So on the 9th Nov we headed from Helsinki towards Kimito Island, more exactly to Pederså commune. It was a few hours drive and enroute we tried to find lodging and finally when all options on the Island were exhausted for one reason or another we settled for renting a house in Ekenäs, the drive from there was a mere 45mins.
We arrived in good order few hours later and met with the widow Camilla "Kankka" that was selling the ship as they wanted to be rid of her after being an eyesore for 10 years or thereabouts. Wilhelmine sat at their property by a makeshift jetty with the bow almost ashore and loads of odd mooring ropes to shore and rocks to keep her in place during seasonal storms. She only had one demand that we let her have the ships bell as a memento to which Jan gladly agreed and papers were signed.
The engine room appeared massive as there was a small Scania installed as main engine that actually produced more HP than the old Deutz that had been twice the size. The previous Owner had cut out the old Deutz and taken it through the forward bulkhead into the hold, we could still see the weld seams and old engine sign on the bulkhead. Only the oilbottom remained below the Scania.
By the aft bulkhead of the engine room there still was an old Deutz auxiliary engine that was used as fire/ ballast pump and compressor. On the port bulkhead was the boiler with an Oilon burner attached and next to it the original 24V main switchboard and a battery rack. Forward of the boiler was the old coke store that was used for running the galley stove originally but this was now converted to septic tank to comply wth environmental regulations, above it as a small lube oil storage tank. On sb bulkhead was a small worktable and worn out tools from different eras, most of it useless. Behind the worktable was the old starting air bottles, now out of use. The engine casing went all the way up to the aft deck with two skylets giving air to the engine, on the top were 2 more batteries and a charger, on one side the 250ltr daytank was mounted. At the forward end of engine room was port and starboard fuel storage tanks, valve centres for ballasting and fuel and lastly the access ladder. All in all a no frills practical engine room, German design at its best.
The superstructure had 3 cabins aft, one was for Master (sb side) and other for the Mate (P side) and the 3rd was designated originally as hospital but a bed had been installed there. Adjacent to the masters cabin aft was his saloon and forward was access to the bathroom/ toilet. This was accessed by the Mate from the engine room casing. In the centre was a companionway and on forward port side was the galley, all running on gas. in aft the corridor ended into the steering gear room that also doubled as storage for spares and originally probably dry stores too, we also found an old scale and paint pigment that had been used to mix paint, none of that RAL stuff back then.
Then lastly we clambered up to the bridge where there was a sofa and a big wheel in the middle. The sofa had seen better days, someone had probably dropped a cigarette in one corner and burnt a hole in it. On the sb side by the sofa was a chart table. Still a pretty spacious bridge with wooden window frames covered in lichen. The table in front was littered with navigation electronics. On the bulkhead still remained the big valve for the horn but it was also gone as had the standard compass from the monkey island. Wooden doors led out on the aft deck where there still remained solidly corroded derricks for lifting your rescue boat in the water, originally there probably had been a rowing boat made of oak, now there was a derelict aluminium Buster with no engine and on the other side was a small liferaft on deck. Under the bridge there was two fresh water tanks 500 ltrs each that we think were originally filled up manually from the aft peak. The pump had been discarded.
We started by unloading the cars and lifting by hand all the gear onboard on the hatch and then placing it where we needed it used. There was engine oil, glycol coolant, hydraulic oil, batteries, filters, tools, portable generator, charts, overalls, portable water tanks and other odds and sods needed to get her going again.
In the following days Juha divvied us up each to our capabilities and we changed her engine oil (after pumping out the old toffee), renewed hydraulic oil heat exchanger for the clutch & added oil and coolant (old one was cracked and beyond any repairs), renewed all filter elements, cleaned out the Scania centrifugal lube oil filter that was full with tar-like substance, changed the impeller, renewed all batteries and reconnected them (carried out the old ones), added hydraulic oil to steering gear system and spent hours airing out the lines.
During evenings whilst we had our customary sauna prior to dinner we had ideas flying and thought that perhaps Wilhelmine could be saved and taken back into trade if she was refurbished and the Administration survey list was attended to. This was a very interesting aspect and queries were made to local charterers for possible interest. We also started putting together a refit plan and budget for bringing her up to trading condition, the major job was renewing her flatbottom that according to the Administration had worn too thin.
