Tuesday 19th May
2020
Gaia passed over some magazines from the Kelvin Register, stories of
Kelvin engines in general and restorations. They made for very interesting
reading out on the bank, at the picnic tables, in the hot sunshine. It was a
scorcher of a day.
Danny also had a copy of the BSS (Boat Safety Scheme) which also made
for interesting reading. We had always been under the impression that there
were numerous issues with Bridge Street that would fail a BSS Inspection.
Failure of an inspection would result in any boat licence application being
rejected which would affect the boat’s insurance. We had changed many things on
the boat since new build and improved many other areas, all to comply, but were
under the impression that our solid fuel stove installation would fail. While
the regulations in the BSS can be quite ambiguous and open to interpretation,
it would seem we may fail on 2 points:
We have 2 gas isolation valves, neither had any ID labels but we have
since fitted these. However, if there is more than one isolation valve, each
should be labelled along with the location of the other. We do not have this
but it would be easily remedied.
The second point is more serious and not easily remedied. Our stove
installation, as we were led to believe, does not comply. Again, the
regulations are ambiguous, but they do state ‘any installation has to follow manufacturer’s
recommendations’ and ours doesn’t. The stove is fitted too close to the rear
bulkhead with inadequate fire protection. Initially, we worried greatly about
this and were scared even to light the stove when we first moved onto the boat.
However, older boats have their stoves fitted far closer to wooden bulkheads,
without any tiling and with a single skin flue. When we first started using the
stove we very regularly monitored the temperature of all adjacent surfaces
before becoming comfortable with using the stove without any mishap. Should the
boat fail the inspection, we will address the issue then.
Brenda went into Nantwich with Jemima for shopping. Between Susan
doing shopping for us, the chandlery itself and Beccles doing a sizeable shop
for us, we have not had to venture into Nantwich since the end of April. However,
it was a long carry from the marina car park laden with goods though.
More wood gathering took place with yet another stash of dead wood
having been found although it is further away from the boats and involves a lot
of dragging and carrying. Jacob is having a great time here. He and Harvey have
become great friends, running around together and playing, although Harvey
becomes more tired by the day.
We had a BBQ accompanied by mushrooms with spring onion and garlic,
one of the mushrooms being a double, two stalks but only the one head. Curious.
We then had a pineapple between us, BBQ’d in dark rum and Maple syrup with the
liquid being drunk as a warm liqueur. Lovely.
Comments
Post a Comment