Bee

Those steps will not make enough difference to notice. If it is heavy to steer it is possibly because the rudder is unnecasarily large and personally I would think that adding a bit to the front of it would help to 'balance' it. Depends on the clearance between the prop and the leading edge. if you could add a couple of inches that might help, Find a bit of handy steel and bolt it on, if it doesn't help then nothing lost, if it helps then weld it on sometime.

Hope you stopped before winding it right through the bottom of the boat.

Well I wouldn't set out to cross the Atlantic in that condition but if it starts, runs, doesn't smoke terribly and is otherwise OK I wouldn't be too worried. What happens if you take the oil filler cap off when it is running? lots of fumes puffing out? I don't know how the crankcase breather works on these engines or where it is but as Jen in Wellies says its well worth checking that out, lots of fumes and haze coming from that could well be pistons and rings but those of us with very low standards would reckon that if it isn't clanging, rattling or making horrible noises its a good little runner.

Crikey. Was there engine damage or was that for tank cleaning, old fuel disposal and everything else?

Propeller science can be complicated. I guess many, many narrowboats have got the wrong propeller, many more have got something quite serviceable but a horrible shaped boat and more than a few have not got the space under the counter to swing the right dia. prop. I reckon there must be a few that have bunged a bigger engine in to get a bit more shove but are still spinning a 12 x 9 prop that has been there for 25 years.

What you actually get at the bottom of the tank is a nasty orange and black slimy mess of rust and goo. It does rust, quite possibly slower than a water tank might but much quicker than the rest of the bottom of the boat. Also it not a nice clear line between the nearly 100% water and the 100% diesel, it just blends in together. All boats should have an inspection plate fitted if at all possible. Mine didn't and it took a miserable week to sort out a water problem. It has now and the amount of rubbish that came out of the tank was just awful and disposing of many gallons of crap fuel was not easy .

Boat prices are really hard to estimate. On the one hand depreciation on a new boat is pretty alarming and on the other hand the price put on some old heap is far more than its worth. The depreciation probably reflects a good chunk of the very expensive labour costs falling away and the overpriced old heap is probably overpriced because of demand from younger people wanting a home. I think if I was looking for a narrow boat I would buy something suitable with a thin hull and learn to weld. (I can weld but it ain't pretty and its a bit leaky!)

I would also strongly advise that you get a cover made for it / them. Most skylight / roof light / pigeon box type constructions do not drain water off the glass very well (getting that top hinged joint leakproof is challenging too) and the varnish or whatever treatment you use will be damaged by the sun and rain

I don't know what lies beneath the plate but that blue sealant suggests that something is not sitting nice and flat. I guess that the best thing is indeed to try and drill that bolt out. You might have to tap a different and bigger size bolt and in fact you might even find that to get a decent seal a new plate and re tapped fixings would do a 'proper job'. Depends on what lies beneath the plate really. Not a big job on a bench in a warm workshop with decent tools but not quite the same in a cramped boat in winter. Good luck

Those little pipes do get brittle and they are fragile. Glad you got it fixed and as an aside I would recommend Boots moisturiser for that cracked skin on your fingers in the photo.

Were the old 'King' locos a bit on the wide side too/Somebody will know. Mind you Brunel could make the odd blunder, he put the rails a couple of feet too far apart.

Did the same. Some fool left the lights on all night (gave myself a good telling off) and battery was still going strong 3 years later when I scrapped the car.

Have to say that looks more like damp but quite why or how is a bit of a puzzle. I wonder if warm air holding more moisture = more humidity and damp wood? I should think the insulation is spray foam and nothing to worry about but it is odd. Incidentally and as a personal view the quality of the insulation would very important indeed if I was looking at a boat to buy.