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September 2006

October 2006 >

Wednesday 20 September

Another visit to Reeves today and some new photos as the boat takes shape.  We're impressed with the quality - as far as we can judge as non-technical people.  The lines of the boat look straight and they were setting out everything with a sprit level and measuring it carefully while we were there.

We can see some of the special features of our design now the build has progressed this far.  The semi trad stern will have seats along each side with lockers underneath.  Look at the first photo and you will see the locker on the left hand side has a slightly sunken floor so there is room for 2 Calor Gas cylinders under the seat.

This is only a small sacrifice of engine room space and positioning the cylinders here makes lifting the heavy cylinders in and out a lot easier.  The cylinders are usually placed in the bows where they are difficult to lift in and out and almost impossible with the cratch in place.

The space in the bows usually used for the gas cylinders will be used for the water tank. This leaves the space under the foredeck usually used for the water tank for storage and accessed from inside, under the front doors.  I hope you're all following this.

Photo 2 shows this space under the foredeck.  It's not the easiest shape to access but I'm sure we can use it to keep firewood dry and hide the odd sack of coal.  You can see that the right hand bow locker also has a sunken floor and this is so it will hold a folding bicycle.

Also running across is the tube for the bow thruster.  You can see the outer end of the tube in photo 3 just peeping through at the bottom corner of the bows.  The bow thruster has a propeller mounted sideways and helps manoeuvring the boat.

Photo 4 looks along the boat.  The square area is the storage tank under the pump-out toilet.  It on the centre lines of the boat in both directions to keep it balanced as the tank fills.

Photo 5 shows the outside of the stern.  Look at the uprights for the seats and the T-shaped bollards instead of the traditional round ones so the rope stays on.  The narrowing underneath where the propeller fits is called the swim and photo 6 shows inside the rear cabin where a small space is lost and must be managed in internal the design.

There's just a small problem with the construction of the bows which are flared upwards and block the forward view, despite the drawing and the written specification showing only a small raised bow.  We spent the afternoon discussing solutions to this, so this posting is a little later than planned.  This isn't going to be easy to solve so watch this space for future developments.

Wednesday 13 September

The build has started.

We visited Reeves today at their base near Napton on the Hill to see our hull being built.  We arrived, as agreed, in time for their 10 o'clock tea break.  But only just.

We had carefully checked their location on the waterscape map but we now know they are shown in the wrong place on the map.  They are really a mile further south and the sign on the gate doesn't say Reeves so we drove straight past.

(UPDATE:  I emailed corrections@waterscape.com about the error on the map at 15:56 and at 16:35 I had an email back from Natalie saying that the map had been corrected already.  That's a nice prompt response.  Well done.  Natalie went on to explain that the problem was caused by their postcode driven database which had placed Reeves at the same location as Napton Narrowboats and in separating them they had accidentally moved Reeves a little too far.)

On the way back down the road we saw Ian from Stephen Goldsbrough Boats turning into the gateway so we followed him in.  He's been there many times before so we assumed he knew where he was going.

The tea break meant it was lovely and quiet and we could look around the hull without interrupting anyone and without any danger from the welding and lifting of heavy metals sheets.

Then we went up to the office and were plied with tea while we discussed the build and the planned future for the boat.

Finally we went back to watch everyone at work.  It was so noisy it's hard to describe.  With lots of people working on the three hulls in one building, and others working outside and in the adjacent buildings.  Lots of grinding, welding, hammering etc.  With the hull partly built even the slightest tap on the hull echoed throughout the building.  All proving that empty vessels make most noise - and three empty vessels make even more.

The only quiet activity was measuring out a piece of steelwork for the boat.  The dimensions had been carefully chalked on the bows of the boat - you're hardly likely to loose them that way.

We're going again next Wednesday to continue filming the build.  They should be well on with the superstructure by then and some of the extra details like the tube for the bow thruster should be in place.

We took lots of video and stills and some of them are here.  Click on the pictures for larger versions.

Wednesday 6 September

We can now reveal a little more about the narrowboat being built for us.

In addition to the conventional diesel engine there will also be an electric motor powered from batteries.  This will allow much quieter operation when we are filming, with less vibration.

The diesel engine will power the boat when we're not filming and recharge the batteries at the same time.  The same large capacity batteries will provide additional 240v power throughout the boat so we can be sure of plenty of power when we're moored without having to worry about running the engine too often.

The electric traction system is being provided by The Thames Electric Launch Company, based at Goring.

Next week we're off to Reeves at Napton on the Hill to see the hull being built.  They are expecting to make a start on Monday so there should be something to see by Wednesday.  They expect it will take about three weeks to build the hull.

Friday 1 September

The big day has arrived for us to reveal that we have just signed the contract with Stephen Goldsbrough Boats to build our narrowboat at their Fenny Compton Base on the Southern Oxford Canal.  We are looking forward to working with the team there.

It will be a 58-foot narrowboat with a semi-trad stern using a Reeves hull.  We will reveal more details and some of the special features as time goes on and there will be regular updates with photos during the build.

From next year all the filming for the Waterway Routes Videos will be done using our own boat.

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