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An update for everyone. It works! Although it’s not a job I will do again in a hurry. It was a nightmare to take apart - a fair few bolts snapped and the angle grinder was needed a fair bit to cut through old bolts and washers. Using a stud remover I was able to take most of them out and I have moved onto the boat and reassembled. No issues with listing - it’s only 400kg so not a crazy amount. The back boiler in the one I bought was leaking - but it is integral to the Rayburn so I have cut a hole in it and inserted a much smaller back boiler which is more suited to boat use anyway. Overall I am very pleased (and very worn out!) I replaced the old insulation with rockwool and have put new fire tiles on everything. Thanks again for the help.

I have not met her, but right from her first posts I got the impression that she knows best - or thinks she does. When asking the forum about narrow boating and relating her previous experience, I well remember that when I tried to explain that a narrowboat in shallow water coming when trying to come alongside behaves very differently to a yacht that probably has a round bilge, a keel and is in deeper water. I tried to explain how when reversing close to the side, prop thrust throws water between the swim and bank, which tends to push the stern away from the bank. Apparently she knew all about that, so I gave up. Much the same when an experienced member, working in the field, tried to advise on her kitchen refit, or the rudder drama. Then there were the battery problems with batteries located in unusual positions with non-typical wiring. Just my impression of her, so I tend not to respond so much.

I tried to assist her some time back with regards to her flat in Scotland. She was unpleasant to deal with and quite insulting so I am not surprised that anyone working for her decides to down tools and jump ship.

My husband submits several large invoices a year and similarly has never issued or been asked for a receipt, but that is not the problem here as I understand it. I don't think anyone would be threatening to damage the reputation or try and cause a small business issues with HMRC/VAT over a lack of receipts! I agree that we will probably never know the full details of Lady G's dealing with her tradesmen, nor do we need to. However she chooses to make it the forum's business and if she can be guided to less acrimonious and stressful outcomes - for all concerned - surely that is a good thing? Sometimes it is hard to stand back and see another point of view and as a solo mature boater (who might at times feel slightly vulnerable?) it must be helpful to get other perspectives, or else she wouldn't air her issues in this way. Edited to add: I have been following the forum for a good few years now and briefly met with Lady G a few years ago when she was in Lincoln. She was great company and I think she is admirable for what she manages to do her own - not without a little drama here and there admittedly, but I have much respect for her.

I've reread the thread but am a bit confused. @LadyG have you clearly confirmed with the contractor that you no longer want him to finish the "next job", after he completed the "main job"? You were informed (presumably - unless of course you heard through a third party) that there was an issue with ill health so it seems fair to accept a delay in proceedings. If it is a case of you changing your mind then it seems entirely reasonable to me that he retains the couple of hundred pounds for being messed around. He may have turned down other work to be with you and is therefore faced with an unexpected gap in his diary. The fact that he has taken delivery, stored and may have already stated work on the materials you provided for the next job implies that he has actually begun the "next job". A couple of hundred pounds is at most only a day's work so I think he is justified in retaining your upfront payment. It seems reasonable to ask for the return of the materials but I expect he is not feeling particularly happy with how he has been treated. What precisely are your materials he has? As you say, he and his wife are trying to run a small business - not easy in today's economic climate. It sounds like they have done a satisfactory job for you to date and it is a great shame that relations have soured.

And here is the reason he got hung up, from Rich on Roach who was moored below him.... Further info on the boat that sank in Gregory's top lock. He is now tied up below the lock and drying out. He had gutted the boat prior to a refit (so not much damage inside) but is now trying to get the engine working. A local said it had caught up on a sunken motorbike, but then we stopped to buy coal from Rich on fuel boat Roach who had been moored below when it happened. He said it had been overplated and the chine was now much wider than it should have been, so his boat was effectively over 7' wide. Gregory's top is apparently the narrowest lock on the W&B so he got stuck. He went home to sleep till CRT came back in the morning, but as Rich explained, the canal weirs through these locks (ie no bywash) so his boat was functioning as a gate ... till the water came over the stern and into the boat. He looked quite cheerful though down his engine hole!

Most of the bodges removed, I had a week off in the campervan last week so slowed down a bit. Both helms now work, instruments are all working as well. Split charging in and working, the old system removed and 3 x 300 amp on off switches installed one for the bow thruster which wasn't fused either! The rudder indicator installed but faulty, waiting for a reply from the seller. The raw water pump works great so does the Webasto. Water leaks sorted as well, we are going to try it out this weekend weather permitting

I find myself wondering it that's why they sold the boat.... to finally get rid of that old half-full gas cylinder!

