Update:
(for those interested)
The engineer phoned me. Said that he had spent some time on the boat- that there was no oil in the water and no back pressure. He thinks that when the boats were moved the exhause caught some prop wash. He says what the surveyor saw (and showed me on the phone) may have been water and carbon. I later spoke to my surveyor and he finds this believable.
The wire temperature sender had come off and the temperature gauge does not work- the buzzer and light is the only alarm to if the engine is going to overheat. I find this difficult and would want that fixed- not sure if it is a big or small job.
I asked about the 28hp engine carrying us on a river and the engineer said that the previous owner had moored on the Kand A- and that the engine would work hard, but that it would anyway.
Anyone out there stretched their boat and not upgraded the engine??
The head has been checked for cracking and skimmed so that it is flat (honestly guys I pretty much typed what he told me so I could look it up- so if I'm relaying it incorrectly it's only my inexperience). It has a new head gasket.
That's my update, I talked to the surveyor after this call and he said that if the engineer is happy with the engine then he really has no reason to lie- his work, like so many others has to be reputations based.
He sounded genuine and said that as I'll be mooring up there he will continue to offer help and advice and if I had any questions he would gladly answer them etc.
I told my surveyor that I was quite nervous about the boat and he said that he is suspicious by nature, but that it all looks fine and accountable. So I guess what it comes down to is- you pay for a survey and you have to at some point trust the recommendations. She's a sweet boat that will serve my wife and I well, . I've been catching up on old posts from this forum and one quote (sorry I don't know who said it, my dear apologies) was - no one who owns a narrowboat ever looked back at the end and said I wish I'd spent less time on the narrowboat- or something like that! I don't want to make a bad decision, but I think I can work with the information that I have about this boat.