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scatartist

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Everything posted by scatartist

  1. Cheers everyone! Yeah Alperton does look a bit rubbish... I saw the CRT were auctioning off moorings there starting at 9k!!!!
  2. Hi everyone, We've just come off the Thames after a few months and spent a loooong day making the journey onto the canal system. Driving our extremely clumsy outboard powered widebeam (3.56m width I think) was a breeze on the Thames but I'm really not confident on the canal. We've stopped off at Greenford and would really like to venture up the Lea (we have jobs in London but they're quite flexible and we have no issues with a long commute when necessary) but I'm not sure I want to tackle central London quite yet. Is there anywhere else we can stop on the way before it gets really busy? I've read a lot of old posts about Alperton/Perivale etc but I'm not sure if this would constitute 'genuine navigation'? I'd like a couple more weeks of practice before we attempt central. Many thanks!
  3. Undecided about whether it will be a long-term solution, we think the best option is to go for a second-hand Honda, looking for something at the moment. Considering going for something 50/60hp (although we are still not sure about getting across the tidal Thames, will have to wait for a quiet day. Definitely going to hire a mover for this). We have asked about the possibility of an inboard but it's a major job we both can't afford and don't want to waste the space on unless it's absolutely necessary. I totally see the point regarding diesel as safer and easier to find. So far solar has served us well and we can run the washing machine off the generator. We are hoping to install a mechanism into a canopy for the back deck so that we can life the outboard for servicing in future.
  4. Hello all, Unfortunately we spent most of the day in A&E so the move is postponed, and in the mean time we are taking the opportunity to source a newer, lower HP engine and have it craned on at a local yard whilst my partner is recovering. Thanks for the wise words, will update when we *finally* make the big trip!
  5. Yes we've got everything mentioned above. Partner's dad is a boat builder so probably would've said something if he thought we were likely to capsize!
  6. We've borrowed someore knowledgeable friend for the trip today so fingers crossed it should l run smoothly!
  7. We have only moved to see how the engine runs (and only on non-tidal water) and have not been hugely impressed. We've done a huge amount of work on it but to be honest it's pretty worn out, not to mention completely wrong for the boat (overpowered at 135bhp and obviously not designed to be used with this type of craft!) Tell me about it!! Thanks for all the help. We need it! My partner grew up sailing so is much more confident but a flat bottomed boat will be like a shoebox on the tides!! If we need to move more slowly and take it easy//sort things out we would rather do that then rush; it's preferable for us to be further into London is all. If there are problems we should know about them before we reach the first lock as we have an hour or so to get to that. If anything scary happens we'll just return!
  8. Annoyingly we're moving our of our flat on Wednesday/Thursday so we me have to stay moored somewhere in between until next weekend. We have a very short period of time off work to squeeze everything in, including finishing half of the boat so its actually livable... Not very helpful answer I know, it's a bit chaotic at the moment! Thanks for all the help so far, lots of useful information.
  9. Hi again, Apologies for not answering sooner! We have postponed the move until Tuesday as we can get a bit of help on the first section on this day too. I know it sits 9½" into the water, not sure how tall it is but I would say it's roughly the same size and shape as a typical 50' wide beam - although it is much more angular and has a very square back deck that was added by the previous owner. Above the waterline it's close to 82". I have looked up the demensions and fingers crossed we should be OK. Yes we have no intention of trying to go up the tidal Thames; we want to avoid the tidal part all together!! We have no problem mooring somewhere overnight, we would like to start the journey on Tuesday but have no specific timetable. The engine is a concern, were using a speedboat outboard (Johnson Seahorse) which we've been working on for the last couple of months to get it to run smoothly. We can't afford a replacement right now, it is on the list for the future.
  10. Hi everyone, We're moving from Hampton to the River Lea this Saturday and are having a last minute panic and think it may be better to hire someone for the day... Any advice/suggestions/skipper info would be appreciated!! Cheers!
  11. Hi again! It's a houseboat that we are moving to full time and are giving up our flat in North London in November - so pretty soon! The boat is currently in Hampton Court but we are hoping to move to the River Lea in the next couple of weeks. Edit: the cooker has been recently acquired and has not been used aboard before.
