February 2022

Down in the Boiler Room, the first coat of high temperature paint has been applied to the boiler shell by our on-board contortionists. This is required to ‘cure’ before the second coat can be applied, but as this paint system requires heat for the curing process, we cannot apply the second coat until after our first steaming. At least this gives those involved time to recover before we ask them to do it all again! The bedplate to carry our ‘new’ circulation pump has now been manufactured as the first stage of the installation; pipe and valve work being the next stage of the process. Winter condensation has always been the enemy of laid-up steel vessels, and Kerne is not immune from this. In the Engine and Boiler Rooms, cling film comes in handy to protect exposed brass fittings such as pressure gauges, telegraph, voice pipe and steel brightwork, but to complement this we run a dehumidifier during the colder winter months to extract the damaging moisture and this has proved quite a success. In order to protect our fine Georgian Captain’s Forward Cabin, we have installed a similar unit together with appropriate power cabling which is working well. On the subject of power, several years ago be purchased and installed an industrial ‘silent’ diesel generator to power tools and equipment when out of steam and away from shore power, but more importantly to power emergency electric pumps in the event of a failure of steam-driven machinery. As with most internal combustion engines, a battery powers the starter motor and in our case that battery needed replacing. Trouble is the requisite replacement is bigger than the original and won’t fit into the carrier so modifications are needed. Another job we could do without! At the extreme forward end of the vessel we have a rather large and very heavy bow fender of the ‘button’ variety that was kindly made for us by a retired sea-farer, but weighing more than any member of the present crew, it is a very large ‘button’. What we have realised is that this sits rather low on the stem post, so we decided that this required lifting up. We knew this could be difficult due to its weight and we were not wrong. In the end, it needed two block and tackles and several crew members to hoist the thing a couple of feet up the stem before shackles and chains could be adjusted to the new position. The advent of March brings in the Spring and rising temperatures giving us the chance to get out the paint brushes above and below decks. However, as I look out of the window, it is lashing it down and distinctly on the cold side. The painting may have to wait!