We put the trip to Denmark on hold partly due to this and the current season, the weather conditions were not favorable on the Baltic sea in November and December and a prudent mariner would not venture out on open seas with so many open questions about the ship and her technical condition. After much to and fro we settled to bring Wilhelmine to Pargas to await her fate and further works.
Meanwhile Juha spent time tracing fuel and seawater lines and valves to get bottom valves open and working & to check for any leaks. In the hold I pumped out the bilges and open ballast tanks and we did not see any ingress of water so it must've been rainwater as expected.
Upon checking the fuel day and storage tanks we sounded them dry on the glass, they'd been emptied during the years for other purposes. This was quickly fixed as 5000ltrs of fuel was arranged by Juha and bunkered in the port side FO tank. After that fuel was hand pumped into the daytank and after settling awhile we drained any water and muck out on the spill tray.
Once we were quite sure we had done all we could and should, we then connected the 24V mains and started her up after some 3 days of toil. She started on the 2nd attempt, we were extatic of this initial success and continued our work. The main engine was run for hours on idle to ensure it's working alright, then we shortly clutched her in fwd & aft to ensure the gear box works.
We went through the galley and cabins and collected all kind of old rubbish into binbags, there was a big pile on the hatch soon together with the consumables discarded from the engine room. There were tins of food from 10+ years ago and remarkably we hazarded a try from an intact coffee packet and boiled up a kettle of coffee, it was still drinkable.
Next we attacked the bridge and discovered all boxes got power and actually worked, GPS, radar, AIS, VHF, MF radio, decca navigator, navigation lights and search light. The only thing still out of action was the autopilot and hydraulic steering. Juha discovered the "brainbox" full of aluminium-oxidation, most likely due to cold layup so the temperature differences between seasons had contributed to this with moisture.
After few hours of dismantling the circuit boards and rattling around with a screwdriver + some electro cleaner solved this issue and the autopilot got current and started working, unfortunately the rudder only worked to one direction. The next day Juha went and pottered about the steering solenoids and then we got that working to both directions, it was only a matter of contact.
Juha used his contacts and managed to source a new brainbox which I picked up the next day in Turku for the price of a bottle red plonk. Once back onboard we discovered that the onboard box had been modified for the hand tiller and was not plug and play and it'd require a bit of soldering so we decided to do the transit out of Pederså to Pargas marina by hand steering as it was now aired and worked like clockwork.
Then the turn came for the anchor winch to get a looksee, it was originally ran by a Deutz engine that most likely was also used to operate the cargo derricks that were removed decades ago. The old Deutz was these days lying in Kankka's beach weeds. Now there was a small 2-stroke petrol engine that is mostly seen on lawnmowers, we emptied the stinky old petrol and poured in a new mixture as well as changed oil in the crank shaft. It required few pulls but we managed to get her going and also the clutch took and turned the winch around. The anchor clutches would require more tlc to get them going as they were also seized to the axle. I did make a mixture of lube and diesel to brush in the moving parts for later action.
Then by the end of the week we fired her up and departed, it all went well but after we'd set our heading and put some steam ahead the engine was heating up dramatically, so we slowed down and were doing 3-4kts and dd a quick risk assessment and decided to head back ashore to work more on the engine as it was not up to the task in it's current condition. The wind was blowing by now but we managed to bring her in safely although we came in hot. Ropes were handed over quickly and secured ashore.
We discovered we'd overlooked to change the automatic heat valve on the engine that regulates cooling water intake, it had seized during the 10 years layup and needed renewing. Again a quick call to Scania service center and we got confirmed that the requisite spare part is available and I was on my way again on an errand.
By this time Jan had to head back to his main job and only me and Juha remained. We exchanged the water regulator and worked her clutched in at the jetty and ensured she was not heating up as exerienced on our previous attempt. By now the weather was very bad and we went home for several days as the wind and rain kept coming for days on preventing us to move. On the 21st Nov it was first snow in southern Finland.
On the 24th Nov we then finally had the registration at hand and the weather window looked acceptable so we decided to move and Juha had elicited the services of one of his old deckhands to join us for the trip. Everything was go and engine running but when we put her in reverse she would not budge, with rudder starboard / port we tried jigging here off the bottom but the propeller was too high to give a good thrust so it was mostly just turning up a froth.
