jeff thompson

Good morning, Labor Day here in the US, so I will be laboring. Reading the topic on boat painting, I can relate somewhat. Painting,is all about the labor. As a remodeler / handyman, I'm off to paint my neighbors house today, spraying it with a good quality paint. What I will say is that myself, my son and another worker have spent a week or so PREPING the house. Power wash, scraping where needed, reglazing some 23 double hung ,12 panel windows, and sanding where needed. Putting the paint on will be a faction of the time. Prep work is the important part, and that means labor. And labor costs. I dont mean to put anyone off, and I would defiantly paint my own boat, but remember, it's in my wheelhouse.

Alan, Nice read with he "Bimble solar" site. Trying to read as much as possible about 12 Volt systems, this was good. Half way through "The boaters Bible to 12 volt" also. Great forum here.

" Never say never" James Bond.

Thanks Jen, I dont know how I missed it. jeff

Jen, another good question. I have to think it would have to have something to do with batteries. So far, we still have the sun . Solar is getting better all the time, Lithium batteries are getting a good amount of praise , be it they are pricey , but seem to be coming down in cost. would larger battery banks , more solar panels work? I don't know, but it seems to me, thats a good place to start. Safe boating to all.

Interesting reading. First, getting ANY government to build inferstructure is difficult. And if it doesn't generate income its even a bigger problem . There were a lot of ideas in this post, all would require large investments. And a new set of problems , someone always on the tractors, passing boats, charging points, the list goes on. It would seem that it would just be cheaper in the long run to install better systems on each boat.

Ok, What if you were to disconnect the pump from the system, and run a direct connection (12v) to the pump. Does the pump run? If not the pump is bad.

I thought thats what I said.

If you have power everywhere but not at the pump, then its a bad pump.

New Begining, Let me first say ,I am also VERY new to learning about narrow boats. I will tell you what I believe is true. Over plating, I believe is when new steel plating is added to the sides, bottom of the boat, due to wear or what have you. I read about a boat built in the 80's I believe that only had 5mm bottom plating, so maybe that was prevalent in the past. Seems that 10-6-4 is now the norm. As to , why are some older boats worth more, are you comparing apples to apples. Meaning are the boats "like"? And maybe you could look at it as a classic car can cost way more then a new car. As for your question about cost of a boat between 10 and 20,000. I think you could get one in that range,BUT, it might not be what you want. Meaning, size, layout, engine, etc. How much work does it need? Lots of thing to think about. When I'm looking at an older auto to buy, I break it down in three parts, Exterior, Interior , mechanical . If all three need major repairs, I back off, you get the idea? Good hunting.

Cutting through the roof , a nice clean cut. I used to build marine diesel engines with a company in Daytona Bch , "Daytona Marine" , BIG engines. 275 hp to 1100 hp. Cutting steel with a saw is not the way to go if you want to do it quickly and the end result a clean cut.

Good point from "cut hound" ,mount on port side. As to "DYI" , do you have a plasma cutter? I think a double lined chimney ( i'm in the US) is a safer idea, granted you won't get heat radiating from it , but you, or children , that might be to young to know can get a nasty burn if touched. And as for posting that little bit of extra heat, I think the stove will more than compensate any "added" heat radiated rom the pipe. Check out Jono's youtube channel , he has an episode when he had his Morse installed. It will give you a bit more information to make your choice.

Damn, and I thought you were talking about a small little RC boat that you built to follow you up the cut. " mommy...mommy.."

So very well put. Wish I could figure how to put that on facebook. Oh well, it probably wouldn't be understood.

Agree with BEngo. Doing remodeling in the US, I have had situations where the floors were uneven after taking up carpet and before installing manufactured wood flooring. Installing 4 X 8 sheets of a thin wood , such as the 4mm mentioned, it leveled it out nicely.

There are other brands also. You scuff up the paint, apply with rollers, brushes, after taping . Applying two coats. It cost around $80.00 a gallon. If a gallon can do a truck bed, Im thinking ten cans should work, so thats under a $1000.00. Plus you're labor. It might be a good test on a piece of discarded steel. Thanks for allowing me to participate .

Again, I have never been on a narrow boat, I dont know what the drawback would be. My experience with boat are mostly sailboats, some wood ( sailfish) mostly Fiberglass ( Morgans, Cals, and Hinkleys) which won't be the same.

Well, yes. The product, and products like it have very good bonding properties, have a "dimpled" surface, that would be beneficial as an anti slip surface, and I have seen them in different colors. And with the bonding , it would seal out moisture ,eliminating subsurface rust . Just saying..

What about "Rhino lining " ? It's a product used to line pick up truck beds.

Eye level fridge / freezer makes good sense .

I may also add , that here in the states, that problem would not be addressed by the government ,UNLESS they could befit . Say, some large corporation with deep pockets to line congressmens pockets. No, it would be addressed by the locals it affects, with grass root committees to find and fix the problem. So maybe it will take the people that use and live on the canals to take charge.

Interesting posts. Let me add a bit. my father, having lived on the Chesapeake bay, here in the US, working with the crab boats for awhile, learned that the algae was caused by the heat AND , neighboring farm run off. Lots of fertilizers causing growth , not allowing oxygen to reach the young crabs / oysters . I think the research done in London may have been " tainted" to fit their needs. High concentrates of algae usually is caused by high amounts of nitrogen .

Way to funny. Well, I am a newbe here, just started thinking about narrow boats, selling our home in the US, and trying it out. Spent the last two hours reading this thread about toilets......maybe there is a place for us on the canals........who in their right mind would spend two hours reading about toilets.........yep, maybe I have found "my people"

Now that's funny.