March 2024

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March saw Kerne’s intrepid crew battling on with the difficult job of installing the steelwork of the boiler crinolines within the very tight spaces within the boiler casing. The oblong steel frame that has to sit on the boiler crown has been trial fitted, removed and modified, removed and modified again until it sat comfortably in position. Once achieved we could start to create the hoops that are attached to the steel frame, the hoops holding the sections of the lagging blankets in place. Once finished, this will enable us to remove sections of the lagging to facilitate inspections as required by the boiler inspector. Elsewhere below decks work continued on the condenser. Having acquired the rather expensive jointing material, it was necessary to cut to shape the two joints for the forward and aft condenser doors, cut out the centre sections to the correct shape and to carefully mark the positions of the numerous bolt holes and cut these out using a wad punch and hammer on the confined space of the Engine Room floor plates. Thankfully there were no mistakes and each new joint married up to its respective door. Artwork for the main engine pressure gauge faces to the WVV Lidgerwood patterns has been created, and these will be printed and installed, replacing the somewhat tired and discoloured examples prior to our first steaming of the season. Whilst Kerne hasn’t moved since last autumn, the scale model built by former commercial skipper Ron Hayes and his brother had its’ first outing of the year at The National Waterways Museum’s Easter Gathering of Historic Boats at Ellesmere Port. This event used to be Kerne’s first outing each year, but sadly, the ship lock giving access from the Manchester Ship Canal to the Lower Basin has been out of commission for some years so access is only possible from the narrow canal of the upper levels. Even the model didn’t take to the water but made an appropriately historic arrival aboard the Mates’ 1931 Fellows, Morton and Clayton narrow boat ‘Alder’. Work continues apace aboard the full-size version ahead of summer sailings.

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