Survey Day!

Well, if I said that I was nervous this morning, I don't think the word covers it! We knew that the survey would bring more issues to light, but we really wanted to know what they were and how much of a "deal breaker" they would be. We already knew we'd need re-negotiate price over the gearbox, but we felt that there'd be a limit to how much lower the price would go compared to how much money we'd have to spend on fault fixing and remedial work for the BSC.                                                                            

Out of the water and looking good.

We were excited to get to the marina and even more pleased to see that she was still out of the water, in all her glory. We finally got to meet Steve, the surveyor, who gave us a run down (and ball park repair figure) of the issues she was facing: We broke it down into 3 sections.

Work that needs completing in order to convert her from a sturdy hull to a boat that can go boating.

New gear box and  new drive plate                               £1,500
Engine service and injector service, oil change
 fuel filter change and oil filter change
 & replace flexible fuel hose.
 reseal exhaust & replace lagging.                                  £   400
3 new batteries needed                                                 £   300

Work that needs completing in order to get boating boat a licence and a BSC.

Service and fix Alde boiler in order to make safe for BSC

Secure gas hob

Change fire extinguishers and add smoke alarms.                    £150.00

Add low level ventilation 

Secure gas bottles

Work that needs completing because she is a boat and boats need work.

Replace 50-60% worn anodes and re black hull.           £500.00

That little lot certainly gave us something to think about- There is some welding that needs attention too, but not essential work at this stage. We retreated to the coffee shop for a mull over and bean count. We felt that the list of problems gave us good negotiating tools, so we were tempted to put in a cheeky offer of £15,000 and see where we got. After all, the advertised price was £19,950  and we'd already had our offer of £17,250 accepted. As Steve pointed out, the vendor was probably aware of some of the faults and had taken them into account when he agreed a lower price in the first place.
We realised that Tuesday was the worst day to have the survey, as the Brokerage office was closed and we'd have to wait until the next day to get haggling! A long drive back home from Sawley with many scenarios and figures buzzing around the car!  

Need a new Gearbox!

All Geared Up....

Anyone who knows boats, knows that there is very little straightforward problems and repairs. Accordingly, Harebell threw us a curve ball today, as it turns out that the propulsion fault is not simply a "faulty throttle cable" but the whole ruddy gearbox!!
All plans to test and purchase on hold until the survey now, as the general opinion between ourselves, the owner and the Marina was to wait and see what else needs attention and then have one big melting pot of discussions, quotes and negotiations.

So, no further trip to Sawley this weekend, we are just planning to chill at home and wait for Harebell's Big Day on the 20th May.

We're only going backwards, as we can't find forwards...

Sorry to the singers from the "Star Trekkin' song for messing up what was, at the time, a catchy tune, but we literally found ourselves with no forward propulsion today!

This morning was  Ying & Yang and then back Ying again. In the interests of fuel & time economy we decided to start the day with a trip to Ikea, before heading down to Sawly to take our lovely boat to be out on the water to see, feel & hear how she ran -I do fear hearing a noisy rattly engine that sounds like it it determined to loosen every bolt and fall apart....
We thought that as we knew what we wanted from Ikea it would be a quick case of in the store, a trip through the maze and be propelled out the other end with our purchases....  WRONG!!!!!!! That would

need a whole new blog to describe that visit and I just don't have the inclination. Suffice it to say, anyone who has been to Ikea - they  Will  Know!!

Once we were at Sawley, we waded through the puddles that used to be the car park and headed off to our boat to re-familiarise ourselves as to what was going to be a financial drain over the next few years- she didn't disappoint!
 Paul, our Marina Official and all round good egg, started Harebell up and reversed her beautifully off her visitor mooring.

James all ready for Harebell's Demo.

