Time to say good buy.

[Catweazle]

Hope this is the right place,feel free to move it if not.
With the fuel prices ,mooring fees and the lack of work due to the present day crisis the country is in it looks as if my days with Horatia are at end end.
Heres a little tribute and thank you to all who have helped through the days of pain and shared the days of joy,i know some of you are on here so i wont embarrass you and name names.Many thanks to you all we shared some very deep lows and some great highs but thats what happens when you take on
a forty year old boat.Its been an Honour for me to to keep the memory of Cmdr p Thorneycroft and the nelson flag flying these last six years.Thanks for looking.:seaman: Click on picture to run.
http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii109/jtrafford/Salute%2040s/videos/th_HoratiaPicsandmusic.jpg (http://s262.photobucket.com/albums/ii109/jtrafford/Salute%2040s/videos/?action=view&current=HoratiaPicsandmusic.flv)

[juanto]

Nice Boat, Nice Video,

[Catweazle]

Nice Boat, Nice Video,

:) cheers ,Cw.

[Coronet Kip]

Are you selling her then?

[Catweazle]

Are you selling her then?

Hi PM sent.

[smiffy422]

:speechles
HI ive missed this boat so much my father is Andy smith who you bought it boat from he is very interested in what works been done be nice to hear from you
many thanks
Dan

[Catweazle]

:speechles
HI ive missed this boat so much my father is Andy smith who you bought it boat from he is very interested in what works been done be nice to hear from you
many thanks
Dan

Well Dan i dont know where to start really.After picking the boat up from your dad and arriving in Brighton we noticed engine oil between the engines on the walkway.on closer inspection it was obvious both rear crank seals were leaking.Not surprising due to its age ,what was surprising was the fact your dad had removed both engines and done some works and painted them yellow.they should of been white really.What was even more surprising talking to Finnings who supplied the spares they had been bought but returned.You can imagine the cost of putting this right having to call out finnings for the special tools did upset me a wee bit.It wasnt long after the port engine on starting went to full revs then shut down.A very expensive Fuel pump and many hours of work followed that.Not long after that on starting the port engine for a brief moment hydrauliced,this turned out to be the aftercooler leaking sea water into the LH bank of cylinders.Many more hours of work four new liners two new pistons both aftercoolers rebuilt and just to make sure the two on the stbd engine rebuilt also..He will be interested to know that the compression now where it should be cured the poor starting on that engine.
The Mystery of the contaminated aft bilge turned out to be a leaking fuel pipe on the return pipe into the tank .just by coincidence the bilge pipe leaked over the same spot dumping water into the fuel tank.
On examination both the turbo charger impellers were serverely corroded and as they are Shweitzer no spares were available.One off specials were made at huge expense.There were of course lots of little things like the sea cock remote shafts falling off the cocks due to the UJ joints rusting .Loose bolts falling out of the cooling system leaving us on one engine on a rough day in the Solent with Kids on board ,the other engine wouldnt go above 8 knts,due to the lack of compression.We had to pour sea water in the cooling system by having a man with a bucket on the outside passing it to me in the engine room.we needed to get that engine running as the kids were all becoming ill due to the rolling about.
One by one the oil pressure and water temp gauges and/or sender units packed up.On a rough ride from Brighton to Gosport all the filler fell out of the woodwork.We had some vibration and on inspecting the props found the edges to be so thin no one would repair them.To get the original spec we had to have them hand made as all the respected prop people wanted to sell me 4 blade but couldnt guarantee the speed basically i think they didnt believe it was that quick.:wank: I think i will end there as re-living it makes me feel quite ill.So when you say you really missed that boat i dont think your dad would agree.by the way i never did get the as found pics he promised or the cowes Torquay program.must have got lost in the post.cheers CW.

[blind dog]

so apart from that its pretty good then:hugegrin:

[Numb Nuts]

I remember the gantry strugling like feck to lift it when I was a wee boy at Merlin.

[Catweazle]

so apart from that its pretty good then:hugegrin:

Theres more to come but i cant face reliving it.Sods law now its pritty much ok the fuel goes up etc etc work gets short and you wonder if it was all worth it.Its had its moments especially in really bad weather when its only us and the pilots that were out.:seaman:

[Catweazle]

I remember the gantry strugling like feck to lift it when I was a wee boy at Merlin.

Its only about 12 ton:)

[Matt]

And ribs, right?

T...especially in really bad weather when its only us and the pilots that were out.:seaman:

[Catweazle]

And ribs, right?

To right.believe it or knot this all started out looking for a rib.one river boat and two Nelsons later looks like i will have to revive the original plan.:seaman:

[Jon Fuller]

A 4 metre Searider aught to do the trick. AWESOME!