Injectors Overhaul

A few weeks ago at the end of our October holiday, the 6 injectors on the port engine were removed for overhaul.
These had to be carefully removed, so as not to disturb the copper sleeves in the cylinder head. Volvo Penta make a special, but rather expensive tool, for pulling the injectors out whilst bearing down on the copper sleeves to keep them in place. After lots of research, Peter decided to make his own, as the general consensus was that the Volvo tool was not up to the job and broke easily if the injectors were stubborn...in common layman's speak, 'made of toffee'.
Photo below shows home made sleeve cleaning tool (left), and home made injector puller (right).

The removal of the injectors went smoothly, and were taken to diesellogic.co.uk at Garforth, West Yorkshire which is very local to us. Their turnaround was very quick, and after testing them, they all  required work. All 6 injectors were reconditioned with genuine Bosch parts, and were ready within 24 hours. We had had a price from a local Bosch main agent, who had said these couldn't be reconditioned locally, and would require a service exchange from the factory at double the price we paid of £55 plus vat each from Diesel Logic.
Photo below shows home made injector puller in use.

Whilst the injectors were out, Peter took the opportunity to clean the top of the cylinder head, degreasing it with brake cleaner and it was then repainted.

When Peter refitted the refurbished injectors the engine started easily,  however three of the cylinders suffered 'blow by' past the injectors. This meant the newly refurbished  injectors were not seating correctly on the copper sleeves as they had before. Peter then made a home made sleeve cleaning tool from plywood (see 1st photo), and using 220 grit aluminium oxide abrasive paper, he meticulously and very carefully cleaned the seat of all 6 copper sleeves until they were all in perfect condition whilst changing the paper regularly, and manually blowing the dust out with a short length of hose.
Once refitted, the 'blow by' had been cured, and the engine started and ran smoothly, whilst checking for fuel and coolant leaks. As everything was ok, all the unions were touched up with paint and all the air ducting and engine covers were refitted.
This weekend we took the opportunity to give Moonshine a test run out up the canal to a very cold and frosty Whitley. 

Proper Boating!

So the half term holiday started off rather damp to say the least, with more than 24 hours of rain from the Friday well into Saturday. We had pre booked with Goole Docks, giving them at least the required 24 hours  notice of our departure time for 4pm Saturday for Hull, however when calling them up on the vhf, they informed us that due to traffic we wouldn't be penning out until at least 5pm. All pleasure craft local to Goole Docks know the protocol, that commercial traffic takes priority, however it was at least half an hour after our vhf call that commercial traffic contacted Ocean Lock to make a move. This was very frustrating, due to daylight hours now drawing in, however we just made it into Hull Marina after a fast run, due to the fast failing light, by the 'skin of our teeth'.
It is awkward at Hull at the moment due to their restricted lock operations, due to faulty outer gates. The lock is closing 18th November for 4/6 weeks for repairs, and 'hope' to be operational again for Christmas.
We had a good two days here on the visitor pontoon, before heading back to Goole on the very early am tide, as Peter had to be back to attend a family funeral for Wednesday.

On Thursday morning we returned back to Goole and loaded Moonshine up once again for her trip to Doncaster. It has been at least 7 years since we last headed inland to Doncaster, and thought this would make a nice change to finish the week off. On entering the New Junction, we caught up with Aquarius from South Yorkshire Boat Club, and together we made light work of working the bridges between us.

We parted ways with Aquarius at Barnby Dun, and continued onwards obtaining a good mooring on the Doncaster town visitor moorings after approximately four hours underway.

Since Doncaster wasn't brilliant for exercising the dogs, we headed back downstream to Barnby Dun just after lunch on Friday where dog walking terrain was much better, and fish and chips from the local chippy. Whilst waiting for Peter to be served, I was salivating at the window of the local Chinese takeaway.....maybe next time.