He then continued to do that until he hit the concrete piling opposite, as the forward throttle was not working. So, in best Hacker Boating Tradition, off came the engine covers & Marcus was sticking his head down the engine space to see what was wrong....honestly, we'd hardly been going 30 seconds.
A faulty throttle cable was thought to be the culprit, and we had no choice but to leave her on the other side of the marina and trudge back in the rain. We consoled ourselves with a coffee and panini at the excellent cafe on site, Mason & Mason. The rain did not seem to want to ease, so we had a quick nip round to have one last look at Harebell before we headed home, majorly disappointed.

Harebell, as we had to leave her, stranded on the opposite bank of the Marina.

Lots of work in Birmingham.

BCN Main Line & Brirmingham & Fazeley Canal                                                             27 Locks

Mooring in Birmingham can always mean a bit of a gamble on disturbances and last night, we had only one minor issue of someone banging on the side of the boat & trying to run off with the cans from the roof. As they were chained up, they did not go very far, but instead made a lot of noise!
Disturbances apart, city mooring has it's bonuses and a Sainsbury's Local around the corner meant that I could set off with a very cosmopolitan swing in my step and go and get Croissants for breakfast. The sun was shining, but the buildings were creating a lot of shadow, which was annoying. Did I mention that I wasn't a city girl?

Croissants for breakfast were very "ooh la la" and swiftly eaten with a cup of coffee that seems to get better & better on this trip. We set off for Farmers Bridge at about 9.15 and kept to our steady 10 locks an hour, with the Post Office Tower (for us oldies) looming ahead of us and then retreating behind us as we wound, pushed & pulled to get down the next 13 locks of the Farmers Bridge Flight.

 Lots of new flats have been built and England's second city is a pleasure to sail through, but there's no denying that the suburbs get a bit grim and instead of bursting through into the pleasantness of Cambrian Wharf, you just get the feeling that the best has been & gone. Water problems meant a quick stop at Salford Junction, but we headed onto the Aston Flight soon enough. Had a chat with a crowd of Villa supporters on their way to a match and got into a good routine with a single handed boat and allowed an upcoming boat to lighten the load as well.

Us alongside the boat with the added Dog Bed.

At the bottom of the 8th Lock, NB unnamed (the single handed boater)was stuck with a major blockage round his propeller. We stopped and offered our assistance, moored alongside and offered the mother of all knives to help retrieve a whole dog bed from the propeller- Amazing what people will throw into a canal these days.

All in all, 2 bags retrieved from the prop.

On our way again, still bathed in glorious sunshine. I felt a little guilty going ahead of the other boat, but I guess that's the way the lock gates open.  3 more locks finished of the Aston flight and we were heading towards Spaghetti Junction and the sights to behold therein. I still find it amazing that there is a beautiful bridge parallel to to aqueduct over the "turgid River Tame" (Canal Companion, Stourport Ring-JM Pearson 1992) hidden by the massive structures holding up the M6.

Amazingly enough, we got caught in a 3 NB log jam, held up by NB Bob, just bobbing along- the boating equivalent of Sunday Afternoon drivers I guess. However they were polite enough to let us both past. When we reached Minworth Top Lock, we were caught up in a 2 NB log jam, held up by a NB from Langley Mill. However they were polite enough to let us past and for the second time today we jumped to the front. By the time we had been through the 3rd Minworth lock, my feet were definitely telling me that enough was enough, so we moored, mid afternoon, up in the sunniest spot just before the Curdworth Tunnel.  Marcus & I had some food and James

"chillaxed" out on the towpath with his "finger food" and enjoyed the sun.

Our Turn..... 

Most of the trip today we have felt that the tiller was shaking, no doubt having collected some unwanted plastic around the propeller. This evening, in the glorious spring sunshine, Marcus decided that the time was right to venture down the weed hatch.....much hilarity followed as he wriggled & wormed his way through the smallest spaces and managed to cut loose some offending plastic bags.

Nope- Can't reach it all from above....Gotta go under.

I'm under....Now I just gotta get IN!!

I'm in!!!! 

Ta-daaaahhh!

Now just the small matter of extracting myself from the hole!