Spring Bank Holiday Weekend

We departed Goole on Saturday morning  bound for Grimsby and had a nice calm run.  There were quite a few motor cruisers out on the Humber, some of which were bound for Glanford Boat Club  at Brigg.

Usually when we visit Grimsby, we like to make our way to the river front and allow the dogs a good run on the beech at low water.  Last time we visited we were unable to do this as it was closed off due to construction of the new sea wall.  This has now been completed and this enables the public to walk to Cleethorpes instead of walking along the busy road.

Around Grimsby docks all the buildings are very run down with a lot of dereliction.  However when you start to look closely at the architecture of some of the original Victorian buildings there is some beautiful brickwork.

Whilst at Grimsby we had been weather watching with a view to going to sea to visit Wells next the Sea.  Whilst the forecast would have given us a reasonable trip down, later in the week a deep low pressure was forecast, this meant we would have had to have returned to the Humber on Wednesday.  We would have preferred to either spend more time in Wells and visit Kings Lynn also, so we reluctantly decided to head back to Hull Marina and plan B came into operation.  We departed Grimsby on Sunday morning and ran up river at a steady 8 knots, arriving at a deserted visitors pontoon at Hull Marina.

On Monday morning we departed Hull for the River Trent bound for Cromwell Lock.  We were unsure whether Hull Marina would be able to pen us out at all, as the top lock gate had suffered a serious mechanical failure after penning us in the day before.  We had been made aware that it may be a case of us being trapped in Hull for the week. We love Hull, but after a few days it wears a bit thin and we want to be moving again.  Fortunately, the lock keeper with the aid of two other staff managed to pen us out. The lock is now closed to traffic this week...it always pays to phone ahead.

Bomar Portlight

Crazed lens

Whilst we were sourcing the mirrors and the chart covers the other week, we decided to further investigate having the lenses replaced on Moonshine's Bomar portlights.  To replace 6 complete portlights would be too expensive, and since it was only the lenses that looked unsightly due to star crazing it was only these that needed replacing. Looking for 'off the shelf replacements' proved impossible as we did not know the exact catalogue code for them, along with the fact that these would most certainly have to be imported from abroad.  After months of research we contacted http://boatwindow.co.uk/  to make all 6 in a grey tint.  



Temporary blank

 

http://boatwindow.co.uk/ required we send them our lens template, so a lens was removed and promptly packaged up and sent via Royal Mail to them.  A blank was made and fixed in place as a temporary measure from white formica covered plywood.

New lenses with protective film

 

We received the new portlights via courier last Tuesday along with the template lens we had previously sent.  These cost £144 including vat and delivery.  Prior to us approaching http://boatwindow.co.uk/ we had been quoted from another firm £70 labour per lens plus the additional cost of £700 for a sheet of material.

 

New lens fitted, adjusting the dogs

 

Earlier in the week the rubber seals were removed from the stainless steel portlights, these were cleaned and bonded to the frame.  We've previously had problems with window leaks, and we found this was due to bonding failure between the seal and frame.  When Moonshine was built, these portlights came complete with external fly screens, but had been cut away roughly by a previous owner, this also gave us the opportunity to remove any remnants of the mesh. 

Once the new lenses were fitted the locking dogs were adjusted, with a spanner which had been thinned down (by grinding). 

We are really pleased with the end result and obviously the price, and would recommend this family run company to anyone wishing to renew any plastic work...next year we may commission them to make new lenses for the 2 deck hatches.

 

Moonshine is once again all fuelled up and ready for her next voyage for the forthcoming Spring Bank Holiday week.  Weather permitting we intend on going to sea, however if the weather is not favourable it will be Hull, Grimsby and the River Trent.

 

 

 

May Day Bank Holiday

 

Moonshine

Since our bank holiday weekend was scheduled to be broken on Saturday into Sunday due to Peter's standby work commitments, a tidal trip this weekend was out of the question.  Therefore, we made another reluctant pilgrimage to South Yorkshire Boat Club to assist Peter's dad with his boat maintainence.

Crambeck

Therefore, on Friday Peter helped his dad slip his Aquastar 33. The jobs required were fresh anti foul, fresh boot topping, repacking the stern glands and a hull polish. Everything was completed on Saturday and she is due to be relaunched Monday morning. Hopefully this 'work horse' should be good for another year in anticipation for a trip to Amble in July. 

Helm Seat

After using Moonshine's newly upholstered helm seat, it was felt that it was a touch on the low side.  Wooden runners were fabricated out of oak to increase the height. This has worked very well. 

 

New clear and white Perspex chart covers

Old clear cracked and black bowed chart covers

This last week we have been busy sourcing new Perspex for the chart area. The old clear chart cover was scratched and cracked, and the black locker lid below was bowed due to it being black and absorbing heat under the windscreen.  Morton Industrial Plastics www.mipuk.com were commissioned for this work. We required an identical clear Perspex cover but wanted to replace the black lid for white to help prevent bowing. The total cost was £35.00 and these were collected personally as this firm is located local to where we live.

New acrylic bathroom mirror

New acrylic vanity mirror

New acrylic mirrors were ordered online through www.theplasticman.co.uk for both the vanity unit and the bathroom as the old ones were also scratched. These cost around £33 for the pair incl delivery.

 

Crazed lens, and blank made

Whilst we were sourcing the mirrors and the chart covers, we decided to further investigate having the lenses replaced on Moonshine's Bomar portlights.  To replace 6 complete portlights would be too expensive, and since only the lenses look unsightly due to star crazing it was only these that needed replacing. Looking for 'off the shelf replacements' proved impossible as we did not know the exact catalogue code for them, along with the fact that these would most certainly have to be imported from abroad.  After months of research we contacted http://boatwindow.co.uk/  who have quoted £110 plus vat and delivery to make all 6 in a grey tint. Moonshine seems to have a combination of the grey and bronze tint portlights, but the grey tinted ones have faired better and have no crazing, perhaps these are newer replacements... we will never know, however these can still be kept as spares.  This company required we send them our lens sample (a blank was made and fitted), which we have done and will contact us again once the work has been completed for payment.  We anticipate a turn around time of 3-4 working days...watch this space!