2 Years on...

HCA Grimsby

This Monday we celebrate our 2nd year of owning Moonshine.  During this time she has come on in leaps and bounds in terms of what we have achieved with tiding her up inside and out, whilst adding new equipment, and we still have big plans for teak and holly flooring in the saloon, forward and aft cabin area.  We have also explored new parts of the South Coast, visiting Suffolk in 2014 and this past year the Thames and Kent as well as inland work. I think her previous owners would hardly recognise her now, perhaps even her original owners wouldn't recognise her at all since she was formally known as Premier Crew.

Sykehouse Lift Bridge Moorings

 Unfortunately over the past 4 or 5 weeks we haven't been able to spend much time on Moonshine due to decorating at home and work commitments, however on Saturday we did manage a trip to Sykehouse Lift Bridge and back despite the breezy conditions and mild temperatures. This proved to be a trouble free trip after a full recent engine service.

River Went Flooding

River Went Flooding

 

Winter Blues

Having hoped for another tidal trip to Hull before Christmas and before work commitments once again clash with our weekends, and this being the 3rd consecutive weekend of high winds/gales, Moonshine is again confined to her mooring. 

However, we haven't been idle these last few weeks having nearly completed another phase of revamping our house.  The stairs and landing have been repainted and is now awaiting a new stairs carpet to be fitted this coming week. Once the Christmas tree is packed away over the first few days of the new year we can then move onto the final phase being the living room and conservatory, which again require a fresh lick of paint and new wood effect laminate flooring which Peter will install himself ... all 40 m².

In the mean time Moonshine requires a fresh oil and filter change, which is good practice if she is being left stood for the winter months. Last weekend the engines were drained of coolant and given a good flush through and refilled with new coolant. Also we have purchased a new grease gun for the steering as the old gun was being problematic. We got what we thought was a good deal on the oil, having phoned serveral local motor factors, we eventually purchased a 25 ltr container off ebay at £47.98.  http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/G-Force-15w40-Diesel-Semi-Synthetic-Motor-Engine-Oil-25Ltr

 

We hope to fit in a day trip up the canal at some point prior to the wind down for Christmas, however these winter months and strong gales are getting us down a bit and spring/summer 2016 can't come soon enough.

Big Brother Is Watching

 

On Sunday the reversing camera kit was installed.  After much deliberating the 7" display unit was mounted next to the Furuno sonar, forward of the companionway which enabled us to neatly run the cable.

 

The most difficult part of this job was running the 2x video cables and 12v supply to the engine room cameras.  These cables were run through 20mm black corrugated flexible conduit in the engine room for protection and to match the existing installation and to keep everything nice and neat.  This was then run through the dash to the display unit.  The power supply is from a spare switch on the dash.

The kit came with 2x infrared cameras, which were mounted on the forward engine room bulkhead high up giving a good view of the front of the engines and the bilges below.

 

The 7" display can be swapped from port to starboard with the buttons on the screen or with the remote control without having to leave the helm seat. The left hand photo shows the display with the engine room lighting switched on, and in turn the right hand photo shows the engine room with the lighting off using the infrared of the cameras (black and white image).

 

This kit has cost just under £39 plus another £15 approx. for wiring and conduit etc, and appears to be a very successful installation for the money.

Boys and their toys.

This weekend we took Moonshine for a short run up a very wind swept cut to the New Junction where we had a pleasant overnight stay. Upon arrival there were quite a few narrow boats moored there, but there was still plenty of mooring for us.

 

Peter has been wanting to purchase a camera system to install in Moonshine's engine room for a while now. Whilst I initially thought this would be another gadget to potentially clutter the dash with, I can see the advantage of being able to monitor the engine room particularly whilst at sea on long journeys to check belt damage, leaks etc. Therefore, we purchased a twin reversing camera kit aimed at buses and trucks with a 7" LCD monitor. This was tested at home to ensure it worked ok, and we are pondering now where to position the display, which can be either flush or bracket mounted. 

We have also had a bit of a tidy up this weekend, going through both the bathroom and food cupboards taking home items which are rarely used and soon to be out of date food which can be consumed this week at home. Not sure if Scout was a help or hindrance in this matter, however the tin of Pek went down very well in a sandwich for lunch.  We have always found a round tin of Pek to be rather useful should the need arise for blanking off a 4" exhaust to stop water ingress when a turbo has been removed from the engine with the boat afloat, as was our experience one year with Luro, how we love to improvise...

