The Lady of the Leak

Last Saturday Susan from NB Portland Bill came in to the shop asking me to go down and have a look at the list on her boat. I was in the middle of other jobs and could not go straight away. She was a bit concerned so I said that I would pop down after work to have a look at it.

She was moored 300 yards south of Banbury lock. I found it quiet easily as it was the boat with the 30º list to port! I was amazed that she still had belongings on her shelves. Water had filled her bilges causing the list.

The water in her bilges was clean so I started looking for at the water tank for problems. I found it straight away. The domestic water pump had not been installed properly and water was pouring out (It had been fitted by a friendly boater who was passing by), so I fixed the leaks.

I was concerned about Susan staying on the boat in that condition, but Susan (cool as a cucumber) explained that her last boat also had a list so she was used to it, and anyway her bed was on the port side so she could not roll out. So we arranged to bring the boat to the boat yard on Monday to pump the water out.

On Monday, I looked at the floor and found that the internal wood lining of the boat had been built on top of the floor (which is common) so I could not lift the floor up. I found the lowest point on the floor at the back near the stove and drilled some holes in the floorboards. I put and electric pump in and left it pumping out for an hour. We are now on the case for getting the rest of the water out.

A good tip for any boaters is to make sure that you have inspection hatches so that you can check your bilges and try and keep them dry as possible. Also if you hear your water pump coming on when you are not using it – then it’s worth getting the system checked out for leaks.

Matt A

Hi everyone

We have not said very much recently due to the amount of work we are doing. We have had so much work on that we have all been doing long days to get all the work done. I am not complaining as all work is good.

Well most work is good!

The exception was last week when I was repairing a customer’s toilet. The tank had blockage and the macerator pump kept pressurising the system! I was looking at it in the 3ft by 3ft compartment when it exploded. I shall spare you the details.

One word of warning, recently we are had a problem with oil or diesel polluting the canal. We think that it has come from an oily bilge, possibly being emptied in to the canal via an automatic bilge pump. This can cause damage to newly blacked boats. Have a look at the picture of the boat with the blacking stripped off around the waterline.

Last weekend we turned our historic 200 year old dry dock in to a theatre. I will post in a couple of days to report on how it went.

Ok bye for now

Matt A

Hi

My name is Linda and I work in the Chandlery at Tooley’s Boatyard.

That is me in the leather, looking as though I am propping up the bar.

I was out on the maiden cruise of the restored “Icebreaker – Oxford 1” going through Banbury lock which is just beyond the boatyard.

I moved up to Banbury from Brighton in 2003, although I have been cruising the Inland Waterways since 1984.

Our first boat was a 16Ft fibreglass boat that we had brought up from Littlehampton, Sussex and launched onto the Grand Union at Southall. Our mooring was at the BWB yard at the top of the Hanwell Locks. We had many happy holidays on this boat with our four children and dog.

Our next boat was a “Microplus” which we moored at Marsworth. This was a lovely mooring on the Grand Union above the Tring reservoirs.

Our current boat is (or was) a Clubline “Mulberry”. It was a 20ft steel boat which was outboard powered. This has now been stretched to 42Ft and is powered by an “Enfield” twin opposed inboard. We even have a pointy end!!!!

I have met many interesting people since working at Tooley’s, as the historic boatyard was used by a lot of the old working boat families and has a 200 year-old working Forge, which attracts a lot of visitors.

Hopefully you will come in and visit us.

LINDA

Taking a breather...

I'm in the process of relaxing at home (well, as much as one can relax with a teething baby!), following two complete re-paints. The first, 'Emerald Dream', was a 57ft trad. The colours used were Atlantic Blue, cream, and Postal Services Red for the coach-lines and a few other areas. Although you do occasionally come across re-paint jobs that simply require a good sanding followed by an undercoat and a top, they are few and far between. More often than not, a full strip-back is what's needed, a far more thorough option to be sure.

Here is 'ED' as a bare beauty:

And here she is once coated in beautiful Mason's P-Type (we use Craftmaster's lovely thick, full-bodied primers and undercoats, followed by Mason's top-coats - a combination that works for us):





Not a moment's breath later, 'ED' was out of the dock, and 'Sonflower' was in. Again, a 57 footer, but this time with a cruiser stern. A good-looking boat laid out more for safe, family cruising than traditional wants, the colours used here were Deep Royal Green, a Lemon Chrome, and light grey 'raddle' decks and roof.


I do love the contrast with the yellow and green, and the light grey sets both off beautifully.


Anyhows, both jobs were very much appreciated by the owners, and I certainly felt a sense of pride as the sun glanced off 'Sonflower' as she exited the dock.

Time for a break now, and for some time with the baby. This new 'dad' thing is really something else! And extremely tiring. Zzzzzzzzzz...



