Just the mess to clean up.

Although we kept the site as clean as possible, on a daily basis,there was still a lot of mess covered by the hull. Most of the area was covered in the remains of the shot blasting grit,after a couple of hours of sweeping & hosing down, we were finally ready to leave our boat yard prison.

Back on the mooring, safe & sound.

We could not relax until Warrior reached the water, as there is always the chance of the hull breaking its back. When something weighing 58 tonnes & 85 feet long is lifted, any weak points are going to be found out under the stress.

At least they chose high water this time, so there was not too far to go!

At last!

8.30am Friday 11th December & Warrior is lifted into the misty air,ready for the nervous journey back to the mooring.

I finished painting the areas covered by the chocks, at 9.30pm the night before. I make that about 50 hours spent just painting underneath, without the preparation time.

Nearly there.

Just the sacrificial anodes to bolt on then, Warrior will have to be lifted by the hoist & moved a few feet forward to allow access to the areas covered by the wooden chocks. I will have to paint these areas during the evening prior to the relaunch.

Five hours spent painting the underneath of a barge with bitumen & you could look like this too!

Steph applied the third & fourth coats of the chlorinated rubber paint,to the area previously shot blasted.

Almost there!

Four weeks to the day since Warrior was taken out, we are almost ready to go back to the mooring. The underneath took nine days to paint although, the day only lasted five hours, due to the winter light. Mind you, five hours spent under there seemed a lot longer,especially the last day, as I had to work from the shingle under the stern.

Today, I painted the final coat to the hull, above the water line,leaving just the area covered by the chocks holding the barge up off the ground, which I will do tomorrow evening. The only other job to do, is fit the ten sacrificial anodes,which is a simple bolt on job, that I will do tomorrow day.

We are already booked in to return to the mooring on Friday morning, something we are both looking forward to.

I will upload some more pictures when the signal allows.

Just to update; the primed area now has three coats of the primer & four coats of the chlorinated rubber paint. We have ordered another tin, to enable the area above the water line to be painted with the same product.

I began applying bitumen paint to the underneath & after a solid five hours, I am about 20ft along, just another 65 to go!(followed by a second coat).

Need a break now so,off up to sunny Sydenham to watch the Palace game tomorrow,the things we do!

Shot blasting & primer coat.

We have had the waterline shot blasted(Friday) & managed to get two coats of under water primer completed by Sunday.

Tomorrow,we have the brackets welded on, to take the new set of sacrificial anodes. Once done,a third coat of primer will be applied. The hardest part of the repainting job, will be the underneath, which is approximately 120m2, to be covered in two coats of bitumen paint,whilst laying in a 2ft gap under the barge, should be fun!

Eventfull week.

'Warrior' shown being lifted by the 70 tonne hoist,quite a scary time seeing your home being moved into the air!

Trying to get everything organized has been quite stressful. Having spent the best part of two days laying under 'Warrior' cleaning off all the sea life that the pressure washer could not reach, the enormity of the task ahead became very clear.Although not hard work in its self, there is just so much area to prepare,it makes for very long & tiring days.

I bought a floor scraper,attached to a four foot long handle, along with a car creeper, allowing me to lay under the barge,which is just over two feet off the ground. Over the two days, I worked my way from bow to stern,going over the area four times in order to scrape off as much as I could; you can se in the above picture just how bad the underneath was covered. It was whilst underneath,I decided to look around for a shot blaster to clean off the waterline. A suitable blaster was found via a mate of my brother in law & arrangements were made for the job to be done,a job that had never been allowed by the boat yard owners, due to the close proximity of some very expensive boats; this only added to our stress!

Waiting is over.

We finally have lift off,or rather,lift out! After waiting for the best part of a year, we had the phone call on Tuesday telling us that 'Warrior' could be taken out at Essex Marina,where previously,we were told we had no chance.

Just after lunch on Wednesday,the ,marina lads turned up to take 'Warrior' from the moorings,along to the hoist.It amazes me that 58 tonnes of barge can be moved by two small work boats,with 50hp outboards! We opted for the walking option so,we could watch our pride & joy (also our home!) being taken up river towards the jetty. It was the event of the year,according to the amount of people on land & in boats, who stopped to watch! Steph was a bag of nerves as we stood on the sea wall to see the hoist gradually take the strain & once everyone was happy, the lift began. Being low tide did not help with Steph's nerves, as our home had to be lifted about 30ft & once there,suspended to allow for the hull to be pressure washed.

By the time 'Warrior' came to rest in the yard,it was already 5pm & time for the lads to go home so, that is where we stayed the night, slap bang in the middle of the boat yard,under the hoist.Luckily a set of Fairline steps were 'borrowed' for the night, allowing us(including Barney dog) to climb aboard.

