March 2022

By
Work down below in the Boiler Room continues towards the installation of our boiler circulating pump. The completed bedplate has been trial fitted to the port side of the keelson, and the positioning being confirmed, planning the pipe runs between the valve pad on the bottom of the boiler to the scum pipe to the top of the boiler to form the circulator and the steam supply and exhausts from the existing auxiliary system can be ascertained. Also in the Boiler Room, the upper sections of the bunker bulkheads that were corroded have been cut away and new steelwork welded into place. These areas have been primed as have other areas in the Boiler and Engine Rooms that were found to be rusted. Modifications and extensions to the existing 24volt wiring system in these areas continues slowly. Sod’s Law rules here as the wiring areas being worked upon are on the route between the Engine and Boiler Rooms which sees constant human traffic as working volunteers are moving to the tool cupboard and up and down to the deck. Our lovely varnished rope grate located at the stern of the vessel above the rudder post has also seen some repair work in the last month or so. This fine piece of timber construction was previously fitted to the Liverpool Lighterage tug Langbourne, and was presumable better than the one on Kerne when Langbourne went for scrap in 1963. When moving the grate to access the rudder post several of the timbers broke away, so is was placed on a trestle on the quay for further inspection which revealed a number of timbers to be in poor condition. These were carefully removed and new timbers cut and shaped to fit. As will be appreciated, this took longer than anticipated as working on the quay in the wet windy conditions we have experienced of late is less than ideal. The improvement in the weather has however seen paintbrushes out on deck and lunch being taken from deckchairs on the aft deck. Hopefully a good sign for the forthcoming season.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

July 2023

By
Kerne has remained in Canning Dock throughout the month with the crew giving conducted tours around the vessel when members are in attendance. One very interesting recent visitor was an Australian gentleman and his wife who are members of the Australian National Maritime Museum in Sydney harbour which amongst its exhibits is the Steam Tug ‘Waratah’. It just so happened that in the mid 1970’s we were befriended by an Australian gent by the name of Peter Jones who was having an extended visit to the UK and he joined us as a temporary volunteer. He described that in Sydney he and others had embarked on a project to restore Waratah. Somewhat larger than Kerne at 105ft, she was built in 1902 by the Australian Government Dockyard and fitted with steam reciprocating engines built by Ross and Duncan of Govan on the Clyde. During Peter’s time in the UK, we were able to discuss common issues that both they and us had to confront in preserving these ancient vessels and I am pleased to report that
Read more

August 2022

By
Whilst there is never any real let-up in the work needed to keep a 109 year old steam tug in active condition, there is nothing like the a fast approaching trip to speed things up and August has been no exception. The outstanding welding to the new bunker cross deck continued apace, the main welding being pretty much complete and the square apertures for the bunker lids cut out and the surrounding lips formed. In order to make the tug presentable, areas to be finished off have been masked before primer and 2-pack black top coat was applied across the deck. The letter ‘K’ of Kerne that was lost when the corroded upper sections of the bunker were cut away has thankfully been reinstated, as it had been suggested that if the port side of the bunkers appeared to be called ‘Erne’ we should name the starboard side ‘Eric’!! The suggestion was not adopted. Work continued over six work sessions to repaint white band beneath the rail. This entailed flap wheel grinder preparation, water wash off,
Read more

March 2023

By
To say that March has been ‘full-on’ would be no exaggeration as we approach our operating season. The most important element being successful boiler inspections without which we are going nowhere. Firstly after a successful dry inspection, fire bars had to be refitted in the two furnaces, there being two sets of bars in each furnace supported by a very heavy central bridge piece. That done, the two folding smokebox doors had to be closed and the multiple dogs correctly engaged to ensure a smoke-tight fit. After filling the boiler with approx 8 tons of water fires were then lit and over three days the boiler was slowly warmed up and steam raised to 180psi for the Boiler Inspector to witness the lifting of the safety valves to his satisfaction. The latter was followed by engine trials alongside the quay at Sandon which again was successful with only a few minor issues. The steam test did reveal a failed joint in the safety valve waste pipe which runs up the front of the funnel. This joi
Read more