I fink it's time Captain Dad - part 30

Well ... is gettin to the point where I is almost back where I started wiv dis bloggy. Mum an dad workin hard to prepare Atlantis for our journey from Kent to Essex to our new mooring.

Mum mainly tidied up the wheelhouse while dad installs all the gear we will need for the journey. The windows are nearly all in place now (temporary ones that is) and we have lighting. Mum is sweeping up tons of rusty bits of steel and generally clearing away trip hazards. I am over-seein proceedings and keeping a ware eye on that broom too!

Just a little more welding to be done on the front of the wheelhouse and then the two final windows can be installed.

She’s looking good eh? Well as good as she can for the trip anyway.

Here’s dad just measuring up to put in that last big steel beam to ensure the wheelhouse is fully supported and there’s no danger of the roof crashing down on us. Not that it would. Dad has welded and welded and put in support beams everywhere!

Course, there were a few fings we didn’t av time for. Like a staircase! Pffttttt. So, it’s still the ladder for us. I tried givin my evils and fort I might levitate up there but it was not to be ;).

Even when I tried to plant the seed that I might go a bit Lizzy Borden wiv ma axe heehee.

I decided to call it a day maself; they were still workin late into the night. So I curled up on the sofa an mum wrapped me up in ma blanket but it was darned cold up there.

There was noffink for it but to retreat to the bedroom where there was a little heater an av a chew!

Next day we set sail- just like that! Here’s dad taking us out of the Medway. Can you believe tiny fing he’s got his hand on steers the boat! No wheel or noffink!

Pals, if you want to read bowt our trip up to Essex, you can see it on dis post from ages ago. So, we are nearly caught up now. Ma next post will show you Atlantis as she is now. Ok, I gots to manage expectashuns ere so don't expect too much! We had a lot of problems (and are still having them) with our moorings so dad hasn't been able to do as much work as he hoped.

See you next time pals!

You have the bridge number one - part 29

Now .... I like to make sure fings are proceedin appropriately so this bloggy is about me keepin ma beady eye on the dad. He's got a deadline to meet to make the wheelhouse (aka the bridge) as sea-worthy as possible for our trip to Essex (yes I am still bloggin about the past, which is really weird).

As you can see, I like to stand on our gangway fingamabob (wot dus av chicken wire for safety purposes for da mum).  Chicken wire very andy for me coz I can do zoomies across fast when I decides I want to chase a rat. Apparently, I needs to practise ma tecnique a bit coz barkin at rats gives em a bit of a heads up you is after em!

I can also nip up to the bow - well sort if nip up if you exclude the fact that mum has to carry me up a ladder heehee - and av a look at the marina next door oh and err .... erm .... check the ropes for dad ;).

Dis show wot appen when you dussnt read your tide tables  an set off in good time! The boat on the right just missed making it into the marina and ended up on the mud until the next tide! Got a bit of a lean on init? heehee.

Time to check the anchor chain. All lookin ok and now the anchors are in place an the chain is on the winch we can forget about that until we is out at sea! A job well done for dad!

The wheelhouse is certainl takin shape. You can see (i ope) how much bigger it is too! Ang on I have to getto you annuva pic to compare. Right ... nip ere and as a look .. don't forget to come back!

Before:

After:

I'm pretty sure I sure somfink down there you know! It might of been a ball, probably jus annuva rate *bark bark*. Oh .. it seems to have gone now ;). I feel like Kate Winslet in dat movie.

Arggh elp!! We as bin invaded by ... oh no .. sorry ... as you were ... is only dad in his funky new welding elemet. He don't av to flip it up an down coz of it knows when you dus be weldin so goes dark when it needs too. Hope that weren't too technical for ya heehee.

Sooooo, we gots annuva ladder eh? Exacly when is you plannin on puttin proper stairs wot can be used by the Lexie! I am fed up of bein carried up an down ladders. Looks a long way down for me to jump tho so I guess I'll just wait ere for ma lift.

Close up of some beautiful seam welds (dad made me say that) for the bottom of the wheelhouse.

Ooops! Fink someone (not sayin it was mum, nope, not at all, not mum) might of measured and drawn this up wrong first time round! Good job dad always follows his own advice, measure, check, measure, check and cut!

