June 2021

A period of favourable weather enabled the work on the Aft Rope Grate to be completed with a good coat of varnish restoring it to pristine condition. This isn’t an original Kerne item, but was salvaged from Liverpool Lighterage’s tug Lambourne in 1963, when the latter was retired and sold for scrap. Presumably, Langbourne’s grate was in better condition than that aboard Kerne at that time. It has seen a few high quality repairs to it whilst we have owned the vessel, and it does now look very smart indeed. Staying towards the rear of the vessel, following the scaling and painting of the Aft Cabin bilges, the flooring has now been replaced and has also seen the paint can and brush. We can now get to use the sink again with a supply of fresh water, rather than all getting washed in a same bucket of well-used grubby water. In the Engine Room, Bill continues with the painstaking job of lapping in the Low Pressure slide valve. Once complete, we will have to wait until we are back in steam to judge the success or otherwise of Bill’s efforts. Back in the Boiler Room, great strides have once again been made, the last of the 60 stay tubes are now installed, plus the 28 annealed plain tubes. Considerable progress has also been made by Jack Dibnah and his hydraulic gear in expanding the replaced tubes. This is difficult enough whilst working on the smokebox tubeplate in the comparatively spacious stokehold, but working on the tube plate in the combustion chamber is another thing all together, particularly as a second man is required to position himself in the furnace in order to clean the expander after each tube was completed. As part of our on-going program of valve maintenance, the safety valves have been removed from the boiler and refurbished and tested by outside contractors prior to refitting once tube expanding is complete and the visit by the Boiler Inspector. Further progress has been made in the re-construction of the lower sections of the smokebox, with the angle framing having been installed. Our thanks again to the Foyle Foundation for their financial support for this work. Up in the Wheelhouse, the faulty VHF converter has been replaced, all circuits and equipment tested, and the switchgear labelled ready of action. The only outstanding item is the need to protect the supply conduit and wiring which run through the Boiler Room very close to the boiler itself, and are subjected to very high temperatures. Appropriate extreme temperature insulation material suitable for cocooning the installation has been ordered and will be installed in due course. As an extension to the rewiring now completed, attention has turned to the wiring of the two splendid ‘Captain’s’ brass oil lamps recently installed in the Forward Cabin. As we did not wish to have visible conduits running to the lamps it was necessary to run the wiring behind the cabin ceiling to the nearest point of supply, and also behind the forward bulkhead. One further small headache stems from the fact that bulbs small enough to fit within the original wick holder seem only to be available in 12 volts, where as our supply is 24 volt. As Baldrick would say, ‘we have a cunning plan’ to conceal small transformers, unseen within the lamps without the need to modify the original oil tanks and mechanisms. Signs are hopeful that the tremendous efforts put in by our volunteers will result in us being back in steam before the season is out. Fingers crossed!!