Sunflower16

Depends entirely on whether your budget is unlimited or not, of course, as to whether you use the most expensive materials or not. A lot of us can’t, but there are a lotvof boaters on this forum and elsewhere with significant resources and very deep pockets. While marine ply is wonderful, it isn't absolutely essential for the cabin floor. You could even have an expensive hardwood floor put down, for that matter- its about budget and personal choice.

You really don’t need marine ply for an interior cabin floor as it should not be getting wet to that degree. Any builders merchants will usually provide the same cut to size service -not sure about Preston but where I live in the Midlands there are timber merchants who will happily cut to size from the stamdard 8’ board. I used 18mm ply for my Teals new cabin floor. Headlining will definitely help condensation -take a look at somebof the acrylic panels used in bathrooms these days they look neat and follow the roof contours easier than a single sheet of thin pky or hardboard.

Rotten floors and yukky water under the floor seems a common theme in ancient GRP boats LOL. Had a similar problem with mine. Sorted mostly, but still need to revise cockpit area into more user friendly one for us and solve one last leak........too cold right now for anything other than a quick visit! Good luck and keep us updated.......the upper deck structure can cause a lot of the leaks via old deck fittings by the way.........certainly the case with my old Teal, so worth carefully checking every single fitting, however small, and resealing.

Saw a luckless duo struggling in the reeds at Barton Marina on Saturday well and truly stuck. In a 60 footer, dark blue. Not sure what would have helped in those apconditins other than mooring outside the marina and waiting for the wind to die down as Barton is known to be a windy place at the best of times. Shudder to think of a GRP in those conditions.......hope we never get caught in wind like that!

All this talk of osmosis makes me nervous.......my recently purchased, rather ancient 47-50 year old FH Childs / Teal cruiser had a pre-purchase survey as I was rather concerned about the osmosis issue- survey added about 10% to its modest purchase price but would not have been able to get fully comp isurance without a survey. Surveyor claimed no evidence of osmosis whatsoever and declared the hull totally sound........having just last week stripped out the floor(no inspection hatches as laminate (of all thngs) was laid down on a base of chipboard ( againof all things! ) and bow area due to deck fittings water ingress and muppetry bilge pump wiring (auto bilge left unconnected,plus pump lying loose flopping around the bilge, which was then permanently closed with screwed down decking....) Water had no way out and lay underfloor and in the bilge for around 2 years (which is when the sellers refitted it) . Interior floor GRP seems very hard, no soft areas or squashy spots - I cleaned it and painted with bilge paint today before the new floor goes down. Can an ancient GRP boat from ths era be osmosis free?

on the local canals plastic boats I have seen all seem to be under 32' or so - we are in the Midlands on the "narrow" section, so they are all under 6'10" beam around here too. You could probably spend a night or two on one of them, most have 2,3 or 4 berths - but most do not have hot water either, and living on one fulltime would be a bit spartan, I would think. There is a chap at Barton who is mostly liveaboard on his 23' cruiser, moored alongside our 23' cruiser - there was also a huge fire at Barton about a year ago, caused by a gas fridge on a GRP boat, apparently the owner was a liveaboard who had gone to the showers during which time his boat was well alight and killed the surrounding boats as well. I think 4 boats sank in that fire. Luckily no-one was seriously injured. Our neighbour who is partly deaf, was alerted to the fire by his dog and they escaped without injury but he lost everything and is currently renovating and living on, another 23' cruiser.

Digital TV "on the move" is difficult whether on land or canal.........my car has a tv tuner and with analogue it was great on the move, but once analogue died, digital signals are really flakey - if there is a poor signal you see nothing, not even a blurry pic like the old analogue ones used to do. Anyway, a long pole off a boat on the move is also likely to be a problem.......even log periodics have to be correctly positioned to pick up a decent picture so winding around twists and bends isn't going to help! You could even inadvertantly "reposition" it when it hits a bridge or a low hanging branch........ Meant to add.......shouldn't be watching telly if you are steering! And those indoors can use a dvd until moored if desperate!

We have used a Keter large storage box for over 10 years outdoors - one of those biggish ones from large DIY chains, although Keter are a bit more expensive than the cheapie types on ebay and amazon. The 10 year old one only cracked this year after a delivery driver reversed into it. Bought a second one on Amazons Sale for about £50 which is the same size but has some improvements over the 10 year old one -used for deliveries when we are not home. It can be locked but its plastic so not exactly difficult to break into if someone really wants to.......

The Moonraker is very very good - the only other decent option is the log periodic which is rather unwieldy on a small cruiser like ours. Omnis are truly awful - from caravan /motorhome experience with them you would have better results with a wire coathamger! Waste of time and money -if they work, you probably didn't need an aerial as the signal was so strong!

