Mayday, we have an inconvencience

Oh buoy. This week Katona sank, but let’s back up.

Last Sunday ended with the boat wedged on some debris in a lock, CRT inbound on Monday morning. I got there at 0750 to meet Joe & Simon, and after hatching a plan to un-wedge it I went to start the engine. Only it was underwater, and looking inside the cabin was filling up with oily water, too:

Things went quickly, so I called the River Canal Rescue and waited to hear back. Within 2 hours the boat sunk to the bottom of the lock:

Luckily that only went up 1m inside, as going under completely would’ve really been a downer:

As for why it sank, locks always leak a little and being wedged the water built up behind, which eventually breached one of the drains to the deck, and one thing lead to another.

That afternoon the CRT dedicated a notice in Katona’s honour and some contractors came to assess the sitch, but without a license from the CRT to work in the dark we agreed to meet at 0800 on Tuesday morning.

Sure enough, right on time, they show up with a boat load of kit and their monster truck, a 20t winch:

The plan was simple: 1) drain the canal, 2) drain the boat, 3) seal the boat 4) raise the canal, and maybe 5) winch the boat out, if it was truly stuck.

Me: There are portholes in the front by the way.
Recovery team: Portholes?? Where?
Me, pointing at the bow under water: Right there, 2 on each side under the water.
Them: Portholes?! Under the gunwale?! Do you know if the glass broke or cracked?
Me: Glass? I’m renovating at the moment, I took them out. Hadn’t got to that part.
Them, looking at me in disbelief: …

To be clear, the portholes in the front were not why it sank: they’re normally above the waterline, and the stern went first.

Because the pound was somewhat small, draining meant simply opening the next lock’s paddles, and didn’t need an entire canal:

Oh and we found a motorbike under the bow (not why it got stuck):

The recovery team then got their pumps out to empty the boat, which was around 40t of water I figure, a little too much for me to lift:

Not long after with the boat mostly drained, they boarded up the portholes and plugged any water entry points, like drain pipes and vents. Then, the moment of truth: slowly fill the canal.

Although I originally got wedged on a piece of debris (wood, probably?), the boat was 1m lower and jammed at an angle in the lock: the starboard side against the gunnel, and the port side along the “chine” — a sacrificial edge at the bottom of the boat, which I learned was kinda huge (I’ll trim that).

Luckily that wasn’t an issue, and as if by magic (buoyancy? Archimedes?!) when the water level rose so did the boat. A few minutes later and it was level, floating once more and free to go. We jumped on the roof to push it out of the lock, and glide it did! I was beaming to say the least; as if Katona was coming out of a cave, she had risen.

It wasn’t over for the CRT though: the lock gates now wouldn’t close. When you drain the pound, things move at the bottom and here was no exception, so we pulled the boat through the next lock — successfully! by hand! — so they could drain it once more to fix the gates.

And although I was on a high, my work had just begun: the boat was a mess, and the engine had been underwater for 2 days. I had to get it running, pronto.

I started by draining the rest of the water out of the bay, then pumped out another 6l from the engine itself before I hit oil. After that I took the injectors off to get the cylinder water out by cranking a few times, and I didn’t appreciate how much power the starter had until 4 oily jet streams went flying over the towpath. Luckily nobody was around, but I did lose a bunch of injector washers.

Wednesday morning I went back to change the oil, replace the fuel filter, and everything was ready to go. I wired up the ignition, turned the key and started cranking. It sounded promising and I heard a few cylinder fires, but the starter motor solenoid puffed a whole lotta smoke:

(Photo from earlier, I took that to remember the wiring colours.)

Hoping the starter itself was okay, I called around to see who had a spare and found a place in Redditch that not only had a one but would fit it for me! So off I went and 2 hours later returned, starter motor in hand, ready to rumble.

Once more I wired up the ignition, turned the key, and the ol’ engine sputtered to life. It started a little grumpy, but was running smoothly in short order:

Honestly I just love diesel engines. I took them for granted until I replaced the head gasket on this one last year, but they’re so magical. After running for a couple of hours I headed home, finally set to do a day of £££ work on Thursday.

And although the engine ran, there was constant white smoke from the exhaust, which probably meant water in the diesel. So on Friday I filtered the fuel to fix that, then set out to find some electricity for draining the residual water in the boat. Luckily somebody I met on Monday walked by, and I told them what I was up to; they suggested I moor up alongside their little boat just 200m down the canal…! What luck!

So that I did, motored down to find Steve, Liz and their boat Froxfield at the bottom of their garden to borrow some electricity. After pumping the water out they offered a cup of tea and a tour of their boat, which was a lovely 30ft “campervan on the water.”

While draining the water tank I had a look around, and… little sigh. The paint in there was bubbling, and easily scraping off. I’m not sure if that’s because of the water, but I’d only done the primer undercoats and not the water-safe overcoat:

On Saturday I changed the oil once more, including for the gearbox, and with help from a friend took the boat through the 2 final narrow locks — the last being the narrowest of them all on this stretch! — without a hitch to the edge of Worcester, waiting for the River Severn when it opens.

A chaotic week, but there were a lot of silver linings which made staying upbeat a doddle: only a half-sunken boat; having bought the nice water-proof insulation; not having finished the nice fit-out. And this was a minor incident compared to other boats this week…

Coding is great, but I do love working on the boat. It feeds my soul, and I’m excited for a summer of it.

Until next Sunday!

- Nick