The next morning, the task of juggling the boats around began, to make space for our 85ft lump & by the time 'Warrior'was safely chocked up,it was 1pm. All the mean time,we spent either watching from the ground level or, drinking tea up in the marina bar, there was much else we could do.

Doesn't time fly! Well over a month since my last posting, with quite a few things done to update.

I decided against turning Warrior around just to paint the far side.In stead, I took the brave decision to stand in the tender & do the painting from alongside; trouble was, I chose a Sunday & a busy one at that! I spent more time hanging on,or telling boaters to slow down, than I did actually painting. Some idiots either don't know there is an 8 knot speed limit,or they don't care & have no respect for others. (probably more to the point). The picture above shows Warrior from the river,showing the new paint job.



The next job was to fit the new saniflow, to pump out the waste water from the bath,shower & two hand basins;usually a fairly simple plumbing job but, just awkward for me to get to so,I decided to pass the job over to a plumber..........five weeks later, I finally located one that was willing to work on a barge & even then, that was down to the fact that he owns a fishing boat moored here. Anyway, two hours work was well worth it, as we now have an efficient, quiet pump,that does not smell!

We had decided last winter that it would be a good idea to fit a wood burning stove up in the wheelhouse, mainly due to the excessive cost of diesel for the central heating(don't get me started on that one!) & after the usual trawling of the internet, we found a local company, just set up by a couple of young lads,in fact,we were their first customers.

With help from our friend Tim, the fire was fitted within a couple of hours & now that the evenings are turning decidedly chilly,it has made a huge difference to the wheelhouse, where we can now sit late into the evenings,in cosy warmth.

One down side to this update,is that we are still awaiting for Suttons Boatyard to give us the nod to take Warrior out for the hull to be repainted etc; another couple of weeks & it will have to be put off until the spring which,is very disappointing.

People refer to 'Warrior' as 'The big green barge' so, I had no real choice in which colour to use for the repaint,just which shade. As you can see from the photograph, 'Warrior' is definitely green!

Only one side has been done so far,we need to turn the barge around, I don't fancy painting the other side with the river flowing under me!

Just for interest, the colours used are; Buckingham Green & Ruby Starlet(nearest I could get to Claret)

I took these two pictures last night of the thunder storm passing over Burnham, the river had been very choppy, with a strong wind against the tide. As the storm approached, the tide turned allowing the river to calm down, which was nice!

Our neighbour has asked me to prepare & paint his fishing boat; as I don't seem to have a lot on at the moment, who am I to refuse!

I drove over to Pagglesham this morning & put in a six hour shift, mainly sanding down all the outer areas, before staining the gunwales & buffer strips along the side. I don't like using water based wood stains, they seem to sit on top of the wood, rather than penetrate it but hey, it's not my boat!

The next aim, tomorrow, will be to apply the gloss paint to the hull sides & fore deck, with a second coat to follow on Wednesday. Hopefully, I can also apply varnish to the stained wood, the same day, as he hopes to get bit back in the water on Thursday!!!!!!!!!

The interior of the cabin needs the most work but, that will be down to him to complete once he has brought the boat around to Wallasea Island. It is a nice sea going fishing boat, just a shame it is made from marine ply & not GRP as,it will take a lot of looking after.

Since taking these shots, I have applied the first coat to the red beam,using a darker shade, supposed to be claret but, we shall see! Once this has had the second coat, I shall start the green area,using 'Buckingham Green' which hopefully,is somewhere near to the original although, as it has not been painted for a few years, the new shiny gloss coat is bound to be a tad 'In your face' to begin with.

As it has been a couple of weeks since my last posting, thought I would bring you up to date. As we are still enjoying lovely sunny weather(bound to rain tomorrow now!) & awaiting the not to take Warrior to the boat yard, we have begun painting the upper superstructure. I now have an insight into what it is like for people who have to keep bridges etc painted, there is a lot of it!

After sanding, I went around with the red oxide, hence Warrior looking a bit spotty!

Sunday 9th August.

We decided to take the tender up river to have a mooch about & a picnic. With high tide expected at about 3.15, we left at 12.35, so we could use the tide, sticking close to the banks, to avoid getting in other boats way.

We motored for just over half an hour and found a nice place to set anchor,out of the way of all the mad speed boat owners! I only took my phone camera with me, the first picture is looking across the river, with Canewdon church at the top of the distant hill. The fishing was the usual success, third cast, the line snapped, sending weight, hook & bait into the briny & guess who didn't bother taking any more tackle with him!

Luckily for me & Barney, Steph took plenty to eat for the picnic, as you can see, the ever hopeful Barney waiting patiently by the biscuit box!

