manxmike
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Everything posted by manxmike
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Very probably, however no longer my problem. After selling the boat for a whacking great loss because of the erosion of the hull thickness (down to 2mm in places) it's something the new owner may want to address. Good luck to them, it's a cracking boat which they've got for a song. Just wish I hadn't left quite so much on board (folding bike, cutlery, plates etc etc)
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I had a Lister SR2 which was fine, but suddenly started vibrating and producing knocking noises. My heart sank until someone advised me to check the bolts holding the engine to the I beams through the hardwood mounts. One bolt had slackened off and two others took a bit of tightening. Once done the vibration virtually disappeared and no more knocking noises. Don't use nylock nuts - the heat of the engine softens the nylon and the bolts undo DAMHIK! Use twin nuts tightened on each other instead. In the bilge were the broken off tops of two previous bolts - evidently previous owners had had the same problem and had over tightened the bolts.
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That's why I'm looking at the cheaper end of the market.
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Just read the article on MIC. I recently spent a week in the canal between Chester and Ellesmere Port - almost exactly the conditions described in the text. Rotting vegetation clogging the canal, dead animals everywhere, I can't help wondering if that might have exacerbated the condition.
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Determination to get back on the canals has brought to the surface a number of thoughts. 1. Buy a share in a boat 2. Hire 3. Buy a GRP boat in need of tlc To be honest the option I am favouring is number 3. Reasonable GRP boats can be bought for well under £10,000, obviously in need of some work but that's not a problem. There are several advantages I can think of - cheaper licence and mooring, somewhat lower running costs, much less room for swmbo to fill with "things we can't live without". I do not intend to live aboard and the majority of use would be during the "summer" months (April to October). If anyone has other options I would love to hear them. That splashing sound is me trying to get the bathtub to float!
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To be honest I decided to bite the bullet. Apart from the pitting - which I have no reason to doubt - all the windows need replacing, the batteries are due for replacement (five years old and not holding charge as well as they used to), plus various other work needed. In the cold light of serious reason the boat was reaching (had reached) a point where it was becoming a money pit, 30 years old with a 6mm base plate and 5mm sides. Without extensive funds to throw at it, which would have equated to buying a much newer boat or even a new build sailaway it was an unrealistic proposition. OK, I've lost money on the sale, but I've also saved myself the mooring fees, licence, insurance and the ongoing expenses. My family have had four years of great fun, three generations have enjoyed the time we have spent aboard - that's something that can't be quantified in terms of money. Someone has now bought a boat that, with time and money, could well see another 30 years of service. I simply do not have the finances to fund the sort of work needed at the moment. Realism can be uncomfortable, but it does shine a light into the dark corners we would all rather ignore.
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- galvanic isolator
- pitting
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Four anodes and absolutely standard - supplied and fitted by the Marina, not just to my boat but to most boats they service
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The people who were intending to buy the boat had the boat dry-docked and a survey done - they then decided not to buy as a result of the survey.
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Interesting, wish I'd known this sort of thing a while ago!
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Probably on the way out to be honest. They were new four years ago, and visually they seemed to be still there. Without having the boat out of the water (£400) it is difficult to say for sure. I did wonder about phasing between the boats bracketing mine, it doesn't take much to set up a field. I've stopped changing my Avatar now - honest I have!
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No, not in Nantwich, just outside at Choldmonston, why?
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Sorry to scare you Tim, but if someone can profit from my experience or at least avoid the same pitfall, then it hasn't been a totally dreadful period, just a new section of life's learning curve. I'm doing my swan thing - calm exterior, but it's all happening under the surface!
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That was the direction my thoughts were going in. Nicknorman - not plugged in at all, rubber fenders between myself and the metal walkway. Maybe I should have earthed the hull to something?
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Sadly I had neither fitted - not using mains power (except on very rare occasions) I didn't think I needed either. Expensive way of learning the error of my ways!
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Moored in a Marina but not using the mains power? Don't imagine for a minute that you are not at risk of galvanic reaction from other people's boats! I was horrified to discover that despite not using the mains supply for more than a few minutes every month, my hull had developed serious pitting causing the value of the boat to sink without trace. The buyer's surveyor said that the hull needed overplating urgently at a cost of some £8,000 to £10,000. The only cause of the reaction I can think of is being bracketed on the Marina by live-aboard boats plugged in permanently to the mains power and possibly not having a galvanic isolator fitted, thus causing the problem with my hull. When last examined (four years ago) the pitting was minimal and the hull was sound - now it is down to 2 to 3mm in places. Sadly I had to cut my losses and accept a seriously low price for the boat. There was no way I could afford to have the overplating done. I had hoped to raise sufficient to make the first few payments on a new Sailaway hull, but those plans have now gone on hold for the foreseeable future. Ah well, we learn from our mistakes and oversights. Maybe I should have gone for a GRP hull instead.
