Having had a few hectic weeks (and weekends), Bev and I decided that we deserved a weekend away from it all. Although we had some unpredictable and inclement weather over the past few weeks, the forecast for the August Bank Holiday weekend looked quite promising.

So, with Max (the Labrador), Bev and I set off on Thursday evening for the 200 mile drive to Packet Boat Marina.  Arriving just after 7pm, we unloaded the car and settled in for the evening.  Within an hour the unmistakable tapping on the roof saw the start of downpour.  This continued through the night and into the morning.  Catching up with Carol Kirkwood (BBC weather presenter) who was standing unbrella in hand presenting the BBC weather forecast from a rain-drenched, muddy Reading Festival gave us some hope promising an improiving weather forecast.

As forecast, by lunchtime the rain had ceased and the cloud had lifted - much to the pleasure of Bev who could now see the aircraft landing and taking off from Heathrow.  With a blue-sky forecast for tomorrow (Saturday) and an improving forecast through to Monday (and beyond), we decided to stay put in the marina on Friday and delay our departure until tomorrow.

This then gave me chance to attend to some of the bits and pieces; filling the fuel tank (two trips by car to Uxbridge Boat Centre), adding Redex fuel treatment to the tank, buying 100KG of coal (Homefire Ovals) which are now sitting on the roof and refilling the water tank (after taping up the leaks in the hosepipe which seems to have turned into a colander!).

With plenty of time to spare on Friday, I decided to cook.  Three courses; leeks wrapped in ham with a cheese, creme fraise and mustard sauce, chicken pasta with brocili and a rather indulgent melting chocolate pudding - all washed down with a cheap (not) bottle of plonk (many thanks for the wine Mr Lydon).  Ah well, back to the diet tomorrow

OK, enough of this lazing around, time to set sail.  Saturday morning, and as promised, a cloudless(ish) sky we set off towards Rickmansworth.

First challenge and within 10 minutes of setting off we come across two unoccupied boats tied together but having come adrift and now blocking the canal.  Jumping off the boat at bridge 189 I managed to haul the two boats back to the bankside and secure them with a decent piece of rope.  Clearly the thin plastic rope they had secured them with had worn through - some boaters just need to learn how to moor properly.

An interesting sign - “No fishing between arrows” - Now if I am not mistaken, those arrows are about 6″ apart!

Onwards to Cowley, Uxbridge and Denham Deep - all of which we shared with other boats.

By the time we got to Widewater lock we found we were not only sharing locks, but having to queue.  Clearly the superb weather, coupled with it being a Bank Holiday weekend brought the boaters out en-mass.  Not that any of this was a problem, as it’s great to be able to stop and chat with other boaters and gongoozlers.

King Louie (who we had shared a few locks with) had reached his stop-off point - the Coy Carp at Harefield.

Whilst helping a single-handed boater through Black Jack’s lock, he mentioned that Rickmansworth mooring were rather busy - especially around the Tesco moorings.  This we found out later was probably due to the Real Ale festival being held in Rickmansworth all weekend.

As we were fully stocked up with food and Holy Water (St Ella), we decided not to go all the way to Rickmansworth and stop at the first available mooring after Stocker’s Lock.  So we continued through Copper Mill and Springwell locks - sharing with another 50+ foot narrow boat and a small cruiser.  With it being quite a tight squeeze for all three boats in the lock, Bev helped protect the cruiser from being crushed by 2x 30 tonnes of steel by holding on to their bow handrail.

As we exited Stocker’s lock, there were just two boats moored along the long visible stretch of canal running along the Colne Valley Trail.  Good enough for us.  We moored between the two boats with a 100m separating us.

Having had glorious sunshine for most of the day, and having been cruising for just over 5 hours (a voyage that normally takes no more than four), we were glad to stop and crack open a can of Holy Water.

On Sunday we planned to just stay put.  Catch up with some emails, write the blog and do some reading.

Relax

The engine might have only done 100 hours since its last service, but with about 12 months having passed since the last oil change, I decided it was time to carry out a full service.

Having bought a spare set of oil, fuel and air filters last year, all I needed to buy was some oil and AFT fluid (for the gearbox).  Planning on spending most of next week in the Slough office, I set off from home early on Sunday morning for the 200 mile drive to Packet Boat marina.  En-route I stopped at Halfords in Slough Trading Estate to pick up the oil and AFT fluid.

