Christmas Cruise

We departed from Goole Boathouse in bright sunshine.  The snow fall from Boxing Day evening and Moonshine's icy decks had thankfully melted.

We ventured to Sykehouse Lift Bridge just an hour upstream of Goole.  The snow here had not melted, and extra care was taken whilst mooring up. Moonshine's new LED lighting proved to be a godsend using little battery power, and subsequently her new batteries and heater came into their own overnight as we awoke Sunday morning to another very keen frost.  

      

                                                                                                                                                          

 

A small job this last week was to make a kick guard for the port side aft seating backrest.  This was made from an offcut of Silvertex and incorporates a thin batten at the top to tuck down the seat back, and a heavier batten at the bottom to hold the fabric in place.  The old seat back had suffered a lot of scuff marks from shoes, and since we now have new upholstery this needs to be protected.  This has been made so it is removable and also the battens can be removed for cleaning if necessary.

 

 

This weekends short cruise has been a good test for the new engine mounts recently fitted, which will give us added confidence when we next venture tidal to Hull hopefully weather permitting in a few weeks time.

 

New Boat

The new Sunbrella canopy in Dune was fitted on Thursday.

Also the new Silvertex cockpit upholstery in Champagne was fitted.  It is hard when choosing a colour scheme based on small swatches of fabric, but we had a little help courtesy of photos from another Hardy Seawings 355 Ibis which is for sale at Essex Boatyard www.boats.co.uk. Moonshine's new look is in our opinion outstanding and we are really pleased with the finished job, the transformation is like us having a new boat...just don't mention the blue fenders, that subject is an air of contention at the moment!

 

A small job this last week was turning the void space under the forward bed into useable storage. The boards were painted, the void space carpeted out, a removable hatch lid made and the cushion covers were taken home and washed.  Perhaps things that we don't need to get at that frequently would be best suited for that part of the boat, as it means disturbing the bedding to get at it.

 

 

The out drive trim pumps have both been  refitted after removing them last weekend for stripping and repainting and new ATF  was put in the reservoirs after installation.

 

 

 

We only have 1 saloon door lock key on Moonshine, and that to obtain spares would be a sensible thing to do.  Therefore 3 Mobella key blanks were obtained from www.keytrader.co.uk . We didn't realise that our key was not the correct key and that a locksmith would not be able to cut from it.  Therefore the correct coded key was obtained from eBay after obtaining the key code from the inside of the door lock...top boat security I know, and had we known this we would have just purchased the full set from eBay originally. Anyway, the new key blanks look better quality than the new key, so now we can just take all of these to a local locksmith for them to cut. But talk about taking the long way around!

 

 

We have had Moonshine now for one full year as of the 21st December, and over the last year she has come on in leaps and bounds, I think her previous owners would hardly recognise her now.  Perhaps her original owners wouldn't recognise her at all since she was formally known as Premier Crew.

 

We have noticed that another Hardy Seawings 355 Porkys Revenge II that was for sale at the same time we bought Moonshine is at long last under offer http://www.plymouthyachts.co.uk.  She certainly has taken a long time to sell, a good 4 years we think.  It was from Porkys that we got the idea of installing a Lewmar size 1 Portlight in the mid ships cabin back in May to allow more natural light in.  Since all of the 355's had slight differences it is nice to improve on Moonshine using different ideas used on the other vessels Hardy built.    

We still have more jobs to do both mechanically and internally, but next weekend we intend to enjoy her since she is all 'ship shape' again, and are planning a little inland cruise but not sure where just yet.

Putting the pieces back together

We visited Moonshine on Thursday and refitted the lighting panels, refurbished vinyl trims and the newly powder coated aluminium trims.  The above photo does not do the aluminium trims justice as they look absolutely fantastic and raise the cockpit to that higher level visually speaking. Moonshine's original trademark turquoise trims have been replaced for black which will be better suited with the new colour scheme.  When we have time we will find the template out for the steering wheel cover and machine up a new one including the fish finder hood, as they too need a black stripe to replace for the turquoise.  Fingers crossed, the new canopy and cockpit upholstery will be fitted this coming week.

The old navy blue carpet has been disposed of since it is breaking down through constantly getting wet courtesy of Moonshine's leaky canopy.  A new black gel backed carpet was sourced from Calverts Carpets in York for £30, and cut to size.  Press studs have been fitted where necessary to secure the carpet to the floor, and the carpet has been designed so that it will not have to be removed to access the engines etc.  However, at the moment this new carpet has had to be stored while the cockpit is still getting wet...hopefully not for much longer.

Labels were recommended by the boat safety examiner earlier on in the year, and these were sourced from www.abbeysigns.co.uk in York for £14.

