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I know there's always lots on 'which boat paint to use'?', and whether it's worth shelling out for the top of the range stuff. And I know there's lots of differing opinions, some of which clearly depend on whether you want the professional 'shinyy boat' look, or just something that will serve its purpose well enough. I also know that reds, to misquote the Rolling Stones, do fade away quicker than other colours. Last year we used a well-known chandler's 'own brand' maroon for the rear 'name panels'. The paint is actually made by Teamac "manufacturers of marine coatings since 1908". (The paper wrap-around label comes off quite easily, revealing the Teamac branded tin underneath). Within a year it has very frustratingly faded to a pale, very matt version of red oxide. When, recently, we complained verbally to the well-known chandlers about the speed of fading, the surprisingly honest answer was "Well, of course it did, it doesn't have any UV protection". The question is why does any paint claiming to be 'boat paint' NOT have UV protection? Perhaps they assume the boat will be kept indoors? We've now 'upgraded' to Craftsmaster 'Manchester Red' (seems an appropriate colour and name for us) and we'll see how that gets on. No doubt it will fade in time....but anything more than less than a year will be a bonus.

Dave Ive tried to contact you via your profile! Email me ael72@hotmail.com. Ta.

Success! Firstly, wetsuits are awesome. Got in and immediately knew I wouldn't have any problem for ages. Well worth the money. I wore a track suit and knee protectors as well to protect the neoprene. No, it is not a good look. Stabbed the sidewall with thick knife (left over from chef days) close to tread and then cut down to bead. This on the side of the tyre nearest the hull. Then bolt cropper through the bead from inside this cut as this was the only angle to reach it from. Next, cut across the top of the tyre using tin snips to about half way. Lastly, stab the other sidewall (furthest from hull) and cut down to bead and back across the middle with snips again. After this I had more than enough play to get the tyre over the blades. Cue massive relief. So thank you again to all who posted with ideas and alternatives to taking the prop off. The moral support alone made the job much less daunting. As with all things boat related, having done the job only once I now consider myself the worlds leading expert in tyre/prop related issues... Oh, it took one hour from start to finish

Oh goodness, you're right! That one is only 200 years old That was mentioned earlier in one of the threads Do you think we can sue the builder? Richard

Blacksmith's yokes! You crafty bugger! Why didn't I think of making a hash of their coveted early morning meal? Perhaps it was because the last lad ended up in the bosh for his efforts. There's a saying that goes; 'There's none so daft than those that want to be!' And maybe I should have applied it back then too. Although I did manage to get the pick of the eggs and lovely bacon for my trials. Like cooking on a barbecue, food always tastes better when cooked unconventionally. Yum!

Im sorry to hear that, I hope your husband gains a full recovery and that living on land again brings comfort somewhere.

I thought it was establisht that plastic boats don't have a soul?

I don't think she would disagree with that!

It is possible, but extremely unlikely, that the inverter is the problem. Next step - try the checklist I made out for you before.

Just get yourself a scrap tyre, then cut it up using the options posters have given you (start with the stanley knife round the bead), whichever is the easiest out of the water will be the easiest when you get wet!!

TBH when people want advice on something they're not that familiar with and is safety critical, it's a bit of a hassle and strain coming up with easy to understand advice they can follow, so they can end up with something that's not a complete turkey and not unsafe or worse. If someone comes a long and wants to pick holes in it and debate it endlessly, it ticks me off a little as I wish they could spend the same time and effort helping the OP in the first place. It's save me a lot of time and agro if I didn't post about technical stuff during the week, plus would give me a bit of a break from this sort of thing I do like to see other ideas and in fact agree with much of what canals are us said. You can't go far wrong with a well designed gravity system that can then have a pumped circuit added on. It's just the nitpicking I don't like. It's just short for thermostat, bit like saying batt for battery. cheers, Pete. ~smpt~

I wouldn't bother cutting the tread. Once it is in three pieces, it should be possible to wriggle it off over one blade at a time Richard