Another plus for Barton. Good travel links. Marina cafe does inexpensive breakfasts / hot drinks etc. The development and shops and pub somewhat posher (and more expensive) but the Thai restaurant is great value for money and very pleasant. Toilets, showers etc all clean and good waste disposal facilities, skips for rubbish disposal changed every 2 weeks for moorers. The workshop is very GRP-unfriendly, but that does not impact on narrowboats of course. Electric hookups at every mooring, reasonable cost, Water taps on all the pontoons as well. . And security is good - moorings all security protected and facilities all locked - moorers are provided with security key. Shobnall Basin, just a little way down the T&M is much smaller but very friendly and has decent facilities as well. They always seem very full though, it is really small and cosy!

I am sure more experienced voices will be along shortly.......just some thoughts though, as with Landlord responsibilities on land, you would need to ensure the relevant Gas Safe and other requirements, as well as keep everything in good repair as the need arises. I believe that Boat Safety inspections need to be done somewhat more frequently than with privately owned boats. Plus insurance will need to be specific and cover hiring. Hirers would also need some tuition on how to manage locks, use the boat systems etc on every occasion. There are likely to be agents perhaps who would manage such a situation rather like Letting Agents do on land? Given the responsibilities to hirers and the hands-on need to show every one the different systems / how to operate locks etc, I would be tempted to have it professionally managed. I know some boats are "leased" out as liveaboards with a "landlord" owning it and a "tenant" boater, but this will likely defeat your object as many liveaboards don't move at all.

Bump

I guess this has moved on to maintenance rather than equipment, but thought I would post here for continuity and in the hope some kindly souls will offer sage advice or even let me know if there are experienced DIYers /carpenters/ joiners who might be able to help - boat is at Barton Marina. I have attached some photos I took of the underside of the bow where the leak has been insidiously creeping in for who knows how long.....photos taken while lying on my back facing upwards to the underside of the foredeck......have secured the bow front externally from further water ingress with combination of duct tape and tarpaulin /plastic in the meantime, seems to be working! Its all opened up now and will put a small low wattage oil heater on with the dehumidifier when I return to the boat after work tomorrow. I thought I might cut away the rotten areas with a multitool until I reach sound wood and see if an infill is feasible. The 2 front main bow battens (which are really the worst affected) are contoured to the shape of the bow, not sure I can replicate that with my somewhat basic woodwork skills! Amazing that all this damage has been from the poor seal around the water filler!

Well, an update to this issue and a request for advice..... new Plastimo triangular tank duly arrived along with a nice shiny new water inlet filler fitting and I was keen to go and replace the fitting today so at least the bow would be sealed again from the current incement weather. <sigh>. Its never that simple though, is it? I hadn't removed the ply cladding along the inner hull yet and needed to do this to access the filler pipe and the bolts for the filler fitting. Oh dear.......the leak has rotted the two wooden bow V battens /timbers as well as one of the ply sides. So cleaned up around the area and removed as much grungey rotten wood as possible before having to quickly close up the area with a tarp as the heavens opened. Plugged in a small humidifier to shore power before leaving - it switches off automatically if it collecs more than 1500ml, but am visiting marina tomorrow anyway. Intend taking a small oil radiator (low wattage) to the boat in the next day or two to help dry it out - always used one in the motorhome and it was great for keeping condensation at bay. Have decided to do the replacement woodwork myself - female of mature years notwithstanding - it doesn't seem too complex, as its just replacement of the damaged ply plus the two new V-bow battens and I do have some nice tools! What wood should I use? 6x2 pine? And how should the wood be fixed to the underside of the GRP foredeck? Am intending removing any existing bolts etc in the area carefully and sealing up any holes before refitting. Is it a good idea to add some of that building insulation -the silver one with bubble wrap stuff between the silver sides - behind the ply for insulation? Hints and tips gratefully received!

Not sure from the thread where you collected your hire boat from but presume not Burton.........not many gastropubs in the town (thankfully). Personally, I would check out prices before ordering and decide whether to stay or move on.........you mentioned your dislike of gastropubs earlier - in that case, it was best avoided? Oh, and London prices are extemely variable, I am sure you will agree - £27 for a light lunch for two including a glass of wine each is hardly overkill for many London establishments.............

Photobucket now charges about £300 a year membership in order to share pics......... so we cannot see the photo. Just a graphic telling us we cannot see it. use Imgur or Tinypic or similar.

The timelapse between survey and completion of sale is entirely dependent on the arrangements made by buyer and seller and of course broker, if there is one in the mix - if the buyer is happy with a survey there is nothing to prevent the sale being completed later that same day, except logistics of course. Of course it is best to wait for the full survey document to be emailed or posted to you so you can check it in depth before completing the sale. We recently bought a (cheap in narrowboat terms) GRP narrowbeam canal cruiser. Saw it advertised, enquired and made arrangements to view within 2 days, placed deposit on it after viewing, arranged survey (delay for surveyor to be available was 10 days) . Surveyor phoned me and discussed the boat condition in detail and I transferred the balance of the price to the broker after discussions with surveyor. Broker arranged handover / completion within 48 hours. Seller accompanied us to marina after concluding sale at brokers offices to handover the boat. Job done. We arranged a day or two mooring while transport was sorted via road to the boats new home. There is potentially room for more delays if surveyor availability takes a few weeks or the survey finds any serous issues which would need negotiation on price. The brokers we used appeared to indicate that a sale was expected to be completed within 30 days of placing a deposit on a boat unless there were circumstances delaying this.