Once on board, I quickly set about removing the brick and steel-sheet ballast from the engine room to provide better access to the engine compartment.  As I was getting to the lower level of bricks, I noticed they were sitting in liquid in what is normally a dry bilge.  Initially thinking it was water, I soon realised that it was diesel.  After removing the remaining fuel-soiled bricks (which have now been taken home until I can dispose of them properly), I started to look for the fuel leak.  With the bilge now clear of bricks and cleaned of dirt and diesel, it quickly became apparent that the fuel was dripping from a compression joint on the fuel feed line.  I suspect this had worked lose during the recent fuel primer replacement (carried out by an Engineer from High Line Yachting).  Fortunately, this was easily resolved by tightening the compression fitting, which checking 24 hours later seemed to have done the trick.

With the leak now resolved, I set about servicing the engine.  Running the engine for 10 minutes to warm the engine oil, I pumped the ~6 ltr of black oil into some spare plastic containers (now also sitting im my garage waiting to be taken to our local recycling centre).  Removing the oil filter (with a plastic bag wrapped around it to catch any drips), I lubricated the rubber seal with clean oil and fitted the new filter.  I then slowly filled the engine with new oil. As I had more new oil than I actually needed, I decided to flush the engine with a spare 2 ltr of new oil - a bit of a waste, but as I wouldn’t need the surplus oil for at least another year, thought having a cleaner engine would be better.

Then on to the fuel filter.  Closing the fuel valve, I carefully removed the fuel filter.  Although there was a little bit of sediment in the filter, it didn’t look too bad (compared to the first time I removed a very rusty filter!).  Lubricating and fitting the new filter was a dodle.  Switching on the fuel valve, I opened the bleed valve and using the recently fitted replacement lift pump, primed the fuel.

Next the air filter.  Four clips, old filter out, new filter in.  Job done.

Having previously failing to remove the bleed screw off the gear box, this time I am going to succeed.  After about 20 minutes of knuckle bruising effort, the bleed nut eventually comes free.  Placing a plastic bowl under the gear box I manage to remove all of the black gearbox oil.  A first for me whilst we have owned the boat, and I suspect for many years (if it has ever been done!).  Having never seen AFT fluid before, I was quite surprised to see it was pink - quite a change to the jet black oil I had just removed.

With everything back in place, time to fire up the engine.  As suspected, I still had air in the fuel line.  This was quickly sorted by loosening each of the four compression valves in turn whilst turning the engine, until fuel flowed and the engine fired up like a dream.

Finally, a quick check over the other all the pipes, compression joints, engine mounts, batteries, cables and coolant, all looked well.  Running the engine for about 30 minutes, both in neutral and in gear under load, and everything looked fine.

Time to replace the ballast (leaving out the fuel stained bricks) and replacing the engine housing and flooring, clean up and rest.

Job well done (until next year).

With the wooden external engine room door inserts looking rather tired, it was time to get them replaced.

Two offcuts of oak-vaneered MDF, surrounded by softwood trim and several coats of exterior varnish and the doors are as good as new.

Not quite as ornate as the original - but we like them.

This means of course I will now have to make some new side-hatch doors.

A couple of weeks ago, I had noticed the plywood board under the water pump was looking rather damp.  On further investigation there were small droplets of water seeping from the screws securing the diaphragm. Hoping it was no more than the screws having worked loose due to the vibration of the pump when operating, I managed to tightened each of the screws by about 1/2 a turn - then fingers crossed.

Having spent a couple of days on the boat with Bev, Nia (3 yr old grandaughter), Natalie (daughter) and Greg we returned from Little Venice on Sunday morning.  As I again needed to spend a few days in Ingres’ Slough office, Bev, Nia, Natalie and Greg returned home whilst I remained on board.  Whilst in London, I checked on the state of the pump.  Although previously there had only been a few drops of water, the floor was now completely drenched - clearly more than just tightening the screws was needed.

Taking note of the model number of the Shurflo pump (2088), I drove to Uxbridge Boat Centre  in the hope they could help.  Being a well known pump, UBC were able to provide a new diaphragm/drive kit assembly at £28.53 (gulp).

Examining the contents, it looked simple enough.  Three screws on the outer casing and a further three on the inner.

But before starting work, I decide to read the instructions (that’s rare for me!).

