Braunston Historic Weekend

The Barge Arm at Braunston just
before the wonderful chaos starts

Another great weekend put on by Braunston Marina.  We took Sculptor up to Braunston on Friday 26-June leaving Stoke Bruerne at 07:00 - just as well we did as there was a wide beam waiting to come south as we left the tunnel at about 07:35 - they said had we been 20 mins later in leaving Stoke Bruerne we would have been asked to wait until the wide beam was through which would have delayed us until 08:30.

We arrived at Braunston at about 16:15 and were asked to moor outside Roger.  The first Roger we saw was about 30' long so we looked for another Roger which we found but it was inside four other boats. We were then directed to moor in the barge arm which was slightly odd as it was an FMC year but we were happy to spend our time there.

Sculptor and FMC Owl breasted up
entering Buckby top lock

Saturday was a glorious day; we participated in the morning and afternoon 'parades' meeting old and new friends.  Sunday was not quite so pleasant with blustery showers in the morning leading on to a more pleasant afternoon.  Again we took part in both the morning and afternoon parades.

It was a special year in memory of Sonia Rolt to whom a plaque was unveiled and also one in memory of the Braunston strike.

Tim Coghlan very kindly presented the Sculptor team, who were present, with a cheque for £1,000.

On the Monday Sculptor was returned to Stoke Bruerne in the company of FMC Owl, whom we breasted with up Braunston and down Buckby. A long but very enjoyable day's boating.

Volunteer hours 88 (total 928 to date)

Stern end, counter repaint

No fenders whilst the paint dries

We've repainted both the counter and the stern end recently as part of the ongoing 'opportunity' (when the weather permits) times to keep Sculptor looking good and in fine fettle for Braunston Historic gathering.

Getting ready for Braunston Historic weekend

The fore end is complete

Another view of the fore end

There's been a bit of painting going on to prepare Sculptor for the forthcoming Braunston Historic weekend.

That work has not been scheduled for a Sculptor day because of the vagaries of this particular English summer so it's been an 'opportunity' process to grab a good day when we can.

The pigeon box has been re-glossed

The stern end has been repainted

The fore end has now been finished, the pigeon box rubbed down and re-glossed and the stern end painted.

The fore end white band has been scrubbed and does look a lot better than it did although I am sure it could be better!

Sculptor is off on Friday morning (26-June) and will return to Stoke Bruerne on the afternoon of Monday 29-June all being well.

Volunteer hours 14 (total 840 to date)

Some Mason's Midnight blue ..... and an odd way to moor

The cants on the fore end are now in their appropriate Mason's Midnight Blue colour scheme but we have had to moor Sculptor with a kind of harness round the fore end in order that the paint on the 'T' stud can dry and harden off. It seems she is more than happy to be moored in that way for a short time.

Changing the oil

There had beed a small 'bodge' job
done previously on the oil filter!

Today was gearbox, engine and reduction box oil change day.

No problems with the reduction box once the drain plug was located - EP90 in there.

Draining the gearbox and engine is quite a complex task in that box uses the same oil as the engine and are filled via the same place.  The oil filter is a swine to get back on as Mike G will attest to.  It leaked a bit when first tested but that was soon resolved.  The engine seems to be leak free now but the oil levels are taking some time to stabilise so I'll check the levels in the morning and if they are where we expect them I'll run the engine to allow it to warm up and we'll see if we have any leaks. Thanks to Rob, Mike and Steve for their help.

Saturday morning update: Levels are fine and there were no obvious static leaks over night and no dynamic leaks when run for 20 mins this morning. Just waiting for the OK to say Sculptor is fully operational again.

Now that we are at a known base level (having changed the oils etc) I have a spreadsheet that we can record Sculptor's hours on so we will 'know where we are'.

Sculptor hours of use Date From Start Time To End time Hours Notes 05-Jun-15 Stoke Bruerne Stoke Bruerne 0 Engine/Gearbox/Reduction box oil changes and engine filter change 06-Jun-15 Stoke Bruerne 08:15 Stoke Bruerne 08:35 00:20 Engine run to check for leaks following oil and filter change 06-Jun-15 Stoke Bruerne 14:10 Stoke Bruerne 14:35 00:25

Volunteer hours 12 (total 826 to date)

A bit more painting ...and polishing....and blacking.... and oiling

Quite a bit of work on Sculptor this week mainly the little jobs that we all seem to overlook so in no particular order:

• Painting: Finishing of the fore end painting (almost). The main part of the repainting of the fore end has been done - with many thanks to Mike Partridge who did run a boat painting business some years ago - it's made all the difference to the fore end. Just the 'half moon' bit to be painted at the rear of each top bend now once the dark red has hardened.
• Polishing: All the brass has been polished - it will need a bit more from time-to-time but hopefully Sculptor will look on top form the Family Festival and Braunston Historic gathering.
• Blacking: No not the hull but the Epping stove in the back cabin - looks so much better now. 
• Oiling: In preparation for changing the engine and reduction box oils and the engine oil filter all the consumables have been purchased and we are ready to go on that on Friday of this week. 

Volunteer hours 10 (total 814 to date)