Kate89

Ah my boyfriend has just told me that Kedian is one of the welders he's already tried to contact but hasn't got back to him... so I'm assuming he's quite busy at the moment. Will try him again but if no reply will have to try someone else if anyone has any other recommendations?

That's a good point... loved the idea of having a window above the bed but do not love the idea of a wet bed!! Might scrap that idea!! Thanks for the recommendation, just looking at the website now, will send them an email.

They are indeed poorly designed, so not blaming wood in general, but the wood has not been cared for and is rotting so they need replacing, and given the choice would rather have them replaced with steel. With regards to the houdini hatch... I'm assuming you're referring to condensation causing the wet bed rather than the hatch leaking (or anything else for that matter!!)?

Hi guys, We're in the process of refitting our 50' David Piper narrowboat, and we're looking for a welder to replace the two mid hatches and the front and back 'door' (apologies for the lack of boat terminology). The current ones are wood rather than steel and the mid hatches in particular leak every time it rains... why a steel boat would be made with wooden hatches I have no idea but they have certainly not stood the test of time! We're also thinking of having the pigeon box in the bedroom replaced with a houdini hatch. We're currently on the River Lee in Hertfordshire, Stansted Abbotts area. Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated. Many thanks, Kate

Yes sorry I had noticed that excellent suggestion. If we can get a welder in soonish that definitely is an option.

That all seems a bit extreme given that there's no problem currently apart from it interfering with our proposed kitchen layout... we might just have to make do I emailed the David Piper guy back and questioned the need for 'knees' and if we could 'trim' them in some way, and this is the response I got: 'Kate It is there to stiffen the hull side I would rec leaving it in and working around it. Other builders do not fit these knees and seem to get away with it You may find that the hull side could flex in and out in different temperatures especially when the sun is low. Fitting a few vertical angle frame to replace this knee would be inline with what other builders would do. Regards' So maybe we could trim it back but weld a few more down that side of the boat to make up for it??

Just a joke... I didn't know boats had knees I dislike it mainly because it's interfering with our kitchen plans.

Response from David Piper: 'Katie I would strongly recommend that you try to work around this knee You could move this knee around 60cm forward or back if it helps but if you remove it you will find that the hull side will flex Regards' Looks like it will have to stay. Eurgh I dislike it even more now it's called a knee.

Yes it's a steel cabin. That was my concern with the insulation too, we've forked out on lots of lovely new insulation boards and then we'd have this ugly box thing to contend with! I'll await a response from the David Piper people but I've got my fingers crossed that they are of the same opinion as you.

Excellent thank you for the link, plenty of bedtime reading for me there!

That was my thought... our current neighbours beg to differ and insist that they run their fridge and lighting and a couple of hours of TV off of their solar power and a couple of hours of the engine being on, I need to ask them what their secret is. Excuse my lack of battery knowledge... but we currently have 3 brand new batteries, one starter and two leisure, is there any benefit in getting a 3rd leisure battery so it allows you to effectively have a bigger 'store' of power?

Hi everyone, sorry I've got more beginner questions... Just looking into solar panels for the boat, we're planning to live aboard and won't have plugin/shore power for the foreseeable future so need to be self-sufficient in that respect. Does anyone successfully run a small fridge without a generator? I was hoping that we'd be able to cope without a generator but I don't know if I'm overestimating solar power. We'd be running a fridge, multiple LED lights, and occasionally chargers for phones and laptops (not planning on having a TV). Any advice on number or type of solar panels would be greatly appreciated.

The frames/braces were originally covered by the steps to the hatches which we have now removed, and the bathroom was smaller and the corner cut at an angle so the walkway/corridor wasn't obstructed. We're changing the layout to try and make best use of space, we felt that the stairs to the hatches took up a lot of valuable space, and the bathroom was tiny!

Sorry my drawing is terrible! You might just have to take my word for it that the frame on the right will be in the way! Edit - just seen your reply, yes it's a wannabe widebeam

Lower case definitely... surely there's no room for capital letter layouts on a 50 ft narrowboat?!