10 Years After and End of and Era

 I once watched a program on TV about a group climbers attempting to climb Everest. One of them said that, should he reach the summit, this would be his ultimate achievement. I was still working on Wildrose at the time and she was still not in the water.

Then, not long after, as I was putting the last coat of paint on Wildrose, I began to see that this journey of restore and refurb of narrowboat Wildrose, had become my therapy and it would be my ultimate achievement to get her back on the water, up and running, cosy and ready for adventures.

Well I did get her back on the water and ready for adventures and I have had many happy times pottering about over the couple of years she has been back on the water.  Although |I have never done much by way of sailing since getting her back on the water, I had travelled the entire Midlands canals with Jim during the 10 years we lived on her and somehow when she eventually was back on the water, I could't get to grips with going solo. Neither did I feel any need to do so.

Then when looking at her as the summer ended this year I saw that she needed another repaint, I really struggled to see her as anything other than a huge drain of my finances, and more importantly my energy and if I wasn't going to be sailing her at any time in the future, what a waste of my efforts to see her just sitting there becoming no more than a floating summer house, but with huge maintenance costs.

And so I have had to come to terms with the fact that she has done her bit for me and the realization that getting Wildrose up and running and back on the water was my Everest, and climbers who climb Everest don't then sit at the summit for the rest of their lives worrying about their diminishing levels of energy and how much it's costing.

And so at the end of September I bit the bullet, advertised her and she became the new home for two delightful and enthusiastic people who wanted a narrowboat to refurbish and live on.

So it gave me great pleasure to hand her over and watch them sail her away.

Casting off

Chugging out of Bumble Hole on their way

Alison and Emily making breakfast

Good bye, good luck, have fun and enjoy

Happy new year....2017 already...phew

Time flies !!!

 engine starting a treat with solar panel battery charging. That seems to have been a great installation. Engine running means radiators heating up so she is getting a warm up from within..mm

Fire roaring as well so she will be pretty cosy by tea time. Might stay over as supposed to b another good day tomora and there is nothing like breakfast cooked outside on an open fire and outside kitchen.

Plenty to report from last year.....a couple of new sheds to replace the original that fell to bits when contents removed ha ha....they were holding the roof up. That was fun.

Still not travelling much, the bumble hole arm badley silted and dont want to get stuck on my own.

However my bankside mooring is plenty big enough to enjoy, chill out and listen to the radio or play some music .

Am managing to keep everything on 12volt and not using mains electricity...a challenge well worth doing...the solar panels are great.

This post has been done on my phone so no idea how it will look but a technique i am hoping to master lol

Have a great 2017 to anyone reading this. Good luck and may the force b with u.

Love n hugs to all of u from all of me

Happy on the Water just found this in drafts

Back home for almost a year now, moored up all safe and secure, and looking good on the water.

This one refuses to go upright, always something !!! harrumph harrumph ha ha

Wildrose Reborn

The crane just managed to lift her, missing the roof by a few inches, feeling very nervous now, what have I not done ???? 

crumbs, the day of reckoning, is the ballast in the right place? is the grease packed into the greaser? ropes in place? diesel in the tank? water in the heating system .......all on board as soon as she sits in the water to check for any unwelcome water ......

But all seems ok, she sits pretty level, all dry inside the engine compartment. Master switches on, Alt on, in neutral, full throttle and press the button and...........blooming marvelous

   And what a delight to at last feel the movement on the water.. It was noticeably still all the time I have been working on her and she just didn't feel right. Now she feels at home and doing what she was meant to do....phew. Never really thought I would get there, several hiccups this year were overcome and the electrics safely in place.
The horn still works, well I say horn but in actuality it's an air raid siren from WW2 !!! and a pretty fearful sound to match, but there is a way to make it not go full throttle so some practice away from civillisation will be needed.
Now she has her own electrics cupboard, master switches, fuses, a split diode, batteries boxed and fastened in and other useful things.
I did the exhaust pipes lagging, well done me lol

and well done to all who have contributed in time and effort.

