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Even at my age I still have a photographic memory. Unfortunately it no longer offers a same day service... 😥

I can't quite recall why I didn't, though when I arrived at the boatyard the first thing they offered me was to black her using epoxy over my bitumen (after a scrape and pressure wash), saying that's what they did as standard now. There are 2 things being talked about here. 1: The correct application of epoxy to a bare metal surface, giving maximum adhesion and longevity, up to 10 years. Following the instructions to the letter. There is no shortcut to this, and no snake oil solution. Dr Bob is right. 2: Scraping and washing loose bitumen off then applying epoxy. Repeat every 2 years. What comes off, comes off, and you're gradually getting better adhesion. But it's totally not scenario 1.

It was more complicated than that. The original increase in the number of cones came after the EU introduced Set-Aside, where farmers were paid to take land out of use. This was aimed at reducing the wine lakes, butter mountains and so on. The British government saw an opportunity and reclassified the countries motorway and trunk road network as agricultural land. They then took miles of dual carriageway and motorway lanes out of use with rows of cones, allowing them to lie fallow and pocketing the EU cash. A welcome boost to the vital road cone industry, so almost every one was a winner. Excepting people driving of course.

The last thing I want when I'm looking over a boat to consider buying it is the owner or a broker at my elbow the whole time prattling away at me.

They're all the worn out ones! The ones that look complete are 9" ones worn down, actual useable ones are kept dry. I'm not intending to, the surface rust is a good thing in my book as it's removing the mill scale from the steel. It's a lot easier to remove light surface rust than it is to remove mill scale by grinder/scabbler It is a Harborough, wooden top, been overplated, now thin again underneath. Previous owners purchased it for £25k, it then sank, they sold it for £10k and it needs re-bottoming and re-cabin-ing, so possibly more of a project than this? I'm pretty sure mine isn't a Harborough, I think it's a Fernie, despite it being registered as an H&L. Or at least what's left of it is...

Yarrkshirre if CRT has it's way...

More on Smith's Canal I decided I wanted to know more about this remote canal, so travelled to Swansea last week to see what more could be found. The reality is that even where there should be remnants - because the canal hasn't been built over - it is remarkably difficult to get to the original line of the canal. From Llansamlet church eastwards to the starting point, the canal should be accessible and as it's the absolute middle of winter, there is minimum vegetation. But still it's almost impossible to quickly or easily access the line of the canal. This is the Plough and Harrow pub, and looking east. The canal ran towards me along the tarmac (which is now the entrance to the Llansamlet Community Centre). The pub car park is to the left. There is a b&w photo of this scene and is the only photo I have seen of the canal fully in water, although without any boats. This is now looking west from the south side of the community centre. The canal ran alongside the rough grass and the lower brick wall at the end is where the canal continued. Most of the next mile is covered by the Swansea Enterprise Park. On the other side of Church Road in Llansamlet, looking east. I had hoped to walk this stretch towards the start of the canal. But it just wasn't possible. The fly-tipped rubbish is obvious. The land beyond doesn't seem to be used but access is tricky as there are few public footpaths. It's not even clear who owns the land. I'm not overly bothered about trespassing as long as I'm not damaging crops, fences, assets, etc. But physically it wasn't possible. The water can be seen here. This is the route of a public bridleway (not just a footpath!) from the end of Tawe Road (off Peniel Green Road) and it goes north towards the new B4625. Completely impassable and no sign of a path. The wall on the right is the wall of the former Swansea Vale Railway. Long gone. Getting to the canal from the north - the B4625 - is a lot easier although the path is obviously little used. The fly-tipping at the southern end might have something to do with it. The canal line is straight ahead along the line of the young trees, with marsh to the right, and this is heading NE. Ive learnt that on many disused canals, the trees tend to grow out of the former canal bed rather than the bank or the former towpath. The canal crosses the B4625 here but no trace on either side beyond some small ridges. The canal was crossed by the Swansea Vale Railway. However, as the canal was closed in 1852, I'm not even sure if there was a bridge over the canal. This is a field between the old railway embankment and the M4 embankment off to the right. In early 6" OS maps, there is clearly a line of marsh and even 'canal width' open water across this field, with the latter more or less where these ponies are standing. The start of the canal was the Gwernllwynchwyth estate and the pits around it. The most likely end point (ignoring what Coflein record as they are clearly wrong) was Scott's Pit, seen here. The old engine house remains and can be seen on a rise in the middle right of the photo. The canal almost definitely ended in this copse in the field. It is possible that the canal continued just beyond the barbed wire at the lower edge of the photo. However, this seems to be on a slight rise whereas the copse is flat. This is the road and parking opposite the Scott's Pit site (to the right). However, this odd road shape shape has been here since the earliest OS maps and must surely have something to do with the canal and/or local waggonways. The engine house at Scott's Pit. There has been little excavations done to date. The field to the immediate south of Scott's Pit with the copse beyond the frost on the far side of the field. The photo of the copse above was taken from the gap in the trees on the upper left. An additional twist to this story is the Gwernllwynchwyth (try saying that to a taxi driver after a few pints) which is now completely ruined and overgrown with absolutely no attempt to even make it safe let alone any form of interpretation. The estate was the focal point of the coal estate, with pits scattered around. Smith's Canal (Smith bought the estate early on) was replaced and it is likely that the upper 0.75km was closed early on and a waggonway ran from the pits around Gwernllwynchwyth for about 500m to a 'new' terminal basin. As a final treat (I will do an update on the Hafod-Morfa end of the canal in due course) this is part of an artificial water supply system known as Chauncey's Great Leat that supplied water from streams in the Gwernllwynchwyth estate to coal mines and early industry in Pentrechwyth several miles to the southwest, close to the Tawe. This arrangement doesn't make total sense because one immediately asks the question why not get water from the Nant y Fendrod or even the Tawe itself. Bricks and stone linings can be seen in the watercourse, but - as everywhere with this long-lost canal - it's so difficult to access. There is no connection possible between Smith's Canal and the Swansea Canal. The former is on the eastern side of the Tawe, the latter alongside-ish on the western side.

