Build Day 142

Day 142 of the build of "Alanne". A change in the weather meant a drive to Liverpool in the rain.  On arrival, we made a dash from the car to the workshop dodging the precipitation.  Externally there is no change to "Alanne", but on the inside, Adam has been working hard.  All of the major joinery jobs have been completed.  We discussed the position of the LED lights for the boat and other electrical fittings.  The ducting for the blown hot air heating system is in place along with the outlets for each room.  There is a change in the plan for for the diesel fired heating stove in the saloon, the original model is no longer available and we have switched to a Harworth "Bubble" diesel stove.  This has the added advantage of a back boiler which could be linked to a bathroom radiator at some future date if needed.
At last the swatches of material for curtains and seat covers has arrived and we had a long browse through the various patterns and colours.  I'm not much good at visualising what the finished item will look like, I hope Anne is a better judge than me.
A minor hiccup has occurred with the siting of the gas bottles.  My original plan was to place them under the stern seat and have a very short run of gas pipe to the cooker hob.  This is now a non starter as the seat  cupboard isn't deep enough and has no ventilation.  They will now sit in the bow cupboard, which was the original position, but will need a good 50 feet of gas pipe to reach the galley.
As reported earlier the outside of the boat still waits for sand blasting and paint.  I can see this turning into another show stopper if it doesn't get done this week.
Adam expects to be completed by end of next week, so the end is nigh! ---------------- I HOPE.

                                                                   Bedroom

                                                                Bathroom

                                                                Shower Tray

                                                                   Galley

                                                       Stern Deck view into Galley

Build Day 135

Day 135 of the build of "Alanne". A slow journey to Liverpool today.  Road works at Tern Hill meant a one hour wait in a traffic queue.  We arrived at 11.45. The sun was shining, so no complaints.
Adam was busy fitting cabinets and cupboards when we arrived.  The internal walls and ceiling have yet to be fitted.  Alan McNaughton suggested we look at another almost complete boat and check out the oak ceiling and if we liked it they would fit the same on our boat.  The carpenter on the almost finished boat gave us a tour of the boat.  The finish inside was immaculate and if ours is finished in the same way, we will be delighted.  Chatted with Adam about a few minor changes, mirror doors in the bedroom cupboards and the extending width of the bed.  "Alanne" is looking good and Adam is hoping to complete in the next two weeks.  The plumber came on board to start the fitting of the blown hot air heating system, he was very enthusiastic about this system of heating, He said "It gives instant heat when ignited and heats the boat in minutes", sounds good to me.
We spoke to Alan McNaughton before leaving, he also is hoping to complete in the next couple of weeks.  We have still to choose the furnishing and curtain material and Alan Mac has still to sand blast the lower hull before "blacking".  We are hopeful that we may start cruising in early July !!!!!!

                              Extending bed base, dresser and wardrobes

                                View from bow doors of extending bed base

                    Bathroom vanity unit which will have granite top and hand basin

                                      View of Dinette looking through to Galley

                                                   Galley  - looking toward stern

                                                    Galley from stern steps

Build Day 128

Day 128 of the build of "Alanne".  Another 10 days have passed since our last visit.  Its Friday 13th June 2014, so we are hoping its not going to be an unlucky day.
It was a lovely warm sunny morning when we arrived at Collingwood Boats. We went straight to the build workshop to see "Alanne".  At a distance, it seemed not much had changed.  But a closer inspection revealed Adam had been very busy.  Bulkheads were complete and a lot of the electrical wiring was in place.  Various cupboards and galley fittings were now in place and "Alanne" was starting to look like a real narrow boat.  On the rear deck a hinged lockable panel had been fabricated from steel to cover the engine control panel, hopefully this will deter any casual tea leaf intent on stealing our boat. We discussed a few requirements from the specification list including the wiring for solar panels and satellite dish wiring loom. Hopefully this will now be integrated into the build so that Adam doesn't have to remove wood panels to retro fit things.
We had a chat with Garry Evans and told him we are delighted with the boat and the finish which Adam is achieving.  We agreed to visit again next Friday.  Lets hope that all goes well and "Alanne" is even closer to completion.

                                             View from Stern Deck into Galley

                                             View through Saloon to Bathroom and Shower

                                                    Galley and Stern Deck

                            Housing for Fridge, Oven, Microwave and Electrical Distribution Panel.

                                                                     Bow and Bedroom

Build Day 118

Day 118 of the build of "Alanne".  Arrived at Collingwood Boats at 11.00 am.  We went straight to the workshop where "Alanne" is being fitted out.  Adam our carpenter/cabinet maker was on board fitting the internal bulk heads which divide the boat into the various rooms/cabins.  We can now appreciate the actual sizes of each room, they all seem very big.  The painters are busy on the outside of the boat and the gaping holes in the stern deck, have been filled with a composite material which forms the deck and helps soundproof the engine room.
Our main reason for todays visit was to sign a binding contract with Collingwood Boats and to make a stage payment for the completed hull.  We spent more than 2 hours reading the contract and ensuring the specification list for the boat was correct.  We signed on the dotted line and initialed all pages to confirm authenticity.

We now own the hull.

The hull of "Alanne" has been given a unique serial number.  I went back into the workshop and asked Adam to go into the engine compartment and read the number back to me to confirm all was well.  Adam searched around inside using a torch but could not find the number. At that moment the painter appeared and told Adam it was that six inch high sequence of 16  numbers welded into the hull. Adam asked the guy how he knew where to look, he said he watched the welding guy do it.  It didn't seem possible to miss these numbers, but Adam managed it.  After a laugh and a joke I left Adam and the painter to continue with the important job of getting "Alanne" ship shape.
We plan to visit again on Friday 13th June.  Lets hope its not an unlucky day.  Alan McNaughton said that we should see a massive change by then with an expected delivery date in early July.

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