IanR

Sorting some pics and rediscovered these from our Caldon trip to Froghall, a truly great place for sure. We were still slightly high on the markers after moving some ballast forward but went through with a couple of inches to spare. Froghall Wharf is a lovely building too, soon to be reopened as a tea room and gallery. Ian.

We too very nearly bought Ian about 3ish years ago, went to have a look twice after things arose which we were unsure of. Counter and stem were the issues we were uneasy with the condition of, the stem had a big hole in it where something used to be but now wasn't leaving what appeared to be a deep hole into the guts of the stem itself. I asked on here for any info and found out some very useful snippets to investigate. Then it looked stunning, paint in very good order but we left feeling a little uneasy about taking it on and obviously didn't. It was massively less money too, sub 14K then with still some room for negotiations. Looks a sad sight now, but whether it is any less sound now is anyones guess from the somewhat lacking info in the advert! The paintwork issue looks to be an adhesion problem doesn't it, leaving what appears to be a smooth primered surface underneath, not bare board / timber? Ian.

There certainly is some interesting canal side buildings in Rugeley, we just missed out on buying one last year, albeit a little less grand than the shoe and sock factory! I seem to remember that the sock factory had some planning permissions attached, relating to the factory itself and the house and outbuildings on site too, hence the fairly astronomic price tag! The one we were interested in were at the Armitage end of the town, virtually the last buildings on the way out, a plot of semi derelict workers terraced houses, the canalside one of which used to be a blacksmiths and latterly a brewery. They are in a superb spot, a good bit of ground with enough frontage to two full length boats. Does anyone know anymore history, and anyone on here buy them? Here is a link to a previous sale of just one of the four available at the time. http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-27480158.html I always mean to go back and have a look what the new owners are doing to the place(s) Ian.

I did ours in the water a fortnight ago. Pumped some grease, slid back the pusher and measured everything to find out what size packer was required. 1 1/2" shaft, with a 5/16" packer required. I was advised to buy the next size up too just incase the 5/16" was a slack fit once the old was removed. I replaced the pusher whilst I went to buy the new packer, just in case! Had everything to hand, cut three rings at 45 degrees, cloths at the ready. Removed the pusher again and with a long flat screwdriver went to gently dig out the old packing. I'd also been advised to leave the 'last' packer in, though quite how you know which would be the last would be hard! As it happens there was only half of one ring left of the packing as I could feel metal on metal at the first root. As it happens there was very little water ingress after I'd cleaned out the recess and the three rings went in with no issue, just being careful not to trap any material. After each ring I slid the pusher home to get it located evenly. I'm well chuffed I tackled it, just make sure everything required is at hand before doing anything. and the job should be very easy and quick. Ian.

Fabulous trip up the Caldon, Leek and Uttoxeter canals. Truly stunning location. Squeezed through the Froghall tunnel but had to shift some ballast at the fore end to get it low enough to nearly miss the height markers. Good timing for the trains too, pub stop at the Black Lion yielded some good steam and diesel action, plus another at The Boat gave us a great Amy Winehouse cover act. Winner!! Some nice boats up there too, FMC 'Malvern', Grand Union 'Battersea' and what appeared to be (to my uneducated eye) a motor countered Josher butty with no name showing all on moorings, plus a couple of others out and about. Our boat played ball all the way, no issues from the newly repacked stern gland, I was wary as we did it ourselves whilst in the water and we are still new to this boating shinnanegans. We've biked up there before several times but it is amazing how different the views are from just 4 ft to the side!! Thanks again for the tips, can't wait to get up there again. Jane and Ian,.

Thanks for that image Junior, I remember a post somewhere where you mentioned you'd been through, were you heavily loaded at the time? I imagine we'd fit through a tad easier perhaps as there is a bit less hull depth to us.... Looking well and truly forward to this little adventure, setting out from Barlaston on Friday. Thanks for the advice folks, Jane and Ian.

We are planning on going up the Caldon next weekend, looking at the CVR website they are running all weekend and Monday. We are deffo intending to do the tunnels, though I imagine Jane and the dog might walk round the first time. I'm pretty certain our boat will go through as Im sure I know of a larger, deeper boat has been through recently. We'll see. Here's a link to the CVR site https://www.churnet-valley-railway.co.uk/ Ian.

Great to hear you enjoyed the trip, we are planning on the same in the next couple of weeks and canny wait! Hoping for it to coincide with some trains at Cheddleton. Ian.

A superb effort, well done to all involved!! Ian.

Agreed, a superb weekend! Many thanks to all involved. Ian.

So looking forward to this, thanks for the replies. It's my first with a boat so if you see a bloke doing things badly, wrongly, nervously, that'll be me! See you there. Ian.

Many thanks for that Rob, We'll hopefully see you and Sudbury there! Ian.

Is anyone here going and taking a boat? Has anyone got any contact details for the organisers? I presume I need to let them know if I'm taking my boat? Or is it a 'just turn up' affair? Many thanks folks, Ian.

Thanks for the replies folks, much appreciated. I'll look into those tarp suppliers. Has anyone any experience with Witham Paints? I've used their products for years in my job but never their dedicated marine range. I'll be giving them a try. http://www.withamgroup.co.uk/woco/marine-and-anti-fouling-paints/ Ian.

Now it's up near home, work has been progressing, mainly in tidying and servicing, scraping, priming and painting, plus the essential lots of use! It now has an Epping in the back cabin which has made so much difference to the useability. The lamp is a Notek Fogmaster, the rim is well past its best but managed to pick up a complete lamp in great condition. I need to replace / alter some of the cloths, can anyone point me towards identifying the material? I've been looking into the paintwork at the fore end, and looking at Grand Union butty's the name was painted on the stern, sometimes painted with a full stop and sometimes without, any reason for with or without? I'm thinking of painting the name on the original stern as a nod to its origins, not sure though. Also related to the paintwork, anyone got any names or paint codes for the 'Austerity Livery' red, white and blue? Sorry about all the questions in one go, but it was all in my head when I uploaded the pictures, there will no doubt be loads more in due course! Cheers Ian.