On Saturday the rain was set to return later in the morning, although you wouldn't have thought so whilst walking the dogs in glorious sunshine. We thought it would be best to get a wriggle on and move off to Sykehouse before the forecast heavy rain hit. We departed Barnby Dun around 10.30am, with Helen operating the road bridge. Aquarius had now caught up with us as he had come from Doncaster, however an opportunistic narrowboat whom had been moored on the downstream side of the bridge whistled motioning the fact he wanted to come through also, which wasn't a problem, however he advised another narrowboat was also wanting to come through and that they had cast off and would be quick. Well I am not sure of what their idea of being quick is when you have loads of traffic waiting at that very busy bridge. The bridge had been closed by the time that narrowboat had started to move off the mooring, and unfortunately the owner didn't look very happy. Some people seem to live in their own little world, having no regard for others. Unfortunately your damned if you do and damned if you don't in situations like that, and run the risk of being abused by motorists.
Anyway, after ranting about that incident between ourselves, we kept pace with Aquarius once again working the bridges between ourselves. By the time we arrived at a manned Sykehouse Lock, it was raining quite steadily....it's not pleasant but this is proper boating!
We spent a rather wet night at Sykehouse Lift Bridge, however that didn't seem to stop the firework displays in the village.
Sunday morning brought with it the sunshine which burnt the low mist away, and after a lie in and leisurely dog walk to Sykehouse Lock and back, we were soon underway returning back to base at Goole Boathouse by lunchtime.


We have had a nice week away, with both the combination of tidal and inland work, but it will be back to the 'grind stone' over the next few weeks due to work commitments in the lead up to Christmas. The port injectors are coming out this Monday for refurbishment, and if needs be the starboard injectors at a slightly later date....fingers crossed this doesn't turn into an overly expensive job.

Record Breaker

Upon returning from holiday the other week, myself and and the girls had had enough of tidal work to last us a lifetime due to the wind causing lumpy conditions during most passages (not Peter it seems to be bred into his blood!). We were all set to have a sedate bank holiday weekend up the canal, however now that the winds had died down we really couldn't miss out on the opportunity to visit Hull again.
Hull Marina are still having issues with their outer lock gates, and are only penning 3 locks, 2 hours before, high water, and 2 hours after. It is always prudent to phone ahead, but they are still welcoming visitors to the marina, however upon arrival we had to lay on their waiting wall within the outer basin.

This weekend we had an extra furry crew member...my mum's elderly Yorkshire Terrier who will be 13 next month. She was exceptionally relaxed and well behaved during the trip, unlike our own dogs which at this rate may very well need pacemakers fitting within the next few years!

After lots of shopping and not many dog walks due to this weekends record breaking August bank holiday temperatures, we departed a very full Hull Marina lock on the earliest pen, as the lock keeper was trying to limit the amount of gate operations. 

We traveled at displacement speed until Reeds Island waiting for another Goole boat (Mijo) which was in the following lock pen to catch up with us. By mutual agreement we both decided to plane up to Goole as there were three ships inbound for Goole, and we didn't want to be left waiting for Ocean Lock to deal with the commercial traffic prior to us.

It's been a fabulous weekend, however next weekend Moonshine needs her port turbo tending to. Here's hoping for cooler weather more appropriate to working in the engine room.

Making A Run For It

Day 13. Ipswich to Lowestoft

We are now into our our final week, and slowly making our way back up north. Due to today's forecast wind later in the day ,we had an early 7am start to get to Lowestoft. After penning through Ipswich Lock, we had a steady run down the River Orwell at 6 knots with the ebb and then went up onto the plane at Harwich Breakwater. Conditions were quite lumpy in Hollesley Bay and off Lowestoft, and we were glad to finally arrive at the Royal Norfolk and Suffolk Yacht Club. The winds got up a lot stronger than forecast, and there were some rather impressive waves rolling into the harbour entrance, making navigation difficult/arduous for several yachts entering the harbour. However 'Kingfisher' ABP's brand new pilot boat made very light work of it.
The forecast for the week ahead doesn't look clever at all with yet more wind forecast.

