Chain, chain, chain!!!! - part 25

Hello!! Last time I was tellin you bowt how we decided to move to a new mooring. Well before that cud appen dad had to sort out some chain and anchors in case we had to stop any time during the trip! As you may remembers, Atlantis never had no chain or anchor, mainly coz when she was a fishing vessel she used her fishing gear and nets when she stopped. Well that and she probably never stopped much!

Mum and dad had already stripped out the galley so that dad could get to the front wall. This would get him access to the bow which is where the first step wud appen. Installation of the chain locker! There is a lot of chain to be stored! This the wall wot will be cut away.

Next dad cut two holes in the roof of the bow which where the two chains would come down from the bow. He wud also cut holes in the bow but that wud come later coz he had to work out the right angle for the chain. Ere dus be the first hole:

Ere's the uvva hole! One for each chain. we have put some chain frew to make sure it fits and can slide in an out wivout too much trubble. That chain dus be heavy and mum an dad had to knock all the rust off wit hammers first! Talk about popeye-arms and that's just mum! heehee.

Dad starts by building the locker for the chain. He dus be using steel from the walls that he had already taken down from the galley! Good recycling eh? Here's the first of the walls on the right. He also used some old scaffoldin we had holdin up the bow roof (no longer needed I hasten to add) to make the frame for the locker.

He starts welding up plate into any areas where there are holes. This locker has got to be strong and well built to keep the chain in its place. 

Here are some further walls added. The holes are above so the chain will come into the locker when the winch operates (ooohh!!) - all electronically of course ;).

Now, we dus go all well posh and dun a video! Ere's dad dussin some weldin (warning: contains bald head and some flashin stuff).

Dad plated over an old out-of-use hatch too. He as asked me to point out his very neat welding! Ok dad - here is some very neat welding please take note:

I have decided to pay a visit and inspect proceedins as is my right as ship's dog! Yes ... all seems in order, carry on dad, carry on.

Welding sparks! Ohhhh pretty!

And, coz I bin such a good doggie and dad was gettin a bit stir crazy in his little locker, a trip to Old Felixstowe for some fun on the beach!

Next time, more chain, more holes and ..... anchors!!! hurray!

Didn't there used to be a kitchen ere? - part 24

Well hello again ma pals! Ow fings? Last time I was ere I dun telled you about ow we did av to get some anchors in so we cud sail Atlantis and err ... well ... stop if we needed to! Before any of dat cud appen, mum and dad had to strip out da galley so dad cud get access to the f'o'c'sle (the what!??) heehee. Well in da olden days it was called da forecastle but is pronounced folksal.  Bet you landlubbers didn't know dat eh?

As you can see from these pics mum and dad continued to strip back all da walls, kitchen cabinets and sink down to the frame and the rockwool (dat dus be fibreglass stuff wot you puts up for insulation - it is rubbish tho). When we did see what the insulation was in da galley, it explained why it was always so cold. Plus, da rockwool itself was soakin wet from all da condensation over the years. Yuk!

You can see the damp in this pic - see how the rockwool was stuck to the steel walls! Scraper time! I wonder who got that job? heehee - mum of course! I wasn't allowed in the room much. You can see from the pics that there was loads of fibre glass dust flyin around the room. Mum and dad were coughin a lot, eve tho they was wearin masks.

Here's some more of the nasty fibre glass - mum scraped all dat off the walls! She was coughing like she'd beein avin sneaky cigarettes heehee!

Ere dus be dad doing the 'I'll carry it for you dear, you carry on scraping' trick!

The room started looking a bit cleaner and less dusty as more and more fibre glass gets removed. Dad was clearing the ceiling panels (dat is wot he has in the photo above dis one) while mum works on tidying. Can you see the pattern? heehee.

Dad nips off below decks to av quick check in the lower bow to make sure the pipes dad had disconnected from the old sink were not leakin an pourin water into the lower bow.

Mum says goodbye to the orrible cooker wot she dus hate. Only one ring worked on the top and the oven door wud not stay shut. There was also no tempritcha fing in da oven so anyfink cooked in there had to be watched in case it burnt! Soooooo ... plenty of burnt lasagne ;)).

Watching all dat work as made tired! Fink I shall have lay down by the rusty pipe!

Now the kitchen is completely stripped out and mum even tidied up some tools into a little pile for dad! heehee.

Tune in next time to see how mum an dad put in da anchor and chain for Atlantis's voyage to er new ome! Fanx for readin pals!

Goodbye galley - hello house!?? - part 23

Well hello again! Is me Lexie. Ow fings? Fanx to da magic of the interwebnet and clever use of the time space continuum we is still in 2009. Big event for mum that year was goin wiv er very great friend Jaclyn to a AC/DC concert at the O2. 

