We arrived at Glasgow airport and my father in law picked us up, as he drove us home we made plans to start the renovation work. I decided that the first thing to do was strip out the old coal fire and radiators. We were going to fit a new combi boiler and radiators through out.
We heard there was a new fair being organised in the city centre for New Year. We applied for a plot for our ride and were accepted. I remember thinking it was a shame it wasn't for Christmas as I could have got the kids presents out of the ride for them. Two weeks before Christmas, Mr “A” phoned me, Cyprus was back on , did I still want to go? I told him I couldn't as I had spent my boat fare on a boiler and radiators. I had the new boiler fitted and the old kitchen was ripped out. I was desperate to go, but did not have the funds now. The next day he phoned back and offered me a different deal. Mr “A” would pay a return fare for the boat and we would work at a different share percentage to compensate. I discussed it with my wife , it did seem like a good solution and I think it was a better deal than I had in the first place. The Cyprus project had also been delayed again and we would now sail on the 4th of Jan from the Isle of Sheppy. It was perfect because we would get Christmas and New Year at home plus the New Year fair before we had to leave. We were onboard again and I felt excited.
The day came to erect the equipment in the city centre for new year. As I drove the lorry to the location suddenly I felt a loss of motion and the engine revs soared. Disaster! it was the clutch. I limped the vehicle to the fair site and called out a mechanic. The next day as I erected the ride the mechanic came to inspect the lorry. The clutch was totally burnt out due to me forcing it to the fair, he couldn't adjust it. The only option was to fit a new clutch, but he couldn't do it in time for me to get to Sheppey. It was Dec 30th, I had to do something quick before everything was shut for New Year! Right away I got in my car and drove to the Atkinson dealer at Chapelhall and bought a new clutch off the shelf(£500 ouch!). All I had to do now was find someone to fit it.
The next day was hogmanay (new years eve) , after much searching I finally managed to get a friend's dad to agree to meet me at the yard on new years day to change the clutch!!!! Now that's what I call a favour. We opened at the Fair about 8pm. It was cold and dark. There wasn't any people about until about 9pm. We did start to get busy and at 11pm I went around just to check on the generator, as I usually do when we are open. What's that? Smoke pouring out from the canopy! As I opened the generator canopy to see inside ,I could smell smouldering coming from the dynamo. (Most older rides are powered by 110v DC motors. These motors were mostly ex M.O.D from the days of WWII. This is also true of the dynamo that powers the motors. Probably from a search light trailer or similar. It was 50 plus years old) I opened the canopy to let the heat out. The ride was going round full so I kept the generator running, as I watched it in case it burst into flames. Cyprus seemed like an impossible task now-no clutch and no generator what was I going to do????
Jan 1st 1999
The generator amazingly ran the rest of the night and into the New Year without a problem. This wasn't really a good thing because it led to a choice- ignore the problem or try to fix it. To fix it I needed another dynamo. Where was I going to find one three days before leaving? What happens if I ignore it? and it packs up later? Maybe when I was in Cyprus? When it comes to choices I usually make the wrong one. The smoke did subside, but you could smell the windings inside ( a sort of barbecue smell, this is something old showmen used to do before buying a dynamo, have a good sniff. It was a sure method to tell if there was anything suspect about it). I would have to worry about this later, one problem at a time so the clutch was first.