Logged 52.5 Nautical miles

Day 14&15. Lowestoft

We are now itching to get moving again, and as much as we like Lowestoft, we need to make progress towards the Humber before the next batch of bad weather hits. If we don't make that move tomorrow, there will be no alternative but for us to leave Moonshine down here, and for us to return home until the weather abates.

Day 16. Lowestoft to Wells to Grimsby

We departed Lowestoft at 7am with the intention of making Grimsby. We had a decent ish run to Winterton Ness, then as  we headed towards Cromer the sea conditions really chopped up with wind against tide making those pesky crab pots very hard to see and making for an uncomfortable ride. Despite this we still managed to stay on the plane, and decided we would head into Wells for a few nights and considered it was the best thing to do for our dogs. Once moored in Wells Harbour we had lunch and a rest, but more importantly this gave us time to contemplate the forthcoming bad weather forecast and possible sea conditions and the possibility of becoming weather bound in Wells (this happened to us a few years ago, and we swore it would never happen again as it is such an awkward place to get to, and with fast running tide and other boats manoeuvring not carefully!).  Natalie wanted to stay due to the previous bit of a battering, and the weather was beautiful once in the harbour, so it would have been so easy to ensconce ourselves there. However, one of our friends on 'Serenity' had just departed Wells after our arrival, to head north, and said sea conditions were more reasonable...this spurred us on to make a run for it and to cover that final sea leg back to Grimsby, whilst keeping close to Skegness to get a smoother ride. It is safe to say that the Wells to Grimsby trip was by far the best this holiday...not flat calm, but NOT choppy, but most certainly a decision well made! We are now safe and sound and back on home territory. 

Photo courtesy of Henry Young Master of Putford Harvester. Moonshine just departed Lowestoft.

Logged 117.2 Nautical Miles

Day 17,18&19. Grimsby

We have spent a few days in a very windy Grimsby recovering our land legs yet again. We are so glad we made the right call by leaving Wells the other day. Once Sunday day 19 arrived (Peter's final day off work), it became pretty apparent we would be stuck here for yet another day. Monday looks a lot calmer, so it looks like Peter will have to call work to advise of our situation. We are all looking forward to getting back home now, as there is only so much you can do in Grimsby whilst waiting for that all important weather window.

Day 20. Grimsby to Goole

The weather was a lot calmer today to get back to Goole on the pm tide, or so we thought! The morning was spent with the mammoth task of packing up. As soon as the lock gates were open we departed the moorings at Grimsby. We went slow at first as there were some pretty big troughs off Immingham despite the neap tides as there was still a fair bit of wind against tide. As soon as we reached Sand End LF the river calmed off, and we then had a very fast run back up to Goole. Once we reached our mooring at Goole Boathouse we had to tidy all the carnage up in the front cabin, as all the previously neatly packed belongings had spilled out from their bags. 

Logged 34.9 Nautical miles

The last two and a half weeks have passed very quickly. Moonshine, as ever, has run exceptionally well despite a weak port turbo which will be replaced within the very near future, along with the need to replace Moonshine's tender. We have certainly covered some ground this holiday, visiting Lincolnshire, Norfolk, Suffolk, Kent, Essex and finally home to East Yorkshire in some quite choppy seas which were far from pleasant at times....at least we will be able to reminisce about our experiences like old sea dogs.
Planning ahead to next year already, we have decided on a sedate coastal holiday that we can ALL enjoy without rushing from port to port, with our no 1 destination being Wells and actually being able to enjoy our stay next time for a longer period. Once in Wells the wind can do what the hell it likes!
Total Logged 548.2 Nautical miles

A Change Of Plan

Day 6. Ramsgate to Rochester

A change of plan this morning. We would have liked to have moved further down the coast to Eastbourne, but since strong winds are forecast over the next few days we decided to head back and go to Rochester in the Medway. We had a good run at sea into the Thames Estuary, but it was a bit choppy off Whitstable Bay as there was a large fetch for the SW breeze, but once in the lee of the Isle of Sheppey it was a lot smoother. We arrived at Rochester Crusing Club at high water, which made mooring up a lot easier as the tide can run very hard here.

