bigbadboat

Hi Everyone, This thread is great and full of excellent tips but I now fear I may have too many good solutions and am stuck, so i'm going to describe my scenario and ask for your collective advice. I'll save the questions for the end. I'm a total boat painting amateur btw I have a 1979 Hancock & Lane Norsman 40ft which i'm currently converting to live-aboard. The boat itself is in excellent condition for the age but the paint job is awful. Very faded, rusty as hell on the top, the touch up parts have been done in an entirely different shade of green to the existing paint... Just nasty. I want to repaint the boat... and do it quickly and reasonably cheaply. I can live with some imperfections but obviously want to do as good a job as can be done quickly. I figure i need to give the boat a good sanding first with an orbital sander or an angle-grinder with a wire brush attachment. Next, it will need priming, then undercoating, then I'd like to paint the boat Olive green, with a darker green for the side panels... My questions are: - Can all of this be done in less than a week? ie. starting sanding on a Friday evening and finish painting by the following Tuesday evening... allowing for drying times etc (weather permitting of course, I can probably round up a couple of assistants too). - Can I do all this with my boat still in the water? I'm moored in a rural location (probably quite a few flying bugs about) on a wide canal so I can spin the boat round easy enough. I'd rather not take the boat out the water to paint. - What sander/angle grinder should I buy? And what sandpaper/attachment? (links appreciated) - What primer/undercoat/paint should I buy? (again, links appreciated, bearing in mind cost, that i'm no pro at painting, quick drying preferred and i'm not too fussed about level of glossyness etc.) - Do i need a specific type of brushes/rollers? was thinking long bristle brushes (probably spend a few quid on them) and small foam rollers (i've always preferred foam when painting other stuff) - What else do i need to keep in mind? (Should I get some tarps to cover in the case of showers/ overnight? etc.) That's about all i can think of right now... Any input hugely appreciated. Hope to do this in about 2 weeks time. Thanks Simon

Thanks, just checked and they don't require the survey for fully comp... Good rate too. Thanks Seems to be Springer they take issue with

Yes, I appreciate this and have thought about it. Unfortunately, as you'll see from my post above, at the minute I only have the money for the boat itself and don't want to miss out on the opportunity of this one in particular. We intend to get the boat out of the water in the next three months when we've saved up a little more money. Ordinarily, I would have waited til I had the money for the boat and survey etc. alas, this boat came up for sale and we fell for it straight away. I am reasonably confident that we'll be able to get insurance, but will maybe be paying a little more initially. The boat however, has a paid up mooring until the end of August where we intend to keep it while fixing up the inside (mostly cleaning and building a new bed). Am i able to keep it in a mooring uninsured should there be issues with insurance? The mooring is on the canal, on a private towpath. I have a feeling I would need the insurance straight away. I'll look further in to it. Thanks for your help

Yes, I understand this... Just poorly worded on my part... Thanks

It's all an issue of timing, we have just the money to buy the boat at present, the survey and associated works will take me above the money I have available at present. Ordinarily, I would just wait and save up the rest, but I was taken with the boat immediately and i'm sure it will sell immediately. We made sure we were the first to view it, owing to some luck with spotting the ad the moment it was posted online and stating directly to the seller that we want to be first. During the viewing there were three calls regarding interest in the boat. So it does seem like a very good opportunity. However, in our current circumstances, we can only afford the boat itself. I fear by delaying the sale to save for the additionals, I would lose the boat. I am reasonably confident of the integrity of the boat and the seller, but yes, it is a gamble to get the boat I want with only just the money to pay for it. We intend to do the survey and blacking in approximately 3 months.

Apologies, I would expect the process of lifting out the water, the survey, and blacking (as it would make sense to do it at the same time) could cost £1000 maybe £1500. I may be wrong though... ballpark estimate

Hi all, Myself and my girlfriend are in the process of buying a lovely 40ft narrow boat with the hope of making some changes to kit her out as a live-aboard. We have found, viewed and expressed our interest to purchase, the boat so far. It's quite an old boat (1979 Hancock & Lane - Norseman (i think!)). Initially used as a holiday let, the boat has been with the same owner since 1992 and comes with a full service history (including photos and receipts of literally every change that's ever happened on it). The boat itself is in pretty good condition. Internally, it's a little dated but all the electrics are working, all the furniture and fittings are made from solid iroko, it has working appliances and a separate shower room. Externally, the boat is fine. It could probably do with a repaint soon as it's beginning to look a little faded. The engine looks to be in immaculate condition and starts first time every time. Now here's where the purchase becomes a bit of a potential gamble. In terms of surveys, the last time a hull survey was undertaken was in May 2010, which i have read in full, indicating less than 1mm (of the 6mm plate) of wear across the boat in its entirety. The only minor point flagged up on the survey was some slight corrosion inside the hull, next to the weed hatch, as a result of water pooling that was left un-mended for some time. The issues has since been addressed and the corrosion treated. The boat was blacked in 2010 and subsequently in 2013 and most recently, in May 2015. It has a safety certificate until 2021. We are intending to buy the boat without the condition that it passes a new hull survey. There's a few reasons we're taking this approach. Firstly, the boat is really quite cheap (about £10k), a hull survey could potentially add 15% onto the price of the boat, and i’m not sure we’d really be able to get a reduction in the price of the boat if works were necessary. Secondly, I am quite confident that the seller is genuine (he was very up front about all of the essential works that had taken place on the boat and was by no means doing the hard sell). Thirdly, we fully intend to carry out a survey at some point soon but simply can’t afford it at the minute and the condition of the boat, the fact it’s in water and not sinking at the minute and the included service history included put my mind slightly at ease. The opportunity to buy this boat seems to be a bit too good to pass up, but I appreciate, I am gambling on some important issues. I guess I’m looking for some more experienced advice. Is this a silly approach? Is there anything I should really find out that I’ve missed above? Any help or advice would be most appreciated. We’re due to pay the deposit tomorrow evening. I have a genuinely good feeling about the seller and fully believe his reasons for selling (back injury, which was quite apparent when he showed us the boat). Look forward to hearing any opinions on this Many thanks, Simon