Posts In The “England” Category
We’d always thought the Tower of London was just that, a tower. But it’s actually a castle, with 22 towers in total, that was the royal residence for England’s medieval monarchs and also is where the Crown Jewels are currently kept. The complex is right next to St. Katharine Docks where we are moored, so…
London is a world-class city with modern architecture, a world financial center, and easy-to-see history going back more than two thousand years. We got a taste of it all on a clear day shortly after arriving into St. Katharine Docks. We started with the fabulous views from The Shard, completed in 2012, and stepped back…
Over a decade ago, we read a magazine article about a couple who moored their boat at St. Katharine Docks over the winter and it captivated us—we’ve been wanting to come here ever since. From Hermitage Community Moorings, we made a short run upriver and passed through the lock into St. Katherine Docks. It was…
For the 207nm run from Southampton to London, we were planning to stop for the night in Queenborough off the mouth of the Thames before continuing to London the following morning. This would avoid a night running up the Thames. But we made much better time than expected, arriving at the Thames mid-morning, so continued…
Prior to the thirty-one days in Southampton, the longest time we’d ever been in the yard was ten days. During our month-long Southampton yard trip we completed three major projects: replacing the muffler, rebuilding the crane, and replacing the cutlass bearings on the rudder shaft and the wing and main propeller shafts. We also completed…
The final major project we completed at Saxon Wharf in Southampton was replacing the cutlass bearings on the rudder shaft and the wing and main propeller shafts. On inspection after removing the cutlass bearing, our main propeller shaft was badly corroded with some of the pits running quite deep, so we opted to replace it…
A second major project that we completed while in the yard at Southampton was to rebuild our crane. It was in remarkably poor condition. The ram-to-extension bolts were siezed due to lack of Tuff-Gel application on the stainless screws in the aluminum casting; the linear winch had worn away all its bearing material, damaging the…
We had a long list of projects to complete during our Southampton haulout at Saxon Wharf. One of the bigger jobs was to replace the muffler. Our old one turned out to not be in bad shape, and might have gone a few more years. But we couldn’t really know the state of the muffler…
Boats have been damaged or destroyed during lift operations, so we’re always nervous whenever we haul Dirona out. We were impressed with the care Saxon Wharf took in the lift, including asking for exterior hull photos to could assess where to place the lifting straps. The operation went smoothly and by mid-morning we were safely…
Storm systems rolled through Portland, UK for four nights before the forecast showed a gap just long enough for the 60-mile run to Southampton. On our approach to Southampton Waters, we transited the narrow and current-swept Needles Channel, passing the dramatic chalk cliffs and Needles Lighthouse off the southwest tip of the Isle of Wight….
After spending New Year’s Eve in Falkmouth, UK, we were booked into the yard in Southampton on Jan 8th for routine maintenance. You would think a week would be plenty to travel the 200 miles from Falmouth to Southampton, but big weather systems, some with 50kt winds, were forecast for most of next week. We…
One of the reasons we came to Falmouth for the holiday season was for the New Year’s Eve Fireworks display from Pendennis Castle right above the marina. We had a great time celebrating the New Year while watching the display and really enjoyed spending a couple of weeks in the area. Falmouth is crazy-busy in…
We had an intermittent engine control unit fault code on Dirona‘s John Deere 6068AFM75 that started shortly after we departed Kinsale, Ireland. Under higher loads or at idle when running the hydraulics, we sometimes get a 1347.7 fault code which indicates the actual fuel rail pressure is different from the called-for pressure. This occurs is…
While in Falmouth, we made a day-trip to Plymouth to visit our friends Jean and Matt Findlay and tour the town. We first met Jean and Matt in 2014 on their Beneteau 57 Superted V on Stewart Island in southern New Zealand and crossed paths an amazing number of times after, but haven’t seen them…
We crossed 9,500 hours our John Deere 6068AFM75 main engine on the 243nm run from Dublin, Ireland to Falmouth, UK. This run would take us past the strong and sometimes dangerous currents off the most western tip of the UK at Land’s End, so we we left just before midnight to catch favourable tides. Conditions…
Liverpool Marina was a great base for exploring the city and surrounding area—it’s an easy easy walk from the marina to the waterfront attractions at Royal Albert Dock and downtown. We spent nearly two weeks there, enjoying beautiful Liverpool and particularly the spectacular Bonfire Night fireworks display. Liverpool also is the home of KVH Media…
York Minster, built mainly between 1220 and 1480, is one of the largest medieval cathedrals in Northern Europe and among the most beautiful Gothic buildings in the world. While it is a real highlight of a visit to York, the city has a number of other attractions, including the superb National Railway Museum, the largest…
Liverpool Cathedral is the largest church in Britain, and the fifth largest in the world. Construction began in 1904, funded largely through private donations from wealthy Liverpool residents during the height of the city’s commercial shipping success. Everything about it is on a massive scale: the central aisle height is 166ft (35m) and the internal…