Logged 44.7 Nautical miles

Day 7&8. Rochester

The next few days were spent sight seeing, dog walking, shopping in neighbouring Stroud and relaxing in Rochester with a view to waiting until the strong winds abated. However, even Rochester has succumbed to the UK's homeless population, as there were loads of rough sleepers in shop doorways in the high street.

Day 9. Rochester to Brightlingsea

Time to move on today after three very enjoyable days in Rochester. We ran at displacement speed to Darnet Ness, from where we could plane out of The Medway into The Thames Estuary, heading to the Medway secondary channel. Sea conditions were quite calm, which due to the recent high winds had fortunately been blowing off the land...it would have been a different story had the wind been in the NE. We was against the flood all the way until we entered The Colne Estuary where we then got help from the tide. We arrived off the town moorings just before high water, where we had a short wait for the Harbour Master to escort us into our allocated berth in the East Marina. We have a very pleasant panoramic view across the harbour.

Logged 48.2 Nautical miles

Day 10. Brightlingsea

We spent a lovely day at Brightlingsea, dog walking and looking around the chandler's looking at replacement brands for Moonshine's tender. We would like a slightly bigger version to our Narwhal 240 to accommodate 4 adults and 3 dogs whilst still allowing us stern access. The Narwhal has given us sterling service over the last 15 years, but has now nearly reached the end of its life.
We have loved Brightlingsea, being moored in the East Marina, watching the world go by and will be sorry to leave.

Day 11. Brightlingsea to Ipswich

We left Brightlingsea as soon as there was enough water over the sill, and had a good fast but short run against the tide to Harwich, where we dropped off the plane and then went steady up The River Orwell. Once in Ipswich we came through the lock on the level and immediately took on fuel. Time to relax once again amongst the hustle and bustle of busy Ipswich.

Logged 32.6 Nautical miles

Day 12. Ipswich

We have had fun exploring the vast marina and town that has some impressive historic buildings. We popped into the most prestigious Lakeland store that is known as Ancient House in the Buttermarket area  which dates from the 15th century. Considering Natalie hates the Lakeland store, she rather enjoyed investigating it's quirky layout, and didn't bat an eyelid whilst I spent ages debating with myself whether I could justify a £20 spend on 16 large pegs to fit Moonshine's tubular rails for drying towels etc.
As ever we have loved it here, but time to move on once again back to Lowestoft, where hopefully we can purchase another 7" fan, as one of ours has just this minute packed up!

Baking Hot

Day 1. Goole to Grimsby

Leaving Ocean Lock on the first pen didn't quite go according to plan this morning, due to outbound commercial traffic  delaying us somewhat. However, once underway we enjoyed a flat calm passage to Grimsby in the baking hot sunshine, entering the Fish Docks on the very last of the level with only minutes to spare before the gates closed.
Tomorrow, we are unsure if our destination will be Wells next the Sea or Lowestoft (the latter being our preferred choice being the start of our holidays), but this decision will be very much weather dependent.

Logged 37.5 Nautical miles

Day 2. Grimsby to Wells next the Sea

Another hot day and the decision was made to head to Wells, as later in the day the weather was forecast to blow up making a trip further down the coast unpleasant. We had a slightly bumpy passage in a SE 4 with wind against tide, but the welcoming sight of the Norfolk coastline was a fine sight to see. As it turned out we probably could have made Lowestoft, as the predicted rather impressive storms hit Wells later that evening, bringing with it some extremely wild windy weather.

