Build Day 51

Day 51 of the build of "Alanne".  A lovely sunny morning- a good start!.   Uneventful drive to Liverpool - what could go wrong?.   Arrived at Collingwood Boats at 11.00 as arranged - perfect!?.  We had a look in the building where our boat was built, but it has now moved on - could this be a good sign?.    NO*^!.  A Friendly fitter searched around and found our poor little boat looking very lonely under the railway arches at the back of the yard.  It was looking very sorry for itself, as the rust was now taking hold of the shell.  No work has been completed on the boat since the windows were cut out on day 29.  The only positive outcome is that by allowing the shell to rust, the rolling mill film will lift off the steel more readily when being sand blasted, which should mean the paint will adhere to the bare metal and hopefully last a lot longer.
The journey was not entirely wasted as we were able to discuss the electrical setup on the boat with Paul the electrician.  It looks like Garry will not have any further involvement with the build.  We spoke to Alan McNaughton about the fixtures and fittings, hopefully we can now let them free and they can get building again.

                                            "Alanne" looking sad and neglected

Build day 48

Day 48 of the build of "Alanne".   Another phone call from Collingwood Boats.  Why am I not surprised?.  The meeting tomorrow is cancelled and re-arranged for Friday 28th March.

Build Day 45

Day 45 of the build of "Alanne".   Collingwood Boats telephoned last Wednesday to re-arrange the meeting with Garry Evans and Alan McNaughton.  I am trying to remain positive, but if the completion date slips beyond the end of April, we will not be able to take delivery in May due to our trip to Scotland and our coast to Coast walk.  The meeting has been arranged for next Wednesday, 26th April.  Let's hope for a good outcome.

Build Day 37

Day 37 of the build of "Alanne".  We had a good run up to Liverpool.  The weather had improved, but it was a cold day and wandering around the boat yard was a bit cool.  Garry was not on site, but we spoke to Alan McNaughton who apologized for the lack of progress on the boat.  We were both a little disappointed with the progress achieved over the last nine days.  Only the window openings had been cut out in the cabin sides.  We checked their position and all seems fine, although the size of the openings has increased in 4 windows. from 36 inches to 42 inches.  We are happy with the extra light they will allow in the saloon.

We had a good look around the yard and I counted 24 boats in various stages of completion, so it looks like business is booming.

We spoke to Alan McNaughton again, to find out when the build of our boat would re-commence.  He told us the fit-out would begin in earnest next Wednesday.  Alan has still not looked at the build requirements that we agreed with Garry.  Lets hope he is not going to get any nasty surprises when we site down with Alan and Garry next Friday.

Progress has been slow, the original estimate from start to completion and handover was 6 to 8 weeks.  After a false start with the wrong boat, the time has mushroomed from the 6 to 8 weeks  as originally stated, to 51 days, (7 weeks 4 days), with no obvious completion date in sight.  I was told all boat builders are optimists and that time doesn't have much meaning to them. That point is now crystal clear, so lets hope its completed before the summer season - - - this year.

      Bare steel walls and floor.  --- waiting for ballast and foam insulation

      Birds eye view of the stern  - - - Looking goood

Build Day 28

Day 28 of the build of "Alanne".  We drove up to Liverpool to Collingwood Boats fearing the worst. What a relief and a pleasure to see our boat looking fabulous.  My original seating plan had been applied and enhanced, we now have a protective rail around the back of the stern seat. The binnacle which will house the boat controls has been sited next to the seat and is absolutely perfect.  The seating in the enclosed stern area now has hinged metal lids and the space below will house the gas bottles and any tools and equipment for the boat and engine.
Garry is very pleased with the overall look of the boat and they will offer the same stern layout on future boats.  Alan McNaughton was on site and we spoke to him at length on the exact positioning of the windows. and side hatches in the boat.  Now that an agreed layout has been set, the windows will be cut out of the cabin sides and the internal ballast, insulation and flooring will be added.  Alan expects all of this work to be completed mid next week.  We will visit again on Friday the 14th April and with any luck we will be able to walk through the inside of the boat.

               Stern seat with back rail and binnacle to house all engine controls and instrument panel

                  Enclosed seating area at stern.  Note:-  view into engine room, floor/hatch not yet fitted

                       Almost completed bow with the steel fabricator who fashioned the bow.

Build Day 25

Day 25 of the build of "Alanne".  Alarm bells are ringing yet again.  I had a telephone call, today, from Alan McNaughton the owner of Collingwood Boat Builders.  He asked me if I could come to the boatyard tomorrow, (Tuesday), to discuss the layout of the stern of the boat.  It seems a strange time to be asking what we expect the finished stern will look like when its almost completed.  What amazed me most was that Alan wasn't aware I had supplied a fairly detailed plan of the boat and he was asking questions about the seating and controls for the boat, which I believed had already been agreed.  The boat design was based on a boat built by Orchard Marina & Boat Builders in 2012.  This boat named "Mandalay", had been on sale last year and we would have made an offer on this boat, but we were beaten to it by someone else. 
The plan is to visit the boatyard on Wednesday morning to see what's happening.  I only hope they haven't ploughed on with the wrong design.  The completion date was originally set for Jan/Feb 2014.
This date has long since past. Any more setbacks will see the finish date sometime in late April or May.  If there is a major problem we will seriously have to consider if we go on with the boat build.