February 2020

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During and between the several officially designated storms during February work has carried on aboard the good ship Kerne. 

Having finished the cutting, notching and fitting of the new decking in the Wheelhouse, a further array of fixtures and fittings have been returned to their rightful place, including the chart table, Engine Room voicepipe, various lights and electrical equipment. The next item on the agenda in respect of the Wheelhouse is the small job of re-wiring the 12 and 24volt supply to the electrical equipment, and the navigation, masthead and fixed lighting. Although outwardly simple this is not quite as easy as it sounds. We are always keen to keep the vessel as close as possible to her working 1950’s appearance, which is fine, but operating a vessel of upward of 150 tons in docks, shipping lanes and out at sea clearly places the safety of the volunteer crew and others as the highest priority. For this reason we have equipped the vessel with up-to-date navigational aids and equipment and for these to operate efficiently and correctly it is vitally important that we have a robust and reliable power source. Unfortunately modern switchgear, circuit breakers and protection is a long way from the ornamental brass equipment of old, but we have no alternative but to accommodate this modern equipment as sympathetically as possible. 

Down below as we await the delivery of our new boiler stay tubes, there have been other jobs to get our teeth into. Once the lower section of the smokeboxes was cut away, this revealed the condition of the securing studs. Given that they were the originals from the construction of the boiler by the Admiralty in 1936, they had seen better days and have now been replaced by studded pads expertly welded to the boiler face by a coded welder. A minor issue that has annoyed us since we purchased the vessel in 1971 was the condition of the portside firehole door surround which has had a crack in it. The removal of the section of smokebox has enabled us to also remove the surround (which was quite possibly ‘re-used’ by the Admiralty from the original 1913 boiler) and have the crack welded up.

This down-time has given us the opportunity to do some general cleaning up, particularly down in the bilges of the Boiler Room and Forward Cabin. Not the nicest of jobs but essential to keep down the muck that inevitably accumulates and helps to reduce corrosion of the hull plates. Additionally our rolling program of valve overhauls continues with several boiler valves being removed for attention, which includes re-seating and gland re-packing as required. 

The appalling weather of the last month or so has made deck work nigh-on impossible and this has had a marked effect on our galley range fuel supplies, as strangely, we appear to be spending more time than usual in the dry warmth of this cosy space.  

Hopefully the onset of Spring will change that!

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