April 2005 update

Work continued with the internal lining including replacing the newly varnished ceiling panels. These were taken down some months ago and the curves had straightened a little and they needed a bit of persuasion to go back. However, back they went, with insulation between then and the metal roof. Well, they didn't all go back at once as the ones at the rear were left off till Dave constructed the loo compartment and the boxed panel where the inverter and all the electrics will be situated. When the weather was suitable, a  start was made to put in the windows. This involved removing the plastic windows and the miles of duck tape which held it in place and sanding the surrounding metal. Some of the metal was in bad way and in fact some of the drain holes had become so enlarged that there were gaps around the windows. At this stage the windows were only held in with 4 screws - there are 20 screw holes in each of the 10 windows. A lot of holes to be drilled with battery powered tools! Water was leaking round some of the windows and this was thought to be caused by the state of the metal surround and while we were pondering this problem, we had another lucky break. While taking part in the Waterways Trust litter pick, I was chatting to another litter picker and he said he did epoxy work. I quickly gave him an invitation to come along and see Bluebell sometime. Gordon Allan of Belzona Polymerics Limited duly came along the following Saturday and offered to grit blast round the windows and repair them with an epoxy substance. This was an excellent offer. However, as grit etc would possibly get into the canal we approached British Waterways for permission to do the work and they, not surprisingly, laid down conditions to protect the canal. On the day when the job was due to be done, it was wet and windy and it was agreed that we would postpone the job till the weather was more suitable. This gave us all, (BW, Gordon and us) the chance to work out how the job could be done with little risk of anything getting into the water. Tarpaulins and plastic sheeting will be used.

The following Saturday was dry and not too windy so the grit blasting and epoxy work was done. This was a big job and involved the team, Dave Wright, Ian McDougall, Iain Street and Andy Devenport being there form 9.30 till about 7 in the evening. Gordon Allan of Belzona Polymerics Limited was the man in charge. First of all, polythene sheeting was taped (more Duck tape) to the gunwales and laid onto the banking , weighted with wooden posts. This was to stop any grit etc dropping between the boat and the bank. Then a large tarpaulin was attached to the roof rail and attached to fence posts at each end and  up the bank away from the boat. this provided the working environment for Gordon. Ply board was  placed in the window slots to minimise the grit going into the boat. Gordon then blasted round the windows on one side and the grit was  swept up and the tarpaulin removed. The next step was to apply the epoxy to build up the window surrounds and the team helped Gordon with this. When one side was completed, the boat was turned round on ropes and the other side was blasted and epoxied. When the epoxy on the first side had set, sealer paint was supplied to the window surrounds. Later, after the second side has been epoxied, the boat was turned again and the windows put back in place. At the end of the day, the window surrounds looked 100% better than they had been and the rubber window seal will now be waterproof. Many thanks are due to Gordon of Belzona for doing this job for us and also to the team of four who worked so hard to get the job completed. Now all we need are a few hundred more holes drilling in the boat so that the windows can be finally put in place.

Meanwhile, work has started on rewiring the engine. There is a lot of welding needed to strengthen the deck board supports on the stern deck and we need to get the boat moving to take her to where there are power bollards to do this... but she needs some engine wiring first.

We are also speaking to the Volunteer Centre, West Lothian about the possibility of getting a team of volunteers to sand and paint the outside of the boat.

Great progress has  made this month and I hear some of the team mentioning the completion date! For a small group of volunteers we have made an amazing amount of progress since last August but we are not quite there yet. I am still hopeful, though, that we will do our first cruise in Bluebell this year.

Here are some pix of the grit blasting