Look after your boat, and she will look after you!

We thought it prudent after the water in diesel incident to replace the fuel filters after our York/Hull trip over the Easter break, as there was a small amount of water in the primary filters.  The diesel tank has now been given a double dose of Fuel Set Conditioner to prevent any further problems if there is any more water left in the tank.  This should also prevent any diesel bug problems. The Fuel Set was purchased from Goole Boathouse at a very competitive price.

 

On our visit to York over the Easter break we discovered Moonshine's anchor winch was seized, having unbolted the motor/gear box unit at York it was this that was found to be at fault. 

The work we did to the anchor winch last year which was the through deck assembly was still rotating freely.  

Once back at base at Goole Boathouse the anchor winch was removed and taken home for repair on the bench.  We were not sure what to expect as the Simpson Lawrance Anchorman is no longer in production but certain spares are still available.  The only way to investigate the matter was to split the motor from the gear box (bearing in mind the winch wasn't working anyway so we had nothing to loose). 

We found the gear box to be working correctly and that the motor was seized.  As you can see from the above photos the motor was jammed due to lots of rust/iron filings etc causing the motor to stop rotating.  It was given a thorough clean with the brushes checked etc, new cork gaskets were made and the retaining bolts were replaced.  Everything was bench tested and proved to be working as it should. 

Obviously due to the harsh environment anchor winches live in and are subjected to, this is another thing that will be continually monitored as equipment such as this need to work at short notice reliabily.  To be fair this is most probably the first time it has had a complete strip down.

 

 

 Whilst at Naburn pumping the diesel tank out we used our Whale Gulper 220 bilge pump.  The gulper was indeed our saving grace but had started leaking from the tell tale hole in the drive section.  Therefore, when we arrived at Hull Marina we purchased a service kit which enabled us to service the pump when back at Goole.  It now works faultlessly and was given a good test with hot soapy water to flush all the pipework out, however with any luck this will never be required for that type of job ever again!

 

 

When we purchased Moonshine, what was really missed was a good quality dash mounted clock.  Cash was tight at the time so we bought a cheap lcd clock from Maplins.  It has never kept good time and has proved to be a complete waste of money.  So before we went away to York over Easter we ordered from Ebay a Kus stainless steel bezel clock, which we collected from the post office upon our return.  This was fitted earlier in the week, and we are really pleased with the quality for £29.99.  The red back light is superb and on a par with modern car dash lighting.

 

A few weeks ago we blogged about the poor starting of the port engine.  We finally found the root of the problem which was the battery isolation switch.  After a lot of searching to source a new Hella switch we found York Marina to have several in stock.  Copy switches look the same but have smaller 8mm terminal studs instead of the 10mm on the Hella switches.

 

On Saturday afternoon after all the jobs had been completed, we had a pleasant trip to the New Junction Canal to Sykehouse Road Bridge.  There were quite a few craft moored at the entrance of the New Junction, however we opted to moor further up towards the road bridge on our own, which gave us the opportunity to run the generator without annoying anyone. 
We hope very soon there will come a day when we are no longer rectifying years of neglect due to lack of maintenance, but fortunately for us this has resulted in very little expenditure so far...look after your boat, and she will look after you!

Plain Sailing

Skelton Railway Bridge

Museum Gardens Moorings looking towards Lendal Bridge

After a few nice relaxing days in York we headed a few miles upstream to Skelton, then turned and headed back downstream towards Naburn Lock where we were due to pen out on Tuesday 7th April. By this time it was necessary for us to fill up with water again, taking extra care to fill up the correct tank!

 

 

We penned out of Naburn Lock with two other craft at 11.00am.  We had a very pleasant run on a strong spring ebb lower down river.  We were delayed at Selby Rail Bridge due to technical problems with the bridge, and had to wait for the tide to drop further before we could safely pass through with enough air draft. 

We arrived at Barmby Lock at 13.48, but due to the locks tight entrance for a vessel Moonshine's size we entered at a slow but safe speed.  There are sliders and ladders within the lock, and both lock keepers are very friendly and helpful.

  

The moorings on a floating pontoon are sufficient enough to accommodate three similar sized craft to Moonshine with the added option of breasting up if necessary, with a water point but no shore power on the pontoon.  The moorings are very peaceful, with the village pub just a short distance away.  Barmby offers excellent dog walking opportunities, there is also a nature reserve if your preference differs from ours.  Just a word of warning if you don't like cows then stick to the main Trans Pennine Trial, as they are plentiful along the river bank.

 

The Environment Agency are running the barrage for a further 10 years.  The barrage was originally built for the benefit of yorkshire water in the 1970's so they could abstract water from the lower river to keep the silt laden water out of the Derwent.  You usually require a licence to navigate these waters which will cost £12 a year or £6 a year if you don't venture beyond the pontoon.

 

We departed Barmby as soon as the flood arrived.  We exited the lock very carefully due to the tight entrance and being unfamiliar territory for us. The lock keeper had advised us that when the flood arrives on a big spring tide it can do so with a vengeance.  Immediately outside the lock entrance we ran aground on the soft mud, but floated off moments later.
Once underway and heading downstream towards Goole we had to be very careful in avoiding all the debris in river. We enjoyed a light SE breeze and managed to commence some fast planning once past Ocean Lock, Goole.



