You've seen the film

[carlt]

Water Lily for sale.

 

I really need to find a new woman who says "No!" when I say "Can I buy this please?". All this exercising self control is no good for me at all.

 

Surely the K3 in it is worth the £3k asking price?

Edited May 26, 2007 by carlt

[charles123]

I enjoyed watching the series, surely its worth more than £3k, as Carl points out the engine alone must be worth that and the remaining hull to make into some kind of house boat must have a value

 

Charles

[bottle]

Miss-print, there was one the other day that Carl mentioned, cannot remember which one now, but the price for that was £58.

They may have put the comma in the wrong place, would she be worth £30,000 though

[NB Alnwick]

Water Lily for sale.

 

I really need to find a new woman who says "No!" when I say "Can I buy this please?". All this exercising self control is no good for me at all.

 

Surely the K3 in it is worth the £3k asking price?

 

Our Kelvin K3 is insured for £15k and I doubt if you could buy one fully reconditioned for less than £9k . . .

[Big Steve]

It must be £30,000. If it's 3 grand I'm having it.

 

It must be £30,000. If it's 3 grand I'm having it.

[carlt]

I've been Googling and apparently he paid £1 for the boat, and it's the original engine. If it were me, and the boat had earnt it's keep, then I would not be too fussed about the sale price but there would be a long document to sign promising not to separate the boat from it's original engine. There are too many old working sea boats, left to rot because they've been robbed of their vintage engine for a modern narrow boat.

[magnetman]

I knew a boat which was rotten and had a glennifer db2 in it (24hp @1,000rpm clerestory combustion chambers etc (like rn). Sadly it was sunk as scrap and nobody saved the engine. Next one i can see going the same way is a gardner 3L2 (need to check this one out). I'd prefer to see the engine saved than the lot sunk forever.

 

I knew a boat which was rotten and had a glennifer db2 in it (24hp @1,000rpm clerestory combustion chambers etc (like rn). Sadly it was sunk as scrap and nobody saved the engine. Next one i can see going the same way is a gardner 3L2 (need to check this one out). I'd prefer to see the engine saved than the lot sunk forever.

[John Orentas]

I knew a boat which was rotten and had a glennifer db2 in it (24hp @1,000rpm clerestory combustion chambers etc (like rn). Sadly it was sunk as scrap and nobody saved the engine. Next one i can see going the same way is a gardner 3L2 (need to check this one out). I'd prefer to see the engine saved than the lot sunk forever.

 

 

I always wonder who has made the judgement on this sort of thing. So often I see someone write "The engine had been under water, therefore it was scrap". It is my guess that many of these 'scrap' engines are very restorable.

[carlt]

I always wonder who has made the judgement on this sort of thing. So often I see someone write "The engine had been under water, therefore it was scrap". It is my guess that many of these 'scrap' engines are very restorable.

My AS3 had been under water for a year and seized for 4 years. A few days fettling saw it get the boat from Beeston to Braunston, albeit a bit smokey and, after an injector refurb it was running as clean as you could expect.

 

I've refloated many a sunken boat, unseized the engine and gone cruising. Never tried it on these lightweight foreign jobbies though.

 

Have you caught magman's echo big steve?

[magnetman]

Its the phone i think. The boat i referred to was scuppered in deep water making engine recovery heavy work. Not a narrowboat. Yes, i once got a lister sr2 going after it'd been sunk for a while, on a wooden harborough marine cruiser.

[Christine]

Hey guys - are you forgetting that a CW member was involved in this project?

 

Link to Post

 

I had the pleasure for meeting Richard at the Wey & Arun Trust AGM - he is a Trust member and lives 'up the road' from me. He 's a really charming guy.

[Big Steve]

Have you caught magman's echo big steve?

 

Echo caused by my impatience, took so long for my computer to respond I pressed the go key again, then too bone idle to edit it. Since defragged the HD and it's much better.

 

Can I take it that this boat really is £3,000 then? I didn't even bother chasing it up because I just couldn't believe it. Looks a cracker in the picture.

