A new home for Atlantis - part 38

Ello is me again! Bin a while ain't it? I forgot where I was. Oh yeah we was gonna find annuva moorin for Atlantis an move her an they was gonna finally get to work again after a lonnnnnnnnnng time of not being able to get on board her (legal fings).

Well, true to her word, mum found a moorin. T'was in a place where they had looked years ago funny enough. Lowestoft! So the mooring was found, the deal was done. All they needed to do now was get Atlantis seaworthy enough for them to get her up there.

Now, why dus these fings always ave to appen in Winter? Poor old mum and dad spent 5 months from November to March getting Atlantis ready for her trip. I was supervisin the whole time of course, keepin em on their toes.

First fing dad ad to do was find out what was urgent to fix and what we could live wiv for the trip wifout danger to life! Atlantis had been laid up so long , there was a lot to do! So, his list looked a bit like dis:

• Fix the raw water pump without which we couldn't run the engine
• Weld the wheelhouse so we could put in the navigation lights
• Weld the Portuguese bridge for added safety whilst at sea
• Install new batteries for the 24-volt navigation system
• Clean and prepare the fuel tanks
• Fix the anchor windlass (that's a winch to you landlubbers)
• Repair the crane
• Get new ropes
• Fabricate new bollards
• Get rid of all the rubbish (mum's job!)

Water pump - the raw water pump was rotten so dad had to machine a new shaft, new seals and gaskets.

Making sure we could anchor safely out at sea was impawtant as we couldn't make the trip in one go. The anchor's hadn't been lowered for quite a few years so we had to test em. Dad had to get sledgy out again.

You might remember we did also get Bandit wot is our rib that is our tender and our life raft if we needed it, wot we didn't I am glad to report. We took her out for tests on the Blackwater during November.

More next time on all the fings wot we dun. I hope you enjoy the bloggy and is good to be back!

Lexie out!

Let's have a quick recap - part 36

Atlantis in Maldon

Well ello me pals and my oh my ain’t it bin a while!? Well, yes achewly it as. First, I will give you a potted histry of wot we bin doin over the last few years.

As some of you knows, we has got a boat, hmmm, a ship I mean. We as got a ship. She is called Atlantis. Mum and dad bought her way back in 2003 when she was a fishing boat in Ireland. You can read about all that on some of me old posts.

Anyhoo, in 2010 we moved her from Kent to good old Essex where we was gonna make her all bright an shiny, then sail off to Malta! That didn’t work out too good. The marina manager (boo hiss grrrr) weren’t it turned out, a man of his word. So, we gets to Essex an he tells us no, you can’t live on it, no you can’t weld, no you can’t paint, you can’t do noffink. In fact, he says, I don’t even want you ere. So for the next 5 years he moved us from this mooring to that, each one worse than the last. We finally ends up on a mooring next to a flour mill.

We was forbidden by the marina manager (boo hiss grrr) and the Mill elf an safety manager (quite nice man really) to set foot on her apart from to check her ropes and make sure she wasn’t sinkin!

Atlantis view from port side

We was at our wits end abowt  wot to dus. They coddn’t see how we was gonna ever finish Atlantis or even get on board [we went to Ibeefa to run a dive centre but that’s annuva story wot I tell you laters]. While dad and me was working hard in Ibeefa mum tried to sort fings out once and for all.

She did the only fing that made sense (at the time) – to sell Atlantis! Mum an dad had fort about it long and hard and could not see any uvva alternative. Their dream had come to an end.

Well … find out in the next excitin episode wot appened! See you in the next chapter pals! Remember, stay slinky :).

Lexie out!

Home sweet home - part 35

Hello pals. Well we have moved again! Atlantis is now moored it what we hope will be her home for the next year at least. The funny fing about it is it is where we started off in 2010! 

Here we are heading off up the river to our new home, under our own steam I might add! This is view from the port side (the left). If you wants to remember that port is left, we use a little phrase - no port left (as in the drink). 

Here's the view from the starboard side. Not much in it I guess!

Here's our little tender following along behind.

 

Here's some pals helping us more up in our new exciting surrounds. The view is not great, but at least we know we can do all the noisy messy work and no-one will complain. We also are able to get on and off when we like and don't need the tender any more. Bet we can get a few quid for that!

Dad moves her into her new spot, nice and slow. You can't see it but mum is waiting wiv fenders (in this case some classy large tyres) to fend off from the wall.

A neighbour in the dock over the way. A Loyal Class Fleet Tender having some work done.

A view from astern.

Our new gangway across to land. I'm summoning up the courage to go first.

Nope! Decided to send mum over first so I could make sure it would hold me weight ;). Seems ok.