Lazy Dayz from Burton waters

 

Humber Charter taking soundings

 

Humber Princess



Minerva, Hull

Once safely moored on the visitor pontoon all engine checks were made along with another check of the primary filters to check for water contamination.  We are pretty confident we have removed all the water and we have most certainly had a very lucky escape, however this will be continually monitored and will be treated with some Fuel Set just to be safe.

Princes Quay

 

Visitor pontoon, Hull Marina

New wind indicator flag

Last Christmas we purchased a new wind indicator flag to replace the old one.  The old flag was originally bought for our Ocean 30, Oceans Eleven and removed and placed on our Hardy Seawings 305, Luro, and removed again to be fitted to Moonshine.  The old wind flag frame has had several new material parts made throughout it's life from old umbrella material, however we felt it was now about time Moonshine was treated to a brand new one.  We have been delaying fitting the new flag whilst waiting for more clement weather, and the fabulous weather bestowed upon us this week gave us the perfect opportunity.

 

New 9mm gold pin stripe

A few weeks ago we ordered new 9mm gold pin stripe from eBay in a 50m roll to renew the existing which was tired.  The starboard side was replaced whilst moored at Barmby and the port side was replaced at Hull Marina.  Moonshine is once again another step closer to achieving her 'just out of the factory' look.

  

Morning mist on the River Humber

UKD Seahorse moving 32B Lt. float

We departed Hull Marina at 09.39, and enjoyed yet another lovely calm fast run back up river to Goole on Friday morning with a light SW f2-3 breeze, despite the lingering hazy mist.  The channel was a bit confusing off Brough due to the floats being moved, and we did slow down to displacement speed whilst passing UKD Seahorse whilst she was towing 32B Lt. float to it's new position. It now looks like the channel is a lot closer to Brough again.

Looking towards Aldam Terminal, busy scene at Goole

We arrived at Ocean Lock, Goole at 10.42 with only a short wait whilst the lock was being prepared.  Once through the lock it was nice to be greeted with the sight of a busy port.

Security Hounds

A good ship should always be rodent free, which is a job our two Jack Russells take very seriously and excel at.  Whilst at Hull Marina they did a security sweep around the Railway Dock.  Mice, rats and cats are no job at all for these two!

Turning Water into Diesel at Naburn

 

Ocean Lock

Having departed our mooring at Goole Boathouse at 6.36am we penned into Ocean Lock with two other Goole Boathouse boats, Malarkey and T.W Prickett.

 

 

Goole Bridge

We had a nice steady run up the River Ouse to Naburn, with only having a short wait for Goole Bridge to be swung but other than that the other bridges were swung with no delay. 

Moonshine at Naburn.  Photo taken courtesy of Chelle Bodle

We arrived at Naburn Lock at 10.46am, and once penned through we moored on the floating pontoon top side of the weir. The river seems to be up slightly, however there were plenty of moorings available.

 

 

We even spotted my late fathers Seamaster 27. When he owned her she was known as Kriskerry. She has since changed hands several times and was recently owned by some fellow South Yorkshire Boat Club members and returned there under her new name Timeless. She appears to be nameless now, however I did have some really good times on her whilst growing up.

On Saturday morning we departed our mooring at Naburn to fill up with water from the water point. Well you can imagine what's happened...thank goodness I didn't do it or I would never have heard the end of it!

I will calmly state what's done is done, we are not the first and certainly not the last to make this mistake, however I am sure we will be more careful in future. Fortunately the engine was not running, and when we realised the fuel stop cocks were switched off so there was no danger of the fuel pumps being damaged. The diesel heater was still running, but had detected a fuel problem and automatically shut itself down. 

So to remedy the situation required to empty a 600 litre tank with a mixture of diesel and water.  This required the aid of Peters dad who lives in York to take Peter back home to collect 21 empty diesel containers to siphon out all the contents and to filter the water out.  You may be able to see from the above photos how it separates leaving the water clearly at the bottom.  It also appears that the Lock Keeper is more than happy to have diesel polluting his waterways, and does not want it to be disbursed with detergent (unless it is phosphate free detergent), as this is damaging to aquatic life.  Not being a walking Eco warrior or engaging in Greenpeace activities, I bore the brunt of a 'bollocking' for doing what I thought to be the right thing.  Needless to say he was not made privy to our predicament, and was later informed there was muck at the bottom of the tank and this needed cleaning out prior to going back tidal again. He may of suspected, but we think he bought the story as it was a perfectly plausible one.  Never mind, after a lovely shower to eradicate the smell of lingering diesel and being far too tired to check products were phosphate free water off a ducks back springs to mind.

https://canalrivertrust.org.uk/boating/navigating-the-waterways/caring-for-the-environment
Both the heater and the engines are now water free, with a change of primary filters at hand after some further running on the non tidal river.  However to top it all off Peter informed me it's been a good exercise at cleaning the diesel tank ...I am not impressed but its just a good job he didn't put diesel in the water tank, otherwise I would have been going straight back home!

Archbishop's Palace

York Minster

Museum Gardens

Museum Gardens

Moonshine, Museum Gardens

We departed Naburn early on Easter Sunday for the short trip up to York. Thankfully this journey was trouble free after the previous days debacle, and when we arrived there were still plenty of moorings.   However, when we deployed the anchor the anchor winch decided to play up so there won't be that much relaxing done until Tuesday when we plan to leave Naburn on the tidal river bound for Barmby On The Marsh.