Logged 54.4 Nautical miles

Day 3. Wells to Ramsgate

Today was a lot cooler, still warm at 25 degrees, but more acceptable than the mid thirties of the previous two days. We decided to cover as much ground as possible, and after departing Wells as soon as there was enough water we headed straight for Lowestoft to the Royal Norfolk and Suffolk Yacht Club for fuel. The sea state was very smooth until Sheringham to Winterton Ness, and from there it smoothed out again. We departed Lowestoft on smooth to glassy seas, whilst not quite decided if we would head to Harwich or Ramsgate. Since I was keen to make Ramsgate whilst the sea state was calm, a decision I quickly learnt to regret when we hit very choppy seas in a SWF5 outside of the Thames Estuary approaching the Kent coast for a full arduous hour. Battling approximately one meter wave heights with wind against tide from Kentish Knock to North Foreland, which for a 35 foot boat isn't very pleasant. When in sight Ramsgate's pier entrance was a very welcomed sight indeed.

Logged 125 Nautical miles

Day 4 & 5. Ramsgate

Today (day 4), certainly wouldn't have been a day for crossing the Thames Estuary, after checking the wave bouys on Cefas. Lottie is utterly exhausted (remember she was the one hit worst with a recent gastro bug). She pants a lot whilst underway, even in calm conditions, so we have to keep them hydrated using a small syringe as she refuses to drink whilst the engine is running. After yesterday's long sea passage and after checking the weather, we are enjoying a few days in port to recover our 'land legs', and will treat ourselves to a Weatherspoon's on The Royal Victoria Pavilion which incidentally is the largest in the country. One thing we have noticed since last visiting Ramsgate, are the amount of homeless and rough sleepers in the town and harbour. The town has certainly become more run down and deprived since our last visit. Hopefully tomorrow morning we can move on further along the coast.

Fighting Fit

This weekend the tides were just right for a trip to Hull.  We had a nice calm run each way, however on Sunday the river was especially smooth due to the forecast light airs.
The new flood defence scheme has started on Victoria Dock Village, and the western section of the river promenade has been closed off, resulting in a detour around the residential village to get to the eastern end for our afternoon dog walk.

Thankfully the dogs are all back to full health after our last holiday to Newark and Nottingham.
They all had contracted a nasty gastro bug which took a full 7 days each to recover from, resulting in a two night vet hospital stay for Lottie as her back end had gone due to dehydration. We have since learnt that Sconce and Devon Park in Newark where we had enjoyed several dog walks now has notices up advising dog owners/walkers of an outbreak of Parvovirus. We suspect they had picked the bug up from here, but we will never know. The vet even checked Lottie for Alabama Rot due to us having been to Nottinghamshire, but we were advised this takes a hold very quickly (which we knew) and that it is often fatal.
Thankfully they are all back to their usual noisy selves and fighting fit once again. Hopefully our main summer holiday aboard Moonshine in a few weeks will be a lot more enjoyable experience.

Poorly Dogs on Holiday

A week last Saturday, armed with new starter batteries, we had a long days cruise from Goole to Newark stopping at Torksey to let the tide build and let the dogs off. Upon arrival at Cromwell, there were no vacant moorings hence the busy bank holiday weekend, so we had no choice but to continue onto Newark after being advised not to moor at Nether Lock due to potential antisocial behaviour. We didn't even expect a mooring in Newark town, however there was loads of space on the wall near Castle Barge.

After a few days spent in Newark, we headed upstream to Stoke for two nights, with a trip to Nottingham mooring on the visitor pontoon at Meadow Lane Lock.

We then trundled back down river on Thursday to Farndon, and was lucky enough to lay on the CRT visitor pontoon, avoiding Farndon Harbour's (in our opinion) hefty charges for their river pontoon with no facilities or security. At this stage we knew Scout was 'a bit off' in the bottom department but otherwise fine. We found a nice farm shop called Hardy's where we were able to purchase some chicken to aid settling her.

