Skip’s (nice & easy) guide to Fenrir...
 
Naturally, barges are primarily designed to carry freight, and hence, comprise of a lot of fixed equipment such as engines, winches and cranes organised around a large cargo hold. To convert one for ‘leisure cruising’ and/or ‘living aboard’ requires a whole load of systems to be installed, just to achieve a level of functionality and comfort that home owners take for granted! Skips introduces some of the things that make Fenrir who she is...
 
The Engine: Brons 2EA 1953.
Brons made engines for several decades, which is just as well, because in all that time, they only managed to produce a very small number... but what an engine! Generating around 36HP, and consuming just 1.5 litres an hour, she really is superb. See also Brons Motor.
Nb. In the picture, you can just see the valves at the top, and the large ‘fly-wheel’ at the front.
The Compressor
Running off the front of the engine, this compressor pumps up two air cylinders which are used to start the engine. The engine can be started using around 8 bar now - as long as you open all the right valves in the right order!
Air Tanks
Big Betty and Slim Jim store lots of air ready to start the engine. Usually we keep them at 20 bar (!), but we have taken them higher. The average car tyre is usually around 1.5 bar - so going up to 20 bar is a serious pressure. Quite a sobering thought when you happen to be sitting on them.
The Spare Compressor
Without air, we can’t start the engine. Which is a little worrying if you are planning to come over the North Sea! So we invested in a compressor rated at around 10 bar. With a bit of encouragement, it could go a little higher. When first getting the engine running, the only source of compressed air available was diving air tanks. Fortunately, the Brons is starting better and better now, and 8 bar comfortably does the job. So starting is no longer a worry!
The Boiler
Fenrir’s previous owner didn’t like the cold, so he invested in some serious heating functionality. Fenrir has central heating throughout serviced by this Kabola boiler currently running off diesel. This boiler is great, keeping everything toasty, but it sure does burn a lot of diesel. We need around 40-50 litres a week to heat the boat during the winter.
Drainage & Grey Water Tanks
We’ve learnt the hard way that it is always good to check where your waste pipes go. A few weeks after purchasing Fenrir, we discovered that ours just emptied out into the bilge. After a big mop up and re-piping exercise, we installed proper outlets and now all grey water drains directly out. We take extreme care over what we ‘expel’, but in the long run, we may fit grey water tanks.
The Toilet (& Black Water Tanks)
A toilet is quite important, otherwise your crew start complaining. It’s best to get a version without a man attached. Fenrir, in common with many dutch barges, was originally set to empty straight out through the bottom of the hull. Eeeeeew! So we put a stop to that by over-plating the hole. Unfortunately, we have still yet to install a proper toilet and black water tank! So we’ve made do with a porta-loo.
The Fuel Tanks
We were worried about dirt from the old tank getting loose and clogging our fuel pipes on our journey across the North Sea. So we had Mr Positive build us an additional fuel tank. We have 450 litres of on-board storage, which could get us around the world with the Brons, but not through a winter with our boiler...
Who wants to see a picture of a drain?
Three ton of rope
You DO NOT need this much rope. Everyone told us we needed lots of rope, I mean, lots of rope. So we bought lots of rope. About 500m of the stuff. Now we have rope stored and stuffed everywhere. Open the kitchen cabinets... you’ll find rope! Lift up the floor boards, you’ll find rope!! Visit the toilet in the middle of the night, you’ll find rope!!! Everywhere!!!! Our advice... don’t go crazy on quantity... instead concentrate on getting some rope that is nice to handle.
No picture unfortunately.