As working on the pump is going to be easier with it removed from under the foredeck, I switch off the electric supply to the pump, close the recently installed isolation valve, undo the water supply and outlet pipes and disconnect the pump from the electric supply.  Finally removing the 3 screws securing the pump to the floor, the pump is now free to be removed.

Then to the instructions.  Being an American product (although there is an outlet in Crawley nr Gatwick), the instructions appeared to be quite well written (i.e. not having been translated into English via Chinese, Russian and Hebrew).

Disassembly

1. Remove the three upper housing screws (C)

2. Remove the three long screws (D)

Brilliant.  So where on the diagram (above) are the screws labelled (C) and (D)?  We have labels for (A), (B), (E), (F), (G) and (H), but certainly no (C) or (D) - maybe the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament has removed them as there was no (N) either

Using some common sense (yes I think I still have a bit left), I removed the only six screws on the outer assembly.

Right at the top of the single-page instruction sheet, was a note:

Earlier Versions: This kit fits all earlier versions of the model 2088. Do not be alarmed if this kit appears physically different than your existing upper housing/switch assembly.

As my pump is over 15 years old, I presume it qualifies as an “earlier version”. So as instructed, I remove the upper housing (E) and valve assembly (F), followed by the old diaphragm/drive assembly (G) from the motor.

Then on to the “Assembly” instructions.  Placing the valve assembly (F) on top of the new diaphragm assembly (G), ensuring the valve assembly seats properly on the diaphragm, before placing the upper housing (E) on top of the valve assembly (F).

Then continuing to assemble the pump with the six screws, I place the pump back under the fore deck and reconnect the water pipes and electric.  So far, so good.  However when I try to run water through the tap, although I can hear the pump running, no water comes out of the tap.

Suspecting I may have made a mistake in aligning the motor to the diaphragm, I repeat the disassembly and check very carefully the work I had done.  Not finding anything wrong, I re-assemble the unit and try again.  Still no water.  Thinking there may be a problem with the new diaphragm, I remove the unit for the third time, and refit the old diaphragm to the pump.  Putting the pump back  in place, sure enough, water comes out of the tops - but of course, still dripping from the diaphragm.

It was now getting rather late, and I was tired of going back and fore under the foredeck to remove and refit the pump.  Nothing for it other than to turn the water and electrics off and leave this until tomorrow.

On returning from the office, I remove the pump for the fourth time.  This time, I decide not to follow the instructions and use some logic.  Looking at the depth of the old setup and comparing it to the new, the new unit clearly looks about 3-4mm thicker.  I then realise what I had done wrong.  When removing the upper housing, the valve assembly came away with it.  It was now I realised that the valve assembly needed to be prised from the upper housing and disposed of before fitting the new diaphragm/drive assembly - doh.

Ah well, with the old diaphragm/drive AND valve assembly removed, and the new unit installed, everything works a treat.

A mixture of not very clear instructions, and me believing the “Do not be alarmed if this kit appears physically different than your existing upper housing/switch assembly” warning, using some common sense wins at the end of the day.

On Tuesday 8th June, the UK Ingres Users Association conference 2010 was taking place at the Holiday Inn, Coram Street, London.  With a number of friends and colleagues (some of whom had attended the code sprint in Slough over the weekend) needing to travel to their respective hotels in London, we decided what better a way to travel than along the Grand Union Canal.

After exchanging a number of emails, we had enough interest to start to plan the cruise.  With Matt Rendell not coming up to the grade of Queen he had been demoted from Lord High Admiral to Purser.  Mark Whalley took the rank of Admiral of the Fleet, Paul Lawes as Admiral and Peter Gale as Vice Admiral.  This then left Matt with the task of identifying other crew member; John Mahony, Pete Lydon, Michael Flower (Ingres), Kim Ginnerup and Roy Simon (Bording Data) and Steve Sheil and Hans Scholten (HVR).  With plenty of ranks to hand out; Captain, Commander, Lieutenant Commander, Lieutenant, Sub Lieutenant, Acting Lieutenant, Midshipman, Cadet, Chief Petty Officer, Petty Officer, Leading Seaman and Able Seaman he had plenty of choice.

The plan was for Mark to leave the office early, cycling back to Packet Boat Marina then move the boat the 4 miles (~1 hour) to Hayes.  Leaving a bit later, the rest of the crew would take the train from Slough to meet Mark at Hayes from where we would continue on the Grand Union, via Bull’s Bridge to Little Venice.  As with a previous cruise, we had intended to pick up take-away from the Mirch Masala from Southall.