We headed back down river to Newark on Friday for some lunch and shopping, before heading back downstream to wait at Cromwell for the tide, before heading to a very busy Torksey Cut. Upon arrival there was no available mooring, however we noticed that a narrow boat which was moored economically right at the end of the pontoon could move back a touch to enable us to squeeze our stern onto the end. The narrowboater was very good and pulled as far back, when asked, allowing us access ashore.  Another cruiser arrived about an hour later and you could see the dismayed look on their faces, until we invited them alongside. They departed just after 4am bound for Wells next the Sea. Just after their departure, Lottie our other dog started panting quite distressed until she was let into the saloon where puppy pads were still down for Scout, relieving herself immediately on the pads. She normally would be mortified and upset at doing her business on the boat or even in the house, but she must have known that that is what the pads intended use is for....better out than in I always say!

On Saturday morning we departed a now deserted Torksey Cut, and thought we would head downstream and wait at the Gainsborough pontoon so that the trip wouldn't be as long without a toilet break for the dogs. This also gave us more water over the notoriously shallow part of Marton Bend. Getting towards spring tides now and with hardly any rain to speak of recently, parts of the river were very shallow. We departed Gainsborough after a three hour break to meet the flood tide at Keadby and planed back to Goole. Once safely back at Goole Boathouse, we quickly loaded up the car to get back home.

It now seems plain egg for breakfast and a bland mix of chicken and white rice for tea  is on the doggy menu for the next few days...as upon returning home Tia got the dreaded dog bug also. 
During Sunday, Lottie went downhill rapidly due to dehydration and a trip to the emergency vets in Morley, Leeds was required. The vet was ready to prescribe medication until she saw Lottie had no strength to hold her weight on her back legs so then decided to keep her in overnight due to her dehydration and discomfort. What was an enjoyable trip away has now ended with a sour taste left in our mouths.

Change of Scenery

This weekend we decided to visit Sykehouse for a change and test the outboard. 
We had taken the outboard home over the winter period, but whilst stored in the garage it had rolled onto its wrong side, allowing oil to enter the cylinder. This was thoroughly cleaned out at home, and after numerous attempts at restarting the engine it finally burst into life smoking for a few minutes whilst clearing itself out. The outboard was then returned back to the boat, for a proper test on the canal to check it ran ok on the dingy, which it did.


Last weekend the two new Lucas batteries were installed, along with our new Plastimo compass, which looks very smart. This needs to be checked in calm open water, but it appears to be pretty accurate on the canal comparing it's reading with the C.O.G on the plotter. However, on the canal you are never far from the magnetic influence of the steel sheet piling that line the banks.

Sykehouse could prove to be our new favourite dog walking place, after discovering new walking territory.

Bling, Ker-Ching and Where To Go...

Whilst going tidal over the Easter period, we discovered the Eltrim Trim Tab controller wasn't working on the green button. After a bit of investigation, and finding out a new replacement unit would cost around £300, we opted instead for a £49.99 repair or refund of money paid if unfixable. After paying the fee upfront on mdsbattery.co.uk ebay's store, we posted the controller off to their works in Enfield last Monday via the post office using their special signed following day delivery. We advised that the green button wasn't working correctly, and that the two white buttons didn't seem as positive as the red (which was still working fine). The repaired controller was returned back to us on Wednesday via UPS, with all four buttons replaced and resoldered leds. The unit has now been refitted and tested, and is back to full working order. Money very well spent.

Apart from refitting the trim tabs controller, one small job which has been in the pipeline has been to make a nicer more aesthetically pleasing light switch surround. The old original surround was matching cream vinyl on a wooden mount, however the rounded corners always looked creased and a bit agriculturally finished off. From the bathroom worktop project we completed over the winter, we had plenty of black Staron left over, and thought a small offcut of this would be perfect for the job. This looks a lot tidier now, and matches the black perspex sliding entrance door with an added bit of sparkle/bling.