Wot is the O2 Lexie I hear you ask. Well apparently it was a white elephant wot cost da taxpayer loads of money. But then it became a concert venue and is great! I av no idea wot all dat means but it makes hoomins very annoyed.

Anyway she was working in London in Waterloo at the time so decided to take the Catamaran Ferry to the concert. Ere dus be a photo of The Houses of Parliament:

Ere dus be the London Eye. Wot is a very big wheel wot goes round wiv some lozenges on it wot you can go in. Mum as bin on dat too. Looks a bit scary to me.

Ere is Tower Bridge wot dus be called a bascule bridge (comes from the French for see-saw) and was finished in 1894.

An ere dus be where mum went to see AC/DC in concert. Dis was second time she seen em live - first time was in 1979 when she was a headbanger heehee.

Anyway ... movin on swiftly back to Atlantis. Mum and dad ad found a new mooring in Essex back where they used to live so it was time to focus on gettin Atlantis sea-worvy for da trip. Like most trawlers, Atlantis didn't av no anchors because the fishermen used the fishing gear itself as the anchors. Dad telled us that she had to av anchors for her trip to Essex because we cuddn't make it there in one tide. 

For that to appen we had to pull out the galley he announced. But why? We arks him. Well, he says, because I need to get frew da front wall of the galley to the bow to install the anchors and build the chain locker! Oh ... right .. yes well we knew that of course ;).

Ere dus be a outside view of Atlantis wiv her new wheelhouse. You can see is really takin shape! For future reference, please note lack of anchors at the bow for the moment!

So, wifout furva ado, dad started rippin the galley out. Dussnt panic tho pals (remember galley is boaty-talk for kitchen) coz mum an dad did av plan up the sleeve of their tops for where we gonna eat and that. 

Ere is da first bit of work dad did in the galley. He removed the old tables wot he cut out wiv the plasma cutter. You can see, was very smoky in there!

The walls ad to come down too an as you can see ere there is a wooden frame between the wall and the outer hull. This pic shows the outer hull wot looks like it is covered in brown paper. That was insulation .... fibre glass only. Oh! No wonder it was so cold in winter ;).

Ere dus be dad workin at the front of the galley near the bow - he's cutting away all the wood ready to cut a big ole in the wall. On the left there is wot is left of the kitchen cabinets and sink.

Mum started clearin out the room as dad was working to demolish. She found old Atlantis bags wot they used to store the scallops in! Ewww memories of the fish-hold came floodin back.

We burned all da wood on the shore (which we was allowed to do). There was a oooge bonfire wot lasted for days. Mum seemed to enjoy that a bit too much dad said. Nice side view of Atlantis here wiv her new roof takin shape too. 

Now I was sitting wiv mum on da shore wondrin ow we gonna eat! Wot we gonna do for a place for relaxin coz that was always the galley. Mum telled me not only has she got a new job in Essex but we dus all be moving into a house for a while *thud ... faints* What! What??!!! She said, dad is gonna commute to Atlantis and come ome weekends and we gonna stay in da howse and go down at weekends. Pfttttt ... speechless. An then she say, it has a garden where I can run around. Ere it dus be:

I like it! An i as a nice step wot I can sit on to look around at fings. I sees cats, squirrels and some geese. This place is great! We has beds, heating, rooms, a barf, some kitchen, carpets an lots of room. We can even switch loads of fings on at once an it doesn't trip the power. Cor!

Work continues on the galley removal an mum has the great job of removin all da fibreglass wot dus be very itchy if you gets it on your skin. I was banned from da room. Ere is some fibreglass:

Well, more soon ma pals! Hope you liked ma posty today. Fanx. Byeeeeeee!!!

What appens when mum gives dad camera responsibilities - part 22

Hi ma pals ... ow fings? heehee Well, where was I? I fink we was in da middle of buildin a new wheelhouse. Is Spring 2009 and fings are comin along well.

Mum workin in London agin so bin away from ome durin the day a lot. Now at dis point, we as to let you know that she anded over responsibility of photographin progress to the dad. BIIIIIGGGG mistake! As you will see ;).

To make fings easier, dad had cut a hole in da roof (or floor dependin on how you dus look at it) so they could access the wheelhouse from inside on the main deck. This is where the stairs will be in the future but for now we has to use ladder.

Mum has the pleasure of avin to carry me up an down when I wants to go up to av a look at developments!

It was still pretty cold durin April so mum, bless her, tried to make the saloon (wot you dus call livin room) a bit more comfy. A friend of ours gived us some sofas wot he was gonna frow away so dad put em in da corner so we cud av a comfy place to sit. Check it out!! Those curtains are bin bags hee-hee.

Ooohh sofas! Ow luxurious! You dussnt av to arks me twice to test em out so I give em a quick try! Yep, dey be up to da Lexie standards I am pleased to report. Mum says I be dussin ma Tommy Cooper impresshun 'just like that'!