Here she is safely moored up in her new home. We have shut up shop for the winter and waiting for Spring. Dad will then finish off the wheelhouse inside and out (think I've said that before) and there is talk of a new galley and bathroom for 2013.

Well it's been slow progress for the last few years as you can tell but 2013 looks to be fun. Not least of all because dad has another slave helper in the form of his son!

Thi has been Lexie, signing off for now.

On the move again - part 32

Ello! Is me .. Lexie! We are almost caught up on da bloggy now. I fort I just add a few snaps of Atlantis before she ended up being stuck in the middle of the river for 18 munfs! pffttt which we not appy about but fings are about to change. I will tell you more about that next time.

Well we finally got our moorin (only to be moved out of it again but that is annuva story) Ere me checkin everyfink okey dokey on da port side. All seems all right. I see that puddle is still there *tsk* just can't get the staff eh?

Dad relaxin on his luxury seatin on da back deck, enjoying a coffee and contemplatin his next move ;).

Not sure if I like this view. All we can see is a shed. What appened to the river?

Relaxin in the bedroom what was once a fish-hold! I like layin on the bed but it's quite high up. 

This is the steel for our new bulwarks (that is the low wall wot goes round the deck of the boat in case you was wondering). It's surprisingly comfy on there you know.

Dad building our new storage cupboard. it will be accessed only from the back deck and he will put annuva door in the wheelhouse at the back and one at the side.

Comedy spanner (yay!!). Believe it or not that is not the biggest spanner on the boat! We had one twice that size but it fell in the bilge ;).

Atlantis's original plante from Holland showing where and when she was built!

How she looked after a lick of paint following her trip up from Kent.

A view of the river and the dry dock.

Me and ma ball!

Check out ma access plank!

Not sure I like it!

Mmmm .... sunpuddle

Is dad sunbathing too? heehee -- no he's erm ... actually I am not sure what he is doing!

Running in the park nearby

My what a big bow you have! heehee

A photo of the other side of the river .. if only we'd know that was where we'd end up for quite some time.

Noms .... now!

Tune in next time when I will update you wiv the lastest pictures of Atlantis and news on the future -- wot shall remain a sekrit til then!

Ta-ta!

Fun an larks on the River Blackwater - part 31

Well ma pals, as yo know we did move da boat up wivout any hitches. Except for a small issue wiv food but I won't go into that. No point raking over old ground, like the fact that all they had to eat was kellogs crispy squares an spaghetti hoops for the trip but .. that's another story, eh mum? heehee.

I fort I give you a quite summary again in case you forgot as it was so long ago! We made sure as much as possible was secure inside the boat so noffink wod fall over and hit us on the head or cause uvva injuries. Here's the saloon tidied up (yes that is tidy believe me).

Ere dus be da engine room  wiv da engine in full swing. We ad to take a plate off the floor that dad had previousy welded in. We haven't got full ventilation in there yet so we had to have somewhere for da smoke an heat to go. It was boilin down there!

Ere be a few members of da trusty crew - Len, Dad and Julie and of course yours truly! Len does not have cattypillar on his face is mustache for you informashun.

Yes, yes I could do wiv haircut but those was the days when I was livin on da boat an it cud be cold so I had to have lots of fur! 

A view of the portside wheelhouse. Noffink but sea sea sea. Nice! Shame it's only the Mudway ... I mean Medway! heehee.

Here's our tender still clinging on for dear life!

What's that down there? I thought I saw a mermaid! Wonder if she has any sossidges for me?

A view from the stern .. pretty much sea sea sea (again). Well we are 'at sea' what do you expect!

This is sat-nav for boats! Dad set it up on big screen so we can see where we going and we dussnt get stuck in any mud or shallow waters. There is a shelf in the Estuary wot we cud get stuck on over Clacton way if we don't time it right.

Shipping buoy fing ... don't worry it's not foggy that is just smoke from da engine room! Not fire smoke ..... diesel smoke!

Mmmm sunset -- time for dad to put his hat on!

How about that for an Essex sunset. Not bad eh? See we dus av bootiful sunsets in Essex too. Admittedly it was so cold your tongue cod of stuck to the steel but hey, one day, we shall be sailing around warmer climes drinkin Pimm and eat sossidges (that will be me of course - the sossidges).

Next day, a visit from the old bill making sure we weren't smugglin fings or people or erm takin drugs or summat. We gave em the full tour and a cuppa tea too!

Starboard side of the boat keeps to the green buoys but we are also constrained by our draught wot means we has to make sure we as enuff water under us to move!

Hello Maldon!! We're ere!! Are you ready for us?

Hmmm the river seems to be getting smaller! Hope we can make it!

Well, we did! We made it to our new mooring. More on that next time!

And so ... to bed! Phew dat was the most knackerin two days of ma life!

Next time ... mooring disasters! Fanx for poppin in.