The engine oil and filters were changed on Friday, and the engines were also filled with new coolant to prepare her for the winter.  Filters sourced from www.inlinefilters.co.uk

Whilst in the engine room the out drive trim pumps were removed as the starboard pump was very rusty, caused by a leaking exhaust when we first took the boat over.  New exhaust rubbers were fitted last January to resolve that problem, the pump was still working ok, but now we have the time to refurbish it.  It will be cleaned up, flushed out, stripped and repainted.

Looking ahead, we have also booked Moonshine to be lifted out on the handstanding in March next year for 4 weeks for general maintainance.  We also hope to have her turbos either refurbished or replaced early next year, so hopefully when she is relaunched for Easter she will once again be on 'top form' and fly like a rocket! 

Mechanical Work

This week we purchased 4x R&D Supermounts from ASAP Supplies.  These were considerably cheaper and better isolating mounts than the previous Volvo ones.  As these new mounts were slightly lower in height, 2 sets of shims (4mm and 6mm) were made out of paxolin to increase the height should we need them. 

It is worth noting that ASAP Supplies will allow a generous discount for RYA members, alternatively it is still also worth requesting they apply a discount on large orders.

After a lot of fighting with old rusty/semi seized bolts (the raw water/sea water pumps had leaked on these prior to our ownership), the old mounts were removed, and the new mounts installed with the 6mm set of shims.

The last dregs of old coolant were drained, and the now clean header tanks were re-fitted with new stainless hose clips.  Since we were running out of time on Saturday, the 20litres of green coolant will be mixed next Thursday and the cooling system refilled.

Since owning her, Moonshine has had a persistent charging problem with the starboard engine back feeding,  with the charge light and alarm coming on on the port side.  Numerous hours of testing and swapping looms over, engine logic units over and bypassing the split charge diode one engine at a time, we have concluded that the split charge diode is faulty.  After a LOT of Internet searching and expecting to pay exorbitant amounts one was found at ASAP Supplies, 2 inputs and 3 battery banks 100amp rating, at a very reasonable price.  This needed sorting as we had disconnected the engine alarm buzzer on the port side, which in turn meant having to be vigilant in monitoring the engine gauges.  This will be fitted next week, as again we were running out of time on our Saturday visit.

We are still awaiting the final fitting of the cockpit canopy and new upholstery.  All the retrimmed cockpit panels have been returned to the boat for fitting next Thursday.  The wet bar lid which is made from a hard nylon has been refurbished.  The edges have been rounded by a router to match the other mouldings, and has been spray painted to a high gloss and now looks just like the surrounding white fibre glass. 

Bright Lights!

LED Lamps

This last week the brass coloured bezels for the cabin lights were stripped back and spray painted white.  The led lamps were then grafted into the existing lamp holders.

 

Saloon LED lighting

 

Brighter LED rope lighting

The saloon panels were refitted this weekend with the completed LED lighting.  The new lighting itself is considerably better than the old, with less battery drain.

 

Refurbished Duo Props

Last Monday Peter collected the refurbished duo props for the port outdrive from www.aewoodwards.co.uk.  So once again Moonshine visited the slipway at Goole Boathouse and the waders came in very useful yet again.  After a short test run out on the canal everything seems ok, however we still intend to purchase a new set of duo props for the start of the next seasons boating.

 

 

Engine mount/coolant and header tanks

The cosmetic side to Moonshine is nearly complete, however once again attention must be focused on the mechanics.  After our last tidal trip in October we discovered a worn engine mount.  The front of the port engine has been supported with wooden blocks and wedges to safely gain access to and remove the worn engine mount.  Now that this has been removed, this will enable us to accurately measure it to order a replacement.  Whilst this is being replaced it would be prudent to just replace all mounts on both engines.
The coolant needs to be changed for this coming winter, and by the looks of things this was in urgent need of replacing also.
The header tanks were also removed and taken home for a clean up.

Modernisation with a Sneaky Peak

 

 

 

On Saturday we visited the boat to strip some panels down to replace the saloon lighting for led.

The above photo shows the pelmet above the starboard dinette area and how ineffective the old rope lighting was. When Moonshine was built 16 years ago, there was no led lighting like what we have today, and the rope lighting she had, although innovative for it's era had tiny none replaceable bulbs in.

 

 

 

This photo shows the pelmet above the galley to port has been removed. All the main lights just had to be unplugged to enable them to be removed before the pelmet would come free.