Hi Pipistrelle, we are in a similar situation to you although our hold isn't fitted out at all yet. We have six double glazed escape type windows under our cloths, the rear two we will be removing. Might they be of use?? They were fitted just before we bought the boat and are not required for our plans. I have no pictures of the widows themselves, just a pic of the cloths to show how little they stick out!! A google image search for Indus Too does show a pic of the steelwork and windows without the cloths. There are also two round, frosted, horizontally split windows which we are also taking out. Looking forward to more pics of your progress!! Ian.

It seems the subject is still open for debate Darren, Cassiopeia certainly had one, so ours only a month later 'could' have. From the bit I've found, it seems that (some of the) craft might have been launched without them fitted and then they were mounted later. Admittedly, some folks far more knowledgeable than I could ever hope to be do doubt that they were ever fitted as standard items, but I fancy doing a casting anyway though, whether it gets fitted or not!! Thanks again, Ian.

Thanks David, the only thread I found was about Yarwoods plates, but that thread morphed into a general makers plate topic including the Harland and Wolff so contained some great information, especially so in that a batch were made for the yard where my boat is now, I'll have to enquire!! Cheers, Ian.

Does anyone know of one available or 'borrowable'?? Ideally I'm looking for one to fit to our boat, but I could sand cast a reproduction (or more if required and I have enough material) if I could find a plate to take the mould from. Or does anyone make any repro's already? Here's hoping, Ian.

Barmyfluid, we were in a similar position last year when we bought our boat. We wanted something with a history and within our budget (quite similar to yours it would seem) there was a few around ranging from the thoroughly historic unconverted to the 'chopped about butty' boats that some enthusiasts smirk about. After looking at most of them we ended up with the back end of a butty pointing the wrong way with a new motor back end etc... because it completely suited us in terms of what was there and we actually loved its story and hope to add to it. This boat hadn't seen too much use in the last few years and was very unloved. We had our offer accepted subject to survey. Steve Hands (Hands on Marine??) was our surveyor and he showed us through the whole job and certainly seemed to know what he was looking at and for. Needless to say the boat didn't fare too well and price renegotiations took place to cover the work required, including rebottoming and refooting. Insurers insisted on a survey and wouldn't insure fully comp til the work was done. We are pleased with the choices we made and accept our boat for what it is. If Baildon has 'spoken' to you then the decision is halfway made!! Ian.

This thread has delivered some great replies, from the informative, to the rude, belittling etc etc. I'm thick enough skinned to cope with that, especially because we always knew that our incident was completely was complacency on my mum's part, but the object of the thread wasn't to blame someone for it as we knew where the blame lay. I was always told to replace the ratchet pawl so that is what I have always done. Unless someone tells you different and offers reason for doing so, how would I / anyone know different?? After reading some of the replies I can now see very good reason for the pawl not to be engaged, but certainly not to catch the unaware out like some have said! I've only ever noticed a pawl not engaged a couple of times so it certainly isn't the norm, but that said, it doesn't matter where it is left as the next user should always look. I always do (that's torn it!!) and will probably always continue to flip the pawl back still. Hopefully my mother will too, in 20 years of on and off boating she has never been whacked before, hopefully the last too! Feel free to carry on the arguments though and Junior, my mother knows what to expect next time we pass you at a flight! Ian.

So the issue here then is not ensuring the paddle is fully down before you leave the pawl on or off?? Then there is the issue of whether its best to hopefully teach some complacent or newby boater a lesson by leaving the pawl disengaged to catch some folk out. I was taught to flip the pawl back and always check its position before operating. Ian.

Look folks, there is no denying that my mums injury is her fault, that is not the issue and she is in no way looking for anyone to blame or any form of compo or claim. I was simply asking for reasons why anyone would not replace the pawl, it seems like the only logical thing to do. Surely winding the paddle firmly to a close at the end of its travel would close it better than leaving the pawl off and hoping for gravity to pay its part on the last inch?? Magictime, thanks for the three option poll, makes much more simple reading!! Ian.

I kind of assumed we'd be getting the 'its for the operator to check ....' bit, which of course it is, but I just thought I'd ask the question as I've never come across the issue before. (I know its not an issue, it can be the norm!) It just seems to my logic that if you drop the paddle you should flip the ratchet back over. My mums fine now, just a bit embarrassed that it caught her out. Thanks folks. Ian. The implication isn't there at all, it was a post to learn, not to blame, but thanks anyhow. Ian. Now that is a reason for leaving the ratchet disengaged, thankyou. Ian.

I'm fairly new to this game and haven't had many issues I'm my short time boating, but I came across something the other day that, a, I couldn't fathom a reason for, and b, caused my 71 year old mother injury which must have more than smarted a little!! We were locking down the first of a flight and met another boat coming up. We both left each others lock set to be helpful. I did the driving and my mum and missus did the locks. My mum, although knocking on(!!!) is still quite handy opened one of the top paddles but failed to notice that the ratchet was not engaged, so when she let go of the windlass it spun back and whacked her in the mouth. She did manage to catch the handle the next time round though, but the one smack was enough to loosen 3 teeth and cut the inside of her mouth. She used to boat regularly so is should be well versed in the methods. She has re learned the methods now though! I know that we should all check the ratchet position but the question is what reason would there be for ever leaving the ratchet disengaged, as the rest of the locks in the flight were all the same? Ian.