The fitting out process is nearing completion but has slowed down a bit as the corridor panels will not be delivered until late October. Some finishing work may be done after arrival at Chidham after the mooring system is fully installed and the gangways are in position.

One photo shows one of the brackets which have been welded to the belting which will be used to attach a strut between the ship and the sea wall. There is one bracket near the bow and one near the stern.

Another photo shows the heat recovery unit on the Port side. This has a heat exchanger and two fans. Fresh air is drawn in from a vent in the hull wall and is preheated in the heat exchanger by returning warm, stale air which is extracted out through another vent in the hull. The whole system is repeated on the Starboard side. Each cabin is provided with a flow of fresh air, heated slightly in the Winter and stale air is extracted from each wet unit in each cabin. All the ducting is large diameter plastic and it should be relatively quiet in operation. The main source of heat for the cabins is hot water pipes buried in the floor.

The other two photos show one of the wet units with the washbasin and shower. The shower is temperature controlled to prevent scalding but can be turned cooler or even cold for the hardy.

David Edwards Project Manager

As well as all that is going on at Portchester in fitting the New Ship, there is a tremendous amount to happen at CYE site in Chidham. Tim Warner and Derek Garner are building the pump house shed. The channel has been marked for digging out mud to make a channel for GD to be slipped out on 7th October. Jon, Powerhouse and Norman spent all Tuesday morning in the mud! The GD has been sold and will be towed to River Thames to a new life. Norman Doney Executive Director

Just realised that the Blog does not have any pictures of the ship. It just concentrates on what has happened since the blog started a couple of weeks ago. So this blog will backtrack a bit with three pictures of the ship in it's berth at Trafalgar Wharf, Portchester, Portsmouth Harbour. Many bloggers will have visited the ship at Open Days, or between, but this is a reminder of what she looks like from the outside.

It will not be that long before we will have photos (DV) of the ship in the berth at Chidham. She is due to "sail" (towed actually) from Portchester to Chidham on 5th November, no doubt accompanied by fireworks after safe arrival! The "Gerald Daniel" will be decommissioned on 2nd October with well over 100 old timers to say goodbye and the departure is scheduled for 8th October. Latest plans are to have her towed to the Thames, to Chelsea just downstream from the Albert bridge. She will be on a mooring between two buoys. We have secured a last minute buyer to save her from an ignamonious end of being broken up. There are one or two hurdles to jump yet to ensure that the buyer comes through with the payments due, so to those who believe in prayer, keep praying!

Next blog will be back to the fitting out.

David Edwards Project Manager

Room divider, galley floor, galley shutter.

The galley serving hatch is now fitted with the roller shutter. It comes down automatically in the event of a fire and can be raised or lowered electrically or with a manual handle.
It make a fire barrier between the galley and the dining area.

It is battery operated and the battery is on permanent trickle charge.

The room divider between the dining room and the day room is now fitted.
It is substantial and should provide quite a good sound barrier when closed. It has an access door at the port side, next to the patio doors..

The galley floor is fitted with grey tiles, non slip.

If the galley looks big, it is.

And so fitting out is proceeding well and the ship will be ready in good time for towing to Chidham on 5th November. Any ideas on a firework display on arrival that evening?

David Edwards Project Manager

Wednesday 22 nd September progress

There are now quite a few doors fitted. Sometime I will make a count of the total number of doors and I think the amount will surprise everyone.

The steel beams in the ceiling are being cased in simulated oak and these will complement the curved ceilings in the dining and day rooms.

The plumbing in this picture is complete. It serves two back-to-back wet units and will be easily accessible from the corridor by removing a panel for servicing. The space also has the electrical supply for the wet units.

The floor on the lower deck is now complete and ready for the vinyl covering in the corridor and carpet in each cabin.

Each day there are Trimline workers (the main contractor) plus a selection of subcontactors Parcar the electrical subcontractor, Tugwell, the mechanical subcontractor, Evac, the waste water subcontractor, Iso energy, the heat pump subcontractor and Jupiter, the underfloor heating subcontractor. As a result the ship has bits and pieces all over the place. Very soon, in October, it will all come together and be finished ready for towing to Chidham to replace the Gerald Daniel.

David Edwards Project Manager.

Progress week commencing 20th September

The wheelhouse is one of my favourite "things".
It now has seating going in and the door fitted
at the top of the internal stairs. The inside of
the funnel is now insulated and will provide
extra seating since there is no lower door.

Some other doors are now fitted.
They are high quality wood finish
and will complement
the teak exterior doors.


The welding work outside is fitting
the brackets for the
mooring system.
This will be struts to the
sea wall.

My site office
(and weekday accommodation)
is the yacht.
It has been so since 15th July 2009
(was shown as 2000 in error)
when I met Project Enterprise
at Portsmouth harbour entrance
and escorted her to
Trafalgar Wharf with
ideal opportunity for
photos and video.

