General Witterings -
Rosy Fills Up

Sorry that this is a bit late.

First off, some apologies.

I have been asked to "refrain from making pig-ignorant comments about things that I know nothing about".  It might have been "... about things that I know stuff-all about" but I've decided to suffer from selective memory loss.

This all relates to the comment, "It's bad enough for travellers who are used to different currencies, but to the wrinklies here who have known nothing but the Franc and whatever currency was used in WW2, it's a bit of a bummer".

I now understand that the French Franc continued to be used during WW2, and indeed, I would (apparently) be surprised at how little the Occupation affected French provincial life.  Apparently a very good book has recently been published about this very topic.

However, a few years after WW2 (and hence, for 'wrinklies', within living memory and experience) the French got fed up with paying zillions of francs for a loaf of bread, and so re-valued their currency by (I think!) a tenth (one New Franc was equal to 10 Old Francs.  Hence French wrinklies HAVE lived through a currency change already.

This highlights my one problem with life on Rosy - lack of access to the internet.  The mobile phone connection is just too slow for surfing the web, so my main source of reference is unavailable.  I'm just hoping that G3 phones will be here soon, at affordable prices and with affordable tariffs.

12v HALOGEN LIGHTS

I have several of these on Rosy, and am much impressed by them.  They give a good light output per watt, so are relatively efficient, and a good white light (as opposed to the yellowy light of a normal incandescent bulb).

About a month ago, one failed to come on when I switched it on, so I replaced the bulb and threw the old one away.

Last week, another bulb failed.  I didn't replace it at the time.  The next evening, when it was dark, I tried to switch it on (forgetting that it was knackered) and gave a slight flash.  "Funny," I thought, "Funny".  I switched it on and off several times.  It flashed each time, but on the third attempt it stayed on.  I switched off, took the bulb out, cleaned the bulb and the two prongs, put it back, and it has carried on working ever since.

The lamps themselves are quite easy to buy.  A surface-mounted white or gilt downlighter is not that expensive in DIY stores, where they are sold to supplement 12v lighting sets.  I've also got some switched mini-spots from the chandlers at Whilton marina.  What is not so common is a switched, surface-mounted lamp (downlighter?) at a reasonable price.  The ones I've seen in chandlers are up in the £20 - £30 price range.  If anyone knows a source of supply of rather less expensive ones, please e-mail me and let me know.  Ta.

FILL HER UP!!

I filled Rosy with diesel on Monday.  This entailed starting the engine, winding her, travelling 50 metres, passing through a lock, travelling another 50 metres, winding again, and mooring.

First start the engine.  As it hasn't been started for ... quite a while, I decided to start by cleaning the sparking plugs (Rosy's Kelvin diesel engine starts on petrol).  So, first plug out, brass-wire brush, scrub scrub scrub - plop!! (as I scrubbed it out of my hand and it fell in the bilge - the one under the engine - that collects oil and coolant drips and is currently half an inch deep in a greyish emulsion.  I swore, fished out the plug, finished scrubbing it, washed it thoroughly in soapy water, rinsed it in fresh water and dabbed it dry (with the bath towel actually - it was the nearest thing to hand).  I then put it in the oven of the coal fired range to dry off, whilst I CAREFULLY cleaned the other sparking plug (the engine has 2 cylinders).

With both sparking plugs back in position, I went to through the procedure for starting the engine ... and it didn't start.

An engine failure is my worst nightmare.  A failure at a mooring is marginally less worse that a failure whilst we are under way.  As the engine is a bit old (made in 1945) the standard engine engineer would be at a loss with it.  The start-up procedure is a bit complicated, and I defy anyone to do it from the written instructions alone - a practical demonstration from an expert is pretty much essential.  At the minimum, an engine failure would involve long e-mails and phone calls with the ever helpful Dick Goble.  Spare parts are available - but at a price, and my new-found engineering skills(?!) would be unlikely to cope with anything too tricky.  In extremis - a replacement engine would be financially extremely embarrassing - perhaps entailing (reduce sound to a whisper) a return to work!!!!!!!

So.  The engine wouldn't start.  Thump chest to get heart beating again.

Fuel is in the carburettor, and is getting to the cylinders, but is not being ignited.  Lack of spark, perhaps?  Lack of spark equals ... er ... magneto problem?  Magneto cover off, dry rag (not the bath towel this time) to wipe it clean.  Magneto cover back on.  Clean the leads to the sparkling plugs.  Try to start.  An occasional power stroke, but not enough.

Ah!!  Check spark at the sparking plug points.

Plugs out, laid on the engine, engine turned over, one plug sparking away, the other - rien.  The one I'd dropped.

I have a spare pair of plugs and fitted them, and off we went.  Filled up with 400 litres of diesel, and got back to the mooring.

Later, when I looked, the knackered plug seems to have a tiny hole in the ceramic collar.  Dropping that plug has cost me about £24, as the plugs are non-standard - they are big things with three anodes.  Further more, they are getting as rare as hens' teeth (or rocking horse shit (depending on one's proclivities and/or point of view)).

I got mine from an agricultural merchants, a class of shops that I can thoroughly recommend.  Lots of farmers are big, beefy, and (since they often work alone) not famed for their social skills.  Agricultural merchants therefore tend to provide an excellent service.  They also sell out-door clothing at VERY good prices (matched only by the "never knowingly undersold" John Lewis shops).  I phoned an order through.  It was a non-stocked item, but they phoned back to say that their order had been placed, and was expected within two days, AND they phoned me 2 days later to say they had arrived.

I'm sorry to hear that everyone in UK is suffering from projectile vomiting, but am pleased that at least there is The Channel between us.

Toodle pip!!

Bill