Sparks (no  ..... not the 80's pop duo):

Tempry windows on the port side (left). These be ones dad cut from perspex so we dussnt av to spent lots of money on da final ones as these will do for sailin to the new mooring so he can see fings! Always andy!

Inside the wheelhouse is realy takin shape. We gots lights! Well .. ok .. A light! heehee. Still got a long way to go before is luxuriush wheelhouse wiv all da mod cons an dat tho.

Well, dat it for now. See you for da next chapter.

Who eated all da pies! Dad ppfttttt! - part 28

Hello! Is me! Well, let's crack on shall we? I've lost track of time .... an we almost come full circle wiv da Atlantis bloggy. I fink dis be early 2010. 

Mum an dad are gettin ready to move Atlantis to her new mooring in Essex. We had been takin trips up there to check out the area (even tho they knows it well as they boaf lived there before Atlantis). 

We had a wander along the Blackwater River at Maldon so we could see exactly what it's like for when we bring her up. Looks pretty narrow dad says!

So, it's back to Atlantis down in deepest darkest Kent for dad! Looking at the Blackwater has really motivated him tho and he starts working on the wheelhouse windows. Windows are always useful to be able to see where you're going ;). He's cut out a wooden template so he can use that to mark up the steel and cut the windows out.

Here's dad marking up some more windows. He offers up da wooden templates and marks up, then cuts. Oh an err .. nice builders bum!! heehee. You can see the winch in front of im in dis photo. That's for the anchors obviously! 

Ere dus be me avin a look at mum who is avin a look at me. We is on the foredeck wiv dad, watchin im but he don't know!

Our ramp! It go up and down with the tide. When the tide is in we rise up about 4-7m dependin on whether it's a spring or neep tide. I telled you bowt dat before! That pole on the right stop the ramp from breakin up as sometimes Atlantis moves back or forward especially if it's a high tide. The ramp has chicken wire on it for safety. I am sure you can guess who that's for!

As you probably know by now, dad likes nuffin betta than a bit of multi-taskin! Whilst preparing the new windows in the wheelhouse he also had to go into the bow and plate over some small bow windows we had originally intended to have. We'd decided against them in the end because they are so near the water line. Here he is cutting the frames out again so he can plate over the holes. 

We see you!! If left open (there is one on the starboard side too) these small windows could cause Atlantis to sink. They is fine if you are moored in a marina and have no intenshun of every going out into the high seas. 

In the end, we decided we'd either put sealed ones in or put deck portholes in for extra light. 

Dad avin well-earned coffee and break in our luxury saloon (one day). Those sofas are so comfy tho even tho we rescood em from a skip. Our built in sofa is that wooden stuff behind me in this photo.

Mum has been tasked wiv tidyin up the walkways so that we have easy access to ropes and fenders when we is sailing. I fink she dun quite a good job on the port side. Funny she ain't taken a photo of the starboard ;)). 

This photo shows a good profile shot. You can see how much she rises up on a good tide. You can also see the wheelhouse windows in this pic. She's also showing a great shape now that she's got her skirts on around the wheelhouse.

Let's see what's frew da ............. square window!! We gonna put temporary windows I'm glad to report!

Watchin proceedings from da stern. Believe it or not this is tidy! heehee. That black fing on the floor to my right dus be a bit piece of rubber wot we gonna cut up into large fenders.

Dad takin annuva well-earned break and eatin ma favourite fing! Sossidge rolls! Mmmmm.  I just give him a little pat in case he forget he's sposed to share which he seem to do on a regular basis! pffffftttttttt.

More next time ma pals! Fanx for readin.

Ow exhaustin! - part 27

Before we proceed wiv dis week's blogpost I fort I tell you now .. I love mud .. there job done!

So as you will remember from last time, we have the anchor in place, the chain in place. Dad bin doing a lot of work to ensure the engine is ready for firin up an the generators are good as we edge closer and closer to our journey to our new moorin. Course, one fing wot be vital for the engine to run properly dus be the exhaust.

Guess what? This don't work like a car exhaust as you probaly worked out ;). We had build a new exhaust because we had taken the old one out when we were building the galley area (which was the upper engine room). Dad had ordered a lot of large round steel pipe that he would weld togeva to go from the bottom of the boat right to the top! Here's the pipe goin frew da galley (well ... what will be the galley). This will all be insulated and boxed in when we startin the fittin out.

