November 2024

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As the nights draw in and the mercury drops it is time to concentrate on the engineer’s favourite job – Boiler cleaning! The first job in the cleaning process is to empty the boiler of water following which the block and tackles are out, the smokebox doors are hoisted up to reveal the consequences of now having to burn much inferior Columbian coal – soot, lots and lots of soot. Previously, the Russian Deep Mined coal we burnt produced very little smoke, and importantly, very little soot. This used to mean that tubes were swept using a light brush and rag, now it is the heavy brush and a lot of heaving to push the shoot through to the combustion chambers and down onto the fire bars. Then some poor so-and-so has to crawl along the furnaces to remove the fire bars. These are pulled out through the firehole doors and passed to a colleague perched at the top of the Boiler Room ladder who passes the bars out through the sky light to a further volunteer who then passes them to (surprisingly on this occasion) the Captain who stacks the bars in an orderly fashion on timbers behind the funnel. It may seem a cumbersome procedure but by having 4 or 5 volunteers in the chain it literally takes hours off the job. It is then time to wire-brush the furnaces and brush and vacuum out the soot and ash for disposal ashore. It is a truly filthy job and those who ‘volunteer’ to go up the furnaces are at least able to look forward to an extended hot shower when they get home whilst plotting how to get their overalls and clothes into the washing machine whilst the wife is out! Water removal is not confined to the boiler as bilges have to be pumped dry using our submersible pumps to get the volume down and then to finish off with plastic scoops and good old-fashioned mops to get the final dregs. Whilst this has all been going on down below, the un-seasonably dry weather has given the opportunity to get the paintbrushes out and give the wheelhouse a going over with white gloss, as well as the de-scaling and painting of the anchor windlass in black gloss. Continuing on the painting theme, during week days when the engineers aren’t scattering soot about the place, painting of the Engine Room continues. So as the year draws to a close, another couple of weeks will signal a down-tools for the festivities before we enter our 55th year of preservation. Have a Very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

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