First Tidal Trip of 2016

The tides were perfect this weekend for giving Moonshine a run to Hull enjoying a NNE 2-3 breeze to test the newly refurbished port turbo. We were very impressed with her performance, with both needles on the turbo boost gauges off the scale and although being an expensive refurb due to the fabrication  of the stainless steel liner, we now have peace of mind that Moonshine should perform well on our forthcoming sea trips this coming year.

Moonshine, Hull Marina

Vaastenvik Outbound




Tharsis backing upto Victoria Lock

Westvoorne, Ocean Lock

A small job this weekend was to replace our 2 year old Pioneer Dab radio which decided to stop working a few weeks  ago. Due to where the radio is situated on the boat condensation has been slowly corroding the protruding circuit board at the rear of the machine rendering it unuseable. We therefore decided to replace the unit once again for another Pioneer but without Dab so it can be plugged into the existing setup. We will see how this goes, and if the same fate befalls this unit in the same time frame we will look towards a different brand in the future. 

Port Turbo Test Run

Having collected our newly refurbished port turbo from AET Turbos http://www.aet-turbos.co.uk/  in Normanton earlier in the week, a few hours on Saturday were set aside to refit it. The refurbished turbo took longer than AET Turbos stated 24 hours turnaround due to the cast iron water cooled exhaust housing being corroded.  When it was blasted it was beyond the tolerance so had to be sent to an engineering firm to be machined out and a stainless steel liner welded in.

 

 

After installation, we decided to give Moonshine a run up the canal to Pollington to test everything was ok and that it was giving a good reading on the turbo boost pressure gauges. Everything looks good, however we are considering giving her a run to Hull next weekend to give the turbos a good run for their money. 

At this point it's worth noting that Pollington Lock is still out of action, and is only manned by staff for a few hours weekdays only. The problem with the lock has been ongoing for several years now, and in typical CRT style they have allowed the problem to worsen. It will be interesting to see if they rectify the problem soon, since the boating season will be soon upon us and in full swing for leisure craft.

This weekend we thought we would bring our new vacuum along for the ride. Since we have replaced all our flooring at home for wood effect laminate and the only carpet in the house being that on the stairs, we treated ourselves to a Gtech K9 and Multi with power brush head. Anyone with dogs that shed will appreciate that heavily trafficked floors need vacuuming at least every other day. We are that impressed with both machines that we thought we would test the Multi on the boat. The carpeted areas cleaned up very well using the new improved power brush head along with the laminate areas, whereas when we bring our main vacuum from home this proves too cumbersome in upright form  and the hose attachments don't really pick up. Therefore the existing orange resident vacuum will be heading home to the back of a cupboard somewhere for retirement. 

The newly installed cupboard and wardrobe lighting has also proved a great asset within these darkened areas. At least the old whisky bottle and biscuits can be easily located now....

New Cupboard Lighting and Port Turbo

 

This past week we received a delivery of our new Fluxia 5 metre length LED tape kit.  Over the past few years this particular good quality tape lighting has significantly decreased in price, and at a cost of £20.99 we are now able to introduce better lighting within our dingily lit wardrobe and cupboard spaces.  Six pieces have been made up for the wardrobes and galley cupboard, and mounted on plywood battens ready for installation. 

Even though Moonshine is still in the water, after careful consideration it was decided that it was indeed safe to remove the port turbo charger for reconditioning (the starboard turbo was reconditioned last March). Our original intention was to remove this whilst on the hard standing this coming March for our annual lift out maintenance, but by doing this now we have saved a few days. The water level is just to the top of the exhaust riser from the transom shield.  So a bung was made from 95mm BT duct capped at one end and filled with epoxy resin, this was inserted into the exhaust rubber and hose clipped together.  Also the water injection pipes were plugged with wooden bungs and tie wrapped up at a safe height.

The turbo charger was given a quick clean and will be sent to AET Turbos in Normanton West Yorkshire tomorrow for  full refurbishment.

 

While the water injection elbow was removed from the engine, this gave us an opportunity to check it's condition which was surprisingly good.  This will be given a repaint in Volvo green whilst off.