Having already stocked the fridge with Holy Water (St. Ella), wine and water with lemon (for the Purser), on Monday lunchtime a number of us set off for the local Asda supermarket to pick up some bits and pieces.  As we were walking out of the Ingres car park, we met with a very good friend and ex-colleague Jean-Luc Hampton who had just arrived from Paris in his immaculate 28-year old BMW 323.  Having previously experienced the culinary excellence of JL, when he again offered to cook for us, the thought of stopping off at the Mirch Masala was very quickly dismissed.

With our French chef now taking the crew numbers up to 12, Jean-Luc set off for Tesco to stock up with ingredients to prepare for what ended up being yet another masterpiece.

So, with plans finalised, time to set sail…

First priority, adjust the ballast..

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Must phone home for directions.

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At well over 6′, there are not many places John could stand in comfort.

“I’m still in the office dear - honest!”.

Conjestion on the Grand Union.

Now this is how you do it - aim the stick thing this way to make the pointy end to go that way.

Pete, there’s no need to squat over the side, there is a toilet on board!

Is that a tree coming our way.?

A said “DUCK”!

It could have been worse, we might have lost our glasses.

The master chef (Jean-Luc) at work.

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What a masterpiece - Lamb Curry.

… with a prawn and scallop starter.

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Please note, this is Matt without his water, ice and lemon!

Pete and John contemplating something.

The Director of Education (Mr Flower) partaking of some Holy Water.

Sommelier Lydon.

Top Beer.

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Tuck in.

Cheers.

Champagne in one hand, Holy Water in the other.

Returning to Packet Boat the following evening.

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Some of the bird I saw en-route.

Dusk.

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… and back “home”.

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Is that all that was left

With the very generous hospitality of the Cruising Association at Limehouse, we duly assembled on Friday evening at 19:00 prompt for the safety brief lead by Andrew Phasey (Vice Commodore of Saint Pancras Cruising Club).  As promised, the saftey brief was kept as short as possible so that we could partake of some Reverend James and an excellent bar meal.

Although a number of those present intended moving on to The Grapes, Bev and I decided to retire for the evening (as Bev was quite clearly a little apprehensive about the trip out on to the Thames having seen the boats on the river-side of the lock being thrown from side to side by the current, waves and backwash at the marina entrance.

Armed with the latest “hot off the press” edition of the London Tideway Handbook - Estuary Edition.  I discovered that the publication provides such useful information as Sound Signals (e.g. 5 short blasts = “You are not taking sufficient action to avoid me; or I do not understand your intentions are actions”) and Passing Through the Tames Barrier (call London Vessel Traffic Service on VHF Channel 14 asking for permission to pass through the barrier).

Just after 10:00, we set off from Limehouse Basin towards Bow Lock where we had to wait for the incoming tide to cover the washing machine before we would be let out on to the River Lea (aka Bow Creek).

Eric Naylor and Cherie just below Three Mills waiting to enter Bow Lock.

Sharing Bow Lock with Robert and Nicky on nb Tugby.

Mike Askin with Victoria rounding one of the last bends on Bow Creek before joining the Thames.

Passing Trinity House lightship moored at the entrance to the Thames.

Crossing the Thames with the O2 Arena (nee Millenium Dome) on the South Bank.

One of several helicopters from HMS Illustrious during their display along the Thames.

Now aim the pointy end between those two piers…

Cane you spare a cup of sugar Messrs Tate & Lyle?

Closely followed by Victoria

Returning upstream through the Barrage

The convoy returning to the O2 Arena with helicoptors providing the welcoming committee!

Old and new; Victoria and Canary Wharf

Pulled over by the River Police to help them with their enquiries!

I’ll race you to Tower Bridge

Royal Naval College at Greenwich

As the river starts to get rather choppy (worse to come!)

Bev at the helm sporting her new life jacket - the colour suits you

HMS Illustrious…

… which from this angle is smaller than Victoria!

Hey Bev, can we have a helicopter landing pad on our roof?

The start of even choppier waters…

Hold on tight…

Locking throughLimehouse with Cherie…

Squeeze in, there’s room for one more…

Leaving Limehouse Lock

Returning on the Grand Union with Canary Wharf in the distance.