  12. Hallo, We are renovating currently and in dire need of replacing the gas pipework. The current stuff has been removed but it was soldered together (!!). We have all the new pipework but just need someone qualified to fit it together, hook up our boiler and possibly convert our range to LPG (currently natural gas), although we could do this ourselves and can live without the oven for now if necessary. I'm aware there are a few threads on this topic but they're quite out of date. Cheers!
  13. Hi again! thanks for the replies, just a quick update: had a boatbuilder come and look at the hull; he said it wasn't anything too shocking but did need to have the rust treated so we are taking up the floor everywhere and sorting that out. we have also found a big slab of concrete near the centre of the boat which has 1984 engraved in it - so probably not a 1989 craft then!!!! My partner suggested this could be the old hearth for the steam boiler. We think the newer half of the boat used to be open-top, hence the different material. It's a really interesting rust bucket I have to say!
  14. Thanks for all the advice, lots of helpful info. Feel ready to tackle the rest of the build now!
  15. We are new to canal boats and were given the impression it was possible to conduct an in-water survey that included data regarding the hull's thickness. Not ideal, but we were on a tight time scale and knew she was blacked 5 months before, so assumed anything obvious would have been picked up then. We feel able to deal with the rust situation and I was more concerned about the survey report. We did have the survey before we bought the vessel and knocked a good few grand off the asking price as result of it. Then why complain? Simply because I had looked at several 'sample reports' on various websites and was expecting something similar, although I felt I better check here as this seems the best place to get decent advice. We are not keen to adopt a 'traditional' NB look and are fine with the sheddyness - we are very handy and like a challenge!
  16. Hi again, thanks for the fast replies! We bought the boat through a company that sell boats on behalf of their owners, I'm not sure the agents title would be... marine merchant? boat dealer? So it wasn't from a normal estate agent, sorry for the confusion. Yes you're right to assume it's old: 1989, converted much later to a houseboat - initially steel and then it looks like the interior was extended in wood, leaving less decking at the bough. We took the floor up and half of it had lovely iroko floorboards that are just in need of a good sand and varnish, the other half a random mixture of decking, rotten floorboards and plywood so far gone it literally melted away as we tried to pull it up and chuck it. Underneath this entire section it was unsurprisingly very damp. The floor is supported by steel bars that run the length of the hull and with steel bars running perpendicular across the width. So it looks like kind of 'troughs'. Some water has got in at some point and sat in the middle 'trough'. Sorry I'm probably painting a rubbish picture, I don't know any of the correct terms! It doesn't currently have bilge pumps, I think this is because it's designed to be dry and someone explained to me that bilge pumps need to be submerged to function? It's obvious no one has ever treated the interior of the hull with anything at all. We had a bit of a panic when we first discovered the sludge but have since scraped it away and are letting it dry out for the time being. We will then treat it - I've read another post that recommends using Fertan? We will deffo be sealing it with something once it's dry before we cover the floor again. As we are doing a complete re-fit of the interior we are going to add vents and a viewing hatch to check the hull has no water sitting in it in future. Seems like we've ended up with a dodgy boat and a dodgy survey - can anyone recommend anyone decent in London for future use? My partner's father is a traditional boat builder (big wooden boats) who is helping us where he can but doesn't know a great deal about steel hulls. He has advised saving up to get her taken out of the water and plated in any dodgy areas. I have just emailed the survey company too so thanks for the advice!
  17. Hi all, Myself and my partner have recently purchased a converted paddleboat - lovingly described as a 'shed' by our surveyor. It needs a lot of work, we were present for only the last half hour of the in water, pre-purchase survey as the guy turned up an hour and a half early and we live the opposite end of London. He was a recommendation of the estate agent (we knew at the time this was probably a bad idea but didn't know the first thing about finding someone ourselves) and he seemed like a nice chap. He patiently answered any questions we had and was very honest about the condition of the boat; the hull was fine but everything above that needed work! Fast-forward to now, over a month and a half later and we have found two square feet of rusty sludge in middle of the hull. Floorboards had been covered with insulation and mdf laminate so there was nowhere for any water to go. Unsure of how to proceed, we turned to consult our survey report only to discover it still hadn't been emailed to us. After a few days of nagging, we finally received it earlier today. It is literally ten bullet points that were clearly copied from the surveyor's very basic notes (spelling mistakes and all). Is this what you get for £300??? We were at least expecting thorough ultrasound readings. The report reads '5. Hull 4.7 to water line good to 4.5 good' Is this typical? Would be grateful for any info! Thanks, Naive
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