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.

There is a Government "rent-a-room" scheme whereby you can rent a room in your house out to a tenant and the rental, up to about £4,200 p.a.,, is tax free. In the right house with the right tenant this gives you somebody else living there to keep an eye on the place, a "moving" car on the drive and of course a useful income, and if you are away a lot then it may not be that much of an imposition if you have the space, ensuites etc.. You would have to tell your insurers, and comply with basic fire safety and gas testing rules for rented accommodation, but you have the income and the security and an aired house. We actually rent two rooms, one a semi-self contained studio flat / granny annexe which is permanently occupied (6 month assured short term tenancy) and one en-suite bedroom on a monthly contract to a business man who needs pied-a-terre accommodation four nights a week. There are various web sites with "for rent or wanted" listings and client profiles, or you can use a letting agent. We have been doing this for many years without any significant problems security or tenant-wise.

The Vokins barges such as "Ben Klibrech" (trip barge at Berko) and the one that sat in the arm at Fenny Stratford for years were, as I recall, 78' long, but there could be a faded grey cell involved there. Clearly there is more room for the gates to swing with a barge in a lock as opposed to a narrow boat pair. GUCC boats were gauged at up to 7' 1.75" beam.

I just break the boat down to sections and add together the increments: Stem post to headboard headboard to cabin bulkhead front cabin bulkhead to aft cabin bulkhead aft deck or whatever. Usually accurate enough!

That harbour is notorious apparently, a very narrow entrance on a steeply shelving shore, but lovely once inside safely. Clearly the skipper was anxious, hence his dithering before making his final approach. I don't think it was a freak wave given the ones that followed regularly. The trouble with many modern yachts is they are very "fat" at the stern and fine at the bow, so excess buoyancy (comparatively) at the stern makes them lift the stern and bury the bow, then pitch pole or broach as this did. It's worse of course with a press of wind in the sails! Its debatable whether the creew were safer inside or out. if inside they would have been thrown about badly and perhaps injured seriously. Certainly however they should have been clipped on.

No, its the same, but different. No T2's, no T2L's anymore, no customs bonding after 6 months, and it is in general a lot easier, but there are still relevant pitfalls. Concisely, and from memory: 1. A boat that can be proven to have been built before 31st. December 1992 and which was in the EU on that date is automatically regarded as "VAT Paid." items such as original invoices, repair invoices, mooring bills etc. will all help prove the age of the boat if it is not riveted. 2. A boat built since 1993 should carry paperwork showing that VAT has been paid, certainly on major items. Any boat could have been built in the UK but exported VAT-free oiutside Europe, so could be returning to the EU with no VAT ever having been paid, hence the requirement for receipted invoices. The authorities may also take into account documentary records, say BW licences, mooring invoices etc. supporting any contention that the boat has remained in the UK (for example) throughout. In short, post-1993 boats do need a paperwork record to prove VAT-paid status or problems could be expectable. These records should be part of the "Ship's Papers," either passed on from the last owner or archived by a self builder.

1. There should be no problem with an integral tank (the one in the bow) if it can be cleaned out and painted efficiently and occasionally. We used to pressure wash the tanks out and then repaint with potable bitumen with the boat on the dock and a heater underneath to ensure a good dry surface to paint to. 2. Pressed the wrong key there, but don't know which one. To continue..... 2. The tank aft was undoubtedly intended as a black water (pump out) tank. there is no reason why this cannot be used for water although it is probably bare steel and will need painting as per the bow tank. The pump out pipe can be cut off within the tank and used as a filler. You will need a vent as well. Simply connect the forward tank to the after tank with say 22mm Hep 2O pipe or hose, then connect the after tank to the water pump, which is best located in the engine room so that it causes less damage if it leaks in the future. When filling you will need to fill both tanks separately since the 22mm balance pipe will not allow the tanks to balance as fast as you fill, but that is a small inconvenience perhaps. The alternative would be a 38mm hose balance pipe between the tanks. You will need a take off pipe at the bottom of the tank for the water supply to the pump. This is easiest achieved using a cunning rubber seal (forget the name but its a bit like a heavy duty grommet)) sold by Leesan. You simply hole-saw a hole in the tan of suitable size, fit the "grommet" and push an outlet pipe of suitable size through the grommet.

We use old worn out Acrow props, available for a song from plant hire companies. One half a prop can be driven in quite easily into a soft bank by up to about 2 metres length with a good sledge hammer. The square "foot" is ideal for hammering on. We stop just before that reaches the ground, then drape a loop of chain around the pole just below the foot, and then drive the pole right down into the ground out of sight. The advantage of this are: 1. Very strong even in soft ground because you are goIng deep. 2. Using a loop of chain means that you can drive the pole in deep so that it disappears and is not a trip hazard and is invisible. 3. The chain may (subject to the level of bank v. boat) bury itself in the ground so be invisible also and not a trip hazard. 4. This last point may mean that you can drive your poles further from the water, perhaps even the other side of the path, subject to levels (i.e. if the bank is higher than the boat's deck), since the chains will bury themselves (or can be buried). 5. Obviously you tie up to the chains (perhaps using shackles). If you leave a generous length of chain in the air and it is heavy chain then its weight will act as a snubber and reduce the snatching forces exerted by the boat. 6. Chain is more difficult for vandals to cut. 7. It's cheap! By the way, somebody mentioned only two spikes. That is a most unboatmanlike way to secure a boat permanently. Correct angling of the ropes is another lesson that many could learn. I see many boats tied just to breast ropes (i.e. short ropes perpendicular between the boat and bank). These will not stop the boat surging and snatching. The correct way is with head and stern lines running forward and aft of the boat respectively, and head and stern springs running aft and forward respectively, all running at say 45 degrees to the boat or more. These will much reduce surge effects from wind, stream or passing boats. The extra scope of the lines permits greater up and down movement as water levels change, and you have four strings to your bow(t) as opposed to only two.

I'm guessing you have a keel cooled engine, i.e. closed circuit cooling with a cooling tank welded into the hull. For that reason you have a combination header tank / water cooled manifold for your single circuit of cooling water. If you had a raw water / heat exchanger cooled system then you would have the stack tubes in the header tank / manifold (also known as the "Manicooler") so that your engine closed circuit runs through the main body (with pressure cap) and the separate raw water circuit runs through the stack tubes. Hence the two steps on the end covers for twin jubilee clips to separate the systems. You could fit stack tubes to heat a separate pumped circuit for your heating, but the conventional way is to draw heat off direct from the engine before the thermostat. The reason is that you will get a quicker warm - up on your heating, especially if your cooling tank is of a good large size. In the good old days with BMC 1.5's there was a tapping on the top surface of the back of the head, injector side, and you returned the water into the flow pipe to the engine's centrifugal pump via a simple tee fitting. Where or whether there is a tapping on your engine I don't know but I would be surprised if there isn't one since a take-off is normally provided on automotive engines for the cab heater.

I suspect that with Center Parcs the costs do not stop there (£1500) at all, with loads of extra charges for certain amusements, sports etc. That was certainly the case when our son went to Butlins a few years ago with friends : they didn't want you to go off campus at all in case you spent money elsewhere. Perhaps not a valid comparison but I always used to stress that on a canal holiday you spend very little more than at home, perhaps a few extra pub meals and beers but that's it, so comparisons with other forms of holidays are not necessarily constructive.