On Schedule !

Week 17

Sunday

Yet another early start, with arrival at the boatyard just on 8am and another chance to sneak the extra morning cup of tea that the late risers don't benefit from. The fitter had unloaded the car by the time the painter was seen but he'd been around for a while and had already re-positioned the boat, ready for today's task. The painter was working on his own today and intended to apply the first coat of top coat to the starboard side.

The fitter is not the only person who has the occasional memory slip. The painter had one yesterday, as can just be ascertained from the picture on the left. Our intention is to have two green panels on each side. One panel will surround the two portholes at the rear and the other panel will surround all the windows. Each panel will, in turn, be surrounded first by a cream coach stripe - to form a box shape, with square corners - and then a dark blue border. In order to have the windows positioned in the centre of the green panel and for the blue area to be the same size, the top 60cms of each side will be painted black.

The black and the coach stripe have yet to be added. However, it is just possible to detect in the larger version of the picture that the painter forgot to divide the port side into two green panels, separated by the intermediate blue band. In fairness to the painter, he did spot this yesterday but the fitter forgot to mention it in yesterday's notes. We're assured that everything will come out in the wash, even if correcting this will extend the number of painting days by at least one more.

After tea the fitter made a start on preparing for the installation of the Alde boiler's flue vent. This entailed removing even more foam from the ceiling and then cutting a segment out of the ceiling mounted bearer that ran across the area that the flue pipe was to occupy. There was also a steel 25mm square section roof support in the way and part of this had to be cut out. There was no way that hand tools could be used for the cutting work because of the position of the items to be cut. So the fitter borrowed an angle grinder and used that first to remove the wooden batten. This made it easier to remove the foam, which was then removed by hand. Finally, with the foam cleared away, the steel support was revealed and this was also attacked with the grinder. The first attempt failed because the grinder disk was a couple of millimetres too small. However, once a new disc was fitted the job was completed fairly quickly, helped by a few deft hits with a hammer.

Dick arrived part way through this operation and helped the fitter to find the tools to change the disc on the angle grinder. He also helped keep the wiring loom clear whilst the fitter was attacking the steel with the grinder. There's no doubt that progress on the boat would be a lot slower if Dick wasn't around to help, and we are most grateful to him for his continued help and support which he does just as something to do. He's already wondering what he's going to do when the boat is finished - whenever they might be!

We couldn't cut the hole in the roof for the flue pipe because we'd need to lean on the port side of the boat. As this side of the boat was only painted on Saturday we decided that the paint probably hadn't hardened enough and might get damaged if we started leaning on it. In addition, we were likely to create dust and swarf and this could impact on the painting of the other side of the boat. We'll probably fit the flue later in the week, possibly when we get round to re-fitting the windows, another job left for at least a further 24 hours to allow the paint to harden off.

We'd removed both the boiler and the calorifier from their overnight positions prior to working on the ceiling. We needed to install the rear bulkhead before we could refit boiler and calorifier and we needed to cut the opening for the flue in the ceiling panel and refit that panel before we could erect the bulkhead. We'd marked the ceiling panel before it was taken down so it only took a few minutes to cut out the opening using the jigsaw. Similarly, it only took a few minutes to refit the panel - we're getting the hang of it now!

While we had the panel down we took the opportunity to reposition the intercom wire. The original intention was to have the steerer's intercom on the starboard side, slightly forward of the light switch on the rear cabin wall. We'd installed the wire for this but had overlooked to install a power supply. We could run the intercom off batteries but they'd probably fail at a crucial time. Having had a sneak preview of another boat and seen their intercom on port side, just forward of their control panel, we decided to do the same on our boat, thereby moving the handset much nearer to a power source.

With the ceiling panel refitted we positioned the bulkhead and then positioned the boiler and cylinder to check that everything went where we intended. We needed to cut an opening in the bulkhead that would allow access to the fittings on the rear of the boiler and the fittings on the calorifier. The opening had to be above the metal bulkhead that separates the engine room and cabin bilges, and below the wooden bulkhead mounted support for the floor bearers in the engine room. We also wanted to provide room to get spanners and the like into the area. We decided that we needed an opening of about 600cm by 250cms and marked this out using the centre line of the boiler as the centre line for the opening. We then removed the boiler and calorifier and then the bulkhead.