Victoria Lock Goole, a first for Moonshine!

The half term school holiday week has come around thick and fast, however due to work commitments we were unable to take full advantage of it thus not setting off until Monday's pm tide.

ABP Humber recommend leisure craft to phone ahead giving at least 24 hours notice when transiting Goole Docks as per their website, which we duly did on the Sunday.  Prior to departing our mooring at Goole Boathouse we called the Dock Master thinking we would have an easy transition being 1st pen, he disappointingly advised we may have to wait up to an hour as he had two ships to pen out!  However, he quickly got back to us advising he would arrange for staff to meet us at Lowther Bridge and pen us through Victoria Lock. This lock is rarely used for pleasure craft, and the last time Peter used this lock was when we owned our Ocean 30 'Oceans Eleven' on his return trip from the Fens some 10 plus years ago. 

Once departed from Victoria Lock we enjoyed a nice calm fast run to Hull Marina where we stayed for 2 nights.  Upon arrival it was very nearly dark but we managed to plane even though we were struggling at this point with the light to see the light floats in the lower river.

We had an early 6am start on Wednesday morning. It was dark and misty as we departed Hull so we travelled at displacement speed. The whether conditions were once again calm and as the dawn broke and the mist lifted we were able to plane to Gainsborough on an impressively high Spring tide where we then dropped to displacement speed until we arrived at Torksey Lock.

 

After a much anticipated fish and chip lunch in Saxilby we trundled up the Fossdyke aka 'The Ditch' to the locals to the Woodcocks moorings outside of Burton Waters. 

 

We spent the remainder of the week visiting the City of Lincoln where we stayed for 2 nights on the CRT visitor moorings. We had an enjoyable visit and met up with fellow boaters Naughty Cal before heading back down the cut and penning out of the lock to the bottom side of Torskey cut on Saturday afternoon.

 

 

At this stage we phoned Ocean Lock Goole advising we were heading down river the following day and would arrive near high water.

We departed Torksey cut 06.54 on Sunday in half light and thick fog. We thought the fog would have burnt off in the lower river to enable us to plane once we met the flood at Stockwith. However visibility did not improve and we felt it too risky to plane with the added danger of large pieces of driftwood.  We found ourselves punching the flood to Grove Wharf, we then had help from the ebb to Apex Light but then it was a long slog to Goole against 4/5 knots of ebb. 

We contacted Goole at Blacktoft Jetty, and were advised that we could not pay to pen in due to our late arrival as the Linesman had gone off duty (we do prefer to just hold station in the lower end of the lock rather than use ropes as this is much safer). This new procedure at Goole all stems from an incident earlier this year involving some York boats, which as regular users of Goole Docks we can't help but think that this has spoilt it for the locals who have transited the lock for many years without any problems. We therefore had no alternative but to anchor upstream of Goole and wait for the next tide. 

We heaved the anchor at 19.30 in dense fog and proceeded back to Ocean Lock where we had a short wait for the Linesman to come back on duty. We finally landed back on our mooring at Goole Boathouse at 20.26.

Despite this we have had a nice relaxing week after having the last 3 weekends spoilt by unsociable working hours, which have resulted in us not being able to enjoy Moonshine.  The only breakage this week being the hose pipe, but we can blame the impressive water pressure in Lincoln on that!

 

Engine Control Repairs

Due to work commitments we were unable to go away as planned to Pollington this weekend, however on Sunday Peter had the opportunity to visit Moonshine to give her a good external clean, and to dismantle the port single lever control.  He had noticed after manoeuvring last weekend the port stick was not smooth and engine only could not be selected, therefore this required further investigation.

 

The above photo shows the starboard engine control, which suffered the same problem last year.  It transpired that the pin had sheared.  The body of the unit had to be drilled apart as it was riveted, and a new pin was made and the unit reassembled with nuts and bolts.

 

Port control prior to strip down

Broken pin

New pin installed

We have encountered problems periodically with the shower drain pump box.  The pump box houses a bilge pump and float switch, the latter being the problem, having gone through two since owning Moonshine.  We have decided to do away with the Rule-A-Matic float switch, and replace this with a modern Johnson Ultima Electronic Bilge Pump Switch. These are solid state and have no moving parts so hopefully should prove to be reliable and long lasting, and will be ordered from  www.asap-supplies.com this week.

