Not ours, but that of another National. Another one of the blogs I look at quite often is that of Hadar, a replica Large Northwich built by Roger Fuller for Jo (hi Jo!) who often comments on here, and her husband Keith. It's an impressive blog, detailing the build, from the early stages right up to the launch - and beyond.
Hadar has a National DA2 engine, built, I think, in 1947, which Jo tells us about here. More recently though, since the launch, they've had some problems with it, culminating in the 'great engine strip down' - described in gruesome detail and with fantastic pictures.
I think I would be rather less than happy if I had purchased an engine which had been refurbished by one of the country's best known marine engineers and subsequently found silicone sealant in place of O-rings, among other things. Trouble is, words like 'refurbished' can mean so many different things to different people. Clearly (in this case at least) it doesn't mean completely stripped down, cleaned and inspected - but would you necessarily know that, if you were buying it?
Tales like this make me all the more glad that we went ahead and had Warrior's engine completely rebuilt, and not only that, but that it was done in such a way that we could monitor it at every stage.
I guess there may well be a lot more to Hadar's story than can be put on a blog, but thanks to Jo for telling the story so well, and best of luck with it from here on.
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6 comments:
Hi Sarah.
Thank you for a mention on your blog.
Hadar is actually a copy of a Small Northwich and not a Large Nortwich as you write in your post.
Like with most things in life, not all things go according to plan, but Keith and I are philisophical about the whole situation. Roger Fuller has been fantastic and between he and Keith the engine is being sorted out. I cannot and will not go into detail about the whole situation as it would not be appropriate as the situation is still on going. Everything that happens will appear in Hadar's blog, and we look forward to rebuilding Hadar's lovely engine and hearing her fire up for the first time. Everything comes to those who wait, so patience in this case will be worth it.
Hi Jo
Glad you didn't mind me mentioning it. Your photos were so good it was irresistible. Small Northwich - of course!! (slaps hand to forehead). Of course it will all be worth it in the end and I can't wait to see you out and about, when we get back into circulation.
Hi Sarah.
I am also looking forwardto meeting up with you both on Warrior, I am sure there will be many stories to swap LOL.
Things on the engine are coming a long nicely now. But we may stay in Stone until the Christmas window, as two locks near us are up for closure from the 5th Nov for repairs and will be shut until late November. So we are thinking we will wait for the Christmas break and then head off. But like with most best laid plans that may change hahaha.
When I purchased Vesta in 1961 it had a Stewarts and Lloyds restored engine and loaded on the foredeck were two extra National 2D engines completely rebuilt. I sold the two to Allen Picken of the Water Folk, Dunhampsted for £60 each.Do any of your readers know where they went, and are they still in use? Max
Further update on Hadar's DA2 engine, which was built in 1949. There were only 440 DA2's built between 1945 and 1951 and all were built as generator sets. Our engine was one of a batch of 18 built at Trojan Ltd of Croydon, and all 18 fitted to beds along with the generator, radiator, fuel tank, etc at Uxbridge Diesels, and then all 18 were shipped to Middle East Pipelines. We obtained this information from the Anson Engine Museum. http://nationalengine.blogspot.co.uk/
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