Build Day 112

Day 112 of the build of "Alanne".  After the disappointment on our last visit, we return refreshed after our coast to coast walk across Scotland.  We arrived at 12, (high noon) for the showdown, (no sign of Gary Cooper and no sign of Garry Evans).
Alan McNaughton is in his office and is surprisingly cheerful.  He asks us to go and look at our boat and to speak to him later with our thoughts.
"Alanne" is still in the building shed and is starting to look like a boat.  Painting of the outside has begun and is looking very good.  Inside we meet Adam who is going to do all the internal joinery.  The inside of the boat is now spray foamed and the basic floor pan has been fitted.  Adam told me that he has lifted every floor panel and re-coated all of the steel below the floor with another coat of "Waxoyl".  This will ensure that no rust can form under the floor, (the bilge) and any water will now drain toward the stern and can be checked through an inspection hatch and if necessary pumped out. The outside lower part of the hull is still to be sand blasted to remove the "mill scale", and when completed will be painted with 2-Pack blacking, which should last for around 3 years.  We are very happy with the boat so far.  Progress is still very slow, but if that means a better finish then we can live with that.
Alan McNaughton was pleased that his efforts have been acknowledged and expects that the internal bulk heads will be in place when we visit again next week.
We departed in a good frame of mind and are again looking forward to seeing further progress next week.

                      Spray foam and marine ply flooring - looking toward the stern

                      Adam and Anne with the bedroom and bow section behind.

           Painting has begun, but not on the lower section which is still to be sand blasted

  The upper cabin sides are in undercoat, but the panel lines have been masked ready for painting

Build Day 91

Day 91 of the build of "Alanne".  "We travel in hope", so the saying goes, hoping there has been some progress to our narrow boat.  We arrived at Collingwoods at around 11.00 am.  We went straight to the workshop were "Alanne" was last seen for its fit out.  At first glance it appeared no work had been carried out, but on closer inspection I could see in the gloom that the floor in the boat had been treated with a rust stopper.  I held my camera through the window openings and flashed away.
After a short time Garry appeared and we discussed the next moves and the finish date, which is now expected at around the 10th of June.  We had a few more answers to various queries and we went away happy that some progress had been made.
When we arrived home, I downloaded my photos onto my computer for a closer look.  I was a little dismayed that the work on the rust cure was a slipshod job with lots of obvious misses with the treatment.  I texted Garry and suggested they had another go and send me photos of the results.  Again this is a little worrying if this is the standard of work I can expect from Collingwoods fitters.

Build Day 77

Day 77 of the build of "Alanne".  This is D-Day for our narrow boat.  We Travelled  up to Liverpool to see Alan and Garry.  They appreciated we have been let down on so many occasions and were desperate to put things right.  My main concern was the lack of communication, so many phone calls being ignored, also the state of the hull.  When we last visited it was in a horrible condition, sand blasting had not been carried out correctly and most of the lower portion of the hull had been almost missed completely.   Alan and Garry were keen to put the poor workmanship right and agreed it would be sand blasted again.  To be absolutely sure it was done correctly I want to be there when the work is done.  This was agreed and we then adjourned to the workshop were "Alanne" is being fitted.  The first thing that struck me was the cabin sides and roof were looking good after a base coat of paint, but the lower hull sides are looking very sorry for themselves, however a good sand blast and "blacking" will put this right.  The inside of the boat has been cleaned out, but a lot of surface rust remains,  another job which needs sorting before they ballast the hull.  We took a different route home , via the M62 and M6. Journey still took 2 hours.  I think we will stick to the scenic route in future.  I phoned Garry as soon as we were home and to my amazement he answered within one ring.  Lets hope this is the start of good relations and a happy ending.

            Stern seat and Controls binnacle

       Inside cabin floor needs some attention before ballasting begins

      Bow looking good.  Just sand blasting the lower portion and blacking needed

      View of stern

Glimmer of Hope

I had a telephone call from Garry this evening.  He is hopeful that we can overcome the problems with the boat and he has asked me to talk it through with himself and Alan McNaugton next Wednesday.  If we can reach an agreement then perhaps "Alanne" may still be a viable option.  Lets wait and see what Wednesday brings.

Final Post

The dream boat which was to be "Alanne" is no more.

I made a surprise visit to Collingwood boats on Friday 11th April only to find the boat had again been moved outside and was still not painted. Rust was again appearing on the outside of the boat.  The hull still had a lot of water inside and now had sand mixed in with it and a good amount of rust. Alan McNaughton assured me work would again commence on Monday 14th and all problems would be sorted.  Unfortunately my patience is at an end and I have cancelled the order.  My early enthusiasm has been tempered by the constant failure of the builders to stick to time schedules and really the final straw was leaving the hull outside for a prolonged period without any protection and allowing a pond to form inside the cabin. Very sad really because we were looking forward to a life afloat, but it's back to the drawing board,  maybe there is a boat builder out there who knows how customer relation work and understands what a boon a calendar can be when scheduling work.

  Rust forming 1 day after sand blasting  -   the boat is back outside in the yard

   Close up of rust on bow one day after sand blasting

  Rust forming around rubbing strakes and lines of rust were rain water has been allowed to run down the side of hull the day after sand blasting.

Build Day 64

Day 64 of the build of "Alanne".  Travelled up to Liverpool in a very quiet car.  Anne helps two partially sighted ladies and a young paralysed man at the swimming pool on a Thursday.  Its a labour of love and she gets great satisfaction in seeing them confidently swimming around and enjoying the water.
Arrived at 10.30.  First good sign was the boat had moved from under the railway arch and was now sitting back inside a building.  It was now looking shiny and new,  the hull has been sand blasted, I can say without hesitation it was sand blasting because every horizontal surface is covered in a layer of sand.  I have been assured it will be cleaned and painted today before the rust bug gets going again.
Alan McNaughton was again my only point of contact and we discussed the thorny issue of what was and what wasn't included in the price.  Amazingly we agreed on the final figure and hopefully that is it.  Alan said the boat would be near completion by end of first week in May.  The completion date will have to be delayed until the third week in May due to our Scotland coast to coast walk.  I think Alan was quietly happy with the extra two weeks we have given him.  We agreed that the sale will be completed when the boat is delivered to Orchard Marina in Northwich by low loader lorry.  We will then take the boat on short proving voyages, returning to Orchard Marina, before moving to our permanent moorings nearer home.

Build Day 58

Day 58 of the build of "Alanne".  I'm having that strange feeling called déjà vu.  Our visit today to see how the build was going mirrored last weeks visit.  The boat is still rusting under the railway arch and there is no sign of any work around the boat.  We went to the office to speak to Alan McNaughton.  Luckily he wasn't at work today.  If he had been there I am certain I would have told him to stick the boat in a place where the sun doesn't shine.  The poor secretary in the office did her best to field my angry questions.  Another customer was in the office and offered to try and find out what was planned for our boat.  This guy was a fleet buyer and had purchased many boats from Collingwood Boats and had experienced the same problems as us.  He found the team who would be fitting our boat, but the news wasn't good.  They believe it will be at least 3 weeks before they get to our boat.  So it looks like we will not see our boat till June, or am I being optimistic.  I am so close to cancelling.  Perhaps I was not destined to have a boat.  The loss of Lucy and the false start with the wrong boat may have been an omen.