(Stage right mum whispers: *keep going Lex, I don't think anyone has noticed the lack of wheelhouse photos*). Ahem .... right!!!

Oh .. hang on .. think I found one. Here's a photo of errr ..... the port-side wheelhouse lower wall and the walkway! Woohoo!

Oh and ... err the crane!

Oh no wait I think we have a pic of the wheelhouse coming up! Yes, here she is, rather more advanced than you were probably expectin! heehee. Even so though, check her out!! We fink she really looks great wiv her new wheelhouse. You can see dad has cut the windows out and put some temporary wooden windows in for protection.

Right, dat is it! Mum, told dad he is verboten from takin any more photos wifout strict supervision! He said 'well I was buildin the bloody thing'- fair point dad.

Ere dus be annuva angle wiv our 007 powerboat on da back! As you can see is a nice big deck on da back. Lots of sun-bavin potential!

Oh and finally .... news on da ball front .... i got annuva new ball coz we lost ma blue one. I got a red one!

See you next time when we dis stop wheelhouse work stops as they work furiously to strip the old galley so dad can get to the bow and install anchors. We move into a HOUSE (eh what?) an all work focusses on gettin her ready to move back to Essex (crikey!!).

Ta-ta!

Dussnt fink it looks like a wheelhouse ..... yet - part 21

Hello ma pals. Is me again. I am tellin you all about da new wheelhouse wot dad decided to build. We is still in 2009 by da way but the wevva is fast improvin meanin dad can spend more time on da wheelhouse. The frame is welded and ready for dad to start putting in the walls and roof. Ere dus be a pic of all da frames:

Dad welded all da frames in place and made sure everyfink was straight. He has to be very accurate wiv dus coz we dussnt want a wonky wheelhouse!  First he dus put up a coupe of panels wot will be da roof and a large sheet  wot becomes da back wall of wheelhouse. Dis will have door and annuva secure locker in it when is completed. Ohhh look it's blue skies too! 

Dat is big sledge hammer wot he dus use to make sure the wall be straight wot you can see in da foreground. An also there on da left is red fing that does be hydraulic ram wot he use to push da metal in if it need moving a bit.

These plates is only held in place wiv clamps so dad has to get welding fast! First he does tack weld. Dis very impawant fing to do as quick as possible so dat the plates is made safe. Also, it gives dad da chance to move any panels wot need movin before he welds more bigger welds. He uses a combination of da crane, da clamps, da ram an da sledge hammer, oh an of course mum! Ere he dus be wot will be the inside doin some tackin.

He gets up on da roof and dus some tacks up there too. You never knows, there might be a strong wind wot could pull the sheets off da roof and decapitate someone! Most likely dat wud be da mum wif her track record! Ere dus be dad on da roof preparin for some welding. He dussnt bovva wiv weldin jacket no more, he tells mum, his skin used to da burns pppfffftttttt!!  Is dat mediterranean blood! He looks more like he gonna start up his chainsaw eeek!!

Dis photo dus show you view from wot will da front of wheelhouse. Course, that bit not on yet! heehee. Dad and mum boaf commented on how much bigger dis wheelhouse is compared to old one. Yesssss, well, dat is wot I fort ;).

Dat all looks good so dad puts on da next sheets on da wot will become da overhang - a comfy area wiv shade for dose hot mediterranean days. Underneaf there will be some seatin and entrance to da wheelhouse. The old wheelhouse never had a door in it! You had to go down the stairs and out frew da galley so dad is appy to have a new door for easy access!

There will still be stairs in wheelhouse down to the new galley but they will be proper stairs wot you can walk up and down wifout aving to go backwards. Dis also mean da Lexie (dat is me) can go up and down em wifout assistance.

The uvva fing wot I point out to you is da width of wheelhouse. Dis one much wider dan the old one but dad has made sure we still has enuffs room to walk around it. As you can see there be plenty of room. There will be handrails all around there (stainless) for safety (mum forbidden from goin down there surprise surprise). You can see the overhang at da front too which will add extra support for da front of wheelhouse which will be angled in.

Time for a quick check from ashore to see how she is takin shape. I fink you can see she is ..... errr .... well ok maybe not quite yet!!! You dus need vision (luckily that is somfink dad has in abundance). *whispers* looks like a box to us! But we dussnt say to dad ;).

Time for a quick check of da yard while they dus be takin photos. All in order! I fink I saw a rat so I jus gonna hang out here for a bit!

Is very safe up there now so mum is allowed to wander round on her own (apart from going down the side). They has a little drinky on da upper deck and we dus all enjoy da sunset over .... well ok it's not DAT romantic, bein in an industrial wharf, but they dus be happy! Easy pleased!

Dat is it for now ... tune in next time when you will be under no illusions, it's definitely a wheelhouse!! Fanx for readin ma pals.