New Crew Member

 

 

Over the past month we have been very busy at home with one thing or another.  We suffered a family bereavement immediately upon our return from our main holiday.  We have undertaken a bathroom refurbishment which has taken a lot of time and effort, as we are doing this ourselves to save money and to ensure the job is completed to a good standard without bodging behind the scenes which is a pet hate of Peter's. We have also welcomed a new 4 legged friend into the family, which required very careful management around our other 2 resident Jack Russell's.
We were well aware that introducing a puppy to 2 cantankerous bitches could disrupt the balance and be a recipe for disaster, but they soon accepted her and will put her in her place if the need arises, however she is a quick learner and knows how to handle herself around them.

 

 

For Scout's first trip on Moonshine we had a gentle cruise to Rawcliffe Bridge visitor moorings. We think she enjoyed it as the engine noise lulled her to sleep and didn't seem to bother her.  With any luck little Scout will make a good sea dog and should soon graduate to be classed as one of the hounds!

 

This coming week we hope to have the bathroom completed, and next weekend we hope to head to Pollington for a bbq weather permitting. Whatever the weather we should be able to have a well earned chillax. 

The Thames, English Channel and Essex

Day 6. We departed our mooring in South Dock Marina at 14.30 to see the sights from the river prior to heading back downstream to the Medway.

We headed back downstream after passing Westminster Palace, contacting London VTS To request how to proceed through the Thames Barrier once again.  We had a lovely calm passage to the Medway and arrived at Rochester Cruising Club at 19.55 having achieved another 61.6 miles. 

 

Day 7. We spent a rather windswept day moored at Rochester Cruising Club. At slack water on the low tide we ventured to their fuel berth to refuel Moonshine at 92p per litre at 60/40 split. This is a very down to earth and friendly cruising club that offers reasonably priced fuel and cheap overnight moorings at £20 per night. Rochester town centre is just a short walk from the moorings, and boasts a quaint main street, an imposing castle and cathedral. There is a Morrisons supermarket across the river in Strood.

 

Day 8. We had a lovely calm run down to Dover from Rochester, achieving another 59.1 nautical miles passing Red Sand Towers and the wreck of the SS Richard Montgomery off Nore Sandbank near Sheerness in the Thames estuary, estimated to still contain 1,400 tonnes of explosives on board.

 We contacted Dover Port Control 2 miles from the outer East harbour entrance who in turn advised us how to proceed. Once inside, the harbour Port Control contacted us with further instructions.  As it was near low water the lock gates to Granville Dock were still closed, so we had to moor on the layby pontoon while the tide rose. Once a level was made, Moonshine was allocated a berth in the Dock. Both the Dover Port Control and Dover Marina are very efficient considering how busy the port is.

Day 9 was spent enjoying the Port of Dover, and considering the possibility next year of travelling even further south given favourable weather conditions. Since our existing charts only go as far as Dover, we may purchase the next set for next year.

Day 10. A short hop from Dover to Ramsgate Harbour today took Moonshine just over an hour and a total of 17.8 nautical miles. The wind was behind us when we left Dover but it quickly changed direction causing a bit of chop with wind over tide.

Day 11 was spent exploring Ramsgate, which included a trip to the shops for much needed food supplies, visits to Pegwell Bay where dogs are allowed on the beach, and a visit to the chandlery overlooking the inner harbour to purchase a full service kit for our Jabsco Twist & Lock toilet ... being a ships captain isn't always glamorous!

Ramsgate has a very continental feel, and the UK visitor's are outnumbered by visiting Dutch yachts. The harbour has a very friendly and welcoming atmosphere.

 

Day 12. We departed a very busy Ramsgate at 07.22 and arrived at Bradwell at 09.56 logging 49.3 nautical miles passing Shivering Sand Towers.  We enjoyed a lovely fast calm run, taking care crossing the Thames estuary as it was very busy with shipping.  Once at Bradwell  Marina we took the opportunity to refuel Moonshine at £1.01 which was considerably cheaper than Titchmarsh Marina having phoned ahead they were charging £1.12 60/40 split.

The Bradwell Marina Cruising Club serve a variety of 'good pub grub' at affordable prices with generous portions and always has good reviews from fellow boaters.

 

We are now at the start of our final week, needless to say we will be on weather alert for our return passage.