Wheelhouse and corridor

The wheelhouse now has hardwood vertical pillars and looks more and more real it is coming to a conclusion,

The aft entrance room is likely to get wet as kids
come into the ship for a break off the water. So
a large floor drain connects direct to the outside side deck. Water on the floor can be squeegeed away.

The corridor connecting the aft
entrance to the dining room
is now virtually finished.

Watch this space
for more progress on the
lower deck.

Patio doors and heating pipes

The patio doors are now fitted!
They are located in the Day Room and
once the ship is at Chidham there will be superb
views overthe water looking towards Itchenor.
They will face East and get the morning sun.

Underfloor heating pipes are now complete on the whole of the main deck and also the Wheelhouse. The floor contractor is now
working through the lower deck.

Next week, the mooring system brackets will be welded to the belting on the starboard side of the ship. These brackets will take struts, the other end of which will be attached to very heavy frames
on the sea wall. More details in due course.

David Edwards Project Manager

Wet Units

This blog takes a look at progress with the wet units. Wet units are compartments where the whole floor is, in effect, one large shower tray. If you have been on a cross channel ferry or a cruise ship then the chances are the toilet compartment was a wet unit. Any water spilt or overun from the shower outside the curtain will flow to a drain in the corner. In addition to the shower, the unit contains a toilet, washbasin and cupboard etc. The toilet is not like the one you have at home but is like the one on a ferry. Press the button and everything disappears by vacuum.

This means some plumbing and controls that look a bit complicated. That is the price to pay for the system which is aimed to be very much better than a gravity system to holding tanks. In fact the vacuum system has made possible the e-suite facility in every cabin. Without the vacuum system, we would have stayed with the original design - central washrooms/toilets/showers with only a washbasin in each cabin.

There is more progress today to report and hopefully this will be posted on Thursday evening.

David Edwards Project Manager

Heat Pump

The heat source for underfloor heating comes firstly from a heat pump and can be topped up by solar panels (more about those later) and also immersion heaters as back-up.

The heat pump and tanks were loaded by Telehandler through a special hatch in the roof and another one in the main deck. Installation has not started yet but the items are in place in the plant room.

The heat pump takes heat out of the ground and converts it to higher temperature. It works like a refrigerator which takes heat out of the compartment and moves that heat to the back of the fridge into pipes which get hot. In the case of the fridge, the heat at the back is wasted into the room. With the heat pump, that heat is used to heat the ship and it is the ground that gets cooled but there is so much ground that the cold dissipates and provides warmth again. Very simple! For every 1 kilowatt of energy, the heat pump produces 4 kw of heat. Very efficient and makes for low running costs when fuel prices are on the rise.

There are two large cylinders to store hot water, plus a buffer tank to control where the heat comes and goes.

My next blog will show the wet units being installed on the lower deck so watch this space for some interesting photos.

Sorry if some of this is a bit technical. There is going to be some relatively high tech equipment on board all aimed at excellent facilities for visitors and low running costs. Once fitting out gets a bit further we will start looking at things as you will see them on your next visit in 2011. Meantime, for those who are interested in such things, the behind - the -scenes stuff will be pictured as fitting out progresses.

David Edwards Project Manager

Ship progress 13th September 2010

Underfloor heating consists of plastic pipes buried under the floor surface which have hot water pumped through them. The floor hardly feels warm but heats the whole room very efficiently, more so than any other method. It is silent too.

Today, the contractor fitted more and now most of the main deck has pipes. The flooring is being fitted over the pipes and then there will be a vinyl surface to finish.

The hot water comes from a heat pump. More about that in my next blog.

Also today, the wet units (toilet/shower/washbasin) have all been put in place and a lot of the plumbing connected. The lower deck is no longer a big gaping space.

There are 14 cabins in total, each one having e-suite facilities. One of them is on the main deck for disabled use. Of the 13 on the lower deck, two of them have just two berths and the remaining 11 have four berths each. There will be underfloor heating on the lower deck as well as the main deck.

The wheelhouse is now fully panelled and even the ceiling is now finished.

There are lot of pipes and things to connect ship to shore and one picture shows the entrance point in the transome.

David Edwards Project Manager

Photos this week

Blogspot Saturday 11^th September.

The last few days have seen amazing progress. The photos in the blogspot show;

Underfloor heating being placed on main deck.

Stainless steel galley walls being fitted.

Bases for wet units for each cabin being put in place.

Each cabin is en-suite and has its own toilet, shower and washbasin.

Walls of wet units being fitted.

The waste water evacuation pumps being loaded.

Pump unit in plant room, not yet connected up

Simulated oak covers for the steel beams on the main deck, with curved ceiling between.

More news and photos next week.

David Edwards Project Manager