We'd checked with our mentor that our opening was large enough. He also mentioned in passing that we ought to have 22mm water pipe from the calorifier to the shower to help ensure a reasonable flow. The cold water supply to the shower will be almost direct from the tank, supported by the pump. Whilst the pump will still have some effect on the hot water supply, the calorifier will impede the flow. The use of the larger pipe will help to offset this impediment. We now need to get and install some 22mm pipe as a result of these words of wisdom, assuming that we can remove the already installed 15mm pipe from the securing clips.

Once the bulkhead was laid on the sawhorses we were able to mark out the positioning of the opening and then, by drilling a 10mm hole in diagonally opposite corners, we were able to use the jigsaw to cut out the opening. We saved the piece that we cut as this will be re-fitted to the bulkhead with a few screws to help close off the boiler space from the engine room. Access to the rear of the boiler will be obtained by removing part of the engine room floor and the cover in the bulkhead. There will also be doors in front of the boiler to enable the front panels to be removed when necessary.

We re-erected the bulkhead and put the boiler back temporarily to check all was in order. Then we removed both the boiler and the wooden bulkhead and drilled four 4mm holes in the metal bulkhead. These holes were countersunk on the engine room side. The wooden bulkhead was then re-fitted and screwed to the metal bulkhead. We fitted a couple of wooden blocks on each side of the wooden bulkhead on the cabin side. These would stop the bulkhead moving. We didn't need to do anything better as the positions where the blocks were fitted will eventually be in corners within cupboards. A further block was fitted to the ceiling by the top corner of the bulkhead. This block was screwed to the ceiling and to the bulkhead as the engine room side of the bulkhead will eventually be protected by the Ash trim. The block that we've fitted now will be in the top of the wardrobe.

With the wooden bulkhead secured we could refit the boiler and the calorifier even though we may need to remove the boiler again while we cut the hole in the roof for flue vent fitting.

It was still a little early to pack up so we turned our attention to the engine room. We'd marked the position of the underside of the engine room floor on the wooden bulkhead some time ago. We had to screw a batten to the bulkhead in a position that would support the floor bearers. We aligned an offfcut of the bearer timber with the mark for the underside of the floor and then clamped the batten immediately below it. We then removed the offcut and screwed the batten to the bulkhead.

Next we measured the length of the bearer and cut it to size. We also had to shape the end of the bearer that sits in the steel bracket welded to the vertical support under the rear deck. We were amazed to find that the bearer fitted like a glove. In fact, we were even more amazed to find that the bearer fitted either side of the engine. As a result, instead of just cutting the first bearer before we packed up, we promptly cut and trimmed the other bearer.

With both bearers in position we were able to check that the floor would be level. We did this by laying an offcut of blockboard on the bearers, as shown in the picture. There wasn't much more that we could do, as the time was now approaching 5pm and it wasn't worth getting stuck into anything new. So we packed up and whilst Dick swept up the fitter loaded the car and then returned to the boat to take the pictures shown above. We then locked up the boat and headed for home.

Monday

There's nothing readily visible to show for our efforts today.

The intention for today was to work on the installation of the engine room floor. However, the fitter realised that he needed to seize the opportunity now to lay the 230v ring main circuit around the back of the boat - under the rear deck - if he wanted to avoid the need to remove the engine room floor and everything that goes with it at some stage in the future. There are no battens under the rear deck and drilling holes in the metal work for securing fastenings would introduce unwanted holes into the diesel tank! The only realistic way that the fitter knew for running the cable was to use some self adhesive trunking.

With this in mind, and despite saying that he intended to start later today after a string of 8am starts, the fitter and VCFM headed for the local B & Q just after 7.30am to purchase the trunking. They also intended to take advantage of the visit to top up on their supply of softwood and to purchase the limited amount of 22mm plastic water pipe and associated fixtures and fittings that were to form a part of the hot water supply pipework. Knowing that the intention was to start work on the engine room floor, they were also looking for some lightweight metal angle that could be affixed to the edge of the steps up to the engine room floor in an effort to minimise the damage to the edge.