 

 

So now it once again looks like parts of the boat are taking over the house, and that Lottie's play area is once again a 'no play zone'.  But I know this is a 'means to an end' and that the end is now in sight.
On Moonshine we do seem to get a bit of brown water that dribbles down onto the vinyl above the galley and also near the tv.  After taking the pelmets down, we have come to the conclusion that this brown unsightly water is caused by condensation and the staining of the wood the pelmets are made from.  Therefore, the back of the pelmets will be painted to help seal this and prevent this from continuing. We had thought about putting insulation in the void between the superstructure and the ceiling panels, but we have decided against this as there needs to be good airflow in that area, however suggestions to the contrary would be gratefully received.
The above photo shows the new Fluxia warm white LED tape lighting has been applied to the pelmets.

All the existing lamp holders and bezels have been removed for the new LED lamps to be grafted into the existing holders. The brass coloured bezels will be stripped and repainted in white and also given a spray of clear lacquer.

 

On Friday we had an initial canopy fitting.  We were hoping we were not going to be shocked by our choice of a completely different colour as the old canopy is navy blue and we now want something a bit more modern looking.  The new canopy has been made using Sunbrella and we have opted for Dune. It doesn't look much here, and my lack of photography skills do not do the colour shade justice.  However, we are looking forward to the day that Moonshine's wheelhouse no longer has a leaky canopy and that we can move forward with new carpet in that area also. All of the wheelhouse upholstery was also taken away for the old vinyl to be replaced with Silvertex in champagne.

No rest for the wicked!

After all the work we did on Moonshine last weekend, we thought we deserved a well hard earned rest at home this weekend.  Well these things don't always pan out how you plan them. Instead we have been redecorating Natalie's bedroom, and today laying laminate flooring...no rest for the wicked. And the purchase of a new wardrobe and chest of drawers has punched yet another large hole in the old credit card.

However, we haven't neglected Moonshine completely this week, as her port duo props were taken to www.aewoodwards.co.uk   These will cost around £130 to rebuild the severely damaged one (25% of the blade was missing) and to rebalance the other. The damaged propeller itself appears to have good life left in it as the metal is quite thick and the new weld hopefully will adhere to it. We were told that after inspection they had been repaired before and that the repair was very good as only a keen eye would be able to know it had been repaired.  We hope this won't be a case of throwing good money after bad as a new set for the one side would cost about £500, however before the start of next seasons boating we will purchase a complete new set for both sides and these old ones will become spares.

 

 

Also new vinyl was purchased for the wheelhouse trims this week from Dunelm Mill (http://www.dunelm-mill.com). Not marine quality, but we have used this before for re-trimming areas in Luro's wheelhouse shortly after buying her, and it still looked good after 5 years when she was sold.  A new heavy duty staple gun was also purchased for the job along with stainless steel staples. Only half way through recovering them but they are looking good so far.

This also means that over the coming weeks the sewing machine will have to have the dust blown off it, and a new steering wheel cover made along with fish finder hood with a black stripe.

Galvanic Isolator, Wheelhouse Trims and Removal of Damaged Duo Prop

www.safeshoremarine.com

On Thursday we collected our Galvanic Isolator from safeshoremarine.com as they are based not far from where we live.  We needed to fit this before the winter set in, to help prevent galvanic corrosion of skin fittings, outdrives and propellers etc when plugged into shore power. This can also help to reduce anode wear. In fact this was installed this morning as the first job of the day.
You can see from the website that they have a very good selection of galvanic isolators at more than competitive prices.

 

Galvanic Isolator fitted in void space above aft cabin,
and status indicator fitted inside aft cabin wardrobe

 

 

 

 

Last Sunday we removed all of the vinyl covered trims including the white powder coated aluminium trims on the back of the hardtop and on the interior of the sunroof apertures.

 

 

 

 

All of the vinyl has been removed from the wooden panels.  Where there has been damage caused by water ingress, these have been repaired and the rest of the panels cleaned. They will be painted on the back to help prevent further damp/water penetration and recovered with new vinyl.  The white panels will be recovered in white once again, however the turquoise panels will be covered in black.  The lighting panel has had the lamp fittings removed ready for new led lamps to be fitted. 

www.bedazzled.uk.com

 

The original wheelhouse lighting was very dim with 4x 10w festoon lamps.  The light fittings themselves are good quality Aqua Signal fittings, a good reason in itself for not replacing them.  Therefore, we purchased new 21 led lamps with wires, which are designed for adapting existing light fittings.  To hold these particular lamps in place off the lens some spacers were required to be made.  An old silicone tube was exactly the correct diameter and this was cut down and glued in place.  Then this assembly was glued into the lens with a dab of silicone.  We have used these lamps before from Bedazzled on our smaller Hardy Seawings 305 Luro, and have found them to give excellent light with a long service life and give no electrical interference, however they do come at a cost of £14 each.

 

www.lsn-coatings.co.uk
 

The once white powder coated aluminium wheelhouse trims that again had suffered from damp and salt corrosion were dropped off on Monday at www.lsn-coatings.co.uk in Castleford, West Yorkshire.  They were ready for collection on Friday, and have been chemically stripped back to bare metal, re-coated  in silver and finally given 2 coats of clear lacquer all for £60. The end result looks fantastic.

