James Owen

One of your many alter egos no doubt!

I spoke with the new owner yesterday, a pleasant chap with realistic expectations on what he's bought. He had, in fact, been after the boat for several months so the 'mailshot' was probably, to my mind at least, not really necessary.

Or 77 years, depending on your mathematics. ?

I agree Pete. Each owner be they commercial or private individuals has, and shall continue to do so, left their mark on these boats whilst under their respective tenures and I believe that is no bad thing. If every boat were 'as built' that would make for some tedious sights. I concede that budget restraints will ultimately decide on what degree of 'restoration' any boat is likely to undergo but that shouldn't, in this day and age and with the original present for use as a reference, affect the overall shape of the boat. As one boat builder put it "it's as flat as a witches t*t and all welded". Does that not make it sanitised?

I believe it is. Ex-Ladybank.

An optimistic price I'd agree, even more so given that the Theophilus' hull has been somewhat 'sanitised' and no longer bears any resemblance to a Middle boat, has an incomplete (albeit Tim Leech built) ten year old (at least) cabin that was cut off another Grand Union motor and a RN that hasn't run for several years. Yes, "kit form" just about covers it ??

B&Q

Unless the mooring in question is the disabled mooring just South of Butchers? From memory, always allocated to the Joseph.

Are there currently any boats, histeric or otherwise, retailing fuel south of Napton?

Yep!

I think you'll find Mr Finchers posts often include a caveat, notwithstanding his poor knowledge, I can only presume he prefers to sound knowledgeable but in essence is sparsely enlightened.

Having spent countless hours working a push tug which had an OM636 as it's soul, I'd have to say they are less than pleasing to listen to (comparable to a three pot H-series☺) but undeniably a good, reliable beast and easy to work on too!!

Are these working drawings available?

Very good...

I doubt it's even an educated guess, more supposition than anything. I spoke with the owner last year and he rolled a list of possible names out so how he's narrowed it down (no pun intended) I've no idea.

I admire your optimism, however experience has shown (time and again) that what you'll find is the same parts worn or knackered in both engines. The age old 'make one good engine out of two knackers' just leaves you with two sets of the same broken bits and two sets of serviceable ones. Nevertheless, given enough time and money there's no aspect of the JP that can't be repaired or, pockets allowing, remade so...

I'm not sure of the exact model however it looks to be a typical Blackstone variant, the brass label on the reduction box will (hopefully) provide information on which model it is. A manual isn't really necessary for servicing these boxes but I should imagine it will be covered within the correct marine engine manual...ie, the HWM or HRWM book rather than a standard industrial manual.

You know it's a proper boat when it has an HA2 as an 'auxiliary donkey engine'. Very apt...

Presumably for that price they'll be watertight too?

We lived at Mark Gordon's for a while (about 1980-ish) around the time my father worked on the hire fleet. I'll see what he can remember and I'm sure we have some old photos somewhere too.

Given the seller only paid £1 for the dredger that's quite a profit and I wouldn't put too much faith in the standard of the repairs carried out under his tenure either. Dredgers aren't something you want to readily use if they're hanging together on a wing and a prayer!!!

Coppered steel is steel with a high copper content.

Yes, she's often there. Not as popular as she once was but her prices remain the same.

The direction of engine rotation is irrelevant. The GU gearwheel makes perfect sense either way.