Even though we were some of the very few people in the shop, our visit still lasted well over 30 minutes and we came away without being able to get some of the water pipe fittings that we were looking for. Once again Dick intended joining the fitter today so the VCFM elected to stay at home after the shopping trip - the fitter finds it hard to keep one mate fully occupied all day. The chance of keeping two of them busy is highly unlikely, hence the VCFM opting to stay at home.

It was a little after nine when the fitter arrived at the boat. He unpacked all his purchases and tools and popped off to get a cuppa. He'd just returned to the boat with it when Dick arrived, so Dick went and got a drink as well. Suitably refreshed, the pair started work on the 230v ring main circuit under the stern deck. While Dick laid out the wire, the fitter was measuring and cutting the trunking to length. The trunking was then fixed to the steelwork, the wire installed and the lids fitted to the trunking. It was all done within about thirty minutes.

That should have been the end of it and attention should then have turned to the engine room floor. What the fitter hadn't remembered was that the service duct under the gunwales still lacked covers in a good number of places and the ring main itself was nowhere near complete. It seemed silly to start on the engine room floor and leave the electrical work for another day. Instead, the fitter decided that it was time to lay in the rest of the ring main and to complete the service duct under the gunwales.

And this is why there is nothing readily visible to show for our efforts. Laying the wire around the rest of the circuit was a fairly quick job. In fact, Dick had the wire laid out before the fitter could extricate himself from under the rear deck. As an aside, the fitter was wearing a fairly new pair of overalls and was happy that the bilge was dry and clean as he needed to stand in the bilge whilst he was fitting the trunking. Unfortunately he'd forgotten that the engineer who fitted the engine had used a thinner grease than normal and because the fitter had regularly adjusted the stern greaser during the maiden voyage, there was an excess of grease around the stern gland. The excess isn't there any longer, it is now all over the legs of the fitter's new overalls!

We needed to support the wire in the service duct with cable clips. This was a fairly easy job on the starboard side where the cable clips could be fixed to the longitudinal batten that the builder had fitted under the gunwale. It was a different story on the port side where we propose to clip the gas pipe to the batten. As a result, the cable clips have to be fastened to the very tops of the vertical battens which support the hull side plywood panels. The only way to gain access to the tops of these battens is to unfasten all the cabin side panels - leaving them hanging by their topmost screws - so that the cable clips can be hammered home. The cabin wall panels can then be re-fastened. This little escapade took well over an hour.

Next came the service duct covers. First we had to fit the battens to which the covers would be fastened. Fortunately we only had about 20ft to fit so the job was completed fairly quickly. Next came the covers themselves and, as can probably be guessed, this wasn't a five minute job. We are reaching the end of our supply of suitably long offcuts of 9mm plywood so we had to hunt out all that we had left. Then we had to measure and cut each cover and fit it. The only problem here was that the covers that we needed to make were all at the rear of the boat, where the cabin and hull sides and associated plywood panels are curved. We could cut each panel roughly to length and width but we then had to spend a while with each, trimming the cover to size either with the jigsaw or the small block plane. It was almost 3.30pm by the time we'd fitted all the covers.

We returned to the boat after our afternoon drink and started to work out how we were going to tackle the engine room. As always nothing is ever simple when you're fitting out a narrowboat. The rear bulkhead was a little too narrow to fully accommodate the engine room floor bearers so part of the bulkhead will need to have its width enhanced. Luckily we have plenty of offcuts for this. We also need to work out how we intend to build and fit the steps remembering that the intention is to be able to remove everything man-made from the area without recourse to the use of tools.

It was approaching 4.15pm by the time our initial deliberations were complete and we had to clear up, pack up, load the car and move the boat before we went home. So we limited ourselves to fitting a support for the bottom step to the hull side panelling before we left. Nonetheless, once everything else that needed doing had been done, it was a little after 4.30pm when we headed for home.

