Prepare for Winter

On board LE we have a squirrel Solid Fuel Stove with a back boiler that heats a rad in the main bedroom.

Our first winter using the stove proved that it was bloody marvelous, infact too marvelous sometimes as we experimented with various settings and ended up sweating in bed due to the heat.

Over the last few months however, there was obviously a problem. during wet weather, a very very slight trickle of water would run down the outside of the stove pipe from the ceiling leaving numerous rusty streaks on the pipe. My thoughts were that the sealent or cement was obviously getting tired around the roof collar.

The Original Pipe looked to me like a cast iron drain pipe with the bulge at the bottom, similar to a joint in a down pipe. I had already had to do some packing to the Stove Collar which on day one of of our taking over had a rather large gap in it revealing the innards of the stove.

This pic.....if it works....shows my temp packing of stove cement around the lower collar....knowing that this summer I would have to do a proper job of it.

So, I look at all this.......well i can only describe it as looking like rusticles...running down the outside of the pipe and know its going to be a messy job. Laura aint gonna like it..

Ideal oppotunity comes up....she has to go to mumsies for 2 weeks to Cat sit.

I duly drop her off at mumsies, 'yes dear, have a lovely time, no i wont be bored...ive a few jobs lined up...of course ill miss you.....' :)

A few jobs lined up turned into day 1 playing a stupid computer game called ROME...Total War.......I managed to defeat the Cartheginians and make a start on attacking Egypt
Feeling as guilty as a guilty thing, the next day I made a start on the stove pipe.

Armed with a large bucket of 'Wickes' fire cement, a wallpaper stripping knife and a flat head screw driver i made my assault on the roof collar. First job, was to sweep the flue, after a number of vigourous sweepings with the flue brush, I examined the collar and old cement for obvious failings.

If youve ever swept a chimney, youd know by now that my hands and face were black...as was the shirt i was wearing.

meanwhile, The English bowlers led by their new captain Kenin Peiterson were setting about the Southe African openers

All seemed in order...I couldnt find any obvious gaps that would allow rain water to flow down the outside of the pipe......not to be out done, I repaired inside the boat to inspect the internal packing.

After a steady 1st session South Africa's batsmen started to collapse

Imagine my surprise when...looking at the top of the stove pipe I spyed a pinprick of daylight on the actual pipe itself!!!!!!
Sure enough. a couple of jabs with the screwdriver made the pinprick into a hole....never mind thinks I....I can pack that with cement and make good for another season.

Ah ...where ignorance is bliss it is folly to be wise.

I began to scrape off the rusticles...as I did, the hole......to my dismay....became a gap...no ammount of cement would save this sucker......Bugger!!!!!!

Tea and England only needed a couple of wickets to reduce SA to a dismal first innings

Sure enough, the more I probed, the more 15yr old pipe fell to bits until it was held only by 3' of metal to the roof collar. This was the last thing i wanted as we were trying to save money to pay the moorings and licence due in sept.

Nothing for it but to finish the job. The screw driver proved no further use so I set about the pipe and old cement with a hammer and my decent chisel.
An Hour later finally saw a defunct stove pipe lying alongside and a finally clean roof collar.....That 15 yr old cement was bloody good stuff...whatever it was.....I could only chip away bit by messy bit.

The last SA wicket fell to Monty Panasar and England went into bat.

The moorings at Iver are ideal in as much as having Highline Yatching at its base.
I, plodded along to the chandlary casting soot dust with evey step and met John Bolsom in the shop.

A few minutes explaining my needs and listening to his advice and 60 odd quid later saw me mooching back to the boat with a brand new stove pipe and stove collar and fire rope lugged across my shoulder.

Smashing, thinks I....will have this sorted in no time, but no,it was not to be.
The pipe was several inches longer than my measurments (no faults of Johns) and wouldnt come close to fitting in the angle required between stove collar and roof collar. I would have to cut it with my Angle Grinder.
Of all the things I brought with me from Emblem, I knew my Angle Grinder would be useful.
Why was it then, that it wasnt in the shed? It wasnt in the boat? it wasnt in the car?

because it was still on Emblem ya daft SOD!!!!

England at close of play were the 1 wicket of Andrew strauss down........

Time had run out, the shops were closed.

Work beconned the next day.

Im now in Sutton at Laura's mums and going to a wedding tomorrow.
The stove pipe is in the shed waiting for me to return and do it serious damage.

I did look around for the camera to take some sooty shots but laura had taken it with her for the wedding tomorrow so I will have to do some 'post' pics when I return to LE on sunday.


Sigh :)

The good news is that england look like they may..just may make a game of this test with KP making a Captains innings of 100 backed up by decent scores from Cooke, Collinwood and Harmisson