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I'm in the process of selling my 1987 Liverpool Hull "Cobweb" which I have owned for four years. Lovely boat, sails well, sound hull, Lister SR2, multi fuel stove etc etc. Reason I'm selling is two-fold, the market is in favour of the seller at the moment so I get more for the boat, and we want a new-build sailaway which we can lay out to our own specification. Four years with Cobweb was enough to come to the conclusion that we love owning our own boat, there are very few problems that can't be overcome with a little work and those problems that I can't handle have been dealt with by the professionals. It also taught me that the layout of Cobweb was not ideal for us, my wife is disabled and the trad stern made entering the boat awkward for her. We looked at stripping the interior out and re-building but the cost was about the same as buying a sailaway and fitting that out, plus it didn't solve the trad stern problem, so no choice really. I am sure the people buying her will be as happy as we have been with Cobweb as a first boat. I would say that older boats are as good a place to start as anywhere. It's a learning curve - pretty steep at times - but learning this way prepares you for all sorts of things that you can and will cope with in the future. Hopefully the work I have done (and have had done) will serve the new owners well. Keep looking - the boat that is ideal for you is out there! (ps this is not an advert - I already have an offer I have accepted!)
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Rebalasting, weight distribution?
manxmike replied to SilverComet's topic in Boat Building & Maintenance
I've been told that old window sash weights will fit under the base of a cupboard - a few inches above the base plate, very heavy but small in size, add or subtract to balance out the trim. I've managed to get some from a local double glazing firm and will be trimming next week! -
Rob - many thanks for the clarification. At least I have left a decent air-gap behind the cement board. Another piece of excellent info for the new build!
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You're probably right about the calcium silicate board, but I have been assured that the Hardie Backer 6mm is more than adequate for the purpose - and it was easy to get hold of!
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I have just had my fire, flue and chimney sorted by Garry Spruce, he told me that the minimum air gap is 10mm. In my case we discovered that the tiles behind the fire were actually mounted on plywood - well, it used to be plywood, when a tile fell off we found it was now charcoal! I ripped out the plywood behind and beside the fire, removed the melted polystyrene and installed 6mm cement board (Hardie Backer) with a fairly generous air gap to the hull. I'm going to put new tiles on to replace the dreadful small square white tiles that were there. I realised when I was stripping out the charcoal board that I have been incredibly lucky that the boat hadn't gone on fire. Since I plan my next boat to be a sailaway, fitted out by me, that's one problem I won't have to face - the fire will be backed by cement board and will be mounted on a fireproof base and installed by (hopefully) Garry!
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"Cobweb" is a 1998 Liverpool hull and fits through every lock I've come across, she sails in a straight line with minimum wake, previously I spent some very happy times aboard "Moonbeam" an even earlier Liverpool hull that also sailed in a straight line with minimum wake and fitted through every lock we came across. That's only two I admit, but for me that's 100% I'm hoping to get a "sailaway" in the next year or two, I'm planning a visit to Collingwood to see if they suit.
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If the cap fits - or even covers you to the knees ...........
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Day boaters - people enjoying a day out on the cut Hen and Stag parties - people enjoying a week out on the cut Hire boaters - people enjoying a fortnight out on the cut Boat Share - people enjoying a fortnight out on the cut Private owners - people enjoying a month out on the cut GRP owners - people enjoying a month out on the cut CCers - people enjoying the rest of their life out on the cut Seems to me we all have something in common - now I wonder what that could be? Live and let live and smile whilst doing so, life's too short to be grumpy and miserable!
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I've got a Villager Heron which must be between the two mentioned - mine has the bottom opening main door, but has two rotating air vents on the ash door. These were seized solid until Gary Spruce recently serviced the stove for me so should now provide infinitely controllable air flow (I haven't lit the fire yet so I am hoping!). I must say from previous winters the fire is incredibly efficient - the temperature inside the boat reached 40 degrees one evening. When Gary was servicing the stove we discovered that the tile backing had been mounted on 3mm ply about 1 inch away from the back of the stove and was now charcoal rather than ply. I have now replaced the it with Hardie Backer cement board with a minimum of 10mm air gap. It was a miracle that the boat had not gone on fire. I was completely unaware of the problem but it's something I will want to check on future purchases.
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For cruising I like the old Nicholson, for information I like the new Nicholson (too much detail on the maps). E-canal is great on my android tablet - it's just a case of keeping it out of the sun so you can see it and out of the rain so it doesn't go fizz bang and stop working.