You've just got to be careful that the wire brush isn't polishing rather than keying. Clive has a massive angle grinder with a huge sanding disc that he might lend you if you ask nicely. If you're gentle you could give the steel a key without removing good steel. Or just do the same with a mini angle grinder as you'll probably have more control. A coarse flap wheel disc will do it but you'll have to be gentle. You don't want to remove good steel.

Excellent news, thanks for the update! I think we can safely blame the sausages.

I solved the problem, folks. My incompetence knows no bounds: I forgot I set the fridge's temperature dial (it was hidden behind some sausages) to 0. I just turned it now and the fridge came back to life. Gonna go cook those sausages now...

Wasn't he the cabin boy?

Been down to the boat today for the first time this year, pleased to report that all is well. Did a bit more welding and measured up a few bits for the next steps. Thought I'd get some photos of her as she sits now, quite striking proportions! There's a few bits of life that are happening in the background that are a bit drastic but should really benefit the progression of this as a project, it's probably going to be moved to a more convenient yard fairly shortly

I'm sure much of the BCN is clear because we dredged it all out with our prop during the BCN challenge! Our mooring is between stoppages at Tyrley and Adderley so we can only go 45mins or so each way. We did go down to Adderley to wind as I wanted to work on the other side of the boat, which required breaking about 2" thick ice. Fortunately we have an iceboat... Alec

Matt at Northwich uses Dacrylate Epidac 2 pack, or he did last summer on our boat. Jet washed using a 4000psi machine, then 3 coats of epoxy 2 pack rollered on including the baseplate(optional). First class service by Matt & Rebekah.

Tenders are being submitted to recover the cargo.

I didn't have to struggle at all to recognise Doris Collins.

First use one of these and about 3 packs of blades. Start using it as soon as the hull is out of the water, still dripping. Don't wait till the next day or even long enough to make a brew, get on with it immediately. https://www.toolstation.com/prodec-advance-titan-heavy-duty-scraper/p75329 Don't try and save a couple of quid on the cheaper handles, they are very uncomfortable to use for long periods and you have to faff with a screwdriver to change blades. DAMHIK ... After the first scrape, wash with a reasonable pressure washer - around 150 bar will do - then scrape again and wash again. That'll get most (95%+) of the old bitumen off if you put enough effort in, although it's easier when it's soft and warm. Then hit the hull with a whole box full of 75mm twisted strand cup brushes - steel not brass - and a 4" angle grinder. As soon as the brush starts getting clogged, fit another one. Don't try and persevere with worn brushes or you'll not be correctly abrading the surface. That'll get nearly all the rest of the bitumen off. I tend to rope other people in to help, two or three extra bodies for a 60' boat means you can rest your arms occasionally! It's seriously hard graft, but you'll be back to mostly bare steel by this point. It's not Swedish Standard Sa2.5, I call it Swedish Chef standard (as done by a Muppet) but it's not fallen off yet. I use Hempel Hempadur 45143 with the cold climate curing agent - even in UK heatwaves it's the one to use. The warm climate curing agent is for use much nearer the equator! I'm on my second lot now, and I couldn't shift the first lot back to bare steel so figured if it won't come off with a 4" razorblade and a cup brush it's stuck to the hull pretty well!

Crab and lobster pot buoy ropes and long line fishing gear can wreak havok and they are all common around UK waters. Howard

I haven't flushed the calorifier. I recently found out I'm going to be made redundant so I've been focusing on hunting for a new job. However, the system does seem to be behaving ok - the bottom pipe gets warm and now so does my hot water (The key word being warm) and I can still boil the water in the stove (it does seem to be effected by the trim of the boat). But I can get the boat warm and the radiators are working amazingly So it's behaving acceptably, if not perfectly I'll probably leave trying to flush the calorifier until it's a bit warmer. So much thanks to everyone who was so generous with their time and advice. I definitely learnt a lot too, always good to gain new life skills! I'll update properly when I give it a flush

kelpie had been blacked with bitumen when we took it to Northwich where it was pressure washed and epoxied. After two years we booked into Northwich again and after the pressure washing the hull and base plate was still in good nick and we had it epoxied again. The reason for going back in just two years was because we, Like Ditchcrawler, were not sure how well it would stick and also our mooring was between two liveaboards both connected to shore power and we wanted to make sure they were not affecting our hull. All was well and we will leave it longer this time before we go back to Northwich to have her done again. haggis

How didyou turn it off? Sure the thermostat is turned up?

My recollection is that 27MHz CBs were not legal for use in the UK because that band was reserved for other services such as radio controlled model aircraft and boats. Demonstrating the truth of Dickens' character's observation that "the law is an ass", while it was illegal to use them, it was not illegal to sell them, so they were freely available.

Find "a man who can" Get deck chair out Sit in deck chair Get beer out and drink Watch man work Get wallet out Pay man Go cruising

Thanks Loddon that's all good to know. I remember Parglena at Bourne End, last time I saw her she was by Staines Rly bridge. Nice barge