Things have come quite a long way since the beginning. Back in those heady days full of dreams of life afloat. Before I knew how much a boat weighed, what shot blasting was and what it is to shovel a tonne of sand from a confined space.

Anyway, point is if you want to begin at the beginning and watch the excitement build… or, less benevolently, watch me run full pelt into catastrophe… Click here This will take you to the first post.
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I am the first to admit that things have been a little slow if late but things are all changing next week when the surveyors come to do the 3D survey.

Chaps and chapesses from Severn Partnership are coming down all the way from Shropshire with their lasers to gather the data to create a 3D model of Betty.

This is crucial for the architect to be able to gauge the exact dimensions and angles and lines when designing the new top structure. It makes planning the new phases of the build a whole lot simpler and more accurate and I get one of those exciting cgi rotatable images of better in all her glory… I wonder if I can ask them to do a bit of airbrushing and hide the massive hole that is still in the hull? And smooth out the surface? And add in that hot tub I am going to be putting on deck at the bow?

This case study of their work on Jan Steen gives some idea of the process and deliverables. Take a look here

(Ps: check me out, I’ve worked how to use the link button!)(

I have been gathering some more engine cleaning tips from Martyn at Marine Power Services…

“The engine does need a good clean
but this needs to be done very carefully. The engine is not sealed like a modern car engine, there are a number of places where water can get inside if put under too much pressure. I would suggest engine wise, a good hover while the grit is all dry, then a good scrub down with Gunk or Jizer
(degreaser) then a rinse off with a hose pipe only avoiding too much water on the injector pump area and the six covers on the top as these have no seals and water can get inside. (P.S cleaning the inside is going to make
a mess so really needs to be done at the same time as the outside, one lot
of cleaning the outside instead of two)”

Lots of elbow grease, spit, polish and industrial quantities of jizer required!
“

Progress this week has involved blasting the last bits of the hull, under the engine room and the striker rails.

First the supports were moved back on to the newly welded stern to allow access.

Then it was blasted and painted.

The surface does look a bit pitted. Next step will be to thickness test it to work out exactly the condition. It was made in 5mm and the deal is that anything under 3mm requires attention. The tricky thing is that this is under the engine room, and indeed under the engine, so it won’t be as easy to access the rivets and drop the plates out if they need replacing. This means a doubler on this area might be the most workable option… Over to Toby and team to work out this one!

The striker rails are also ready for work.

While inside the engine room the plates that make up the floor have been cleaned. There is about 80 years of petrol-type funk so the whole thing might need a bit of a steam clean too…. This stage will be both tricky and time consuming I fear!

Marine Power Services have, as promised, posted some photos on their website. Rather worryingly they refer to it as a “mammoth task” – come on guys, it’s just a light refurb, right?

This includes an initial diagnosis:

“Our first visit to the boat found that although not seized and appearing to have good compression some other bits were not so good. The fuel injection pump and cambox are partially seized resulting in an engine that starts, all be it only on a couple of cylinders. Over the restoration of the Beta III we will be working on the engine to get it back running smoothly. First up is the fabrication and replacement of most of the off engine systems. Bilge pump, raw water, exhaust and fuel systems. “

Read the full blog entry here:
http://www.marinepowerservices.co.uk/news/100-breathing-life-back-into-the-heart-of-the-beta-iii

The engine needs some sort of protection while the engine room is blasted. Martyn from MPS taped up the air vents for me. The rest of the engine is now covered in a layer of that heavy duty cling film builders use to protect carpet.

It was a job and a half getting it on. No space round the engine, attached at the bottom and really quite massive. Like wrapping the biggest, most awkward present.

One casualty was my thumb which suffered from cling film burn. Am also pretty sure I removed most of my fingerprints in the process…

Yesterday the lovely chaps from Marine Power Services came up from Dorset to give the engine the once over.

They gave an initial assessment of the condition of the engine and establish, in Geoff’s own words, whether it needs an engineer or a priest. Initial signs were promising, it is old, gunky and needs a good service but all is not lost. The chaps can also re figure the pump connections and how and where the water comes in to give more space at the front of the engine.

Geoff and Martyn have also said that, as and when they get going they will put photos and an explanation of how, what and why on their website http://www.marinepowerservices.co.uk. Good thing as my interpretation of their detailed explanations have the potential to be quite far of the mark.

In other news, Rye is looking beautiful in the sunshine. This photo below is from my new bedroom windows.

Not strictly true that NOTHING is happening but definitely true that nothing much looks to have happened. After all the excitement of hauling things out of the water, chopping bits of boats up and then sticking them back together, things are now a bit more behind the scenes.

Task of the month is to find a surveyor to do a 3d survey, crack on with planning for the top and clear and blast the engine room.

This project is definitely a marathon, not a sprint.

A surprising source of inspiration. While, like everything in the city, the scale is about four times the size you would expect, there are some interesting design details and great combinations of materials. Perhaps more city boats than houseboats but it proves that the best view is definitely from the water.

Today’s outing to the Crick Boat show started badly. Horrific traffic on the M1 followed by an ominously purple sky turning the field into a mud bath. After a trip to the real ale rent things were looking up.

I don’t have the same taste in interiors or exteriors as most of the boat designers there and, if I am honest, didn’t love the fitted wood work or panelling. That said, what it did show me was how spacious a boat with similar dimensions to Betty can feel. And, while I wasn’t a fan of the finishes chosen, how space saving tricks can be used to good effect.

TO REMEMBER: roof lights, shutters and sliding doors.
TO FORGET: built in bedside tables and acres if glossy woodwork