Wanting to get home early tomorrow, we push on to Little Venice.  As we approached Camden Locks we had hoped that as it was after 19:00, the shops would be closed and the area quiet.  Quite the opposite as there were hundreds, possibly thousands of people relaxing, eating, drinking etc around the locks!

Fortunately, three locks done in text book format - not a single foot wrong, nothing falling in the water and not a single bump (phew!).

Once clear of Hampstead Road Locks, a quick photo of the hoards of people on he canal side.

Journey time: 10:00 - 20:30

Limehouse Basin, Bow Locks, River Thames, Thames Barrage, Limehouse Basin, Grand Union to Little Venice.

On Friday evening, we need to be moored at Limehouse Basin for a safety brief at the Cruising Association before heading out on to the Thames on Saturday.

Our options were to stay another day at Waltham Abbey, do the run to Limehouse in two sections (possibly mooring overnight at Victoria Park) or head straight to Limehouse.

Having not previously been to Limehouse, I decided to telephone the Harbour Master.  He confirmed that although there are only visitor overnight moorings at Limehouse, he would be quite happy for us to stay longer.  With this news, we set off at just after 10:30, stopping en-route for lunch at Stonebridge Lock (Tottenham), where we refilled the fresh water tank, disposed of rubbish and emptied the chemical toilet.

Shortly after setting off (with a very cloudy sky but no rain - yet), we saw a fleet of 12 helicopters flying overhead.  Not sure if it was welcoming committee, we kept a low profile and hid the anti-aircraft guns.

We found out later that the helicopters are part of the HMS Illustrious Fleet which is currently moored at Greenwich (on the River Thames) - more about HMS Illustrious later.

Returning down the Lee Navigation, I took no further photos until we reach the junction with the Hertford Union Canal.

The northbound photos can be seen on a previous posting.

On Tuesday we had joined the Lee Navigation from the Hertford Union Canal (to the right) to head north (to Waltham Abbey).

Construction at the London Olympic site

As we entered Old Ford lock, we were joined by five policemen in two inflatable launches.  We struck up a conversation which prove to be very interesting.  They are responsible for patrolling all the waterways within the M25 boundary.  Having heard that HMS Illustrious is currently moored at Greenwich to celebrate the 100 anniversary of naval air flight, it transpired that they escorted the aircraft carrier up the Thames just the other day.  As we will be cruising out of Limehouse to the Thames Barrage on Saturday, all being well it will coincide with the planned 14:00 fly pass.

In terms of her ‘vital statistics’, Illustrious is an impressive 209m long, with a beam of 36m and a displacement of 22,000 tonnes.  She has 1400 compartments and 15 lifts, and she is powered by 4 Gas Turbine Olympus engines (a marinised version of Concorde’s), giving her a top speed in excess of 30 knots.  With a Tailored Air Group embarked she has a full complement of over 1000 people, and can operate with a range of both rotary and fixed wing aircraft from the Harrier GR9 to troop-carrying Chinooks.  Her roles can vary widely, and include everything from Maritime Strike to Evacuation Operations; all of which she has ably demonstrated herself to be very much capable of fulfilling.

Of course compared to nb Tastoma she fails in one distinct area - she cannot fit into a canal lock
Continuing down the Lee…

Past the blocked entrance to Bow Back (leading into the London Olympic site)

Three Mills

How quaint…

Spratt’s Patent Limited

Entering Limehouse Basin

Limehouse lock onto the Thames - it’s an open and shut case!

And lots of pictures from around the Basin and the Thames (where we will be heading on Saturday) …

That’s nb Tastoma in the middle…

Having had a long day cruising yesterday, overnight we decided that rather than attempt to get to Hertford, we would stay at Waltham Abbey.

Much to Bev’s relief, she could catch up on her sleep (staying in bed until after 10:00).  With me up at just after 05:00, I had plenty of time to catch up on personal emails, sort out the couple of hundred photos that I had already taken and try and find out what there was to see around us.

Yesterday evening I had already taken a short walk to stock up on provisions so knew roughly where we were and that the town centre was only a few minutes walk.

Of course, having stocking up with plenty of bread, the first job of the day was to feed our neighbours.

Later in the day we walked to the town and visited Waltham Abbey Church (the reputed burial place of King Harold, killed at the Battle of Hastings in 1066).

Having seen all we wanted to, we picked up a couple of steaks from a local butcher and some bird feed (as they must be fed up with just having bread).

We were tempted to pop into the Welsh Harp, but decided there must have been something wrong with their spirit level when they built it, so just returned to the boat.

