking for his own premises. With our steel work being late and then Darren's chest infection, the build was running behind schedule and the boat shed needed to be vacated. Darren has his own premises now but to get Per Angusta there she would have to be craned out of the canal and transported to the workshop. By 16 December, the only bits still to be done were the doors and the boxing round the fin radiators. Our surveyor, Paul Smith, had been in and checked all the equipment, the Certificate of Conformity had been granted. Per Angusta still needed all her internal doors fitted and the boxing round the fin radiators but where could it be done? In the end, we agreed with Darren that we would take Per Angusta on a 'snagging' cruise and at the same time move her to her permanent moorings and then Darren will fit the doors there.
19 December - we are on our home moorings. Click here to for details of our first voyage or click here to take a trip round the finished Per Angusta.