One benefit of being
moored by houses and a road is that you can take advantage when the dustmen
come round; they very kindly took all our recycling away this morning.
Whilst Buddy and I were
out for our morning walk, Darren, the main man at the boat builders, called me
to say that he had had a call from Dave, the guy who owns the adjacent yard and
the boat hoist, saying he was happy to drop the boat in today rather than
Friday. I agreed and set off immediately
for the yard. By the time we arrived they had taken her from Darren’s yard,
along the road and were manoeuvring her into Dave’s yard. I missed the spectacle of her going along the
road but a couple of guys took pictures which they will send me. I did see the traffic jam that had built up
as the traffic has to be stopped in both directions as there is a tricky
railway bridge to go under.
 |
| Dave manoeuvring his hoist over the boat – rather him than me! He looks a long way away (in the cab with a pink sweatshirt on) |
Once the hoist is over the boat a
harness is put round it so it can be lifted.
Unlike normal cranes the harness does not come together and join one
crane jib – each side is hoisted separately.
This means there is less chance of the paintwork getting damaged.
 |
Hoist positioned over the
boat ready for lift off – the driver sits in the cab behind the yellow railings
|
The hoist was then driven
to the inlet to the canal and then positioned so it can straddle it.
 |
Boat being lowered into
the water
|
 |
Nearly there
|
 |
Chalkhill Blue 2 is finally in. Buddy doesn't look particularly interested.
|
The whole operation had
happened so quickly and had taken Darren’s lads by surprise that we had all
forgotten about getting the fenders on.
Once she was in the water that was soon rectified.
We went over the
outstanding job list and it really feels like the last few jobs will be completed
by tomorrow morning when we hope to start moving in. Buddy and I went home for possibly our last
lunch on Chalkhill Blue before returning to the yard later in the afternoon.
When we got back, they
were checking the trim and working out how much more ballast was required and
where it should go.
 |
| Jason, the painter, checking how and where the boat is listing. Font suggested by our arty daughter, Jo. |
Once again we went through
the job list and the only items that really need to be done now before we move
on is completing the installation of the battery management system and getting
the ballast sorted. Other items are not
so important as long as they are done before we get on our way next week. I’m sure they’ll be a snagging list once we
move in just like in a new house.
The solar panels have a
monitoring system but that measures what is being supplied to the battery bank;
the battery management system lets us know, amongst other things, the state of
the batteries and how much power is being used.
As it’s Thursday, Karen
will be coming home tonight so I imagine we may well be celebrating. Although, before she gets back, I’ll probably
be meeting Darren in the pub outside our current boat to go through and agree
the final invoice.
No comments:
Post a Comment