Having travelled to our offices in Slough on Wednesday morning for a couple of meetings, I returned to the boat at Packet Boat Marina in the evening.  On Thursday, the boat was booked in for some welding work at Highline Yachting to repair the hinge on the side hatch door that had sheered off last week.

At around 10:30, I set off from the marina for HLY where I moored on the pontoons between the boat yard and the Waterside pub/restaurant.  I met up with Mark and Paul who telephoned Steve (the welder) who arrived about 10 minutes later.

Although I had brought along some new hinges, with the boat’s insulation being sheet polystyrene, Steve said it would be difficult to weld without removing some of the internal panelling and the insulation.  As the lower part of the hinge was still firmly attached to the boat and only the upper part broken, we agreed that the best course of action was to try and repair the hinge rather than replace it.  This would then only require welding to be done on the door (which does not have insulation).  Steve set about drilling out the hinge rod from both the lower and upper hinge, welded the upper section back on to the door and inserted a new rod to make the hinge as good as new.  Once the door was realigned (with the aid of a universal persuader), the job was complete.

Whilst at HLY, I bought some more coal and propane and returned to the marina.

With a full tank of diesel (160ltr), 3 full bottles of propane (39KG), 20ltr unleaded petrol (for the generator), 950ltr of fresh water and a full wine rack, all I need now is for Bev to arrive and we would be ready to start our journey.

Up and about at 06:00, Max fed and watered and walked around the lake.  Back on the boat I have a couple of cups of tea from water heated on the Morsø and watch the early morning TV news, read through all new emails and start to catch up on writing the blog.

By 10:00 I’ve waited long enough for Bev to surface so make her a cup of tea so that I can start work on the water heater.

Last night the temperature dropped to -6C and from early morning a light dusting of snow now sat on the frozen canal and marina.  I’m sure glad that the work I have to do today is all indoors.

With the water already switched off, I turned the gas off and within just a few minutes the Paloma was off the wall.  

Following the printed instructions for the draft diverter, I attached the unit to the top of the heater.  Then, on reading the instructions for the heater I discover that the flange on the front on the diverter should be pointing to the back of the heater.  So undoing the two self tapping screws I removed the diverter, turned it round and re-applied the screws.

Attaching the unit to the wall was a doddle.  Offering the heater up to the existing chimney I marked the location of the upper bracket.  Using the largest of the three supplied screws, I then hung the heater on the wall.  Then, making sure the heater was sitting straight; I secured the unit to the wall with the remaining two screws through the lower bracket.

That was the easy bit.  As expected, with the heater being slightly shorter than Paloma, I now had to extend the 3/8” gas pipe, 15mm cold water feed and 15mm hot water supply.  I had to make a return trip to Uxbridge Boat Centre to pick up a couple of tap connectors and a gas leak detector spray.  Of course, when I returned to the boat I quickly realised that I had picked up the wrong connectors, as these were cone fitting and I needed the flat 1/2″ BSP type.  So it was back to UBC where I swapped them for the correct ones.  I also picked a 15mm isolation valve.  This would allow the heater to be isolated from the cold water supply in the event of future problems.

Cutting new sections of 15mm Hepworth pipe and fitting them with reinforcing inner tubes, I was quickly able to complete the cold water feed and hot water supply.  Switching on the water pump, I was then able to test for water leaks.  Perfect first time (that makes a change!).

I then started on the gas supply.  Again, cutting a short length of 3/8” copper pipe to fit between the existing gas test point and the new 3/8” adaptor now connected to the heater.  Using the gas leak detector fluid, I spayed each of the new and existing localised compression joints and turned on the gas.  A couple of minutes later, and without a single ‘bubble’ showing, I was happy that the gas supply was sound and I could now move on to testing the heater.

After inserting the ignition battery, and following the instructions, I pressed the ignition button.  Within just a couple of seconds, the pilot light lit and on turning on the galley hot water tap, the heater fired up and quickly provided steaming hot water.

Initial impression is that the heater is definitely more powerful than the Paloma.  Bearing in mind the water in tank is sitting in a canal which is currently frozen, the hot water pumping out of the heater was too hot to touch when the heater was turned up full (point 6).  The only way to get a comfortable water temperature was to reduce the temperature to point 4.  This also provided a greater pressure of warm water.

The final test was conducted by Bev – she had a shower!