Horace42

Except during construction...the noise will come from 'passing' traisn. Loud or not, soon out of earshot - and psychologically, as you know what it is - and gone in seconds - (thus ignored - and out of mind).....unlike, by comparison, for example, to noise from adjacent boats with engines running at unsociable hours - with no sign of any let up....! That is what irritates me.

It is not beyond the wit of engineers and physicists to invent ways of providing 'heat' without CO2 emissions, or by containing it at source, or even collecting it afterwards. The blunt instrument of banning the use of fuel that causes the problem would just delay the solution - until the loss of 'heat' becomes serious and/or the alternative' fuel runs out. A tourniquet around the neck is a quick fix for a nose bleed.

Thanks. There's great merit in what you say. A temporary marina makes sense if we 'live' on our boat in between selling and buying. Many years ago - first thinking of moving but in those days to a canal-side property - we would find a place for sale - moor up moor - knock on the door with a hold-all full of money and pay cash. But what is the price? Do you have any prices for non-rusting metal?

Thanks Sea Dog for your kind thoughts. No complaints - and many happy years of boating. Goodness knows how much money (and time working on it) we have spent. An ignorance stemming from a simple 3 question philosophy on life when we have a free choice: Do we want it? Can we afford it? Do we need it? If a definite yes-yes-yes, then we go for it. Only 1 'no' usually kills it. Edit. Re keeping our boat, it gets 3 no's.

Interesting point about stray electrics --- my boat at the end of my garden (unused and occupied for most of the year) is permanently connected to a 230vac land line (but fitted with galvanic isolators) If pitting takes place in the unpainted areas, even a brand new boat can have bare patches due to scratches - where the electric current focuses - then I imagine my boat would be full of holes by now - but is not - being absolutely dry in the bilge. Rain-water gets into the engine bilge when the covers are not on - and is pumped out when necessary.

Yes! it was tongue -in-cheek on my part. Sorry.... it is my dry sense of humour frivolously creeping into a serious question about the longevity of a steel narrowboat. ........... and please don't call me Shirley!

Yes Alan, I agree with you wholeheartedly about the surveyor... . Yes an 'opinion' - not traceable to any national standards for hull thickness - but based on many years of experience - and delivered with smug arrogance....a waste of money .... but regretfully a procedure embedded in the boat ownership 'system'. As you probably know know better than me, CRT with compulsory 3rd party insurance, and the insurers particularly for fully comp, make regular surveys mandatory for valuation. Having jumped through the hoops I am insured ...... except in my case .... although the insurance company might have to pay me for the 'loss' of my boat, and CRT for cost of emergency removal of an obstruction to navigation), there is a risk they might ague I am not insured for the latter, and sue me to recover their costs in excess of the insured value. It all comes down to trust I suppose....or lack of in my case. All on the more reason to give up boating.

Thanks Mike - a direct hit!

I vaguely recall I was told (by boatyards, mariners, BSS MOT people, paint-makers etc) that blacking was required for insurance purposes.

Alan. I think I read your original article. It was one of the reasons I decided not to have my boat replated. No regrets. If I find one, I will let the new owner decide what to do with it.

Thanks David. I will check out Kedian - but honestly as part of a puzzle to complete the picture, rather than any serious intention having the work done.

Thanks Bee. I think you have summed it up quite well. You mention eBay - I will have a look.

It might seem like I am arguing with you, sorry, but the advice to follow surveyor commendations to replate my boat is not a good idea according Alan and his article on replating. To my mind the surveyor is only 'wiser and better informed' in respect of protecting his own arse...sod the client.

Lots more wise words Arthur. I was being flippant when I said I did not know about the rust - of course I did - but not to the extent that it would be a constant and continuous battle to keep it a bay. It is fair to say it became obvious the first year of ownership, but I ignored the blacking mainly out of laziness - and now it come up to bite me. As you have said here (and my reply earlier) the insurance is the tricky bit - but I have done all that I can in this respect. If the worst happens - they cannot say I did not tell them before I paid. As a minor but relevant detail, I have fitted a moisture sensor and alarm in the lowest point of the bilge to detect he first signs of a hull leak.

