Firstly, I gave up maintaining the website because it was taking up too much time. I don't think "blogs" existed when I started my diary so the tools to add new updates easily simply weren't there - I think I wrote the whole thing in raw html. Anyway, I got busy at work and realised that I needed all my spare time to work on the boat. This is why, despite my best intentions, I have not come back and added any updates.

As for the boat: I'm still working on it! 7 years on (It's May 2007 as I write this). Uisce is doing very well. I haven't made things easy for myself but the design is pretty much unchanged. Some things.. possibly most things, have been done twice because I wasn't happy with them the first time around (nearly everything is a prototype). That's how I wanted it to be and how it is - I enjoy the challenge and I enjoy pushing the boundaries of what is possible. I've also enjoyed learning and applying new skills, perhaps the most useful of which has been welding.

So.. what's the status on Uisce?

Electric propulsion completed: 48Vdc 10kW. Curtis 1209 controller, Albright switchgear, Lynchmotor, 4.8:1 toothed belt transmission. Works a treat. Not as powerful as a diesel in terms of top speed but I've never had a problem manoeuvring and now moor Uisce on a usually slow moving river. It's quiet, controllable, and I've yet to service it - I checked the brushes a couple of months back and they were fine. The only issue I've had is: The motor had been dropped on its way to me and the brushes had been damaged. This caused excessive arcing which resulted in a bit of a meltdown. I replaced the brushes and brush holder and, for good measure, increased the gear ratio from 3:1 to 4.8:1 and it's been fine ever since.

Power systems completed: There are four voltages on board: 12Vdc, 24Vdc, 48Vdc, and 220Vac. 12V is just for the generator starter battery. There's a 24V high current bus running along the boat for lights and pumps (makes the wiring neat!). I'm on the same 2 extra deep cycle 135Ah batteries I started out with 5? 6? years ago. 48V is for the propulsion and the inverter. The 48V battery is a 292Ah lead acid traction battery of the type used in forklifts. From memory, it weighs about half a tonne! The combi-inverter is a 5kW Studer 5048. It's broken down twice fairly expensively and there's now a minor niggle so I wouldn't recommend that particular model or brand. Having said that, it does give me sufficient power for cooking and welding. I'm independent of shore power and energy comes from three sources: A 640Wp solar array, a 550Wp wind turbine (Southwest Windpower), and a 5kW diesel genset (Fischer Panda AGT6000). All are impressive but I would only recommend the turbine for good wind sites. The solar provides the bulk, if not all of my summer power - PC, cooking, decent sized frige freezer. The generator is impressive in that it is exceptionally quiet - I can flout the local generator curfew secure in the knowledge that I'm not bothering anyone. It also has a water cooled alternator, engine, and exhaust, which means that as well as making Uisce a modern hybrid vehicle, Uisce also has an efficient combined heat and power plant - at the moment, it's heating my water but I do plan to build a thermal store based on PCMs so that the thermal energy can be used for space heating. Downsides are: service intervals come around annoyingly quickly in winter, the manual is awful - pigeon English and, rather unhelpfully, self-contradictory, the labelling of control cables was incorrect, leading to a few hours of head scratching, it's broken down once already in about 12 months of operation (>£100 for the spare part: the start protection unit), and it's very expensive (nobody else seems to do a variable RPM dc genset - the cheaper ones are all 1500 or 3000rpm AC sets with battery chargers bolted on. Oh and FP say it won't run on biodiesel. However, I wouldn't now change it and FP UK are very helpful when you call them up with a question or issue.

What else... the bed is finished (again), the kitchen is really taking shape (Curvy cupboards, cantilevered off the hull sides with slidey tambour doors 50 % complete, induction hob excellent - how do you all survive burning gas!, Liebherr A+ fridge freezer superb, dishwasher and decent oven to replace current poxy combi microwave ordered). Plumbing works a treat - nice big hot water tank, twin pumps for easy switchover in the event of a failure, self-retracting hose-reel for easy filling up. Washing machine installed on substantial steel frame above genny - the drum is at eye level. Vertical "curvy wall" holding tank 50% complete - currently using portapotti... well, not right now, obviously... solid fuel heating (burning logs made from waste sawdust rather than coal). That'll do for now..

So, it's all going well. I'm still enjoying it. I haven't given up. Stuff's working.

If you still feel the need to get in touch, please follow these instructions: Very shortly after putting my email address on the website, I started getting lots of spam. To cut a long story short, I have now removed my address completely and you'll have to assemble my address manually from the following! riverweb funnyatsymbol floatingabode co uk . Please don't abuse this!

All the best,