Bought via GHBS but I think vendor did leave an email address......makes sense to ask!

I "think" its just a standard inverter, looks like it anyway. Was a bit puzzled about the Victron mains charging manual being with the boat paperwork though - it looked very new. Must have another hunt around first. The sellers added a lot of expensive stuff to the boat actually, so it might be there somewhere. The other puzzle was after spending a lot on a new outboard, new pram cover and lots of other stuff, they then leave a relatively simple and cheap fix - the water ingress around the flexible tank - to cause quite a bit of mould and mildew and then had to drop their price by quite a lot to sell...........nowt so strange as folk as they say........... Ah thanks, I thought that rang a bell somewhere in my overloaded mind !

Presumably just to the poles of one of the leisure batteries as they are connected? Or to positive of one and negative of the other? I presume that CTEK marine chargers which cost a premium and have no different specs to normal CTEKs are just a clever marketing ploy? I was planning on using a CTEK 7.0 or similar. I keep our cars on them, saved many batteries over the years.

So Cloudy has three batteries, a starter and two leisure (Tayna 110aH) which were newly fitted by sellers about a year ago, connected to two solar panels (2x 80w) and controller. There is a Victron battery monitor and a large manual battery isolator, either 1 (starter), 2 (leisure) or both, or Off. There is a 2000w inverter which runs a fan, the Waeco fridge etc. Battery draw is low at present and the solar charging keeps everything topped up to 100% according to the battery monitor, but I am wondering about the days of doom which lie ahead, AKA winter with little daylight and almost no sun, none that works well anyway The boat also has a 240v landline and some 240v dedicated sockets, but no mains charger that I can see or find, even though a Victron charger manual was left with the paperwork.......... I was considering whether to connect a CTEK charger/conditioner permanently to 240v and the starter battery while we are moored - am guessing that while we will visit the boat a lot, we may not proceed ice breaker fashion, into slushy icy ditches where canals once ran freely, until spring arrives at last again.........is this advisable? And if so, should I just connect it to the starter battery, keeping the isolator on the "off" position when we are away for a week or so? Would I need to connect two CTEK chargers to keep the leisure batts topped up as well as starter ? Have now got myself confussed...........

We did ponder over the same thing.......decided they may have "evolved" from eggs which were present in the aforesaid ballast bags (sand and pea gravel stuff) one of which had broken open and spilled a bit into the V of the Bow........pleased to be able to get rid of them though, they were decidely unwelcome trespassers!

Update to this- I accessed the bow tank this weekend, drained it and removed it. It was indeed a Plastimo 120l triangular one, but had been lying in a rather manky smallish pool of water for some considerable time given the state of mould and mildew in the area, and on fittings around the bow area. Although there did not appear to be leaks in the tank, given the state of the cover etc I decided to toss it and invest in a new one. I hate mould - being a medical professional I have seen some horrible infections and allergies caused by mould, so decided to replace and have ordered one -£56 I think it was. Until the area is completely dry, though, I am not going to install it. Luckily the cushions are really well upholstered -cost a previous owner £750 in 2009 from invoices supplied with boat- and the mildew staining on the undersides has removed well too. Left bow locker and the adjacent ones totally open after scrubbing the areas with dettol anti mould /mildew solution. A previous owner has put two bags of sharp sand /pea gravel in the very front of the bow locker, possibly ballast / bed for the tank? Have left in situ while its all drying out. Planning to remove and replace / reseat the water inlet filler so any potential source of leakage is covered. I must say I am relieved to have removed that yucky mildewed tank and to have evicted a few slugs (yuck) that were having a party in there. When its all dried out nicely I thought I might brighten the 50 year old fibreglass up in there with a coat of fibreglass undercoat before installing a pondliner under the new tank. So far so good.

Thanks Dylan.....I wish you were closer too! The GRP boaters on canals generally seem to be regarded as the dregs of the canal boating world it seems but its not a big problem per se, its just that most of the "boat workshops" I have tried in the midlands want nothing to do with outboards or GRP boats in general, possibly ascthey feel they lack the necessary knowledge. I will find someone to help, I am sure- have also asked RCR's canalcontracting arm to see if they can find someone.

Makes a light GRP boat much easier to control and manoevre at slow speeds - especially in windy marinas etc. All single stern drives are very prone to slow speed wander and severe oversteer at low speed - Plus when in neutral there is no directional control - the ruddersafe compensates for this. Most outboards are not meant to pootle along at tickover or 4mph so adding a rudder for use at low speed helps control. The Ruddersafe lifts up away out the water at higher speeds so it won't detrimentally affect handling at higher speeds.