captain flint

Ooh, solid read the whole (zombie) thread before commenting! Debdale looks pretty swish

Still done. Well, by all accounts. Even do the base plate, using hydraulics so they can move the chocks etc Sounds like a lot even for down here. Maybe try Paddy at Enfield Lock. He did grit blasting. Don't tell him I told you

Tbh I think I prefer your solution, as I reckon stopping the water going in the gap beteeen deck and deck boards sounds like a better plan than trying to control where it goes after it it's there... Although it's possible I'm misunderstanding the tape solution Thanks

Looks like just the ticket - thank you! And, er, silly question, but it works to keep the water out, right?

I'm soon going to be sorting out the rust in the base plate section of my engine bay, and priming and painting it. My stern gland does a great job, but the channels around the engine bay hatch, whilst quite wide and with two generous drainage holes, get clogged really easily and let lots of water in when it rains. I would like to keep it as dry as possible once I've redone it all. I will be more assiduous with cleaning out those channels and drainage holes but I'm thinking there must be other things you could do to help prevent our severally reduce that ingress in the first place. So... I'm investigating magnetised rubber or neoprene sheeting. Such stuff exists and I'm thinking a big rectangle of it to go over the whole engine bay hatch and attach magnetically to the surrounding steel of the cruiser stern deck wouldn't really be that much hassle to remove every time I need to go into the engine bay and surely would stop this ingress, or near as dammit. Any reaction to that as an idea? I guess it wouldn't be ideal for the paintwork on the steel, but the stern deck is easier to paint and generally deal with, plus isn't, you know, my base plate! It's a thought I've only just had, really. I would be really interested to hear anyone's thoughts. 🤔 PS One thing I've noticed already is such stuff doesn't come cheap, and so far I've only seen it in big rolls, far longer than I need, but maybe I could get an offcut - or, more likely, find some other boaters who'd like to to do the same and split the costs. For now, I'm just really interested to hear if people think it might be a good idea in principle, or if there's anything I'm missing that might put me off

Wow that was quick. Thank you. I realised after I posted that I was being a bit of a numb nuts and of course I know the kind of thing you have, go past them all the time. Not really keen to get one, if I'm honest, for various reasons. I'm soon going to be sorting out the rust in the base plate section of my engine bay, and priming and painting it. My stern gland does a great job, but the channels around the engine bay hatch, whilst quite wide and with two generous drainage holes, get clogged really easily and let lots of water in when it rains. I would like to keep it as dry as possible once I've redone it all. I will be more assiduous with cleaning out those channels and drainage holes but I'm thinking there must be other things you could do. So... I'm investigating magnetised rubber or neoprene sheeting. Such stuff exists and I'm thinking a big rectangle of it to go over the whole engine bay hatch and attach magnetically to the surrounding steel of the cruiser stern deck wouldn't really be that much hassle to remove every time I need to go into the engine bay and surely would stop this ingress, or near as dammit. Any reaction to that as an idea? I guess it wouldn't be ideal for the paintwork on the steel, but the stern deck is easier to paint and generally deal with, plus isn't, you know, my base plate! It's a thought I've only just had, really. I'm also going to start a new thread to throw it out there see what people think... 🤔

There's at least one 14ft wide boat that goes up and down the Lee, probably more, and at least one once-upon-a-time seagoing catamaran that must be 15' wide but I haven't measured it or asked. I don't think it will be an issue on the Lee at all.

Sorry revive this thread so long after the post, but can you tell me more about your stern cover? I am thinking of making our otherwise acquire something like this, but I don't want to reinvent the wheel...!

Er... 4 years too late, I can tell you I have a boat that I bought second hand with a fit out by them which is 14 years old and going strong. And that I've spoken on the phone a couple of times to Darren there, who remembers my boat, and has been helpful and seemed like a nice bloke. Out of curiosity: did you go with them, and if so, how was it? Bought it just before you posted the above, sorry not to have noticed at the time!

From memory, the ea guidelines are that the first three months need to be closely monitored to ensure the right heat is maintained (I think it might have been 60 degrees c), then it's another chunk of months before it's usable as a safe fertilizer. Honestly though, having dealt with pump ours and cassettes, you'd be amazed how much less the stink of dry waste mixed with sawdust is. But I'm not going to pretend you'd want to bottle the aroma, obviously

Well, if you're not seeing funny coloured water I guess that's a good sign... I've just done the prep and the first coat. I think it's going on my never to do again list!

So, it's a few years on... Any idea how it's holding up? I've been told at least twice by folk who think they know - and should know - that if you don't shot blast first, to achieve a kind of porous key you can't get any other easy, then epoxy won't hold up well in the face of immersion. One of them added that its impossible to shot blast a water tank of the sort of size you get in a canal boat. But I know loads of folk who don't go along with that first bit, about shot blasting, and I'm curious what their experiences have been. I'm in the middle of doing my tank. I'm going to have to use some kind of bitumen. But I'm curious how your epoxy held up. Maybe next time I'll try that. If there is a next time...! Mucky job 😂

Come on Alan, we've all got photoshop these days. Let's keep this forum free of fake news eh? 😜 Oh damn, you managed to quote the whole thing before I edited it. Quick work. Busted!

