The pantry mechanism finally arrived – it had been originally planned to be delivered sometime Wednesday morning but didn’t make it here until after 5pm that same day – our thanks to Andy who kept a look out for it whilst I was off collecting Diane from the station after her trip to Watford.
There seemed to just be enough room inside the back area under the pram hood to store the box overnight, but in the morning after getting some work done it was about time to do something with it. I had put the drill battery pack on charge so that it would be ready.
We had an early visit from Clive Penny to take away a faulty alternator which seemed to be causing a warning sound to occur when the engine was being run – it related to incorrect battery charging from the alternator – an hour or so later on he was back and a new unit installed – check it all with the engine on – all OK – he was off and my wallet was a bit lighter, but considering all of the work that he had done – lights, power outlets and alternator – we were pleased with the result.
Firstly to check off all of the components – it was a flatpack, put together parcel – apart from checking on every screw, nut and bolt everything was there.
Good, now to start work on it – consult figure 1 and place component A into component B and bolt together with M8 40mm – you get the picture – just like putting the swing together on xmas morning.
It was all going well until I thought that I had not enough of one of the bolts – damn it – later on I found out that I had used the wrong one.
Holes drilled for the slide-out mechanism to be screwed on place; check that off the list; all looking good – mechanism in place with the frame – adjusted the height so that it was sliding in and out as it should.
Time to connect the two doors together – the smell of electrical burning is not one that you want to have – especially on a boat – fortunately (or unfortunately) it was just the drill – but it did mean that all further work on the pantry had to be suspended (due to bad light and a faulty drill).
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| Mechanism installed and sliding well - no door yet |
After getting through some paying work we decided to have another session on the pantry. Fortunately we were able to borrow a drill from Andy – the size of it somehow suggested that I would have been at home drilling the Chunnel – attacking a pantry was going to be child’s play.
Measure twice and cut once (in this case drill once) – if only I had measured twice – doors were joined; backing plates in place according to the measurements in the instructions, but wait I had forgotten that this is a boat and not a house-bound kitchen – we were placing the door lower than normal and so my measurements were out by 75mm.
It wasn’t just the careful drilling to make sure that the hole didn’t go through to the front of the door that was the problem it was the 24 screws that had to be taken out and screwed back in again (by hand) that was almost the breaking point – and coupled with that the two plates joining the doors together had to be moved because of the different height.
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| he almost looks like he knows what he is doing |
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| happy enough !! |
A little bit more time in trying to adjust the door so that it fitted into the allocated opening – almost OK – so we called it a day.
Starting to pack all of the tools away I moved down to the back of the boat – Diane noticed it immediately and when I returned she explained.
Because the pantry has a sideways movement in relation to the boat, when I moved to the back and walked down one side, the pantry opened by itself – taking the case of wine out helped a great deal – it became the door stop.
Oh well, another problem to solve.
In amongst all of this, Diane was trying to cook lunch – well she would have been able to except the oven refuse to light – OK with the start up – hold the knob in and ignite, but the flame disappeared at the same time as the knob was released – to give her credit she persisted with it for almost an hour – no luck.
We did have lunch - she used the hob.
The rain had been with us all day and it was to the fortune of a boat that had been stuck on the visitor moorings for a couple of days – the ice prevented them from escaping (I mean moving). Rain meant that the ice would melt to some extent and break more easily as well.
After some false starts throughout the morning they gave it a huge effort and managed to break through – able to leave the marina, through the entrance, and all the while in reverse. There was no effect on other boats, so no problems anywhere.
Friday, late afternoon, finished for the week, deserving of a drink – we were going to head into Stone to catch up with Dot and Gordon who said they were going to be in The Swan about 5pm – with the rain and such, we only made it as far as The Three Crowns where we enjoyed the beer and the open fires – our hearts were willing but the “spirits” were being beckoned.
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