We returned to Orchard Marina on Tuesday morning, (29th July 2014 - Day 174). We had a telephone call from Ian at Collingwood Boats to tell us the money was now in their account and we could take possession of "Alanne". We set of from home at 09.30, determined that Alan McNaughton was not going to spoil our day after his antics of last Friday. When we arrived at Orchard Marina, a very helpful guy was there to handover the keys and give us a tour of the boat systems and engine. It was a delight to have someone around who actually cared and was willing to give as much time as we needed to understand the complexity of "the bits under the bonnet". A big thank you to Johnny. We spent the rest of Tuesday bringing all our "bits and bobs" onto the boat and Johnny was close at hand to give us help when needed.
Wednesday we took the boat for a short cruise to Anderton boat yard to refuel and have our first real chance to see how "Alanne" handled. She cut through the water with almost no bow wave or wash, which will please owners of moored boats who wont have to shout abuse because their boat is "rocking and rolling". Steering we found was very heavy and at times struggled to make tight bends in the canal and on our return to Orchard Marina, asked Johnny to take a look. He agreed it was on the heavy side and thought the "Skeg" might have been damaged when the boat was first lowered into the water, possibly catching the edge of the dock as it was lowered. Later in the day I looked into the Bow Thruster chamber and was alarmed to see a lot of canal water sloshing around, again Johnny came over and between us dried out the chamber and tried to spot where the water was coming from, but without success. Johnny suggested that we take the boat back to Wincham Wharf and he would arrange for the boat to be lifted out so that he could take a closer look at the welding done the previous Friday.
Thursday morning Johnny came aboard and we all cruised down to Wincham Wharf after checking to see if any more canal water had entered the Bow Thruster chamber. it remained dry so possibly the leak had sealed itself. "Alanne" was lifted out of the water and it was easy to see why the steering was so heavy. The bottom of the rudder shaft should have been sitting in a bearing in the "Skeg", but it was the point of the rudder which rested in the bearing housing. It took almost 30 seconds to fix and slot the shaft into the bearing and the rudder moved with the lightest of touches. The other problem could not be resolved, how can you fix something when no fault is apparent. After many attempt to contact Ian at Collingwood, he finally answered his phone and the mystery of the water in the Bow Thruster chamber was solved. The water in the chamber was from the first leak on Friday. Nobody had emptied the chamber at the time and Ian had not told anyone that the water was there. Oh well, just goes to show how poor communication can be so expensive. It cost a total of £500 to lift the boat out and back in the water. so someone will not be a happy bunny at Collingwood. The journey back to Orchard Marina was a joy, the steering was excellent and "Alanne" was responsive to all commands. The entrance to Orchard Marina is extremely tight and we had previously had a bump on the narrow opening. The boat needed to be at right angles to the canal which I estimate was only just over 60 feet wide. This time it was a breeze with everything working as it should and we entered without a bump and reversed into our mooring.
Friday morning we awoke to heavy rain and decided that cruising in the rain wasn't for us. We packed up and took the 90 minute drive home.
The saga continues as we are unable to register "Alanne" without the supporting paperwork and without a Canal and River Trust, (CRT) licence we are not legally permitted to cruise any canal. Garry Evans is back from his holiday on Monday, I hope he is refreshed because we have a list of faults and missing items, plus the urgency of some ownership paperwork and certificates of "sea worthiness".
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