Do you have any evidence for this scurrilous accusation?!

PS, With my nerd hat on, and without criticism or wishing to detract from the quote, it isn't actually Plato, (although it's widely misattributed to him online). It's by George Francis Train (who?! no idea!), as published in Edmunds, A. C. (1871). Pen Sketches of Nebraskans (again, I'm not pretending to have any familiarity with this book!) "Strange times are these, in which we live, forsooth ; When young and old are taught in Falsehood's school:– And the man who dares to tell the truth, Is called at once a lunatic and fool."

Oh, and Alan - when did the change in your refuse collection occur? 2018? That Guardian article I linked to explores how plastic recycling has basically fallen off a cliff after China stopped taking it

That's interesting and helpful, thanks - and what a shame your recycling system has taken a nosedive. I'm sure up and down the country loads of areas which previously employed loads of Eastern Europeans and other migrant workers are having a hard time keeping up standards after Brexit.... I do not remotely think disposal of a few nappies is equivalent to black bags full of a week's worth of adult poo mixed with sawdust, but it's interesting to note - having read your post and the definition of offensive waste - that CRT do not insist on nappies being properly bagged/disposed of elsewhere than CRT bins. ... and then keep your fingers crossed that it actually gets recycled at all https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/aug/17/plastic-recycling-myth-what-really-happens-your-rubbish

Now come on, we visit Canalworld for the boat chat, we stay for the curmudgeons 😉

Made a slight change to the sentence there! As Tony implied what actually happens to waste once it is collected can vary greatly from authority to authority/provider to provider, and not everything put into recycling bins ends up being recycled. It's even possible that the new system you have means more is actually recycled, if people stick to it properly. Then again, possibly not. So hard to actually know what happens to our waste, and obviously a lot of it is eventually simply shipped overseas

Yes, general waste only I can understand. Recycling bins only seems really dumb

I know we're veering off topic here, but I notice where I am (Lee Navigation and River Stort) that there are some bin sites with only general waste and some others (not in the same vicinitty in the least) with only recycling. I have been told loose, dry recyclables in the general waste bins gets sorted and sent to recycling centres (then shipped off to Indonesian/African landfills?!), but, of course, the recycling only bins, which are the only CRT ones in the area that I'm aware of, you don't only see recyclables put there, but general waste. Bishops Stortford town centre if you're interested. I always respect it and never put general waste in, I continue to ferry it up and down the cut until I get to a suitable bin - but I do ask myself what the point is when lots of others haven't and the bins are invariably half full of general waste. More than that I wonder what the hell they think the point is? You might as well not even bother with recycling bins if you don't put both types of bins out in every place. I accept that if you did ensure both bins at every site, that would not immediately and entirely magic away the problem of the wrong waste in the wrong places - but if you want to minimise such issues, with a little imagination and good layout, PR drives, etc, you'd think at least *some* progress could be made. Anyway, what should be blindingly obvious to everyone - is if you don't you have both types of bins at bin sites then you make it almost impossible NOT to have these issues. It would make far more sense to justy dispense with the recycling bins altogether, as they will literally never only contain recyclables and it will only make life hard for those who have to collect and deal with the waste. I have spoken (nicely!) to someone at CRT about this, but I always get the same feeling - sympathy, a willingess to acknowledge an obvious point, and no sense whatsoever that anything will be done about it. It's not that big a deal in itself, but it does seem dumb

Seems a fair observation. Having said that, when I've spoken to instructors there (only a few times) about this they have expressed bafflement at moored boats being seen as an issue. But, like i said, hardly a fair sample, just three or so opinions

These are small trees, multiple trunks, roots wrapped around pilings, lots of branches Trunk diameter isn't really the issue. Getting rid of the foliage and the stuff round the pilings would be. I'm not going to get into a debate about this. Of course it could be got rid of with just a few days hard work by anyone with a saw, but we're taking several trees etc. I'm not talking about freeing up one space for me, in any case, I'm talking about a whole stretch If I had pictures I'm fairly sure you'd see where I'm coming from But thanks so much for the definition of a weed, I was completely unaware of it and its especially relevant here

Honestly, I have no idea. Seems rather a large estimate to me, but then again, it's possible that many boats *could* moor in the affected areas. I'm not comvinced I've ever seen the spots in question absolutely full, but I do have a terrible memory and I've only been cruising here three and a half years

Ah, yes, I too have happy childhood memories of watching grizzled old Real Boaters tearing semi mature trees out with nothing more than their bare hands What's gone wrong with the world eh