The widow Kankka called a fisherman nearby if he would be available and he came after an hour or so, the fishing boat was a decent sized glassfibre boat abt 17m. We attached lines and again we tried pull astern but she would not budge, she was sitting aground.
As the stern would swing freely and the bow was stuck somewhere Juha asked the fisherman to do side ways pulls from side to side as he was putting engine astern. Suddenly the Wilhelmine jerked itself sideways free, seems she might've sat on a small knoll and slipped off it. Anyway, we were moving fast astern and once clear of shore we let go lines to the fisherman and thanked him for his services with a bottle of Jaloviina and we were off towards Pargas.
Once underway she was now doing decent speed about 5kts and steering was ok. Engine was monitored constantly and every hour grease was pumped into the propeller shaft with the dedicated screw-press. As Juha was more experienced in the archipelago he was doing navigation, I'd last been sailing here like 20years ago, so I was taking care of the services and kept the helmsman tanked with coffee and checked on the mechanical side as well as topped up the generator we ran for 220V supply.
It was already dark when we arrived to Pargas approaches and anyone who knows the area will know the narrow pass called "pargas port", i.e. Gateway to Pargas. After confirming with VTS that there is no traffic we entered the fairway and proceeded through, it was an exciting half an hour but finally we were through and shortly after we moored to Pargas marina jetty.
Once alongside we shut all systems down, connected shore power and turned on electric heaters so the superstructure would dry out the dampness inside. The onboard heating could not yet be used as the exhaust from the boiler was clogged up. The elements was a big surprise to us as we thought we'd have to fill copious amounts of glycol in the pipeworks but it was full. When we turned on the boiler on after emptying the exhaust of rust, miscellaneous debris and whatnot it started heating up the ship very quickly, there was no circulation pump so the water went around with gravity and heat. Truly well designed back in the day and used to run originally with a 24V burner that had been changed to a 220V Oilon, the most common burner used in houses in Finland. Later the oil heater gave up and we procured a 2nd hand overhauled unit that worked well. At the same time we sealed up the boiler better and cleaned it up too.
Then we headed to our respective places of residence. As I was closest I got the duty to look after her, fill up the daytank and continue with more cleaning jobs. Juha would come once a week during weekends to do some mechanical stuff. I was going to receive a deckhand to help with the upcoming high pressure wash so we could remove all the loose paint, the moss and the slimy bio sheen all over her.
In the following week I opened up the aft peak tank and discovered it was partially filled with water and a thick layer of emulsified propeller shaft vaseline on the surface. Obviously one of the pipes leading through the tank had ruptured and as previous Owners had pushed grease into the system it had ended up in the tank, blue colored "vaseline worms" swam around like macaroni. It was not the only place that leaked, also the bilge in engine room next to the shaft was full of blue colored vaseline, it had been pressed in and not checked or not noticed.
Few days later Juha arranged a tanktruck to come by to clean out the oily bilges and the aft peak. They had a long hose which sucked up all liquids in one go except the vaseline that remained in the bilge. I spent several days scooping it out with a ladle from that tight space under the Deutz auxiliary engine and came to a staggering total of 210 litres of it, thats a full size barrel. In the end it all went to the dump with all other stuff we had discarded onto the hatch.
As agreed I picked up my help Fred on my way to the ship and we set to high pressure wash Wilhelmine. It was hard work with so much debris coming off that one had to stop at times to shovel the rust and dirt ashore, it didn't make it easier with very short days and the steam coming off the heated high pressure water making it difficult to see what one was doing. The old paint came off in sheets and under it one could still find the original mixed paint that was good as new. Once we had one side done we turned the ship around in situ with the main engine and started doing the other side. We finished the job by 9th December with most of the jobs done.
During one weekend Juha installed a water pump and we cleaned up the water tanks under the bridge that were full of sediment. He also installed a 220V electric distribution board. Another weekend we gave a go at the excavator, the massive Komatsu instlled on a trellis on top the hatch coaming in order to make her self loading/ discharging. We renewed her filters, batteries and fuel but it appeared the preheating did not work so no matter how much we cranked her she would only promise. As December wound to its end it was time to celebrate Christmas and New Year and early January I was off to my bread and butter job in UK. Meanwhile Jan worked relentlessly in the background to secure a future for Wilhelmine.
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