Home Sweet Goole

Moonshine entering Pollington Lock

We departed Goole Boathouse at 10.00 am Saturday morning for the 2 hour trip up the Aire and Calder Canal to South Yorkshire Boat Club.  We have been members at SYBC for the past 29 years but unfortunately due to their beam restriction we are unable to moor Moonshine there, hence the reason that Goole Boathouse has been our new home for the past 12 months.  However, Goole Boathouse is very well situated with good access to the tidal Ouse (York, Trent, Seaward or inland up the Aire and Calder and Sheffield and South Yorkshire Navigations).

 

New signage at South Yorkshire Boat Club

One of the reasons for this weekends trip was to test the new port throttle cable which was fitted last weekend.  We realised this needed a small amount of adjustment and this was done once we were moored on the available visitor mooring.

 

View of the club from the basin entrance

 

Our Jack Russells enjoying their afternoon walk to Whitley Lock

 

Home Sweet Home (Goole Boathouse aka Smith's)

We have had a steady weekend with the added light relief of not having any work to do on Moonshine.  We have enjoyed a couple of lovely meals, shared in a new members 60th birthday party and had a good catch up with our long standing friends, however it is always good to get back home...home sweet Goole.

Busy Weekend (or not!)

 

We could not dedicate much time to Moonshine this weekend due to other commitments, however when we did arrive at Goole Boathouse we were pleasantly surprised that civil works have been underway throughout last week to create a hard standing area, presumably for boaters to work in a clean environment.  There is always something happening here at the boat yard even in the depths of winter, and with friendly yard staff and fellow boat owners we are thoroughly enjoying our time here.

 

Last weekend work was started on the new lighting panel switch to upgrade the look and to set them out in a logical order.  A new trim panel has now been made and trimmed in a spare piece of matching vinyl and the new switch mounted to this.

 

 

The 3 control cables were delivered from ASAP Supplies (www.asap-supplies.com) earlier on in the week.  These were purchased at a very competitive price and we were once again able to take advantage of the discount applied to our account for being a RYA member.  These have now been fitted to the fuel shut off valves and port engine throttle.
Next week we hope to test these by having a trip up the canal to South Yorkshire Boat Club.

Control Cables and Switches

Old Throttle Cable

Cable Damage

When we bought Moonshine the starboard single lever control was very stiff, after investigation this was narrowed down to the throttle cable being worn.  This was replaced with a new 33C Morse Cable earlier last year, which returned it to a nice smooth operation.

Now that we are catching up on the mechanical side of things, we have decided to change the remaining cables as they are all original.  The port throttle cable was removed and was found to have been rubbing on the charge air cooler, which has worn through the outer sheath and corroded the steel wires.  When the new cable is installed we will sleeve it with some rubber hose to help prevent this damage in the future.  The removed cable has now been measured to ensure we have the correct length for replacing.

 

Fuel Valve Stops

Stop Valve Cable


 










The fuel valve control cables were removed and measured for their replacements as these had also become stiff with age. 
Next month when Moonshine is lifted out of the water, the gear cables will also be removed, measured and replaced.

After owning Moonshine for the last year the saloon lighting switches have been a petty annoyance, as they appear to have been wired randomly with no method to the layout.  Ideally we wanted to alter the wiring and keep the existing switches.  However as you can see from the above photos, the fixing screws are concealed behind revolving covers of which the inner covers are impossible to remove without damaging the plating.  Therefore a new 6 gang flat stainless steel switch has been purchased to replace the old switches.  The footprint of the new switch is a lot narrower, but fortunately we have a small piece of cream vinyl (from the cut out of the aft cabin port hole) which is just big enough.  A trim piece will be made from paxolin and covered to match the surrounding vinyl and the new switch will be mounted to this.  Photos to follow upon completion.

Old and New Switches

 

 

Switches released and wires marked up, and new back box fitted for new installation