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This
page shows the steel fabrication stages of our barge Elessina.
Elessina shell was built by Piper Boats at Stoke on Trent. She
is 60 ft long x 12'-6" wide has a 12mm thick 5ft wide flat
bottom with 8/10mm thick angled side chines. The fit-out details
are shown on separate pages.
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Saturday
10th January 2004 - 1st Week
After
sorting out pre-cut sheet steel pieces, work started on Thursday
8th January. After just a couple of days work, the 'skeleton'
frame begins to take place. It is even looking boat shape
already! |
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From
front (bow) looking towards the stern with temporary (grey)
angle iron braces supporting the bow upright. Cut sheet front
side plates are on the floor ready to be welded to frame. Side
braces to gunnels / side walk in place. |
Looking
towards the stern from the front. You can see some side braces
with the gunnels / side walkway (top left - 6ft from ground).
The upper cabin superstructure will sit on this. The flat base
plate (12mm) is tack welded in place, together with some of the
chinned (angled) side plates (8 / 10mm). Look carefully and the
engine support frame and prop shaft cut outs can be seen.
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Above;
Stern from engine room. Engine support frame and prop shaft cut
outs profiled in steel bracing.
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Bow (painted red) with temporary support frame (grey). We will
visit again on Saturday 24th January, when the next set of
photos will be shown.
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Saturday
24th January - After 3 weeks |
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January
24th, This photo shows the good sheer (banana shape) lines of
the barge, taken from the Stern (rear) looking forward. Deck
height is top of front steelwork. Her flat bottom is directly on
the concrete floor. Canal water level will be around 9"
above the top of the chines (2'-6" draft).
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Taken from
inside, looking forward from rear engine compartment. Note the
top of steel is the gunnels / side deck, which will rest on the
top of the angled supports. The chains across the barge keep the
sides to the correct width and stop deformation. The two 'grey'
sheets on the right are the skin cooling tanks, around 2"
deep with baffles, they are used to cool the engine water. Floor
level will be around 6" lower than the top of the chines
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Inside,
looking towards the stern (back)
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The bow,
looking towards the stern (back).
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Bow to
stern.
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Detail of
the stern.
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Sunday
8th February 2004 - After 5 weeks |
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February
8th.
Progress
over the last two weeks has been slowed with the late delivery
of steel, but Elessina now has rubbing strakes, wheel house and
forward bulkheads fitted. Piper Boats finally received the steel
on Saturday 7th, so fabrication can continue on Monday 9th
February. The photo top right shows the internal floor frames
that are now welded in, unseen is a waste tank under the floor.
Forward bulkheads are also fitted, with large fresh water tank
and gas bottle housing. With all the steel now available, progress
over the next week could be significant, so we will probably
visit again on Saturday 14th February.
The
significant aspect of this visit was to determine whether a
walkway /passageway directly between front cabin and rear cabin would be
possible. With bulkheads now installed it has been determined
that a passageway with 6'-0" headroom, is possible. So we have decided to go with this. The big benefit is that we will be able to walk directly from
the main front cabin into the rear cabin without walking through
the wheelhouse (and up-down the wheelhouse stairs). Alongside
the passageway will be the 'white' kitchen appliances (fridge,
freezer, washing machine, tumble dryer and dish washer). This
walkway will be 'open' from kitchen making the kitchen much
larger. Another benefit is the greater utilisation of space in
the wheelhouse allowing moore seating area, as there will now only be two doors, one external
and one down to the front cabin (instead of the planned 4, two
external, one to rear cabin and one to forward cabin). The down side
is we will only have one full length external door (on the right side) of
the wheelhouse, making locking and mooring etc on the left
(port) side a little more difficult. We
had been discussing and analysing this walkway on the CAD
drawings for some time, but it was not until the bulkheads and
floor chine angles could be seen and physically measured that a decision
could be made.
A new
'revised' layout can be seen on the
layout
planning web page. |
Saturday
14th February - After 6 Weeks |
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Great
progress has been made over the last week, with cabin sides and
front roof installed
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View of
stern, showing the nice curved / sheer lines
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View of bow,
highlighting the small step down in roof. This helps helps with
visibility of bow from wheelhouse. A 5ft helmsperson can see the
bow tip from the steering position, which greatly assists with
length judgments, particularly when mooring. It also gives extra
strength to the roof, and give the barge a moor 'original
authentic' look (in our opinion).
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View from
stern. Showing part of rear cabin and wheelhouse (the roof is
not on the rear cabin, and the wheelhouse is open). This
photo shows the 10" wide side deck (because it is a little
wider and has a raised edge it makes walking along the side deck
much easier and safer than walking along a narrowboat side
deck).
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This photo
is taken from inside the front cabin, looking towards the rear,
through the 6ft high passageway which connects the front and
rear cabin. Leigh is standing in the rear cabin. The engine room
is between Leigh and the front cabin, on the left. A doorway
directly from this passageway will give good easy access into
the engine room. Fridge, freezer, dish washer, washing machine /
tumble dryer will be installed between the two door apertures on
the right hand side of the passageway.
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This photo
is taken from inside the rear cabin looking into the wheelhouse
and then into the front cabin. The door apertures on the left
hand side show the walkway which connects the front and rear
cabin. Fridge, freezer, dish washer, washing machine / tumble
dryer will be installed between the two door apertures on the
left hand side of the passageway.
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Our dream - the planning stages
Home Fit-out
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