NB "Barden" Boatmans Cabin

Finding some time between bookings to sort out our back cabin has become a priority. The first officer has threatened a mutiny if we spend another night on our rather unremarkable ikea sofa bed! (just to clarify from the point of view of any subsequent litigation we have had more comfortable nights sleep camping in the Australian outback with the tent accidentally pitched on a nest of giant killer ants!)

Thats it... Just a matter of remembering where i was up to. Cutting out the apertures for the table cupboard.

Table cupboards should be good and chunky in my opinion. 3/4" floorboards make a good table surface when glued and screwed onto the panel cut out of the bulkhead.

Lots of rummaging round in piles of offcuts and kindling to make loads of odd shaped doors and twiddly bits..... sometimes wonder why i bother... IT WILL ALL BE WORTH IT IN THE END! (mutinous behaviour amongst the crew reaching its peak... once the woodwork is finished it will still take a fornight to paint!)

First coat of primer takes eight hours. Once sanded down i can look forward to doing it all again twice in undercoat before scumbling and varnishing. Can hear murmurings and cutlasses being rattled up the front of the boat!!

I've gone for a very pale undercoat to upset the traditionalists. Reckon it will look great with a thin light oak scumble oil. All grey undercoated areas will be painted either green or blue and the beading red but i suspect that won't happen until late 2015 when the first officer incites the next rebellion!

Scumbled and varnished the cabin is cosy yet light even with the doors closed.

Good enough to move into and pacify the crew for the moment. Five inch high density foam in three sections makes a 6'2" x 4'6" bed when the cupboard is folded down. 
Other notable features about this cabin that are absolutely not traditional are:
-It is 9 feet long leaving room for a large bed as well as a small stove and table cupboard.
-It is not damp or mouldy
-There are no bed bugs
-There is electric light
-We don't have to live off tinned pineapple

(Last comments a small tribute to an anonymous boat captain who worked a boat in the late 60's)

NB "Jemima"

Dead space on a boat.... Nightmare! Jemima's owner could only use these bunk beds in the rear cabin as a dumping ground. 

What was required was a home office that could be used as an occasional bedroom whilst preserving some useful storage space.

Using the full width of the forward bulkhead and creating an angled passageway i made a three seat dinette to maximize storage yet facilitate access through the boat.

 
A spacious desk, large bed (when the table is put down), custom shelves and under bench storage breathe new life into this little cabin.

The pale white wood will benefit from a couple of coats of light oak wax oil, bringing it to the same shade as the existing fit out. Using this material is massively cheaper than building in oak, and the customer will apply the wood finish to keep the cost down even further.
  A good value and extremely useful alteration to a liveaboard boat!
 

Rocking Horse Works

Rocking Horse Works

Quite often narrowboat maintenance work winds down in the run up to christmas. For a decade now I have been involved with the Rocking Horse Works who specialize in the manufacture of new, and restoration of antique rocking horses. 

Spending a month or so making rocking horses makes a pleasant change from working on boats whilst employing many of the same skills. From wood carving to painting, varnishing, metal work and leather work there is no danger of getting bored in the rocking horse game! 

As you can see most of the effort is concentrated on work and not in maintaining ones own appearance! Our humble industrial unit in shropshire takes on the atmosphere of a true Father Christmas's workshop at this time of year. We still find time in our bustling schedule to scoff the odd mince pie though!

NB "Spacehopper"

Nb "Spacehopper"

Spacehopper is a recent boat by Nick Thorpe and an ongoing project. New to boating the owners were misadvised on the plumbing system for their Rayburn cooking range. As you know from my posts on the subject ( Narrowboats Barden, Isis and electra) you cant beat a maintenance free Gravity fed circulation system for even heat, minimum fuss, and virtually endless hot water. Fed on 22mm pipe via a 240v central heating pump to a standard calorifier, the owner was having to start the engine at ungodly hours to power the  circulation pump to stop a potential explosion... who wants to live with that kind of stress!

Rayburns are great on a liveaboard if you get the plumbing right!

This more modern Rayburn has higher boiler tappings and is also raised on a sturdy plinth. This necessitated bending the laws of physics more than usual on this kind of job to generate an adequate thermosyphon without the pipework looking impractical and ghastly!

Anyone got any wet socks?

Preferably the pipe would all run below gunwhale level but that just wasn't possible due to physical limitations. Ideally you would mount the Rayburn at true floor level at the planning stage of the boat. As it is now the front of the boat is toasty warm due to the heat radiated from the pipework without the need for wall mounted radiators. Arguably its a quality bit of industrial art in your living space if your into that sort of bling!

Notice the drain cock installed at the lowest point of the system

In a perfect world the return would flow gently down straight into the bottom of the boiler. In a direct run of over 30m of 28mm pipe there is a short but sharp rise of 250mm into the boiler feed. It is the minimum I could get away with in this case, and does not affect the performance of the system.

Whats hiding under your bed?

This is a custom made 125 litre twin coil marine calorifier with 28mm coils. Secured to the bulkhead with ratchet straps there is a short flexible connection to negate any bumps and bangs. On commissioning day the fire was lit and we had useable hot water in two hours. After two days of operation not only were the crew enjoying some home cooked food again, the supply of hot water for a family of four was almost limitless.

NB "Dorothy John"

NB "Dorothy John"

Painting season continues with 1980's Bridgewater boat Dorothy John. Justified reservations about the British weather  (too dry, too wet, too windy, too many flies etc.) led to the construction of a Heath Robinson inspired painting shelter.

DJ metamorphoses inside its giant yellow chrysalis!

It may be a bit hot and sweaty inside but the tent stabilizes the conditions enough to attempt the job with confidence.

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Plenty of paint on this old boat allows careful patch priming to ensure a quality job

 Skipping to the same view of the finished side, hopefully all the hard work was worth it!

Sand painted gunnels improve the boats manners when handling.

 Jobs a goodun' !

Another satisfied customer!

Fitted Bedroom

Poor Jack! He has outgrown his bedroom and now his furniture is overburdened with paraphenalia to the extent that the use of his playstation is impaired!

Jack's is a very small box room leaving just enough space with this arrangement for a mattress on the floor and little space to stand. His Parents commissioned me to design, build and fit new bedroom furniture to better suit his growing requirements.

By building from scratch i was able to offer under bed storage, and then utilise all of the existing wall space with bespoke shelving designed for a mixture of media, books and treasures.

Monobloc edges and a grey tinted wax oil result in a contemporary finish. Note the extra floor space available in the room.

 

Storage wraps round the room even continuing above the door. TV space is central to the base unit in the bottom right of this picture (above).

The bed fits a standard size single mattress. The shelves above allow just enough room to sit on the bed and get up without banging your head.

Optimised storage and clothes hanging space.

Prewired TV and playstation worshipping alcove provides a better line of sight to the screen from the playing position (presumably recumbant in bed). Good on you Jack, and remember to keep your stuff off the floor!

NB "Hope"

Boat Painting season is upon us! Given the ineffectiveness of crossing fingers etc. to ensure good weather for the duration of the job, I started painting NB "hope" undercover in late march.

There's a fair bit involved in getting the right finish in a narrowboat paint job. As many know its more about preparation than painting!

After removing all the cabin fixtures, rubbing down and painting with red oxide primer I appear to have a blue ratchet strap growing out of my ear!

The same view after just a bit of work (!) and surgical removal of blue strap.

 Painting is hard but rewarding work. Long may "hope" stay shiny!!

Sand paint on the cruiser deck provides a safe non slip surface should it rain, or the captain be overcome during imbibement.

Fittings replaced and ready for launch.