Whilst we were fitting the step support the welder was attending to the gap in the metalwork below the front doors. Now at least, once the hardwood trim is in place, there will hopefully be less risk of water getting into the front of the cabin when it rains.

Tuesday

The nearest we got to anything boat related was reading a back issue of a canal magazine.

Wednesday

Wednesday wasn't a good day even though it didn't start too bad. For a start, the fitter kept waking during the night and thinking about the things he intended to do during the day - the thought of cutting a hole in the boat's roof for the boiler vent fitting was a cause of consternation for someone who isn't really technically minded. By 6.30am the fitter decided to give up hope of returning to sleep and got up, had breakfast and set off for the boat, where he arrived just after 8am.

He unloaded the car as normal and then went to get the two portholes that had been put into safe storage whilst the cabin sides were painted. The kettle had been put on whilst the windows were fetched, so it was after 8.30am before anything further was done. The intention was to refit the windows with stainless steel self tapping screws. The builder had drilled holes for the pop rivets that he'd used and we planned to use these holes again, although we recognised that we might need to make the holes slightly larger. We knew from some test holes that we'd drilled earlier that a 4mm hole was too large and we only had 3.5mm or 4mm drills. So we started off with a 3,5mm hole and had great difficulty in getting the screws to cut a thread. Reluctant to drill a 4mm hole, we tried using the 3.5mm drill and enlarging the hole slightly as we drilled it. This was partially successful, but it was still taking quite a while to cut the thread with the screw.

Things started to go wrong when one of the first few screws sheared as we attempted to cut the thread. We managed to cut the thread for the remaining screws but couldn't fit the porthole until we could extricate the broken screw. Someone offered to drill the screw out later in the day so we left the first porthole and turned our attention to the second. We were more successful with this, even if we took a long time to cut the threads. With all the holes threaded we cleaned the previous window tape off the frame, fitted new tape and then fitted the porthole. By now it was a little before 10am and we decided that we'd probably end up spending all day fitting the windows on just one side if we continued the way we were going. Consequently, we jumped into the car and headed off to get a 3.8mm drill from the nearest town. In fact we got three and a couple of new screwdrivers as the old screwdriver that we had been using had a worn blade that was damaging screw heads.

We didn't get back to the boat until 11am, whereupon it was time for tea, after we'd made a couple of test holes with the new drill. The difference was amazing and we looked set to get the windows installed in next to no time. Laugh now!

The first job after tea was to recover the other two windows that we planned to re-use on the port side, plus the recently delivered replacement window for the kitchen - the originally fitted window was supposed to be a sliding window, but wasn't We quickly enlarged the holes for the screws in the cabin side and unpacked the new window, laying it temporarily on the roof. Next we cleaned the previous window tape off the older two windows and set about fitting the smaller one - the one nearest the portholes.

The new window was devoid of fixing holes so that we could re-use the holes in the cabin side that had been put there for the initial window. The fitter disappeared inside the boat whilst Dick took the window from the roof and attempted to fit it in the opening. It wouldn't go. Not by the odd millimetre, but by three inches! A quick measure and we found that the wrong size window had been supplied. After a number of telephone calls arrangements have been made for the window to be collected and hopefully returned by the end of next week.

Whilst the fitter was attending to the new window, Dick was tapping the threads for the last window. Here there were two holes that were larger than the rest. This was because they'd been drilled out using a larger drill when we were removing the rivets. This wasn't the end of our problems because, as Dick tried to insert one screw, it sheared, leaving the greater majority of the thread in the hole. Once again we were dependant on someone more technical than us to help us remove the errant thread.

While we waited for our knight in shining armour to attend we turned our attention to the water tank filler fitting. This needed four holes drilling in the gunwale. The fitter carefully marked out where the holes had to go, centre punched them and drilled 2mm pilot holes. He then incremented the drill size by half a millimetre and enlarged the hole. He did this twice more before he asked Dick to pass him one of the fastening machine screws. Unfortunately Dick supplied one of the screws that we'd bought on Monday for the pump out fitting, these being larger than the ones for the water tank filler fitting. We didn't discover this error until after all four holes had been drilled and two of them had been tapped.

