As you say Joe, some season for the camera and all of it very welcome on the forum. Great also to see how the Royal could be traversed with "reletievly" little difficulty in high-water conditions.
Must take a stroll up to Confey some evening soon to see how the new "best buddies" are. Need to check up also on how that new wheel house is coming along.
Talk soon
R

Just a short return to share something. The "wrap" was short and sweet and I do know that Vossie was taking pics on Sunday [ he was busy yesterday and hopefully successful ] but the gap from Ferns to Pike could be filled with your wonderful shots, so how about it AJ ?
The little clip below is proof that Ben learned something from the film crew during the project and starts in the engine room on decompression lever duty and a scramble through the hatch to film the 'performance'!
In defence it was a cold morning on Sunday and John - there is a happy ending ! !

[s1182.photobucket.com]

Joe.

The ramber has finshed a year of Rambling along ,,

I like to thank Des the lock keeper for his unsung work he does with levels and boat owners.
I am not lieing when started with the Rambler at 0800 and finshed at 2300 on the first day of the TV Doc and treated the Rambler as if it was his own boat. Thanks Des

Just want to thank the Royal Canal Aminty groups for the years of hard work and those that could not see the Rambler as it traveled the Banks Of the Royal Canal.
Their dream was to save a canal but really they were architects of the Waterways Ireland Program on TV as the program would never been made as the cost to restore the Royal canal today would out way the use of it and i belive it would befilled in or built on. They worked to Restore and carry out conservation work with the OPW for years when really there was no money or grants just a dream for the canal too have your boat to travel and enjoy something which you will travel the waterways which can only be seen to belive. Thank you i just hope the Rambler is a Marker for your hard work that you got a barge 55 ton 68 feet down the Royal Canal you Cleaned and rebuilt. Thank you.

On the retun trip people waited at locks and bridges to take photos of the Rambler Not people with in the boat but its about Time that a barge of her age can pull crowdes and be talked about on facebook as she is seen on the Canal.
Thanks to all who worked on her in the Basin in Grand canal and all who helped us from spring till now.
Thanks to you every one got some bit of enjoyment this year reading or talking about will it or wont it.
Evan

Wonderful clip, Joe!
Thanks for posting.
The soundtrack made me come over all nostalgic.
I can't remember why it's so familiar, but it stirs up a kind of primordial soup of half recollections from very early childhood. Very odd, in a very pleasant sort of way.
That's a keeper...
Duncan

Thanks Joe......there I was thinking that 31 was a bit smokey on startup.....LOL

M(W&W)F

Well said Evan and it has to be said that us 'anoraks' have had a season to remember. Yes Mick a lot of smoke but it is part of the atmosphere ! The clip below is our cure for a smokey engine [ Portumna last Winter ! ].
Does this one do things for you Duncan ?

Joe.

[www.facebook.com]

Great sound Joe, but the smoke!! Like MF,I thought mine was smoky. The EU will be fining Ireland for extra emissions every time it starts up.
Thanks to Evan and everyone for this great blog.

PJ

Hi All...

I am sort of at a loose end...

Evan and Joe have ended the thread in their inimitable way... yet, I have a few photo's that may add something to the whole experience. I will, of course, do a blog post in a week or two... life has just got a way a bit, so... time has been rather tight. For starters, I'll place a few snaps of the first stretch on Sunday's final push...

The Royal Lady starts up with a puff and a huff... many an errant teen would be happy with a ring of that magnitude...



The skipper soon gets the show on the road... well, moving along the well watered slither...



I would think there may well be a few folk that think this is a composite photo... after-all, winter boating seems to be an utter NO-NO... ice... I hear a few whisper...



I'm of the opinion that Lock 15 will soon be 'officially' renamed as Clinton's... thanks again for your help... and the good banter...

Its certainly part of the the atmosphere now Joe.....LOL. It has been a right good oul season, whatever will we do till the new one begins in 2 weeks...????

M(W&W)F

The weather was a tad less than summer bliss... hence the spots on the lens and windows at times...

I love this view... a few of the good old 'gals' soon to have a brush by again... sailors in the night? Stories are sure to spread... open gate... let's get greeting!



The white bird leads us in... yep folk, this is Lock 14... repaired, ready and welcoming. Well done to the WI lads...



( I have to take a quick break... domestics call... )

Hi Joe

Yes, but in a different way.
You were a bit gung ho, running it for so long with no cooling circuit, but I know exactly how it feels!
I kept my XLD416, replacement engine for the Seamaster, from seizing by doing exactly that, several times over the course of a year, when I had no choice but to store it in the open.
Probably seized now, though, after 10 years negelect in the boat.
I must say, given the (ahem) mounting and the size of the steel echo chamber, not to mention the lack of an exhaust, yours sounds lovely! Is it as nice, now it's installed?

More, please...