Thanks for the detailed reply and selling tips. Yes! Many years of fun, but as a fair weather cruiser. My boat is moored at the end of my garden - and hardly used - it is more of a hobby - I am always doing jobs on it. But as my reply to Arthur, my boat has to go. I will sell it 'as is' with full disclosure of the report - and at the valuation price or less - I don't want any after-sales hassle. In this respect the hull is a minor worry. Over the years I have refitted it out a couple of times - and with added electrical 'gadgets' (excluding solar panels). Things that are neatly packaged as 'norm' today, but long ago only available to DIY boaters with skills and time to design and fit them. Although I have drawings and photos of everything, I have a feeling the new owner will have problems if something goes wrong. I don't want to be called out - even if paid.

So very true. Insurance has been my problem - even with fully comp cover - you are right about 'recommendations being carried out' - I asked the surveyor to say my boat was seaworthy for the time being and repairs were not immediately required..... or that it was in immediate risk of sinking .... all I got was a smart-arse answer. But I have got fully comp insurance (based on a copy of the survey report accepted by the insurers) - so I should be covered for my loss, where for me the costly risk is not losing my boat (because it sinks at the end of my garden due to undetected minor leaks in the hull and a failed bilge pump) but instead to me, the perceived 3rd party risk of my boat sinking in a lock and me being landed with a huge bill for emergency clearance of the obstruction to navigation. Then refusing to pay blamed on 'recommendations' not being carried out' For this I am comforted by good independent authority that an insurer is fully liable to pay out on a claim (by law) unless it can traced to a contributory cause by something that would not have happened had the recommendations been carried out.

Arthur - We will sell our boat and not replace it. Regretfully (in our 80's) we have to give up boating because we feel the physical limitations brought on by old age exposes us to serious accidental injury, even when being very careful.......days on jumping across locks to operate gates (to save walking round) - are long gone. Even stepping up and down on stationary boat close to the bank is an ordeal for my wife who has bad painful arthritis in her joints...and as for pulling on mooring ropes - we do not have the strength....well we do! but this is where the risk creeps in....I say this as a matter of fact - not for seeking sympathy. Coupled to this is the need to move home to be nearer our children in our old age - not because we want to - but more for children's sake because they worry about us be far from them in emergencies. This means selling our home (which has an EOG mooring) and without a boat, our new home will not need to be canalside. The economics of selling our boat is no big deal seen in the context of our house and land sale to a developer for housing. - which timed by demands of completion might mean we move out quicky and live our boat for a while.....a dream for some by all accounts...but for us a logistic nightmare. My question about rust and things is more for the benefit of the boat buyer - I just want to get rid of the hassle.....! There are comments by many others that I will respond to asap. Yes - but how much for

I have a steel boat and it is going rusty. I was not warned about this when I bought 33 years ago (but you live and learn) - and it also need a lot of cleaning and painting - that I have done regularly (almost annually to make it look pretty) - except hull blacking (only 3 times). And when recently in the dry dock I paid a surveyor to inspect and value my boat (for fully com insurance - and pending sale). The surveyor as good as condemned my boat. In fact he did a better 'blacking' job than the boat yard. He did not inspect the interior at all...I should have saved my money! Due to excessive rust 'pitting' in numerous places the surveyor recommended it was necessary to have the patches cut out and refilled with new steel - or the hull replated etc, etc, .. and waffle about the ineffectiveness of each option ....but subsequently refused to tell me what standards of minimum hull thickness applied - or how long I had before my boat would become 'unseaworthy' and not allowed on the canals....or when replating became a requirement, all I got was 'clever' answers with smug arrogance. I did not have my boat replated. The insurance company accepted the report and renewed my fully comp, policy at the survey value. From this questions arise, 1, Are there any standards for minimum thickness of rusty hulls? 2, What is the death profile of a steel narrow? 3, Who would buy a rusty boat? Any idea please,