With Mayday bank holiday weekend upon us, we were very much undecided where to go. We didn't want to go back to Hull after only having visited there recently, and we had been debating whether to visit Barnby on the Marsh. However Saturdays forecasted blustery conditions and spring tides put paid to that idea, plus the fact it would be nicer to visit on a sunnier weekend. So instead we opted for a cheap weekend trundling up the canal to a very quiet Pollington, with plenty of dog walking and relaxation to look forward to, however Sundays quieter weather brought boats out in full force.


This weekend we have also noticed that our marine compass has been leaking and not working properly, and the starter batteries now need replacing....Ker-Ching! Not such a cheap weekend now it seems.

Not So Much Of A Safe Haven

We had a good week visiting Lincoln and Hull in the week leading up to the Easter weekend. Moonshine ran well and we had a very enjoyable break, until yet another yacht ran into us at Hull Marina, damaging our bow roller and bending the release pin. The weather was unbelievably calm, however the unseasoned skipper of yacht 'Swallow' decided to moor in his allocated berth opposite ours bows first, whilst not keeping a watchful eye on what his stern was doing! How wrong were we to assume we were in a safe haven. We immediately contacted the duty lock keeper for him to log the incident, and we followed this up with an email requesting Hull Marina confirm this had been done...however no email was returned to us...

Peter rectified the damage by returning to the boat on Easter Monday and successfully managed to straighten the bow roller out. However, rather disappointingly the yachtsman from Grimsby and Cleethorpes Yacht Club, has yet to contact us as promised one week on. I have told Peter to contact him requesting his insurance details to put the 'shitters' up him! It also begs the question had we not witnessed the impact, would he have admitted liability...we think NOT! Bloody infuriating with the inconvenience of it all, but it is sorted now, and it is probably a good job that it is quite soft metal to bear the brunt of any impact, as opposed to damaging the anchor, winch or glass fibre.
Prior to our holiday we did purchase a 24" LG tv (non smart) from Amazon, which fit perfectly on our bulkhead bracket. We haven't had much use from it yet, since it has been hooked up to the Xbox over Easter courtesy of a gaming mad teenager. Whilst in Lincoln, the tv signal was non existent due to the high rise university buildings, which in turn infuriated Peter as he does like both the national and local tv weather to compare everything tally's with the internet weather before either going out on  the river or to sea. After further investigation and recommendation, we purchased upon our return home an SLX Digidome outdoor digital aerial from Amazon for £29.99.


Saturday was mostly spent installing the mushroom aerial, with several hours spent with Peter in the 'bosom' of his engine room feeding coaxial wire through tight spaces.
It appears to give very good reception with a lot more channels being received than our old aerial, however it's real test will be when we return to a weak signal area.

'Flogging A Dead Horse'

Since Moonshine's saloon is looking nice and tidy with her new upholstery, we decided it was time to remove all the curtains for washing. We only got as far as removing one in the forward cabin, and realised we were 'flogging a dead horse' with this, as all the lining material was badly mildew stained. The existing curtains have been removed several times in our ownership for washing of which we are pretty sure they are original, and had been re-hung randomly with not realising that they had different drops. After measuring them all correctly, we decided that purchasing some ready made curtains from Dunelm for £55 to utilize the fabric would be the best and cheapest option, and with enough fabric left over for potential mishaps and for making additional tie-backs. In addition 10 meters of 1" white heading tape, 3 meters of 3 pass ivory thermal black out lining material and anti snag branded Velcro was purchased from eBay for approx £16 (the attached curtain lining of the new ready made curtains was a silky material which we didn't like as this was in my opinion too thin). Both the sewing machine and the overlocker have done sterling service over the last week, and the end result is pretty good. We may end up regretting using the thicker blackout material as this bulks the top of the curtains where they are gathered, but this will become more transparent once they have properly relaxed.

The forward cabin curtains have not yet been hung, as we are making a pair of curtain rail stand off's out of hardwood, which need multiple coats of paint. These will compensate for the flare of the hull sides to ensure they don't touch the port lights to minimise transfer of condensation.

