Tag: BSS

Beer and Boats and the BSS, Part Two

Well yesterday was a most excellent and enjoyable day. Met Nick at the bottom of the road and we headed off to the Cheltenham Friends of the Samaritans beer festival at the Old Patesians Rugby Club. They had about 26 beers, mainly from local breweries, and a pig roast for when you got hungry. We got there at about 12:15 and left at about 9:30pm and had worked our way through a significant majority of the beers (half pints only of course).

We stopped for a curry on the way home at the Indus (where NONE of us had the Prawn on Puri ((Many, Many moons ago a group of us went to the Indus for a meal and when we were placing the order for our starters the waiter kept trying to persuade each of us to change our decision and order the Prawn on Puri.. “The Prawn on Puri is very good”, “May I recommend the Prawn on Puri, Sir” and so on. None of us took his suggestion up and its now become a matter of rote that someone has to suggest ordering the Prawn on Puri, knowing that no-one actually will)) ) and it was just after midnight when I got home.

This morning I left the house just after 8:30am and picked up Nick and we headed off to the boat to fix the gas pipe and a couple of other things for the BSS.

Getting to Norbury wharf is quite easy but the last mile or so is down a single track road with only a few passing places. When we got there the car park was full so we ended up parking in the rather large, pub car park.

Mintball was moored right up by Norbury Wharf’s dry dock, which is actually the first lock on the Newport branch of the Shropshire Union which meant it was a bit of a walk with power tools and other bits and bobs.

The original idea we had for fixing down the gas pipe was to slip clips over it and then bolt them down through the wooden trunking that the gas pipe lies in. This turned out to be totally impossible to do for various reasons – so we ended up lifting the pipe out of the tray and fixing it using some 3/8 inch saddle clips (which we found in the Norbury Wharf Chandelery) on the wall right under the tray/lining overhang. So you can’t actually see the pipe unless you are lying in the bunks but at the same time it is not “hidden” and its properly supported. It also allowed us to tidy up the feed line to the fridge so its now neater than its ever been.

We also cleaned the burner in the oven – after 21 years its getting a bit ropey but hopefully it will get us through this BSS and we can then plan replacing it, and the rest of the kitchen, in the next couple of years.

Beer and Boats and the BSS

Well its going to be a bit of a mad weekend.

On Saturday Nick, myself and a few friends are off to the ‘Second’ Cheltenham Beer Festival’ which is run by the Friends of the Samaritans as a way of raising funds. Running from 12 noon on Saturday till 11pm they are promising to have 26 beers, all from local breweries, some perry and cider, and a pig roast. Last year it was a great event – perfect weather and two rugby games to watch too (that’s what happens when you hold your event at a rugby ground) along with a giant Jenga set, Chess and activities like face painting for the kids.

Then on Sunday (assuming we are capable) we are off back to the boat to fix up a few problems that meant it failed it’s BSS check.

For those who don’t know about the BSS (Boat Safety Scheme) it is a set of safety checks invented by a bunch of safety-fascists which if your boat doesn’t pass then its not going to get a certificate and thus can’t get a licence. Unlike the MOT, which has lots of local garages involved, BSS examiners are like hens teeth and have a matching price tag.

I could go on here about the fact that the BSS is a shifting target which retrospectively applies changes, that it is inconsistent, and sometimes flies in the face of logic..a few years ago they decided that rigid push fit plastic spill rails on diesel engines were not safe and they had to be replaced with metal pipes. Bit award as the return fittings on some new Ford engines were for push fit pipes and that there were a lot of cars driving around, apparently perfectly safely, at 70mph with push fit hoses… but NO.. that’s not safe in a boat at 3-4mph

They did eventually back down on that one.. but it’s just one example of how disconnected the BSS can be from reality. In the past couple of years they have slackened off on a lot of things and there is a much more “common sense” style approach to it than there used to be but there are still places that give off that “We are saying you have to do this, not because it sensible, but because we can” and in places you get the feeling that the requirement has been pushed by people who have a vested interest in boats failing.

To be fair the people in the BSS office are excellent and have been really helpful in helping us resolve a couple of problems we have had.