Continuing from yesterday’s post, firstly, how naive we were when we bought this boat! With particular ref to tech spec.
Secondly, how much we had to put up with.
Thirdly, how much we had to put right.
Fourthly, how much we had to spend doing so.
Fifthly, how long it went on for.
When we bought TT we knew we wanted a widebeam, & she looked great inside & out. (Got that right). So at just a year old what could possibly be wrong? The original owners liked the setup, & their own personal circumstances dictated the sale, so she wasn’t a reject.
Now Dave might be good at engineering aeroplanes & their tech specs. (Think about that next time you step on an Airbus, you might be flying with his wings). But boats are a bit different.
We both basically understood what connects to what & why. In the general scheme of things we had it sussed. After all everything worked – till handover & the central heating kept switching itself off.
4 months into boat ownership the boiler popped it’s clogs. It was a 9.5Kw Webasto. We learned it was too big for the system, wasn’t being worked hard enough & had coked up.
We couldn’t afford a new 5.5 Kw boiler (or any boiler) at the time, So Dr Rip Off cleaned it up for us, said we’d get up to 6 months use out of it & charged us £550. (I kid ye not).
It lasted precisely 48 hours & conked out. It was March & it was cold. This guy was onto newbies & how to screw them good style, easy pickings. We didn’t pay the outrageous bill simply because we needed him to come back & fix it properly. He stayed away, wouldn’t answer Dave’s calls, just texted to say he’d come & look at it but didn’t.
He said he didn’t believe us, after all if he came back & saw for himself, we might have been able to wriggle out of paying the bill for good. Couldn’t risk that could he? Meanwhile we waited & waited, & we had to stay at the house while it was cold, when we’d rather have been at the boat. Five months later we were still without a boiler that worked, we came to the boat when the weather warmed up, & had to run the engine for hot water. At the end of June that same year Dr Rip Off came to the boat when we weren’t there & stole our useless boiler. He very kindly sent us a text to let us know!
Trust us, we chose the only Dr Rip Off boat engineer in the world to sort it. We were warned by our friends about the guy, some of the horror stories of his workmanship. But we needed someone quickly & he was available, he couldn’t be that bad could he? A year later Dr Rip Off was kicked off the marina, he’d ripped off one too many boaters & paid the price.
If in doubt, always listen to your fellow boating friends!
When we got back from Preston Riversway Festival we contacted an excellent engineer (Tom) who later became a good friend. Within 2 weeks we had a brand new 5.5Kw Webasto boiler fitted. And it’s never let us down. Meantime Dr Rip Off added another £250 to our bill & threatened court action if we didn’t pay up. We knew we were in the right, but paid up anyway to save all the hassle & get rid of him. Believe me it was worth it, we were so worn down with the situation he’d put us in! 6 weeks later the dud boiler was returned & Tom knocked £50 off our bill so he could use the parts. Turned out there were no parts left in it, Dr Rip Off had returned a shell.
That was the start of our steep learning curve...
Not long after that Sterling 1800 inverter also packed up while we were out on the cut, no wonder, we only had 2 leisure batteries running 240V appliances. Primarily the 240V fridge freezer, we knew not to use the microwave & the TV in the saloon. However we had been told we could use the 12V TV in the bedroom, but we weren’t that bothered out on the canal. TT had halogen lights throughout too, & we had no idea just how much juice they take up.
In an attempt to improve the set up we went out & bought a powerful Victron battery charger, rather than the trickle charger. YES a trickle charger on a widebeam is what we started off with!! The battery charger made no real difference, we knew we were buggered when off shore power.
So it was time to call in Tom again, & after lots of advice we decided on the Victron 3500 Combi inverter / charger. Plus 6 new sealed for life leisure batteries. Smart technology, now that’s more like it! Matched the fact that we were becoming SMART too, even if we had to do the kerching thing. TT was worth it, but we called her “Toil n’ Trouble” at the time…! Still do sometimes, but in comparison to the first couple of years, (also called the TT curse). We’ve learned so much & spent so much it’s all piddling stuff now.
However, before things calmed down & the wallet gained a reprieve, we came to realise that there were more problems, nothing to do with tech stuff, this was a bit of a mystery. At first we thought condensation in the bedroom was normal. But, should it turn the American Oak black??? With mildew as well??
Yet again we thought this was normal, but not for long. We discovered a leak from the shower was turning the wood black, but it was hidden behind a chest of drawers. Dave re-grouted the tiles but it wasn’t enough. We also wondered why the wood panelling at either side of the bed was going mouldy – even inside the fitted wardrobes. Meantime the bathroom was an on-going refit anyway…
So we ripped out the bedroom just before:
{Choice} we had a bow thruster fitted. No widebeam should be without one, we learned that the hard way too. As an unexpected bonus Tom (again Tom & his work mate) discovered that there was a leaking joint on the water tank. This is what had caused so much water damage in the bedroom. A slow leak & they sorted it.
Conclusion: If ever you suspect there’s a leak – have a bow thruster fitted…!
So it took us 2 months & £2000 to refit the bedroom, worth every penny & every ounce of sweat. But we never clocked these problem(s) before buying the boat. It was summer then, & nothing was visible…!
As for the bathroom, well that was another £2000. The leak in there was coming from underneath the double shower, that’s the one with optional body jets that literally blew you out of the shower & through the bathroom door. So, another 2 month rip out & refit along with the cost.
Destruction phase. AND End product.
Then there was the back cabin that had to be transformed because it started falling to bits into a luxury conservatory. No choice, upgrade it, or lose it.
So after spending an extra 15,000 grand (plus) on TT we were finally getting somewhere…?
Hey, at least the engine was the correct spec?!!! Although we’ve upgraded the alternators since then, but that’s another story…
0 comments:
Post a Comment