 

Steve

 

My request for details is now in, does anyone know if there is any info. readily available anywhere, since it's apparently such a well known boat?

[carlt]

Echo caused by my impatience, took so long for my computer to respond I pressed the go key again, then too bone idle to edit it. Since defragged the HD and it's much better.

 

Can I take it that this boat really is £3,000 then? I didn't even bother chasing it up because I just couldn't believe it. Looks a cracker in the picture.

 

Steve

I've emailed him for more details. I'll tell you what he says just after the cheque's cleared.

 

There's no mention of the engine in the ad so he may have split them. Even if it's engineless I may still take a trip (got a mate with a 4 pot gardner needing an engineroom).

 

It's a lovely looking hull and, if it's on a reasonable mooring over there, it's just what I'm after.

[carlt]

My request for details is now in, does anyone know if there is any info. readily available anywhere, since it's apparently such a well known boat?

Should have kept my big mouth shut

 

Steve (but it's my thread so ) are you a Rovers fan and have you been to the new stadium? When I was a lad in Donny my '1st division team' were Leeds and I never dreamt they'd be in the same division so I'm going to try and see them play this season. The white scarf will stop at home though.

[Big Steve]

Should have kept my big mouth shut

 

Steve (but it's my thread so ) are you a Rovers fan and have you been to the new stadium? When I was a lad in Donny my '1st division team' were Leeds and I never dreamt they'd be in the same division so I'm going to try and see them play this season. The white scarf will stop at home though.

 

No, I'm afraid I'm one of those who can't see the point in football, or any team sport really. It's got to be down to me alone to win or loose, can't be relying on others. Suppose that makes me an antisocial nutcase loner, probably true.

 

I was stunned recently to find out how much it costs to see a game, someone was going on about it being a bargain at £15 to see Rovers. £15! When I were a lad it cost 1/- to see Wakefield Trinity, and that included a night out and taxi home! (was dragged along to see them a couple of times, couldn't see the point in that either)

Steve

[ChrisPy]

When I were a lad it cost 1/- to see Wakefield Trinity, and that included a night out and taxi home!

when I were a lad, sixpenn'orth o' chips cost a farthing ................

[carlt]

Got my 'information pack' today. The £3k is the price (plus £1k outstanding moorings) but it looks like it will become a bit of an auction though, after speaking to the guy.

I shall put in my bid but I'm unlikely to win

I just hope the person who buys it doesn't rape it for the engine (though he might give me the hull).

[Big Steve]

Got my info pack today, I read it as £3,000 including the mooring fee! Sounds like it still needs a lot of work though, and I'm not up to it at the moment.

 

Steve.

[rjasmith]

We met up with Alnwick at Crick and they said Water Lily was up for sale. Not a surprise really as I think Simon Woodhouse had found the whole "Floating Kitchen" exercise a lot of very hard work for no great gain. Apart perhaps in gaining some useful publicity for his culinary skills (I can certainly vouch for them!). I believe he is on to other things now.

 

I very much enjoyed getting involved to the small extent that I did and by helping to get the old K3 to go after the 30 odd years it had sat idle I learned a whole lot more about the Kelvin K series to use with my Seaward Engineering rebuilt K2 when I finally get afloat in my nb. If you're confused, I was the "Richard Jones" character in episode 2! Why Jones and not Smith only the TV Co knows!

 

In the picture Simon has used on Boats and Outboards it's just after we sighted the French coast after the overnight Channel crossing for Floating Kitchen. Simon appears to be alone on the helm but I and Pete who was also in the series are down below keeping out of sight as instructed by the producer. For some strange reason they wanted to give the impression that Simon had come across on his own! (I was on the helm for at least 4 of the 14 hours it took!)

