Snufkin

Thank you for your replies.

Hello - if ballast is put at the front of the boat in order to make the boat more level in the water, is the effect on the stern to push the stern further into the water, (but to lesser extent than the effect on the bow), or does it have a see-saw effect on the boat, so that as the bow goes down the stern will come up? Thank you

Thanks again for all this great advice and information I think the locker top will be having a re-design and will investigate the channels and if a drain hole can be added.

Hello bottle, yes that is right, (sorry for late reply).

Thank you, Sea Dog. What Alan said makes sense. Ditchcrawler - the lid is a seat on a semi-trad, currently it is hinged along its long length, but that is letting water in, so the design will be changed. Its been subject to strong winds and driving rain recently, (we are in the north-west), but the temporary cover, (old yoga mat held down with bricks), seems to help.

Oh thank you again - especially for the reassurance re the risk of turning turtle... The gas is in a locker at the stern end of the boat and only has one drainage hole, so that it drains/vents over the canal/water. I think it can't have a second venting point on the opposite side because this might result, in the case of a gas leak, in the gas sinking into the engine compartment in an undesirable fashion?

Thank you, again, everyone. The gas locker does have a vent at the bottom so that is alright. It is fully compliant with all regulations. I worry about everything, so was originally worried that adding ballast might make the boat unstable and more likely to tip over, but then last night it was windy and I worried about whether it was possible for the wind to overturn the boat, (having seen a programme about such an event happening to a sea-going catamaran).........

Thank you, everyone, for your helpful replies. Sea Dog, the boat is new. It is only slightly listing. We bought it partially fitted-out, (as a sailaway), and have completed the fit out ourselves. Would you expect any boat, (new or otherwise), to have a list? I mean, is it normal? It is only a 'problem' because of the gas locker not draining, and the lid on the gas locker not being water-tight, so the gas bottle sits in a shallow pool of water when we are not there to sort it out. Ideally, we would make the lid water-tight and we are getting a cover for the back which will help. But I am now curious as to whether a slight degree of list is just one of those things? Thank you.

Hello - some advice, please. Our new narrow boat has a slight list which makes it difficult to keep the gas locker dry, as rain water doesn't drain away. It's not a massive problem but we thought we might get some extra ballast to correct the list. We would put this into the bow locker and possibly under the bed. Could doing this jeopardise the stability and hence the safety of the boat? Thank you.

hello bigcol - how long is the ladder, please?