November 2023

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Winter lay-up work is now in full swing as boiler cleaning on the fire and water sides continue, the later ensuring that the boiler is completely dry so to avoid any corrosion during the cold and damp winter months. To assist in this we deploy dehumidifiers alternately in the Engine and Boiler Rooms. To be effective it is necessary to make these spaces as air-tight as possible – not easy on a vessel like Kerne – but the funnel cap and covers round the Boiler Room vents help considerably. To enable us to similarly keep the Wheelhouse dry, we are extending the wiring circuitry to this part of the vessel so we can deploy the dehumidifiers here as well. As part of our proactive boiler maintenance program we remove valves from the boiler shell in sequence for checking and refurbishment as required, and this is now in full swing. As reported in earlier bulletins, due to deterioration of the boiler shell paint system, we were forced to remove the boiler lagging to enable a full inspection and ultimately a full repaint to take place. Unfortunately, damage to the removed lagging prevented us from re-using it, so avoid a repetition of this situation and to ensure that in future we could remove and reinstate the lagging we looked to design and manufacture crinolines (a steel frame to hold the lagging in position) that will enable us to remove the lagging intact and re-use in the future. To further assist in this plan, work has started on the construction of a timber access walkway down the port side of the boiler to match that on the starboard side. Following the condenser issues on the River Weaver it was decided to carry out a thorough check of the circa 200 brass condenser tubes to check for obstruction and leakage. This involved the removal of both end covers, which weigh in excess of 60kg each in confined space using block and tackles to swing them out of the way. Cleaning of the tubes is in progress. A period of un-seasonable weather enabled some essential chipping and painting to take place on deck, particularly to the base of the funnel where moisture had got behind the paint causing some obvious rusting, Thankfully, this was fairly localised and had not structurally weakened the funnel structure. As ever our weekly volunteer work parties continue.

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