 

If you saw the series, its a pity it had to concentrate more on the cooking and less on the boat but I suppose it had to be kept in balance for general viewing. The engine got us across the Channel without a single hiccup to my great surprise as absolutely nil testing had been done! We just went a few hours after starting it again after reinstalling the petrol start magneto which had just come back from its rebuild. There was probably a bit of shafting misalignment as we got a hot stern tube (although this was kept coolish by the significant stern post leak that opened up again once we got to sea!). Also I was worried about a bit of engine overheating and whether Cyl 1 would stay in one piece. Earlier we had found a small jacket crack in Cyl 1 but Simon did a superb temporary fix with a sheet of Ali, some epoxy and a few very big Jubilee clips - they're probably still on there! Later on in the series (after I had left the scene) Simon had quite a few more problems with the engine but nothing too serious once identified I believe. (The diesel pump timing slipped slightly (loose coupling) and Cyl 3 valve rocker adjustment closed up).

 

I know little about wooden hulls but I think there will still need to be a great deal of work put in by any new owner to complete the restoration properly. I would hope Simon will not be upset if I say that he was working to a very tight budget and timescale for the TV prog and it was amazing to me that Water Lily got to Paris at all!

 

If anyone does want a bit more info from what I remember about Water Lily (given the above caveats about my limited experience) just say. The key thing about the boat is that the Kelvin installation is entirely original ie engine, all the shafting and prop plus steering gear and Kelvin Helm/Ahead/Astern wheel assembly. Even the petrol carburetter filling can and cylinder cock priming gun set is there in the wooden box! Now I know what they look like I might try making some replica ones for my own engine!

 

I certainly hope that any new owner can keep her in one piece and complete the good work done by Simon in making her more famous and not forgetting her previous owner Andy French who didn't give up on her despite finding the restoration task just a bit too daunting.

 

Richard

[JohnO]

Hi Richard great to hear your story. Most Kelvin owners would love to know what the petrol carburetter filling can and cylinder cock priming gun set and the wooden box look like. A full Kelvin installation sounds nice. Go on Carl you know you want to

[NB Alnwick]

Even the petrol carburetter filling can and cylinder cock priming gun set is there in the wooden box! Now I know what they look like I might try making some replica ones for my own engine!

 

Would it be possible to persuade you to make a few extra?

 

Could prove to be a nice little sideline - manufacturing those Kelvin essentials that we all need!

[carlt]

Hi Richard great to hear your story. Most Kelvin owners would love to know what the petrol carburetter filling can and cylinder cock priming gun set and the wooden box look like. A full Kelvin installation sounds nice. Go on Carl you know you want to

I know but unfortunately a prettier maid has turned my head today (1932, double diagonal, mahogany on oak lifeboat).

 

I spoke to the guy on the phone as soon as he sent the info pack and he confirms what Richard says about the rush job resto. I told him I thought the kelvin was worth more than 3k and he described it as 'tired' though that's from a film producer, not an engine man. It's moored just outside Paris on a marina, with leccy, at a rent that you brit marina boys would weep at (it makes my online mooring sound dear). I'd love to go for it but I think I don't really want to be involved in what is going to be essentially a sealed bid auction without getting out there and looking at it in dock. Something I just can't do at this short notice.

 

I'll probably put in my bid at the asking price, but even a cheap sleepover, a metro ride from Paris is worth more than that.

 

The programme guy told me the plan was a second series showing the return of the boat to scotland and it's donation to the scottish fishing museum but this is now cancelled, hence the sale.

 

Simon Woodhouse is still cheffing in France btw, but not on the boat (obviously) he lives on another classic wooden boat in southampton (I forget the boat's name)

 

One good thing to come out of this, though. I've found a British Galvanised spike manufacturer, so I can stop importing ones from Norway (they supplied the spikes for Water Lily's resto)

Edited May 29, 2007 by carlt

[Chris J W]

Which TV series was this? A recent one?

[carlt]

Which TV series was this? A recent one?

It finished in early May on Discovery. Repeated later in the year.

 

Linky

[Chris J W]

It finished in early May on Discovery. Repeated later in the year.

 

Linky

 

Cheers! Bum, though, I don't get Discovery on Freeview ....