We'd been warned that there were two possible thread sizes and had experimented with a tap on an odd piece of metal. We thought that we'd got a good fit. However, when we tried it for real in the slightly thicker material that is the gunwale, we found that we'd picked the wrong thread. We used a different tap for the next hole and got a much better fit. Fortunately, we were able to re-tap the first hole. We'd tapped three holes and had nearly finished the fourth when the tap sheared in the hole. Luckily, we were able to apply some mindless violence with a hammer, re-drill the hole to remove the remnants of the tap and then finish tapping the hole with what was left of the tap.

We enlarged the fixing holes on the fitting slightly, to take the larger screws, and added window tape to the underside. We had a bit of trouble getting the screws to bite but after a few attempts we managed it and we gradually tightened the fitting. Only time and the odd downpour will tell if it is tight enough.

By now it was just after 3.30pm and the fitter had something away from the boat that he needed to attend to. He was also feeling a bit dejected because of all the problems that we'd experienced and still he hadn't cut the hole in the roof for the boiler's vent fitting. We packed the tools away and loaded them into the car and the fitter headed for home, stopping en route to buy a replacement tap for the person who had leant us his. Meanwhile, Dick stayed around for a cup of tea, before making his way home.

Thursday

Thursday is our usual day off from actually going to the boat. We invariably end up at the pub opposite the boatyard on Thursday evenings for the weekly quiz and try to avoid either arriving at the pub covered in dust or making the 35 mile round trip twice in one day. However, this doesn't mean the day is boat free as we either go shopping for boat related items or work at home on things for the boat.

Today was no exception. We were on the road towards Braunston shortly after 8am. We had some paint to swap and some wire to return as unwanted on voyage. We also wanted the 22mm plastic pipe fittings that we couldn't get in our local B & Q. We ordered an Attwood box while we were at Braunston. The Attwood box is a shower tray pump with float switch and small reservoir, all contained in a box that has a removable lid to facilitate removal of hair and any other items that might otherwise stop the pump working.

We went to The Woodworking Centre at Sywell Aerodrome from Braunston. This should have been a reasonably quick journey as the two are only a few miles apart. The journey involves returning to Weedon via the A45 and then continuing on towards Northampton on the same road and joining the Ring Road before eventually turning onto the A43 towards Sywell. For some reason someone, somewhere has decided to remove all the relevant road signs to the Ring Road and we ended up helping to increase congestion in the Town Centre.

The reason for going to Sywell was to take advantage of a discount day on Triton products. We bought the Triton Circular Saw for use in the Workcentre and we also bought the dust collection bag in the hope that it would help to keep the boat a bit cleaner. From Sywell we returned home, calling in at a local plumber en route to purchase an ordinary radiator and a heated towel rail so that we could start to lay out the plumbing fittings within the boat.

During the afternoon we completed another of Tony's Houdini hatch wooden trims and also planed a test piece of our trim. The horizontal trim along the top of the cabin wall will butt up to the ceiling panels at an angle. If the trim is left rectangular shaped, there would be a significant gap between the top edge of the trim and the ceiling panel. By adjusting the angle on the top side of the trim, the gap is removed. If the sample works, we'll treat a further 90ft of trim the same way and then we'll be able to start varnishing the trim at home, prior to taking it to the boat. This will give the VCFM something to do on the days when she isn't able to come to the boat.

Friday

The fitter had an early start for his journey to the boat, armed with all the goodies from Sywell, the piece of test trim and Tony's Houdini hatch trim. He had all but unloaded the car when he saw Tony - despite the early hour - and took the trim to him. After a brief exchange of pleasantries and the usual fistful of mutual insults the fitter returned towards his boat to grab his early morning cup of tea. He'd just put the kettle on when Dick arrived.

The front port side window was soon installed, using nuts and bolts where the holes were too large for the self tapping screws. The screws had all been left in their respective holes but this didn't stop some of them from ceasing to grip when they were re-inserted to hold the window. At first the fitter thought that he'd have to use a lot more nuts and bolts but he tried previously unused screws and found that these worked, much to his relief.

