Lizzy

OK so it seems it is not just one place then. Harefield Wide I believe IS the marina now. The other lake is the one where I was but could only access the bottom part as it’s fenced off by the angling society. Looking at the satellite view you’d think the boats would be visible, but nothing. Guess they must be submerged now? It remains a mystery 🤔

Yeah that’s all Harefield Marina. What a pity, it would have been such a find (I love discovering obscure places).

Sorry to resurrect an ancient thread. I am trying to find this place, but it‘s a bit of a mystery. There is a lake behind Harefield Marina on the side away from the canal. It is quite inaccessible. There is only a locked gate with sign of angling club. There is a trail called Denham quarry and access to the lake on the opposite side of the angling club. No sign of any boats. Is this the right lake? Have the boats disappeared? I even asked the marina manager and he said they‘d never seen the rows of boats that are in the old pictures. Any tips? 🧐

That would be lovely ? Looks like I’ll be joining the CC crowd too.

I am sad to announce that due to unforeseen circumstances I will have to drop out of the challenge as I have to return to London. I had barely made it to Birmingham! ? I hope you all have a great time and don’t get stuck somewhere with no water or even worse no drinks.

Hello!! I am a late start as I had to deal with theft of a bike today and finding a swift replacement. Although cycling might not be a priority while pottering round Birmingham really slowly. The weather conditions meant some ice breaking first. Therefore I only made it to Fazeley Junction for the start. It's a loooong way from London to the BCN.

One advantage of a solo challenge is that you don't have to argue over the right route, beverage or anything else. Bliss!

In February yes! Great trip if a tad windy!

Well spotted! Just before Cassiobury Park.

Ely .... ?

Good afternoon! I may be a late entry, but to compensate for that I am also a one-woman team and know very little about the BCN. But I like a challenge and the fact that I can do a lock in 5 minutes single-handed on these virtual canals fills me with joy. So .... bring it on!

Hello! I only heard about this challenge about 15 minutes ago so am already late to the party. I don't have a team, but I single-hand a lot so that's ok. I have found the post how to register, but where can I see the rules of the game? I am not that familiar with the BCN (let alone the forgotten parts), but would give this a go if I can find out if it's actually possible to do this without knowing it all. And ... is it still possible to register??

That is very true. As they have been so good and accommodating while I was there I am hopeful too that this will be resolved. I have written to the boatyard and manufacturer together yesterday asking for somebody to come out and do a personal diagnosis. Boatyard has always been immediatly responsive before. Not this time which makes me think that they are considering.

It was done outside and yes in the first two weeks both the gritblasting and the epoxy spraying were postponed on some days due to bad weather. It was very windy in the week that the two epoxy coats went on. They covered the sides in plastic sheeting but not the roof. I had tiny sprinkles of epoxy all over the roof. The boatyard is the only one in the area doing the gritblasting and it is booked ahead for months. There were boats waiting to be gritblasted when I left. I can only assume that they know what they are doing (generally). Everything done there looked very professional. I was not on site though to see the application on my boat. I have no reason to doubt their competence. Yet here I am with this substandard coating ?

It was Hempadur 45143. While I was at the boatyard they did confer with the Hempel rep. Because of delays due to bad weather it had only been three days of curing by the planned date to be put back in. Hempel advised that that's not long enough at this temperature and advised another day. Because of logistics at the boatyard I staid 3 days longer. Thank you so so much for your help. I am waiting for another response from Hempel as I had replied to them with all the details. Then will write an email to them both. Fingers crossed.

Boat was refloated 27th. But this is all above the waterline anyway. The deep scratches I got from usage are all from 29th. I will be travelling on tomorrow through 3 more locks. I will see how that goes, but I don't have the feeling that it has hardened much more since last week.

Two videos from two places (bow and stern) spliced into one. This is the side that got a bit less sun probably. The other side is the canal, I didn't quite manage to scrape and video it hanging over the water. I did try a spot there, no discernible difference I would say. I would say it curls. Would you? Sorry I didn't have it in myself to make a 2 inch strip. Just too painful to scrape it all off! I hope this is enough for you to see. The second coat was applied 21st Sep. The boat is in West London. If you are anywhere near I'd be forever grateful for a personal assessment. Would be happy to pay expenses too. Video_3.mp4

Well wish me luck. For a boatyard to redo a job that cost several £1000s is not an easy negotiation. I'll keep you posted.

OK I managed to convert the two videos to mp4 format. Eagerly awaiting Dr. Bob's verdict. I have written to Hempel as well. They were very responsive and came back asking for exact conditions etc. I sent them the fingernail video too. I am a bit more hopeful now. Video_2.mp4 video 1.mp4

It's a .mov file (iphone video). Maybe this isn't the right player for it?

Oh! They play on my screen. What does it say?

@Dr Bob Thank you so much for your advice. It is so helpful to take the subjectivity out of it between the boatyard saying don't bash into things and me saying I didn't do it! Here are two videos and one photo: - Making a hole with a scraper. The epoxy did not splinter but rather curl. The curl is harder than cheese I would say, but crumbly. - Video from scratching it with my fingernail. The scratch is a lighter colour, which I believe is the primer underneath. - The picture is from scratch marks from the curvy bit at the stern, which really doesn't get a lot of impact at all. Not sure where I scraped this but it can't have been hard. Would love to hear your view. It's not so easy to video this up close so I hope it shows up OK. Thank you so much for your help! IMG_9127.MOV IMG_9126.MOV

They have a five star reputation online and they are the only boatyard doing gritblasting in the area. I hope I can convince them to have another look at it.

Yes gritblasting, primer, and sprayed two coats epoxy. It cost a fortune. It rained on the second coat shortly after application and got some surface grey markings from that, but they told me it's not a problem for the curing or durability.

Hi, digging up an old thread here that I found when searching for scratches on epoxy blacking. Everybody here seems to agree that epoxy is extremely hard wearing. I had 2 coats of Hempadur applied last coat Fri two weeks ago. Professionally done as far as I can tell in a boatyard with a good reputation. When I went back into the water last week and travelled through 8 locks (no significant impact other than the normal touching the lock walls and tying up on the towpath) a lot of it has scratched off on the rubbing strake and also below it. The scratches go right down to the primer. I was shocked by this as I hadn't expected this to come off so quickly. When contacting the boatyard I was told that no blacking survives impact of a multi-ton boat and that this is normal. I am convinced that something has gone wrong here, no idea what. After almost two weeks drying time I can still easily scratch it with my fingernail. It has rubbed off just from where the tyre fender touches it too. Should I be able to scratch it so easily? I am not sure how to come back to the boatyard, but I guess fingernails is a pretty objective kind of measure versus me trying to prove that I didn't bang into anything. )I have scratches even at the stern and I don't know how I would even have done that without reversing hard into something!