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People are writing about Owatrol as if it is one single product with a multitude of uses. AIUI it is a brand name for a whole range of products so saying things like "Owatrol is great for <xxx>", is pretty meaningless without saying which Owatrol product was being used.

Faversham Creek is tidal, so Ragdoll probably sits on the mud at low tide. As the tide goes out and the stern starts resting on the bottom, the bow will dip down lower in the water.

You're basically asking why people build boats with a hull that's more in the water than out of the water, something that I feel might only ever get asked on a canal forum. Canal boats don't require a lot of freeboard seeing as they are designed for still - or at least relatively still - waters. If you're not going to load a boat with 25 tonnes of coal and metal it doesn't need to sit high out of the water in it's natural state. I can only assume modern leisure boats are built with two thirds of the hull out of the water either to mimic the early leisure boats converted from working boats or more likely as a means of creating internal headroom without producing something that looks daft. My boat has 3' deep side plates and is designed to sit 24" in the water and 12" out with a full load and ballast, so it has very low freeboard. It tends to sit an inch or two above that naturally. The entire boat is only 6' 8" tall from baseplate to top of handrail and the internal headroom is 5' 10". That would be a bit low for many which emphasises why perhaps some boats have deeper hulls but I think there are many that don't have a particularly canal friendly profile either above or below the water as a result.

So first you had to remove a disgusting old plastic pump out tank and then you found a nasty rusting integral steel waste tank underneath that's full of gawd knows what... Pump out tanks... Just an all round bad idea.

“The Ragdoll” is currently living in faversham Kent. My Step-mum walks passed it daily and knowing I was a massive fan in my younger years has captured a recent pic.

Yes my step mum spoke to them, it’s the original one and only Ragdoll. She would have got all the history of it if what happened after filming, but I haven’t seen her to hear all about it yet, recovering from Covid, but I’ll be sure to post my findings when I do. I was just googling and seeing if anyone else had recent pictures and stumbled across this thread. I was a little addicted in my younger years. Xx

I was briefly a "member" of that group but got quickly disillusioned because I thought it was only a matter of time before I featured in it. Quite a few photos showed mooring techniques that I would consider normal or even good boating, such as fitting into a tight gap with fenders very close or even touching, or leaving the back sticking out a couple of feet when in shallow water.