We have also made some cardboard templates for both a 24" and 28" LG tv for the boat, to be sited on the heads bulkhead in the saloon to replace our existing dated 19" combi dvd/tv. These will be offered up next weekend to see which is the better size for the space available. Obviously Peter is protesting as he likes his old tv, and would rather put the money towards a new dingy or replace a turbo etc, but he has been given the hard line that he needs to keep his crew happy!

Easter is now fast approaching, and we are looking forward to less work and more play!

Short Cut

This weekend and with no work commitments we were looking forward to enjoying a full weekend aboard Moonshine with her new upholstery.
Since the weather was settled and unseasonably mild, we ventured up the canal to Pollington on Saturday morning. Passing no other craft we moored on the CRT moorings low side of the lock.
The dogs had a decent circular walk around the village upon our arrival, and we decided to work our way across to Sykehouse for our afternoon walk. This involved cutting across the lock and running back down the opposite side of the canal bank to Crowcroft Bridge, where we headed along the farm path in the direction of Sykehouse. You can then pick up the public footpath that cuts across the fields in a zigzag to Topham which is an annexe of Sykehouse village. This gave the dogs a really good walk, and we discovered on the return trip (we could see Moonshine was only a stones throw away) a short cut which brings you out opposite the moorings and swing bridge, making this dog walk a good option during fishing season, as it's a bit of a battle getting three unruly terriers past them and their tackle.

So the ongoing bathroom refurbishment is complete now. Peter visited Moonshine during the week, and fitted the new flooring piece which was left to bond weighted down for a few days. It is an excellent fit and looks really good and really completes the look.
We are now looking forward to Moonshine being lifted out for three weeks this Friday at Goole Boathouse. We have all the paint, bellows and anodes etc which have been recently ordered and delivered, and we hope there will be nothing untoward when lifted.

No More Bottoming Out

Since purchasing Moonshine, she has been dogged with pronounced brown staining on her forward coach roof and side decks which had gotten progressively worse over recent months. 
Numerous expensive (both marine and non marine) products have been used to eradicate this staining to little avail. However, after trolling through the internet for remedies we have discovered a 'miracle cure' in Oxalic Acid powder, purchased from Ebay for less than £10. The trick is to NOT follow the manufacturers instructions as this didn't work very well, but to mix a strong solution with wallpaper paste to a nice thick consistency which will not in turn evaporate, and apply with a paint brush on a nice calm cool day. The solution was left for a few hours, and then washed off. It is imperative this solution is NOT allowed to dry, as this would then become difficult to remove.

The staining lifts off into the glue solution, and Moonshine is once again a gleaming example of a Seawings 355.





We have now received our new saloon upholstery back from Marine and Industrial Covers Lincoln, in the requested Buff Ultra Leather. Apart from the colour contrast, the new foam in the base seat cushions makes the seating a lot more comfortable than the old, so no more bottoming out, and she looks pretty smart to.



In addition to the work already undertaken in the bathroom area (see previous blog) we decided to use some left over teak and holly laminate flooring (left over from the saloon a few years ago) for the very small floor area forward of the shower to improve the look further. This was templated up last week and we are just waiting for all the glue to set at home prior to installation next week. Being the sad cases that we are, whenever a Seawings comes on the sale market we always save the photos and sale description for future reference,thus enabling us to utilize ideas from different vessels as every boat built had slight differences. Some of which we have implemented such as adding a port light in the rear cabin for additional ventilation from the wheelhouse. We think most of the newer versions of the 355 had the teak and holly on the bathroom floor, but we were only able to track down one photo where the wide angled lens had gotton most of the small bathroom area in shot. From this we were able to judge how successful it would be to replicate this ourselves. Obviously it has to be done correctly whilst upholding our Seawings integrity, as once it is bonded to the fibreglass floor there is certainly no going back...