The engine in Percy is not vintage, but it does have design - I think much unchanged from 1929 when it was first built. I like that, I like the fact it has such a pedigree.
If anyone out there knows of a good source of knowledge on all tings canal engine please let me (us) know. I have some simple experience of vintage engines in boats, we looked at a boat called Coopers pride a couple of years back. It had a 4 cylinder Gardner in it. All I can say it was very powerful, but also quite noisy and not in a nice way. Very much the same layout as Percy, it did have a dinette which I will miss on Percy.
Well, Tony is getting a new BSC done next Thursday, if Percy passes then it is looking like the hand over will be Friday.
It looks like I might be single handing part of the way back as Rachel is at a conference into the following week. I recon on three or four days back to Fradley, We have done the route on Canal Plan. Ironically last time we did this route it was to bring Waterlily back, it was July and we had to stop the trip at Norton Junction because of the land slip at Braunston tunnel - due to heavy rain !
Percy is at the junction with the North Oxford so all narrow locks. Just a matter of waiting now........with a little planing thrown in!
I arrived excited and bang on 9am at Roger Farringtons yard in Braunston. He was getting ready to drag Percy out and as I apprached he just walked past saying 'who are you....." never waited for the answer. I accept there has to be 'characters' on the cut but this was rude, especially as I was paying him nearly £200 quid to slip Percy.
Other staff where much more friendly and later in the day I did see RF smile.... but I don't recall having any conversation with him.
Anyhow, the survey.....first job is to get the boat out of the water..... all 18 tons of it.
We had commisioned Balliol Fowden from Anglo European Marine to do the survey. He has done the surveys on our last two boats and is very knowledgeable and comprehensive. He provides a very detailed report with varying levels of recommendation for works needing doing.
He is also happy to have me follow him around and ask all sorts of questions and explains his findings as he goes along. Having now done three surveys I almost feel like his apprentice !
Plenty to look at, they always seem so different out of the water.... like a beached whale in fact.
Pleasing bow construction.
Might have to spend a few bob on a new fender tip cap I think it is called?
This 18" prop is he driving force. No real ratio on the hydraulic drive so it gets about 600rpm max....still shifts a fair bit of water.
Balliol spent some time inspecting the locking of the prop. Really the thread should extend past the nut. Something to worry about when the prop shaft is ever replaced.
Good gaps apparently....all I know is the boat was very responsive when we brought it down from Norton Junction on Sunday.
This is a retrofit, anti cavitation device. Added as the boat might have been pulling air off the surface into the swim.
Tony Redshaw build this himself....a good shell with little wear or pitting, just what you want to hear from the survey.
So, a few things in side to get sorted....nothing serious and I have asked Tony if he will look at them for me.
Oh - some inside photos.....these have been taken off the original advert for Percy.
Today we drove down to Norton Junction to meet up with Gill and Tony Redshaw who's boat Percy we are hoping to buy. The reason for the visit was to take Percy to Braunston boats where tomorrow the 19th November he will be put on a trolly and dragged out of the water for a full pre purchase survey.
We really hope it goes well and there is nothing bad to find.
We enjoyed the trip. The controls are very intuitive and easy - speed wheel and gear selector. As the boat is driven hydraulically it can be moved in and out of gear without dropping revs, ideal for moving between locks as we did today. It can (and will) be dropped to a fantastic tickover as and when needed.
This is a quick video or rather audio clip going through Braunston tunnel
These are photo's dropping down the Braunston locks.
This last one shows how busy it is ar Roger Farringtons yard, and how late we got there. One thing..... never had a trad with a stove just by your leg.....worth its weight in gold on a day like today.
Not quite as quickly as we would have liked due to making arrangement with the owners Tony & Gill to move the boat. Part our fault as we have requested the top of the stove be replaced and a boat safety acquired. This resulted in a slight delay in getting the boat down to Roger Farringtons yard at the bottom of the Braunston flight. The yard could not fit us in next week s it has to be Monday the 19th. I have booked the day off to be there when Balliol does the survey.
Balliol has surveyed our other two boats and is precise and very knowledgable. One thing we will ask for a good look at is the hydraulic drive. Not something I am familiar with but I know Balliol fitted them to his hire fleet when he operated from the same yard Percy will be surveyed at....small world.
So nothing to report until we have the survey done.....
If you are here you have found it by accident or more likely and hopefully you have followed my link from my other blog Waterlily. I say hopefully as I will only be adding further content if we are successful in our purchase of NB Percy.
NB Percy is a one off boat built by Tony Redshaw Tony built Percy in 1991 so not a historical boat but a boat with a great pedigree of engineering experience and therefore carries its own provenance.
It is an unusual boat in layout as well as its power plant.
More of both later but for now I wanted to start a blog as I have enjoyed detailing the ownership of our other boats using this medium.
So for the record we viewed Percy on Saturday 27th October at Weedon and put an offer in on the 31st October. Exciting, worrying all at the same time. The survey isn't for a couple of weeks so that may be the next post.