Thank you all for your advices! Because I don't have wet vac available at hand at the moment, I tried fishing it out and it was a success! I know it might sound like a bad idea as many of you warned me of the even worse consequences if I also dropped the hook in there. But I tested until I was confident that the attachment is strong enough but still thank you for all the heads-ups. Regards, Panya

I'd not want to lose steering in the event of propulsion failure. Being able to direct the vessel to the side with no power is handy.

Make it into one of these. £200 A pop💷💷💷👍

The same kit we bought last month elsewhere online is cheaper than their sales prices

What a c@nt! Glad he's been done.

Coming soon to this channel, the Hotchkiss Hydraulic Propeller and the Hunt for Torfrida....watch this space. Or more likely, a new one.

It may seriously restrict the flow of water into the tank. Thinking about it didnt we have a posting like that last week, the tank was empty but they couldnt fill it

Block em up with nuts and bolts. ☺️

I wonder how the holes in the meccano would affect a @bizzard-built rudder? 🙂

They probably did 60/40split with the beer instead 🍻🍺👍

With the proviso this must be very upsetting for those involved and I hope it is all sorted, some people do seem easy to part from money. If I spend £lots on a property or similar I am very keen to get the legal side well checked over by others more qualified than me. Twice now it has saved me considerable pain and expense. It's never good to receive a phone call saying "stop everything there is a problem" but better that than the alternative. Perhaps I am over cautious, but so far it's served me well.

On this day in 1980 Neptune's Staircase Caledonian Canal. Compare 7Jun2014 17Oct2014 7Jun2017 14Jul2017 14Oct2022 (#2)

I've got one on my boat (new-build from Tim Tyler/Finesse) and I'm very happy with it -- it gives light responsive steering and excellent manoeuvrability up to much larger working angles than a flat plate rudder, when pushed right over to 75 degrees or so the prop wash comes out sideways with no forward thrust at all, it behaves more like a stern thruster. Not just my biased opinion, Ricky at Finesse confirmed this compared to otherwise identical boats he's built. In my case there was a second reason for choosing it, which is that it's shorter and sticks out less beyond the stern than a bigger (and less effective) flat-plate rudder -- it's about 200mm shorter front-to back (500mm vs 700mm) and sticks out about 200mm less as a result (only about 200mm past the stern) so I can use a short button fender. This matters on a 60' boat which was designed to go through the short Calder and Hebble locks which are "officially" only 57'6" long, but where you can squeeze a 60' boat through "with care" -- I managed to get through the shortest one without even lifting the fender or having any contact between rudder and bottom gate. I don't know what it would cost to have one made up but IIRC it added about £1000 (inc. VAT) to the cost of mine, considerably more effort to build (multiple plates and a *lot* of welding and grinding) but this is instead of a flat plate rudder so presumably some saving by not building this. Maybe getting a replacement one made would cost more than this? Here's a photo of it, and a drawing in case you want to get one built... 🙂 (the small red peg is a stop to prevent it swinging all the way round into the prop when going astern, and the little side steps on the bare hull were later removed because the rudder is a better step for getting out of the water...)

On this day in 1980 Corpach Sea Lock Caledonian Canal and the locks above Compare 20Feb2011 17Oct2014 18Oct2014 26Aug2015 17Jul2017 13Oct2022 (#2)

I saw that forecast, im sure she indicated snow mid pennines.

Probably not much change in operation.

Shame that, because somewhere between too wide and too narrow would have been just right if it's a tapered pole. Are we related? It's the sort of thing I do far too often!

The search box is your friend. It's spelt Schilling.

Just don't come back and say you have lost the hook as well. Make sure its well attached.

Leave it.

I'd agree, though I do often talk of it 'making a level' which is effectively the same thing. That works in either direction, rather than having to use "empty" - on here it seems there are those who would query "empty" unless the lock had been physically pumped dry. 😁

<sigh> most reasonably people would say a lock is full when the water level inside is the same as the upper pound outside and you can open the gate -- which is of course what I meant... 😉 So I'll ask again -- if you look at the bottom gate and see the water level is low when you open the top gates, what would you do about it?

Here am I sitting in a tin can Far above the pound All the signs are blue, and there's Nothing I can do...

Looking at the tide marks on the wing walls and the hull it seems to me that the lower pound was down and the boat could well be sitting on something....if it then wedged and they tried to flush it through or refill the pound it only takes a low vent opening to cause an issue.... I have come close on few occasions to sinking my boat but thankfully got away with it mainly due to luck....it doesnt take much for a minor issue to become a big one...a slight distraction or a bad decision.