Surveying the Situation

We arrived at the marina with a list of jobs to do this weekend and none of them is really going to plan.

One of the new cockpit speakers is faulty so has to go back to the supplier for replacement.  The cabin speakers are however installed and sounding good.

We can't install the heating as we need some tools which are in Sheffield.  So that's a job for next week.

And finally we found loads of fishing line wrapped around the shafts which has killed the oil seals. Thanks fishermen!

Looking Back

Every now and then a post flicks up on my Farcebook page reminding me of past memories. This morning it was this rather cold wintry scene taken at Burton Waters during the cold, long winter of 2010.

This was only our second winter with Naughty-Cal, the first had been really very mild. So the winter of 2010 came as a bit of a shock and brought with it lots of worry. Would the boat survive the winter?

Well of course she did survive and we also survived the weeks of freezing temperatures on board. The lowest outside temperature we recorded whilst we were on board was -19 degrees C. 

Hopefully this winter will be much milder.With the boat out of the water if it does freeze we have removed the risk of damage to the hull but have increased the risk of damage to the raw water cooling components. The cold air blowing around the hull of the boat makes it much colder then if it were afloat. With this in mind we are taking extra heaters to the boat this weekend to make double sure that we don't suffer any frost damage whilst ashore.

Drying Out

We got the call on Tuesday to say that Naughty-Cal was safely hauled out, her hull jet washed off and she was chocked ashore in the yard and plugged into their electric supply. This was the important part as we are relying on heaters to protect the vital raw water cooling components from the winter weather.

By the time we get to her tomorrow evening her hull should have dried out nicely so that we can have the chance to have a good look around her and check that all is in order. The polishing, waxing and antifoul painting will all wait until we are nearer ready to relaunch. But we have a fair old lost of jobs to get through before then.

This weekend we have two jobs we would like to complete. One of them is far more important then the other so this will take priority, refitting the heating. Liam is finishing putting the unit back together today, it has had a full decoke, a full service to include a new glowplug and burner tube and also a new air intake motor and fan. This should hopefully ensure that it is good to go for another few years before anymore attention is required.

Refitting the heater is the easy part of the job. The more difficult part is replacing the hot air ducting and fitting the lagging which should improve the temperature of the air coming from the outlets. This will be a fiddly job.

The second less important job will be installing the new Rockford Fosgate speakers in the cabin and in the cockpit. This can wait until next weekend if needs be but we would like to get this job out of the way as well. Every job ticked off the list is one less to do before relaunch, which usually creeps up far quicker then we would expect.

Lagging Behind

As we are having to strip down Cal's warm air heating system to service it and replace the air intake unit we have decided that it is time to also replace the ducting and whilst we are at it add some insulation to the new ducting to reduce heat loss in the ducting runs. Which in theory should result in warmer air coming from the vents, well that is the theory anyway. 

We shall have to see if it works in practice as well as the manufacturers claim. Their claim is up to 40% warmer air coming from the vents. If true this will make it a worthwhile addition. If not we have probably just made ourselves a load more extra work for this coming weekend!

Cal's New Toys

The first of Naughty-Cal's new toys will start to turn up today.

Her new Rockford Fosgate speakers for the cockpit and cabin should arrive in today's post.

As we are having the cockpit retrimmed and have now updated the dashboard with new switches and painted the sun covers it made sense to also update the speakers which were starting to let the look of the boat down. The once white speakers grilles had become very yellow with age although to be fair they still sounded pretty good for their age.

Hopefully by the end of Saturday we should have both the cabin and cockpit speakers in place ready to test them out.

A New Toy

We have a new gadget for the kitchen in our bid to become more healthy. We have invested in an air fryer.

After a visit to a friends house for new year where she made the most fantastic chips with no oil we were convinced it was right for us.

Happy New Year

Happy new year to all of you from Liam, Rachael and Naughty-Cal.

Here's hoping that 2017 makes all your dreams come true.