Sir Percy

Ta. What sort of experiments do you have in mind? I bought a kit of 5 cans so may have a little spare. p.s. on the internet, about half the price of similar Soudal kit from Screwstation.

Another way - possibly quieter and cleaner - of constructing this fixing for a light-duty 'floating shelf' could be to make it up from three horizontal sections, 18x45mm / 18x18 / 18x35, screwed and glued. Use a block plane to bevel the 18x45, or make the depth less than 45mm, or, just bring it forward a little to meet the side of the cabin at the desired angle. Then finish at either end with a cap. edit: you could use the shelf in place when clamping the three sections.

Question for anyone who's used expanding foam: I've just bought some cans of Soudal expanding foam (gun grade) for filling in gaps around Celotex slabs fitted for hull insulation. The directions on the can say to spray water on surfaces to help it cure. Not sure that I really want to do that in case excess water gets trapped. Am I worrying about nothing?

Is it wood, or MDF? I'm installing softwood TGV cladding. It'll get paint/stain, and oil/wax both sides.

and is it metal construction? you could try adding sides with drip strips

sliding hatch. runners could be wood on metal, or metal on metal. rubber wouldn't slide. the hatch cover should...cover. sounds like yours doesn't. post a photo? photo of mine: see where the runners go under?

Just a recommendation for a couple of things which I've found handy in fitting slabs of Celotex recently: a double suction pad - good for handling large slabs (esp. if you've a short wingspan), and also for taking out of the space into which you've fitted it, if you've got to rectify a cockup like I did (see previous post re additional battens) a hacksaw handle - extend the blade from the handle and use the free end to cut through the insulation with minimal dust creation.

@Rick Savery May have been some confusion. There was a comment regarding planks stuck down with adhesive making it impossible to access the bilge. My thought was that if you have removable and fixed sections of flooboard, you could stick down plank on each individual section, but loose-lay planks across the border of the setions where they butt up against each other.

1. Perhaps it's the way that you've worded it, but I think you might have misunderstood - the *boat* is the property that the *boat owner* may sell at a premium... 2. Is this documentation specific to the mooring in question? In any case, I think might be worth confirming the situation in respect of this particular boat and mooring, with CRT. What would CRT's reasoning be for not allowing the replacement of a boat that is at end of life? I have a boat on a transferable mooring. Other owners on the mooring have replaced boats in such a way with CRTs knowledge. It does happen, so you ought to check.

Buy the boat *on the mooring*, sell the boat, buy another to go on the mooring, If you don't think you can do that and have the sums work for you, leave it.

The Dickinson Newport that they also sell, seems to be a similar product at a lower price - any idea if they differ much?

He's also said that he's going to re-seal the vents, so that should take care of the most likely point of entry. If its a case of rain bouncing up and in during a heavy downpour, I guess he could screw down the cap as far as poss?

He's mentioned mushroom vents.

Agree with that. I've taken the time to put in removable sections; it would be silly then to stick down a layer on top of that. However, it could be possible to use adhesive only on the boards which don't cross the threshold between those sections of flooring.

or I could just look through online customer reviews for the ones which say, 'came delivered with half the tongues broken off'

Good thing I realised this was a joke, else I'd have got all bent out of shape. Middle, middle, aisle of Lidl

That's a pity, I've already (spits out PU dust) fitted insulation. Battening followed pattern of old, ripped-out woodwork fixed to angles welded to hull. I do still have some timber and Stixall, though. Ah well, thanks for that. That's what I meant when I said I'd be happy with some degree of overlap. Not bothered about detail if you mean V-groove / beading - in fact, would prefer square-edge in terms of looks. Bending may help... That's actually welcome news. I'd much rather be using a hot air gun than cutting kerfs, and thanks to my weakness for the Lidl mystery aisle I do have a shiny new HAG. Ta

Like I say, I already have vertical battens and I'd rather not have to put in any more woodwork - but also, at about 8" under the gunwales, the hull cants inward, and more so towards the bow. So for those two reasons, I'm discounting vertical cladding, but thanks anyway.

...to end up with square-edge planks. Why? - no practical purpose really, just a fanciful notion for aesthetics, I guess. I have a 12' forecabin; the horizontal TGV cladding boards that I've ripped out were fixed to vertical battens. To follow the shape of the hull into the bow, short boards were used. I always thought it looked a bit crap, having all the end joins in a line, and want to get a bit more of a smoother look. Battens are at roughly 4' intervals - what I thought I might be able to do, is use 3m cladding, cutting and fitting them to the battens so that I could achieve a staggered 'planking' pattern. Not quite as on a ship's deck, but close. This will probably mean that the boards won't quite line up - but as long as there's less overlap than the 15mm thickness of the boards, I'm quite happy with that. There must be some downsides that I haven't considered, that somebody here with more experience could warn me of, please? Maybe movement and gaps appearing? Thinking of using 15mm spruce boards, bending/kerfing them. Am I headed for disaster? TIA

Yes, that's what I plan to do; fit more short lengths of batten to the steel angle where it cants inward - boards will be mounted to the battens. Would fix new pipe to those boards. Yes, you're right - I think I was too hung up on preserving as much of use as possible. Right, understood. That's an important point that I wasn't aware of. Many thanks!

Hi, Similar to my previous question regarding a skin fitting, I'm now working on the other side, where there are gas and water pipes running underneath the gunwale. I'll have to remove these to carry on fitting insulation and boarding over, but I'm in a quandary as to the best way to do that, and leave something that a gas fitter / plumber can work with subsequently. The pipes would be very close to where the boards will be, leaving no clearance to e.g., safely work with a blowtorch. What's the best way forward? Cut off and bend/fit elbow, or something like that? Thanks

Arrest made: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-56888615 Two arrests have been made by investigators. A man, of no fixed address, is being held on suspicion of murder. A woman, 41, from Birmingham, was arrested on Monday on suspicion of assisting an offender and perverting the course of justice.

Thanks again!

Ah...the internal diameter is 15mm. Would that be 3/8" BSP?

Perfect - cheap and simple, thanks.