After eating, Steph produced a couple of tin of stella, which was nice. We carried on up the river until slack water, then turned about, to make our way home. This time,I decided to go the roman way, and stick to a straight(ish) line, to reduce the distance around the meandering bends. With the tide with us,it did not take long to get back to the barge, even with the 4hp mercury outboard. Today was one of those days we shall try to remember in the cold winter!

Just to add to the previous post(tried to add as an edit, without success).

If you click to enlarge the photo, you will just able to make out the word 'Warrior' on the right hand side, below the number 52. We are often asked why the name 'Warrior' was chosen well,here is the answer! As it is deemed to be bad luck to change the name of a vessel, 'Warrior' it will remain.We have also been told by a passing London cabbie, that the building in the background are Wapping, taken around the late 80's.This would be about right, as there is a name plate left by the welders working on the conversion, which is dated 1990.

Warrior pre-conversion.

Hope these come out ok, they are a scan from a photograph.

The bottom left shows 'Warrior' in the pre-conversion days, when used as a Lighter on the Thames. The word 'Lighter' derives from the fact that these vessels were used to take goods from larger ships & therefore, making them lighter.

The top two photos shows the owners at the time, doing the hard graft in preparing the hull for conversion.

The remaining picture shows 'Warrior' in dry dock with the conversion of the superstructure completed.

Getting back to our usual routine again, after our week away in France. Went & bought a new chainsaw today,we have been given a huge amount of hard wood planks,taken from the deck of a converted fishing trawler.

Took Barney out on river today for his first trip in the tender. He did not like getting aboard from the pontoon but,once we were moving, he settled down & enjoyed his maiden voyage. I still think we need a larger engine though.

Turning to my right, this is the view down river.Burnham on Crouch is over on the far left, with the RSPB wetland site on our side of the river.

Looking over to Warrior, from the river bank,with the tide on the way out. The pontoons never dry, even at the lowest tides, we have 40 feet of water under us.

View to the other side of the kitchen.

View towards the kitchen, looking at the back of the esse range. One of the three roof sky lights can be seen, these were a major feature/reason why we fell in love with this barge when viewing, they let so much light into the space.

Maintenence work.

In a few weeks, Warrior is due to be taken out of the water to enable us to re-black the hull.This will require being towed down river & into the river Roach & along to Suttons boat yard in Rochford.

In preparation,I have spent this afternoon sanding down one side of the upper superstructure; if you look again at my first photograph of Warrior, it is the green colour that I have sanded & applied red oxide paint to any rust spots. I still have the other side to do, which will be more fun, as it is along the waters edge!

The part I am not looking forward to,is the roof.It is in desperate need of a repaint but, sanding it down is going to be a real tough task.

Due to the costs involved in taking the barge out, the main objective will be to get the hull done, anything else will be a bonus.The water line will be shot blasted by a professional, followed closely by myself frantically covering the bare metal with epoxy paint! We have had the usual 'Let us know when & we will help.' from the family/friends however, we shall wait & see how many actually turn up on the day.

Sometimes, the sea can get quite rough & although Warrior can withstand most weathers,the water hitting the barge can be very noisy. We are getting use to this however,it is not good if you are a light sleeper!

We have a chandelier in the dining room,which doubles up as our 'swingometer' to give an indication as to the weather outside,as sometimes we don't notice how rough the sea is,until we look up & see the light fitting swaying!

We have actually slept through a force nine gale so,living on a 60 tonne barge has other advantages too!

The marina is situated on Wallasea Island & surrounded by an RSPB wetland area,providing us with some stunning views & a great garden which we don't have to keep tidy!

Here is Warrior,viewed from the stern. The converted Thames Lighter was built in 1958 & used commercially,we think,until the late 1980's. The conversion into a liveaboard barge took place in the early 1990's, there is a personal name plate dated 1992,probably by the persons welding the superstructure. Warrior measures 84 feet in length & 16 feet in width & is a 'dumb' barge,meaning it does not have an engine.

I do have a picture of Warrior when used as a commercial barge on the Thames, which I will try & scan onto here at a later date.

The view of the outside gives little indication as to the internal layout, people are amazed when we invite them on board for a nosey around, the wheelhouse alone is 14"x12" the same as most average sized living rooms in a house. Below decks, we have four double bedrooms, a huge kitchen, dining room, with an oil fired Esse range cooker/central heating boiler(similar to an Aga) a cosy living room,with log burner for those cold winter nights, a full size bath & separate power shower & may more nooks & cranny's for storage etc.

I will add more information with each photograph posted.

Life afloat.

Well,here we are folks, my first attempt at a blog.

Whenever we tell people that we live on a barge, it creates a lot of interest & questions, so I thought I would create this blog for people to view & find out what life afloat is like for us.

I will try & upload photographs of Warrior & the surrounding marina & countryside.