Duncan

That's not smoky!
That's normal, for a vintage six, running cold on two cylinders!
Most of the Huff and Puff is lightly warmed, vaporised, but unburned fuel being ejected from cold, perhaps still decompressed cylinders.
You can see and hear when the other pots start contributing and the black turns to blue-grey. Soon after, the metals expand, tolerances are closed and she runs clean as a whistle!
Beautiful, historic engineering, from the days when people controlled the factories and every engine was a source of pride for its' creator and its' operator!
I love the ingenuity that went in to these old machines. The way men (and women) solved problems and made things work, with no computer aided design, or virtual models, to guide them is fascinating!
No two engines were ever truly identical, with each having what I call a personality, basically due to minute differences in machining, fuelling, or humour of the builder. Each one has it's own specific knack to getting the best out of it, becoming second nature to the usual operator, but alien to a new "driver". It seems like a reciprocal relationship, with the engine "rewarding" good treatment and punishing ineptitude. Is it any wonder people for emotional attachments to them?

Duncan

You asked for it Duncan !!! This clip is after installation but still needing a little ignition wiring . Enjoy

Joe.

[www.facebook.com]

Excellent!
Am I dreaming, or is that a bendix type starter?
I don't think I've ever heard a pre-engaged make that whiiiinnnng, when it didn't quite engage properly!
Definite memories of cold mornings and Morris 1100's, Minors, Oxfords, Ford Anglias and such like, when manual chokes (remember them?) had been pulled too far, or not far enough.
But then again, I thought the 4.236 was pre-engaged only!
Apart from the starter itself, the difference is in the teeth on the ring gear. They have a chamfered edge to help guide the pinion into mesh and this will be only on the side the pinion is expected to come from. Engine side, with pre-engaged, or gearbox side with a Bendix!
Anyhow, better move this conversation to a thread about engines, or they'll be gunning for us!

Duncan

Nope!
Just looked at the original clip again and it's not a Bendix!
A first for me, then.
How did he do that?
The usual cause is a kick from one cylinder momentarily making the flywheel turn fast enough to drive the pinion back out of mesh, leaving the starter spinning with the pinion not engaged.
That can't, or shouldn't, happen with pre-engaged types, though. With these the solenoid pushes the pinion into mesh and the heavy contacts don't close until close to fully engeaged! When the engine starts an overrun clutch allows the pinion to spin up to whatever speed the engine dictates, without spinning the armature up to destructive speeds. This does not disengage the pinion from the ring gear, though, so how did the characteristic "whiiiinnnng" happen?
Everybody already knew I'm a total anorak, right?
That's ok, so!

Duncan

Furthermore, looking again, hoping to identify the nice neat manifold, I realised the rocker cover is not quite like a Perkins either and certainly not a 4.236!
Not Ford, nor Peugeot, or Volvo.
It looks old, though, so not any of the raft of Eastern engines!
Better concede defeat!
What is it, Joe?

Duncan

Duncan

Stepping back a couple of posts, your mention of thread drift couldn't be further from the intention of this particular thread. 'Rambler Returns' was certainly NOT meant to be another pretty picture trip along the Royal but rather a vehicle for discussion of the mechanics of a trip like this. There was a reasonable input from folk early on regarding bridge heights etc. but in general engagement has been poor.
'Waterways' painted a certain picture [ for TV ] and did this well but as an example the scene regarding being stuck under the bridge at Ferns, was not seen as what actually occurred. Water level on the stretch was too high and when lowered - HEY PRESTO !!!
John Connon and myself discussed the issue of reporting the return trip and he was determined to show that it could be completed easily and that there had not been special treatment on the 'Waterways' journey. Evan Connon in his postings is passionate about the history and infrastructure of the Royal. Again and again he talks about the restorers and the ordinary people along the route who are witnessing a re-birth of this wonderful system.
The 'Rustin video' and comments will be of interest to John as he had commented on the engine when viewing 'Waterways' and is pondering some work on her.
So back to your question !! Four years ago I bought for spares a BMC Commodore [ 3.4L]
which had been initially installed , brand new, in 'Golden Hours' in 1961. The 3.4 in 4E was tired [ and very smokey ! ] so liners / pistons / rings / valves etc. were sourced and the Commodore re-built last Winter.
The starter was re-furbed [ Lucas bendix ] but the original flywheel had to stay as drive plate was attached. My suspicion of the 'miss' is a ring gear prob, even though it looked ok, without a worn section.
The Commodore had direct cooling so the kit I bought from Norris Marine of heat exchanger and oil coolers were transferred from the original 3.4.
BTW your prognosis on the Rustin starting cold and tightening up when warmed was spot on , she runs beautifully and has put in some long hot days this season.
Keep the well experienced input coming Duncan, it is appreciated,

Joe.

I promised about a year ago that I'll return with a few more photo'e... so, here goes...

The skipper takes us through Maynooth...


A bit of winter colour... west of Pike Bridge


Who's this fellow following us? Has he a passion? For what? I wonder...


The final stretch... into Confey... into the winter sunset...


I would just like to take this opportunity to thank Rambler and her merry minders... you allowed us an experience of a lifetime! ;-)

I've eventually managed to get a few posts done on the blog... do feel free to read my version.

Have a Merry Christmas and may all your boating dreams come true...

Cheers,
Vossie aka AJ

[ouchmybackhurts.wordpress.com]

Great shots Vossie and my thanks to you for brightening up the various threads with them. It has indeed been a busy season and it's not over yet!

Joe.

[www.iwai.ie]

picture of the month me thinks