With the front window now inserted, we turned our attention to the rear porthole. Again, all the holes had been tapped and it should have been a fairly simple job to fit the window tape and then screw the porthole to the boat side. Don't you believe it. We had several attempts at doing so, tightening and then releasing some screws so that we could get others to grip. We'd almost got everything as we wanted when one of the screws sheared. We removed the window and surveyed the damage. The only realistic option was to try drilling the broken screw out - not easy when the screw is A4 grade Stainless Steel. Anyway, using a mix of drill types and sizes, and repeatedly centre punching the debris, we eventually managed to drill the screw out and then re-tap the hole. There was one other screw that wouldn't grip and, for the time being, we decided to leave it unfitted, intent on buying a small quantity of slightly larger diameter screws together with the associated drill and using these in all the holes that either lacked screws or had been fitted with nuts and bolts.

With the port side windows and portholes now re-instated - land based access to the starboard side isn't practical at present as we have another boat alongside us - we tapped out the two fixing holes for the navigation light. Dick was removing the cabin side panel while the fitter was attending to the holes. Next the wires for the light were pushed through the hole in the cabin side and the interior panel refitted. The navigation light was also fitted temporarily as we wanted to seal the hole that the wires passed through before we made the fitting permanent. We did this later on when we were able to purloin some sealant from Tony.

We decided to connect the water tank filler fitting to the pipework to the tank whilst we were working in the area just inside the front door. We obtained a short length of hose and a couple of jubilee clips and removed the access panel inside the coal box. We managed to slide the hose over the plastic pipe and then slide it back up, over the tank filler. Tightening the lower jubilee clip was reasonably easy, something that wasn't true of the upper clip. Although the upper clip was accessible, it was hidden behind the bottom of the cabin wall mounted plywood panel. Our first attempt to tighten the clip found us doing so below the the level of the fitting. We'd have simply compressed the hose on itself if we'd have carried on. However, we soon realised our mistake, undid the clip as best we could, slid it up a lot higher and re-tightened it. On reflection, it would have been easier to have tightened the clip whilst the panel was removed to gain access to the navigation light wiring. Nonetheless, we've proved that the access panel works.

With the hose secured we were able to refit the access panel, but not before we'd passed the coil of wire that is the power supply to the water pump around the back of the coal box and into the area under the foredeck. Again, whilst we were working in the area, we decided that we might as well wire up the water pump and D switch. This wasn't all plain sailing as we were working in the confined space beneath the foredeck. Nonetheless, we proved that there was sufficient space to get to everything there and soon had everything back into the storage area. One of the problems that we encountered was as a result of the large diameter wire that we've used. We couldn't find a crimp connector that was large enough for the cable and had to resort to using a single piece of terminal strip to connect the thick cable to a slightly thinner cable for which we had a crimp connector. We used crimp connectors on the wire to the D switch and, because the pump is already wired, used terminal strip to connect the pump to our power supply wiring.

There was a temptation to try putting some water into the tank and temporarily connecting the water pump supply to the battery but we decided against this because we didn't want the water to lay in the tank unused for several weeks. We've still got the tank vent connection to sort out - we'll do this when we can get the starboard side of the boat alongside land. By then we may have fitted some valves and other fittings so that we can check to see whether we have any leaks.

Logically, the next task was probably to fit the rubber strip around the outside of the windows to hide the fixings. However, with one window still not fitted and one of the others awaiting the fitting of some replacement screws, we decided we'd wait until we could do all three windows. Instead and at long last, we turned our attention to the engine room but not before we'd successfully tried the sample piece of planed trim against the ceiling. It was an excellent fit and we'll plane some more when we have our next free day away from the boat,

After some discussions we had worked out the first few things that we wanted to do. We needed to add a piece of blockboard in front of the metal bulkhead, to bridge the gao between the side of the wooden bulkhead and the hull side plywood panels. We had plenty of offcuts of blockboard and, with a little trimming, soon had a piece cut and screwed through the metal bulkhead. Next we had to fit a narrow vertical strip of blockboard alongside the edge of the wooden bulkhead. This strip was designed to cover the void at the back of the plywood panel at the side of the engine. We measured and cut the blockboard strip and secured it through a small block of wood that was also screwed to the rear of the bulkhead. We then cut and mitred the trim that we fitted to the edge and top of the strip.

