Boat Maintenance
Most maintenance has been carried out by volunteers.
In 2002, David Hoskins took over the management of the boat maintenance. He was a mathematician by education and an actuary by profession and had recently retired as a manager with Standard Life. He was an enthusiastic amateur engineer. He was also a skilled barge helmsman having taken many boating holidays.
David assembled a team of volunteers with various DIY skills to take on jobs. He turned out at Ratho Monday to Saturday 10am to 2pm throught the winter to oversee the work of anyone who happened to turn up to help. On Sundays, David helped the Scottish Railway Preservation Society at Boness!
David could turn his hand to almost any maintenance job. If he didn't know how to do something, he would learn for next week. He hated spending money and would spend hours trying to fix something rather than buy a replacement. He tried to scrounge supplies believing that firms who wouldn't give money might give goods. His successors haven't quite had the same attitude but marine paint is better than B&Q economy white gloss!
Some volunteers turn out for maintenance work on their regular crewing day. This leads to a bit of discontinuity and management difficulties! On one Thursday, the woodwork in Mackay's toilet was white gloss painted. The team returned the following Thursday to find their gloss had been emulsion painted over!
Mackay
Major work included adding a cab at the stern in 2000 and a new engine in 2003. Both done by contractors.
A lot of noise after the engine refit was traced to vibrations as hydraulic pipes passed through a bulkhead. Adding rubber mountings resolved the problem.
Mackay was slower than Crusader II. A different propeller design was tried.
Volunteers have changed a lot inside the boat:
The WC originally had a curtain across the door! A complete new WC and holding tank was made to size and installed.
Heating was originally a propane gas boiler to be replaced by a diesel burning Eberspacher Hydronic heater with a finned pipe round the perimeter of the cabin. The finned pipe took up floor space so was replaced by radiators within the side cavities to use less space. The radiators were odd ones salvaged from someone's house and used to test if we could get a working system - new ones were never bought! The "wet" heating system was replaced by a diesel burning Eberspacher Airtronic warm air system in 2015.
A gas geyser was used to heat water until 2004 when a salvaged hot cylinder was experimented with circulating engine coolant to heat the water. It worked and eventually the salvaged cylinder leaked and a new one had to be bought! Removing the geyser allowed a cupboard to be built using plywood which just happened to be around.
There was a small gas cooker to boil water in kettles for drinks until 2006 when we switched to a 12 volt electric water heater powered by the boat alternator allowing gas to be removed from the boat.
Copper water pipes were replaced by plastic in 2008 to be less vulnerable to frost damage.
Under water engine cooling pipes had to be renewed in 2018 by contractors.
St John Crusader II
The boat builder went in to receivership shortly after delivering the boat so "snagging" had to be done by volunteers.
This was our first barge with a wheel rather than a tiller. Steering was more difficult than the other boats and some volunteers didn't like it.
David Hoskins researched rudder design and rebuilt it with an aerofoil shaping. It is difficult to know if these efforts made a difference to steering or whether helmsmen just became more skilled as they gained experience.
Crusader II had a direct drive coupling the propeller to the engine (Mackay had an hydraulic drive). This seemed to require a lot of maintenance.
In 2016 a new engine and hydraulic drive was fitted by contractors. Some reshaping of the boat stern had to be done to accommodate the drive. The cooling tanks at the sides of the boat stern were modified to provide cooling for the hydraulic drive fluid as well as the engine.
Water heating was originally from a diesel burning Eberspacher Hydronic system which also provided cabin radiator heating. This was modified to use engine heat for the hot water in 2005. Eventually using a smaller hot water tank in the engine bay rather than the WC allowed a cupboard to be built in its place. The cabin heating was replaced by a diesel burning Eberspacher Airtronic warm air system in 2015.
Gas rings for boiling kettles were replaced by an electric "boiler" in 2006 allowing gas to be removed from the boat for safety.
Copper water pipes were replaced by plastic in 2008 to be less vulnerable to frost damage.
WHAT IT TAKES TO FIT AN ENGINE!!
Preparing cooling tanks under the stern.
Modifying the stern to take the "pod".
An empty boat
A new engine
A Crane and a few folk
And a couple of Cornishmen in a van!
St John Edinburgh
Completed in 2011 based on Crusader II with design improvements, the new boat was expected to make few maintenance demands for a while. However the new boat turned out more difficult to steer than Crusader II so David Hoskins made his rudder modifications. There were immediate hydraulic drive problems probably due to dirt in the system. Components have required a lot of professional maintenance.
The builder was an engineering firm rather than a boat builder and this might account for some deficiencies in build quality. Again the builder went in to administration.
Steering is stiff. Research in consultation with the steering component manufacturer suggests that it performs to specification. Possibly a system more appropriate to a sea going vessel has been fitted. It can be coped with until replacement is required.
This boat was built with warm air heating and was the model for replacing the heating systems on Mackay and Crusader II.