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A picture of the new engine, a Mermaid Mariner - Ford Dovertech 6 cylinder non-turbo with PRM 500 gearbox. |
New engine from above, the dry exhaust lagged to exit just under the gunwhale on the starboard side and heat exchanger cooling. |
The new engine and bow thruster have made such a difference to how we can use the boat that we had to learn to manoeuvre her all over again. Our home mooring has always been difficult to get out of because Waterdog is tucked in a corner of Timber Pond with smaller moored craft all around and shallow water just behind us. We've always had to use ropes to various parts of the marina to literally pull the barge out of the corner and turn her head to point out of the marina. Now we still have to plan an exit but we can push the bow out of the corner with the bow thruster, instead of man power, and head for the canal. |
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Waterdog at Pollington moorings, brush on the bow is to judge the bridge heights for the wheelhouse, if it touches we try to stop! |
Tilly is always desperate to get onshore, she likes windy days, maybe it's cooling? |
We tried the engine at a variety of revs to see what speed we would get in future. At 1500 revs we got 5.5 kts but at 1800 revs and 6+ kts the steering became unstable and we had to back off as we nearly swiped the canal banks! We thought this was a sign that we had too much ballast in the bow, so took out just under a tonne and donated it to another barge who needed it. On reflection, it is probably the interaction with canal bed and banks that made the steering unstable. We were still better with a little less ballast as the trim looks better and we have more fitting out to do as well yet. |
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Tilly liked a new place to walk, does she recognise home from afar? |
A light rain didn't stop the walking or the enjoyment, Pollington was still peaceful and nice but with commercial and liesure barge traffic. |
Next day we were off to the 'New Junction Canal' via some more manoeuvres back to near Goole, this was all part of getting some hours on the engine so we could do the first service at 50 hours before setting sail for France. We are building up our confidence and knowledge of the new engine and systems. At 50 hours we have to change the oil, filters and check the tappets and other stuff. |
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Quiet at 'New Junction' a couple of days after a busy bank holiday. |
No-one to annoy so we can all go for a walk with no need for the lead. |
This outing got us to 24 hours on the engine so we'll need another good cruise out before the first service. The new traction batteries lasted the 3 days with no problem and then the domestic alternator charged the domestic bank at 80 amps so replaced quite a lot of what we used, while steaming home. Not everything was perfect as the heat from the engine caused the inverter/charger to overheat and shut down. We'll solve this with an engine room door, to keep the heat in there, and better ventilation for the inverter/chargers. |
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Here's one of me and Tilly - Oh she's gone! |
'Come on then! ' |
Here she is tidying the ropes up on the back deck, or would that be just trying to chew them to pieces? |
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