thorne lass

Typo, moi?? Sorry Tim, some docks excepted. I was simply thinking about a lot of the modern marina docks where a snake has trouble getting under a boat, so there is no depth to drop a rudder into if you find it needs dropping, and not even enough depth to get a jack under to lift the boat. I did qualify by mentioning UBC's "deep dock" but wasn't aware that you had moved yours to London as well.

The CO problem is rather less with a diesel engine than petrol but there is still enough CO to worry about, plus lots of other nasties that I wouldn't want to share a bed with. My point, I am afraid, is that I would not waste a penny on a horrible noisy engine that you will never manage to silence effectively, "effectively" being defined as "such that you will not annoy the neighbours."

Epimastic is just as good as any yachty poxy, but cheaper. It will work over existing paint that has been well pressure washed, but is better on grit blasted plating if you can run to that. I wouldn't waste time and money on any single pack bitumen. With epoxy on, whether you grit blast first or not, you could easily go five years between dockings, probably more subject to usage. Have a look after five years.

Arrr! But that's with a proper boat Roger. Many boats built by so-called boat builders these days have rudders that cannot be removed because the skeg is too wide, the stock trunking too small, the clearance to lift out of the cup non-existent or the rudder is bolted to the stock and the bolts are seized or the stock has a taper coupling that has seized etc. etc. etc. And I can remember more than a few times when we have sweated for well over 30 minutes just to free the prop off the taper, even with loads of heat, and that was sometimes when the prop has only been on for half an hour and a few thousand test revolutions. The Apprentice at Isleworth is a good idea but only if you have all the gear such as oxy-propane, power for a drill etc. and a spade to drop the rudder should you need to. Docks are not a good idea unless you are sure that you wil not have to drop the rudder to clear the prop. I would have thought Uxbridge, with a good deep dock, and a crane, and a shop full of nuts & washers & split pins would be the best and safest answer.

Sounds as if you have a good thickness of paint then!! Seriously ("serious question") I think I know which "surveyor" you used, and he seems to like measuring through the paint with a meter which cannot differentiate between paint and steel. Unless of course your boat was built to a special thicker specification. Normal spec. was +/-5mm hull, 3mm cabin & bulkheads.

The rquirement for fuel to drain overboard if spilt whilst filling or venting is a leftover from the old Thames Launch Digest rules, developed when most boats used petrol (or steam). Petrol of course evaporates off the water, and you don't want petrol in your bilges. Trouble is, BSS office wallahs are too busy thinking up new rules to worry about updating obsolete ones. In Holland any diesel oil spillage, however small, is punishable by a hefty fine.

The reason that many 100 + year old Dutch barges are still around is that the insides of the hulls were treated with a paraffin wax based compound, a bit like Waxoyl but rather thicker and seemingly more tenacious. I have used Waxoyl with quite good results before fitting out boats, and would prefer it to any paint or indeed Owatrol, but the Dutch wax is better. There are various brands, one being "Tenco Anti-Roest Vet" (anti-rust fat). It can be ordered in the UK from Energy Solutions in Rochester. You may want to warm it a bit before spreading it on. Owatrol is not what I would call a durable coating, but it is extremely good at penetrating and retarding rust and scaling, particularly in old boats with riveted flanges etc. where it seems to penetrate right into the seams. It is also a very good paint extender so it has its uses, but would not be as good as a bilge treatmentas the Dutch "fat." However, if you have a degree of corrosion and scaling perhaps the ideal course would be Owatrol followed by a good dollop of fat. Whatever, you cannot do too much to protect the inside of the steelwork and reliance on primers alone like red oxide would be very foolish.

Take the number of boats licenced on the system, subtract the number built in the last four years, divide by the number of registered examiners, then divide by 4, and that is the average number of "jobs" per examiner. It wasn't very many the last time I did the calculation. Then bear in mind that a few examiners seem to do a disproportionately large number of boats (perhaps they are cheap), leaving a much lower average for the rest. Then factor in the paperwork time, the registration fee, PI and PL insurance, certificates etc. Then bear in mind that you may be required to attend further routine CPD training sessions, sometimes two or more days, for which you supply your time free and pay for theirs, and then bear in mind you may get sued if you get it wrong, which I guess isn't comfortable even if you are insured! I wouldn't have thought it was worth the aggro, which is why I am not one!

Another vote for Owatrol, magic stuff especially if painting steel in hot weather. When we ran hire boats we used Dulux Trade gloss with excellent durable high quality results. I now use Rustoleum throughout since whilst (if the paint finish is professional) the initial gloss is perhaps not so good, Rustoleum seems to resist fading and chalking much better. If applied by a less experienced person then the slightly lower gloss will not be a problem. It is also supposedly self priming and due to time constraints and size of boat we often get reduced to slapping on a quick coat to tidy up and don't use primer or multiple coats, with no adverse results. Definitely do not waste money on yachty pants. If you don't like Rustoleum (and I can't think why you shouldn't!) then use Dulux Trade. Alan's comments re. the permeability of primer are absolutely correct. If the boat has sat outside in almost any primer for any length of time it would be best to strip it back to the metal.

The other option for off-loading will be Farndon Marina (just upstream of Newark). They may not have a suitable pad for crane-off but you could dump it on the ground and then launch it with their slipway hoist if they cannot lift direct from the truck.

Many years ago I observed with disgust the tatty nature of many boat fenders, full of weeds and very unkempt. Out of that grew (no pun intended) the idea for "growfenders." I'm not a gardener (beyong mowing the grass three times a year!) but surely one could knot a fender that included the key ingredients and seeds or bulbs for a flower / veg / herb garden. A nice set of three tipcats would provide quite a good area, as would a chunky bow fender. All self watering whilst cruising of course, and excellent drainage without staining the paint on the roof. Paul G2 may care to comment !!

Prepare and paint the roof as normal. Mask off the non-slip areas you want and abrade lightly. Apply a thickish coat of gloss paint to these areas. Pour on budgy sand (nice & sharp & dry) thickly. Allow to dry, sweep up excess sand and save in a dry place for next time. Apply another coat of paint. Remove masking tape.

For every £1..00 invested in flood relief works the payback must be £8.00.

All that was needed was good ratchet straps or ropes from the stern dollies and rails on the boat, and/or around the rudder strock under the counter, back to the top gate rails and/or around the balance beams to stop the boat slipping forward. The boat was levelling out and rising nicely at the bow but simply slipped forward off the sill. I guess that the problem here was H&S and nobody wanted to go near the stern of the boat, or perhaps a worry about risk of damage to the gates, which latter would not have happened if properly done. Also there seems to be a part understandable desire on behalf of C&RT to clear the navigation as soon as possible, but it is the case that the boat could have been recovered quickly without damage to the structures and without significant water damage to the aft end (engine, batteries, inverter etc.) given just a little bit of thought and expertise. Was this RCR doing the recovery??

I'm not sure I have ever seen anything but metallic injector pipes. You are right about Listers, and I can think of many others where at least parts of the injector pipes are under the rocker cover.