Coming out of the Parkhead lock on the way to Merry Hill on her inaugural cruise.

Hooray

That went on a bit too long !!!

Mainly because of the XP situation and my machine refusing to recognise my phone pictures Harrumph Harrumph

So its been almost 12 months since my last posting. this doesn't mean that I have been skiving off because it gives me great pleasure to announce the successful  launch of  the rejuvenated Wildrose on 10th July ....phew
and just relieved she floats, engine runs a treat and she starts up with just the push of a button. gosh and am going to try to insert pics from my phone direct so here goes..

Thank you to COX's Cranes of Oldbury. Did a marvelous job taking her back to the nearest place we could put her in the water and she cruised back to her original moorings like a dream. No leaks, slightly high, well 2inches up in the water so I need to get more ballast sorted out. 2inches on a 10 tone boat is I think quite a lot of it.....that should be fun and will continue to keep me fitt-ish

Back home at Bumble Hole, and a misty morning at Merry Hill Waterfront on her first trip out, 3 hours, 1 lock and 5 fishermen (10 minutes in the car ha ha) but a magical journey through the narrows of Netherton

Nice new wall to moor against, Thank you Stan. A black cat and a heron appeared the day she arrived and so did the owner of her sister narrowboat, Wild Musk. So thats how we ended up having a 2 day stayover at Merry Hill Waterfront. Four boats and excellent company. Sitting outside Weatherspoons in the evening looking across the water at the boats and the sky was just unbelievably beautiful. Who would have thought, I have been there many times but never really looked around but it was as good as any waterfront on the Med...

Yes thats us Wildrose in the middle, moored outside the Copthorn Hotel (nice toilets) lol. AND the Bowman exhaust gas heat exchanger has worked a marvel, I can recommend for any air cooled engine. Will be able to say more after a winter cruise

WOW back on the water, what were the odds
and now to just enjoy
Whilst cracking on with the garden, somewhat bigger than before !!!

Listen to my engine .... again Ha

Don't know whether the video will come up. but there has been some progress just recently and what a treat to be starting her up. Here we are testing the waterpump with a bucket of water ha ha, but can hear how easily she starts up. Its getting a bit tight now the compartment is filling up....

not mushroom for feet !!!!

Now to make sure that everything connects together and the pullies and gears go the way they need to, hmmm clockwise or anticlockwise??? which way should the propellor go round??? 

The engine is running two pullies, one for the water pump that will pump hot water from the Bowman (part of the exhaust system), round the boat as heating, through a couple of radiators and a calorifier (hot water tank) with a header tank to form a sealed system that will operate when the engine is running.. This has to flow in the opposite direction to the exhaust gas flow.....

The other pully is on the gearbox flange to run the alternator, just hoping the tickover speed will be fast enough.??? something to find out ...

So Now

The accelerator cable, gear linkage, fuel system and starting up are all operational

the diesel tank is connected to the fuel filter

the fuel filter is connected to the engine..

the engine is connected to the Bowman and 

the Bowman is connected to the water pump

the water pump is connected to the engine.... need a header tank...

the engine is connected to the gearbox 

and the cogs in the box go round and round ..... Ha Ha

Blooming marvelous ...... so far, quite brilliant

Cracking on again

 Difficult to see the shape of the diesel tank. The top half is almost rectangular on top of a triangular prism, to fit neatly on to the swim and down to the base plate

 Held in place with a couple of steel strip and bolts

 Stripped down, reconditioned injectors, first coat of paint

 Cleaning out the engine compartment and a couple of coats of Hammerite. Bowman ready to drop in place, Henry Hoover at the ready..

 Back together with finishing coat of original green

 Yellow flywheel, still to do black quadrants, fun to watch turnover ??? a bit sad that thought ha ha

 Hoisting her back on board








Battery boxes now fixed in place opposite the fuel tank

After connecting the Bowman in the exhaust system, fuel lines connected, ready for new battery leads and then for another listen to its dulcet tones !!!lol...