 

Wading in the water

 

Damaged Duo Prop

 

After discovering the damaged 3 blade prop and a slight bend on the other 3 blade duo prop (port side) on our River Trent tidal trip the other week, these needed to be removed and repaired before going tidal again, due to potential damage that could be caused at high speed caused by the vibration to the engine mounts. These were going to be removed last weekend, but an idea was had to purchase a pair of chest waders to make the job a tad more comfortable.
Upon discussing this idea with a fellow SYBC comrade we were told he had a pair that his work had provided for the purpose of one job several years ago, and that since these were surplus to his requirements we could have them.  To be honest it was this or a wet suit, and Peter wasn't that keen on the idea of donning a tight wet suit for all to see!
As a temporary measure an old 4 blade pair of duo props from Luro were fitted to the port outdrive to give us good  maneuverability back to our mooring.
Hopefully these will be taken to Woodwards in Hull (www.aewoodwards.co.uk) for repair this week.

 

 

Autumn Cruise - Burton Waters and Lincoln

Burton Waters

We arrived at Burton Waters on Monday morning, but moored on the canal moorings. Chris Potts the canopy maker from www.marineindustrialcovers.co.uk paid Moonshine a visit to pattern up her canopy and to discuss what we wanted regarding both the canopy and cockpit upholstery. This cannot come soon enough as Moonshine's existing sunroof canopies leak very badly, and now every time we look closely at the main canopy we see another part that has daylight coming through. Her existing canopy would be very lucky to last another winter. We had a walk around the marina looking at their boat sales and saw what is new that is being built on the complex. Every time we visit there is always something new.

Brayford Pool Then and Now

On Tuesday we moved onto the beautiful historic city of Lincoln. Even as a youngster I loved visiting Lincoln on Kriskerry (Seamaster 27) with my parents. However, every time we venture up this way now we wonder if we will get moored up on the very sparse free visitor moorings that CRT provide. When we arrived a narrowboat was already occupying the moorings and by the time we had returned from a meal out at Toby Carvery and a bit of shopping another narrowboat had moored behind us and that was it, moorings full. 

The mooring situation has of late been a huge problem for pleasure craft visiting the city. At one time there were council visitor moorings on the left hand side of the Brayford Pool, but since the cities waterfront regeneration in the early 1990's and the building of the new by pass, university, cinema, bars and restaurants the old decaying wooden jetties have been removed never to be replaced. The only sign that moorings were once there are the old jetty upright posts that were never removed and still stand just under water. 

It must be noted that craft fortunate enough to be able to pass through the Glory Hole can moor opposite the Wilkinsons store.

For this reason we tend to visit out of season ie Easter or this time of year.

Whilst out and about on our travels and on occasions like these where we have no access to shore power we rely on a Silverline 700w inverter which we purchased from Argos earlier on in the year for the tv and kids laptops. We also have a Kipor IG2600 generator which we purchased 2nd hand in December from a friend of ours as he was giving up boating due to health problems. The generator isn't that old and it is probably more heavily used with us than its previous owner. It is useful for topping up the domestic batteries, running tv and laptops etc and if necessary is more than capable of heating the water up via the immersion heater for showers etc. It would be nice to have an inboard generator, but the only place we have on Moonshine to fit one is where her holding tank is situated. 

Woodcocks

On Wednesday we spent the day shopping and returned back to Burton Waters late afternoon just as it had dropped dark. We then tried out the food and bar in the Woodcocks. The food was on 2 for 1 and they have a wide selection of fine pub food.

Saxilby

Thursday saw us trundling slowly back towards Saxilby on the Fossdyke Canal aka The Ditch, where we stopped for the local Co-op and a light lunch onboard before setting off again for Torksey to fill up with water and be penned out of the lock for the river.



Weber

We even managed another bbq as it was dropping dark.

Julia was preparing to sail when we passed. She had laid overnight at Blacktoft Jetty, and was due to depart for sea on the following tide.  She is a large vessel for Goole on neap tides, and could not make it over Whitton Sands on one tide, even though she was in ballast after delivering a load of vegetable oil.

Friday saw us leave Torksey on the ebb to meet the flood at Keadby. From there we planned to The Apex, but travelled at displacement speed back to Goole with the tide as we didn't want the vibration caused by a damaged prop causing any more wear and tear to an already worn engine mount. So that is another couple of jobs to add to the list prior to going tidal again. 

Goole Boathouse

We returned back to our base that is Goole Boathouse with the sight of yet more SYBC boats that have moved there this week for various reasons. Looks like there may soon be an SYBC Goole division!