Here's one of dad's most trusty tools - his mig welder! What's a Mig welder? Well is a weldin machine wot welds Mig of course pftttt ;). No but seriously tho but ...... there be free (as in da number) main types of weldin . Mig, tig and Stick.

Tig welding dus be for light steel an fings like stainless alloys, aluminum, titanium an copper. We dussnt do much of dat yet but we will when we doin the handrails.

Mig welding is for big steel and uses a reel of weld . prefect for fabricatin fings.

Stick is great for small welds, outside weldin, hard to reach places and for when you dus need to be portable
Dad has run the weld around the pipe at the bottom as you can see in this photo. That so he can put supports in to stop it moving about an of course join the pipes togeva coz it ain't one long pipe you know.

Dad had already cut the holes before we put the pipe in place an they were all correctly lined up (mum was involved but not doin any measurin ;). Look at that seam weld!

I was called in to quality check. Err .. yes yes that all looks fine dad, please continue! Blimey I was quite slim back then!

Here is the pipe at the next level (wheelhouse). That is the back wall of the new wheelhouse there with the pipe goin frew to the roof. The back wall isn't welded in place yet as you can see. That will come later, along wiv a door.

Here's the pipe comin frew to the roof.

Here's the little two smoke stacks on top wiv their lids wot lift and drop when the engine goin so we don't get smoked out!

A view of our glamorous mooring! Annuva step closer to being ready to move to the new mooring! Yay! 

Oh, ere's me avin a bit of fun in da river too.

See you next time .. for more on Operation New Mooring. Bye

Chain and anchor and no! dat is not rhyming slang - part 26

Last time, I was tellin you how we started preparing for our trip to our new moorin. Dad reckoned we would definitely av tos moor up overnight somewhere. Wifout chain and anchors we would drift and end up who knows where, so anchor and chain installation began.

In the last post, dad had built the chain locker and mum an dad started working on getting all the chain into the bow and the lockers. They used the crane to lift the chain and then lower it into the bow.

Dad put rope on the final chain so it could be lifted up later and taken through the winch. Here's the chain in the locker:

As I mentioned in the last post, dad built the chain lockers out of some old steel and scaffoldin we ad knockin about. Dat is recyclin at its best! heehee. We gots to paint the chain locker once all da works is complete and it will be spray-foamed too when the time comes. We will do that in the future when we don't need to worry about moorin and can remove the anchors for a while. Here's a better view of the locker:

As you can see there are two lockers wiv chain in. Hmmmm - I wonder if you can guess why? Hahaaaa that's right! Coz there are two anchors, so two chains, two lockers!

Here's a pic of Atlantis's bow before work starts on the cutting work for the anchors on a misty cold morning:

Dad started cutting the holes on each side of the hull to house the chain. 

Close up as dad cuts the port (landlubbers: left) side of the hull.

Testing that the chain fits frew the hole well:

Testing the chain wiv the first anchor. Don't even ask how we got that there! Ok - you can ask! Well we magically shrunk it and pushed it frew da hole! No? Ok, we used the crane to lower the anchor. Using the crane to hold the anchor in place, we then used a shackle to attach the anchor to the chain and released. Hey presto! One anchor thank you very much!

Here's the chain inside the chain locker, As you can see it fits through the hole well. The hole had to be just right - too big and there's a risk of too much water coming into the bow, risking a flood. Too small and the chain wouldn't release, so no anchor.

Here's the view from above. The angle had to be jut right. Which, of course, it was! Clever

Ok, so, hole cut, chain through, anchor attached. What next? He then welded in steel tubes (fabricated by im) so that the anchor has it's housing to sit in.

Then .... testing of course! Here's a video showing how well everyfin worked:

Here's the anchor in the raised position:

This photo shows the anchor in it's final resting place once the anchor is fully raised:

This photo shows the chain locker with full chain. 

Right pay attenshun! Here dus be geeky bit. The anchors weigh 350kgs each! Each section of chain is connected by shackles. The chain section between the shackles is called the "shot" and usually measures 90ft. So, we has 9 shots on board .. meanin we as 810ft of chain! And we had to hammer all the rust of each link "by hand" and checked every single link! I say we, of course, I mean mum an dad! I can't ... no thumb you see?

Well dat is for now, see you again soon. Hope you enjoyed dis update.