For umpteenth time since we've been fitting out the boat, the fitter misread the tape when cutting the Ash trim. Where measurements are over a complete metre the tenths of the subsequent metre are shown in a much smaller font size and are easily overlooked - by the fitter at least. Fortunately, there wasn't enough good trim left to get the length required (as opposed to the length that we cut) so the mishap wasn't too costly.

Next we turned our attention to the 12mm thick panel that will vertically span the space between the two starboard side bearers and will also become the boundary at the side of the steps up to the engine room floor. We'd done some tests to ensure that we had the two bearers in the correct place and were a bit puzzled when the odd bit of 12mm thick plywood that we were testing with kept appearing to be out of square with the wooden bulkhead. We initially attributed this to the plywood offcut having had one edge cut at an angle.

It wasn't until we started to look out a better piece of 12mm plywood to be used for the side panel that we made a very unwelcome discovery. We found that the wooden bulkhead was in fact not vertical and was leaning slightly forward. At least, we're pretty certain that's what's happening. We did some initial tests and this certainly seems to be the case but we were beginning to feel a bit frustrated by this discovery and, as it was nearing 5pm, we decided to clear up, pack up and head for home, leaving any remedial action until tomorrow. Our biggest problem looks like being trying to find something that we know is vertical to use as a datum to set everything else from. Why is nothing ever straightforward when fitting out a narrowboat?

Saturday

Dick had the day off today as the VCFM was joining the fitter. We left home about 7.45 and called in at B & Q to buy some magnetic catches and a new tape measure, having checked that part metre measurements were much more clearly displayed. We also went shopping for some larger stainless steel self tapping screws but only managed to get round head rather than countersunk. We're hoping that the shop will be able to get more stocks of the countersunk ones within a week.

As a result of these diversions we didn't get to the boat until a little after 9.15am, by which time we'd missed the chance to sneak the extra cup of tea. Instead we unloaded the car and got straight down to work. The fitter had brought a spirit level with him in an effort to check whether the rear bulkhead was vertical. He knew that he couldn't rely on the boat being horizontal enough to get an accurate reading off the level. However, because the level has an adjustable bubble it was possible to compare the readings at various places in the boat.

We set the bubble to read level against the outside of the front cabin wall. We then checked the outside of the rear cabin wall and found quite a difference. We then went inside and checked the bulkhead and got a reading similar to that obtained outside the front cabin wall. For good measure we checked the inside of the front cabin wall and got a slight variation. We put the variations down to movement of the boat as we walked about.

As we are primarily fitting out the cabin, we decided that the fact that the rear bulkhead and front cabin walls were almost parallel was a good thing and we left things as they were, breathing a large sigh of relief. We had checked the bulkhead for square against the floor when we put it up so we thought it should be OK.

With the bulkhead status now clarified we made a start in the engine room. First we added a couple of battens on the rear of the bulkhead. These were to support the floor and to keep the floor bearers in position horizontally. Next we cut a small piece of aluminum angle and screwed this to the top of the initial batten that we'd fitted to the back of the bulkhead. This piece of angle was notched into the floor bearer and is designed to stop the floor bearer nearest to the steps from moving sideways towards the steps - the battens that we'd put in a few minutes earlier stopped the bearer moving the other way.

Next we cut a piece of trim to face off the upper edge of the bulkhead. The trim was mitred, glued and nailed. The nails were punched home just below the surface and the resultant depression filled with filler. We also used the block plane to reduce the trim to the exact thickness of the blockboard.

Our next task was to cut the side panel that is supported on the bearers nearest to the steps. The panel is prevented from moving towards the engine by a strip of ply that we screwed to the engine side of the lower bearer - it will be held in position by the steps on the face side of the panel. The panel is held against the upper bearer by three of the magnetic catches that we'd bought on our way to the boat. The catches are screwed to the underside of the bearer, with the plate screwed to the back side of the panel.

