I believe the word I am searching for (which seems to be in currency among the younger generation i.e. those under 50), is "Yay". Herbie passed her Boat Safety inspection yesterday. I always get nervous about the gas leak test because if there is a tiny weeny weep,it shows up and it's a pig to find out where it is. However this time the pressure held steady for the requisite 5 minutes so we were fine.
I don't think Mike Allen who did the inspection would mind if I described him as 'old school'. Both of us would take that as a compliment I think. Mike is long experienced and knows what he is doing and not entirely enamoured of some of the BSS regulations. When I offered to show him our smoke alarms, for instance, he complained that having working (or non working even) smoke alarms in not a BSS requirement! In a boat safety test! According to Mike it took some pleading from inspectors to get the scheme to adopt the requirement for CO alarms (we have two on Herbie).
In other news, we just bought some coffee logs from Tescos.
We haven't tried burning one yet so all I can say is that they seem very heavy and cost £8 a bag (of ten?). According to the blurb they burn hotter and produce less emissions than wood and they're made of recycled coffee grounds. They claim they burn for about an hour. Anybody out there tried them yet?
While we're on the subject of keeping the boat warm, we've just put in Herbie's secondary double glazing for the winter.
These frames were made by Herbie's previous owner Roy and each one is a tailored fit for particular windows on the boat, being handily labelled Starboard no 1, Port no 2 etc. (7 in all) Actually their main benefit is cutting out the condensation which otherwise forms on the windows overnight, and at that they do a really good job.
I've brought my converted LED light home ( see previous post) to test before I inflict it on the boat. I don't want go go round blowing boat fuses if I can help it. I just have to dig out a 12v+ power supply from my box of old wall warts and give it a try. Stay tuned.
2 comments:
Hi Neil,
I am just looking at the condensation on Bonjour's window frames. Your double glazing panels look useful! Dave would like to know how the sheets (of polycarbonate?) are attached to the window frames.
It'll be interesting to know how the coffee logs perform, I remember one blogger has but it was some years ago and I can't remember who it was.
Best wishes
Debby
Hi Neil
We have some coffee logs from Morrisons (same price if I remember rightly).They do indeed give out more heat than Excel coal and do last about an hour, maybe a touch more. They are good for perking up the fire and giving a bit of flame and hence something to look at for that last hour and a half before bedtime. I'll probably buy some more if we are moored close to a supermarket that sells them (they are quite heavy to carry).
Mick
NB Oleanna
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