Mad Harold

Yes,step,not jump.You are pushing the boat away (evey action having an opposite reaction) I,like you come in at an angle,and when the bow is a couple of feet from the side,full rudder to swing the stern in with a dribble of power.0

Stretching a boat seems an expensive and troublesome way of gaining more room. Selling your boat and buying another would be easier,however,I do understand your hesitating to do this. Buying a boat is fraught with dangers. You can have your prospective boat surveyed inside out,but like taking up with a new woman,you don't know what you have got untill you have lived with her for a year. I wouldn't have bought my present boat (not at the price I paid at least) because of all the faults that I discovered in the first year of ownership,that were not found on the survey. If you are well endowed (with money) then a stretch would be ok,if it is done by skilled people and the really labour intensive part, the fit out,is done by equally skilled people. Good luck whichever route you take.

The thought of welding a used fuel tank fills me with horror! I think rivnuts or drilling and tapping is the way to repair this and welding being the last resort,and then only done by a qualified person with proper equipment,inert gas.fire fighting gear etc.

If you want a job doing.........

My well deck is fastened down with screws into the channel which has threaded holes. Two are stripped and Araldited bolts are working fine. If you hacksaw a slot into the threaded end of the bolt,you can hold the bolt firm with a screwdriver while tightening or slackening.

when I had my Norman cruiser (wish I hadn't sold it) I fitted an "add a rudder"This is simply two ally strips with an ally plate bolted on.The two ally strips clamp onto the outboard leg with a long bolt. Very cheap off fleabay. It made an enormous lmprovement to the steering,even in neutral when normally there is no steering,there was still some control,as long as there was some way on the boat.

There was a small Springer moored near me with an outboard with a tiller (15hp Honda) It had a long swan neck tiller tightly hinged on the motor to allow tilting. I had a Norman cruiser and made a bracket from 3/16 steel plate bolted under the engine and attached a pickaxe handle (stained and varnished) to the bracket. As all outboards are slightly different and boats too, a one off arangement will need to be fabricated to suit your engine/boat. The Springer I referred to had what looked like a standard swan neck,but the way it was attached and the throttle/gear arrangement I can't remember.

If you have an engine that never needs servicing,or fixing, then yes,tucking the engine out of sight is good. Sadly,I haven't yet come across one yet. Every time I look in my engine hole my heart sinks when I see the state of the engine bilge.It needs wire brushing and painting,but I can't even get my hand to it! To do it properly,the engine will need to come out,but I'm not doing that untill it needs an overhaul or replacing. I'll just try not to look at it when checking oil,belt and water.

Some engines are a pig to get at! If the designer of my boat had been prepared to sacrifice a couple of feet of cabin space,then getting to the engine would be a doddle.

A tip I got from an old boater was to give a boat one coat of blacking every year. The reasoning behind this was that the blacking should still be intact after a year,and also you will only need one day in the dry dock.The nearest to me charges £175 for the first day,and £90 per day thereafter. Doing this,I would guess that hull corrosion would be minimal.

It is unlikely that a hull will corrode all over to a dangerous level. There will however be rust pitting around the waterline,and if these rust pits are,say, 2mm deep on an average 4mm hull thickness,then the hull will need attention soon.The baseplate can get a bit thin due to erosion rather than corrosion. If there are a lot of rust pits,then many yards will recommend overplating rather than spot welding the rust pits (it's probably quicker). But if you can find a welder with lots of patience then spot welding is an effective repair.

It would surely need to be overplated three or four times for the hull to be wider than the rubbing strips? Is it possible to do this?

Yes, and coil,points and carburettors,or even magnetos.WHEN you broke down it was easy to fix.

Leaks can occur on the gas taps of the cooker. Is there a pilot light on (water heater,fridge?)+

Had similar on a previous BSS. Turned out to be a faulty regulator on the gas bottle.

Yeah,absolutely. Nil Illigitemum Carborundum.

seems 3/16 BSP are as rare as Whitworth on the web. Going to order 3/16 drive in nipples as they are only £3-45 for 10,and try one before drilling and tapping.

Got a squeaking groaning tiller.Where there should be a grease nipple,there is a screw. Took it to my local fastenings supplier and found it to be,3/16 Whitworth which they didn't have. Have found a supplier on the web with 5/16 Whitworth nipples but no 3/16. There are some suppliers with 3/16 push fit nipples, and I wonder if these will do the job. Anyone know? Otherwise I will have to drill and tap to a more readily available size. Not a job I fancy because it is in a most awkward place.

The sun plays a part too! Yesterday for example my roof got very hot. expansion and contraction due to heat and cold will crack paint. after a time. I painted my roof with International walkway paint two years ago, and some rusty cracks are showing especially between the hatch rails.+

If you want to make your boat individual,go ahead. I have seen a few rather "odd" boats eg.one that had the front and tail end of a Reliant grafted on,complete with Delboy graphics.Another (three) linked together in line complete with "a Towing"sign on.All painted purple. If you are not interfering with anyone's rght to enjoy the canals,do what you want.

David and I enjoyed our day out immensely.As we are both solo boaters,it was really nice to have someone to have a natter with.We both fell in love with your little boat and it's sweet little engine and for my next boat,I will look for an Owl class. Hope your op goes well. The eight and a half hour trip did include a stop for a pint at The Collier's pub.

Fibreglass is in many ways a wonderful material.Rotproof,wormproof,and rustproof,can make complex curves,and is easy to repair. It lacks tensile strength though, and can be badly damaged by a sticky upy scaffold pole that someone with horse manure for brains chucked into the cut! It also burns readily, so fibreglass (and petrol powered) are not allowed to use the Standedge Tunnel.