Massive in Staines
Monday, October 19, 2009 at 08:09AM 
My mother took this nice picture when she and dad visited us the other day, as they dropped by to see progress. I did note that they made themselves scarce after lunch when the paintbrushes came out. Maybe I should offer food after work?
And working we have been.
One of the reasons that Misterton was towed to Staines was the fact that she is sitting too high out of the water for her propellor to get a decent 'bite'. This picture shows that it was only just below the surface.
When we first saw Misterton, she was about 8 inches lower in the water than this, due to a combination of the junk the previous owners had stored aboard, and also the general levels of dampness beacuse of the holes in the deck etc. Well, since clearing out and fixing all this, she's sitting too high, so we had to put something back in.
Various things have been used as ballast, from gravel, through to poured concrete. For various reasons I decided to use steel, as its compact and movable (should we ever need to). Several tons of 10Kg scrap bars duly arrived and luckly the delivery company was able to place them by the dock.
Most of this weekend was spent putting this into the space underneath the workshop floor, I did about 4000Kgs on saturday, Mary helped with the last 2000kgs on sunday. We still have a couple of tons to go further up the boat.
I forgot to take a picture, but the propellor is about 3-4 inches lower, which should help. We may need to add more, but we'll get more of the interior done first and see where things end up.
Tired? Oh yes.
Reader Comments (5)
Have you joined the boilermakers union? It looks awesome by the trees!
hey... where d'you get the scrap bars?? how much did they cost you?
Seb, wendy ann 2
Hi Seb,
I got the steel from Mann Buck and co (01277) 364344. They basically broker deals for steel ballast from engineering firms in the midlands. The bars were generally in 15" lengths with a few shorter pieces. The cost was around £350 per ton - not the cheapest ballast, but compact movable and non-water absorbing.
Simon
Why didn't you just put all the original crap back in? Or install a Hamilton jet.
Ah Dave, Mary made me chuck it all out. I had bags of sodden fibreglass insulation squirrelled away. I have kept some greasy lumps of metal. I've bamboozled her by saying they are engine parts. I don't actually know what they are, but they are mine, mine I tell you!