MARTIN

Another day, another Matt...

Hello there,

To continue the introductions, I am also called Matt. To save confusion if you call or come to Tooleys, I am known as Mechanic Matt, amongst other things.

My career started on rather larger vessels, as after studying Mechanical Engineering (Marine Bias) at Plymouth Poly, I spent 15 years in RMNB Devonport working on Royal Naval and RFA Ships.

During that time my small boat experience was keeping the boats, and believe it or not the jet-skis, of the Dockyard Police afloat and ticking over.

My interest in Narrowboats was kindled by spending a day on one with friends on the Chelmer and Blackwater Navigation, this developed into a full time commitment when I convinced my young lady to live on one with me.

I started working on the canals as a mechanic with a local hire fleet, and have been at Tooleys for a couple of years,

I think the main reason for my continued enjoyment of the job is the sheer variety of engines and ancillaries that Narrowboaters and builders tend to fit, so if you have something unusual or a strange problem bring it to us, we’d love to see it!

Occasionally on the blog I am going to mention a maintenance task to jog some memories, this isn’t meant to put me out of a job, just to help make my tasks easier if I come to work on your boat.

The first one I’ll mention is clean out your deck drains, a simple five minute task that will help make working in your engine bay a lot nicer.

Ok that’s all for now, oh and sorry for the odd photograph but photography is another hobby, a free oil filter for your engine for the first person to email the canal name and lock number it was taken in.

Mech Matt.

Also introducing...

Hello there!

Great photo there from the boss!

My name is Martin. Though it would probably be easier if I changed it to Matt, as there's two of them and only one of me.

I've been working at the wonderful Tooley's boatyard since March 2007, having moved from Bath thanks to the good lady wishing to be closer to family (looking back, it was a great big plan, as we now have a baby boy). I've been involved in boating since 1999, when I became licensed as a passenger-boat skipper on the Thames. Since then I've skippered 300-tonne 'Dutch' barges in both England and France, also obtaining the French equivalent of the MCA Boatmasters (the written exam taken, of course, in French - now THAT was a learning curve), as well as operating a 'wide-beam' passenger boat on the Kennet & Avon canal. I'm also a registered RYA Inland Helmsman Instructor, running as Chief Instructor the 'Isis School Of Boat Handling' here at Tooley's.

Along the way, my travels and work have now led me to be (here at Tooley's), dare I say, remarkably competent at boat painting, a role I've taken on since November last year following proven success painting all sorts of boats and barges. Alongside that, there's also some mechanical expertise, as well as marketing, IT (who DO you think dragged Matt A screaming into the 21st Century?!) and a firm belief in the future of Tooley's as THE boatyard for your works.

So, I suppose it's over to the other Matt now, 'M'. (Very Bond). In the meantime, I look forward to meeting any/all of you. And remember, if I don't look so happy, it's mainly down to the way my face falls.

Best,
MARTIN

Welcome!

Hello!

Welcome to Tooley’s Boatyard’s new Blog.

My name is Matthew Armitage ( hereafter referred to as 'Matt A') and I am one of the company directors of Tooley’s Boatyard Ltd, having been involved in the Marine industry since 1990.
Tooley’s has the oldest working dry dock on the Inland Waterways of Britain, and has been in continuous use since 1790 when it was established to build and repair the wooden horse-drawn narrow boats, which plied the newly constructed canal network, so vital to the development of the Industrial Revolution.
The site was threatened by the Castle Quay development, but good fortune prevailed, and the site was saved and incorporated in the new Banbury Museum. Tooley’s is now a scheduled 'Ancient Monument' and run by ourselves as a private company since 2002, with its dry dock providing a service for the boating community and an opportunity for visitors to see work in progress, as well as the fully restored workshops - dating from the 1930s - including a carpenter’s store, a belt-driven machine workshop and a paint store. There is also a 200 year-old forge offering items made to order, as well as blacksmithing courses.

As we are a small team, we all have lots of responsibilities! My main responsibilities are:

• The day to day running of the yard
• Docking, Blacking and prepping boats
• Welding and basic Blacksmithing
• Some mechanical work
• Chandlery sales
• Isis School of Boat-Handling – Instructor
• Guide tours and Talks

We decided to do a blog so that people can see the day to day running of the boatyard and show people the work that we do.

The rest of the team will introduce themselves and we shall post regular posts of the different works we are doing at the boatyard, as well as (hopefully) some less serious stuff!

We will be happy to answer any questions you may think of, and any comments on the blog would be greatly appreciated. We would also love to post any pics or videos and/or any boating-related stories you may have that would liven up our day! (These can be emailed to us at info@tooleysboatyard.co.uk).

So, here we go - dragged screaming into the 21st century - the Tooley's Blog Page!

MATT A.