We didn't have any sufficiently wide enough offcuts of 12mm plywood for the panel, so we cut two pieces from a long offcut and screwed them together with a small offcut fastened to the reverse side across the join. A slight tweak to one of the magnetic catches and the panel stayed where it was put.

The floor was the next job. We reckoned that we needed five pieces of 18mm WBP plywood for the floor. Two pieces against the port side cabin wall, two pieces in the centre, over the engine and a fifth piece at the top of the steps on the starboard side. All but the front most centre piece would need to either trimmed to follow the curve of the cabin side and/or have small pieces cut out to avoid the exhaust and the metal supports for the rear deck. We started on the two centre pieces. Both were the same width. We measured the overall length of the area to be covered and divided it by two to get the measurements for the two centre panels. We checked that we'd still have easy access to the relevant parts of the engine with boards of this size before we cut them.

We put the 8x4 sheet of 18mm WBP plywood on the sawhorses, marked it out and cut it. The floor width was just a little over 4ft so we couldn't cut the floor panels across the sheet. With the two starboard and two centre sheets the same overall length, we marked the length and cut across the sheet. We then cut the cut piece lengthways to provide the pieces that we needed for the centre boards As we'd decided that both centre boards would be the same length, we cut the piece in half lengthways..

We took the first piece to the engine room and laid it on the bearers and swore quite loudly! We'd got the length and the width wrong! The rear board was too long and, consequently, the front board was too short. The front board was also too narrow. We'd forgotten two key facts when we measured up. The front edge of the rear board needed to align with the front edge of the top step which was a little further back than the centre of the distance between the bulkhead and the rear cabin wall. Moreover, the front board had to fill the resultant gap lengthways, and the width of the front board had to be sufficient to overlap the full width of the upper starboard side floor bearer plus the thickness of the side panel.

Unfortunately, the remaining cut part of the 8x4 sheet - the piece that we'd intended to use on the port side of the floor, was just too narrow to be able to be used to replace the front centre board that we'd already cut. Fortunately we were able to salvage the situation without wasting too much plywood. The piece that we'd cut for the rear centre board just needed to be trimmed to length. Next we used the intended front centre board to provide the top step - the floor on the starboard side of the engine room. This piece had to be shortened, shaped to follow the curve of the stern and then have a notch cut out for the stanchion supporting the rear deck. We made all the appropriate cuts, making test fits as required. We managed to cut off a little too much on the outside edge, but the board still fitted. Out of interest we turned the board over and tried it at the back on the port side and found that it was a much better fit, so that's where it stayed.

Two down, three to go. We re-measured the the sizes for the remaining three boards and found that we could get all three out of the remains of the original 8x4 sheet. We'd even have some left for the steps. We re-cut the centre front board and this fitted without too much trouble. Next we tackled the port side front board. This was the same length as the other front board, but it had a shaped side, following the curve of the boat. Fortunately the curve is only very slight so we were able to get away with cutting a straight edge. However, by the time we'd trimmed some excess off with the plane, we'd got a slight curve to the edge.

This left the piece at the top of the steps to cut. We used a mix of a fresh set of measurements and the measurements from the previous attempt. We got the size almost right, needing just a small amount of planing to get a good fit.

It was still a little on the early side to pack up so we started on the steps. The bottom step just needed cutting to size as it rests on the lower floor bearer on one side and the metal brackets that we'd had welded on the side of the boat a few weeks earlier. The second step also needed to be cut to size but only after we'd cut and fitted a batten to the side panel to provide support - the other end of the step rests on the swim.

It was starting to get a bit dark by now, signifying that it was well past 5pm and time to think about packing up. We could have carried on but we'd have had to fit two battens to support the third step, before we could cut and fit that step or we'd have to have started fitting the vertical panels - risers? - to the rear and between the two steps already fitted. We decided that both jobs would take a fair while so we cleared up, packed up, loaded the car and went home.

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