[Need boat moved Central London to P&S Marine]

The situation is very messy at the moment , Brexit and norther Ireland issues have tied Waterways Ireland hands to be able to update bye laws, 

On canals there is only 28 current full time livaboard places (20 in dublin and 8 in Shannon harbour ) and the waiting list is longgggg, they can’t add more with out facilities and planning permission etc very long story 

there are non residential permanent moorings that legally only let you “live on the boat for 90 days a year” most livaboards have these and everything is fine they are just hoping as it seems that nothing comes of it as waterways Ireland are trying to get the system sorted to accommodate more 

On the Shannon there’s private marinas where you can live and pay a marina fee - public harbours have a 5 day rule in summer so you must keep moving , and during the winter period (1 November - 1st April) you can get a winter mooring permit in a public harbour and stay permanently

[Need boat moved Central London to P&S Marine]

Thanks for the heads up Peter. I booked Giles of ‘your helmsman’ in the end, hopefully it’ll have opened up by next Monday when he’s due to move her. Have  p&s booked and road transport to Ireland a week later all lined up so fingers crossed they have it sorted soon!

[Need boat moved Central London to P&S Marine]

Thanks for the insights folks. Reckon I will just ‘jump in’ the deep end and hopefully emerge unscathed! 

[Need boat moved Central London to P&S Marine]

14 hours ago, Peter X said:

This is the kind of thing that I sometimes help people with as a hobby, not professionally. I do it on the basis that the owner is aboard, I just get food and lodging for the trip, and while I know how to steer a boat and operate locks, and do my best to assist in resolving any problems encountered, I don't have much technical knowledge and make no promises that I can fix anything. A professional boat mover will normally be able to do most simple repairs.

 

The bad news is that I'm too busy at the moment even to offer to do this short trip, mostly because I'm going away boating for two weeks soon. I have a small wine harvest to do soon too. But I can offer some comments which I hope are helpful:

 

From King's Cross to P&S Marine two days should be plenty; four locks in the first couple of miles, then the long pound of the Paddington Arm, turn right at Bulls Bridge junction, stop overnight maybe somewhere around West Drayton, and I think it's 11 locks up to Watford on day two. Plenty of room in all the locks for your boat, and my guess is the engine will have adequate power, you're not going via the river.

 

If you're new to canal boating it's a good idea to have someone to turn up and teach you the basics on the first day, I hope maybe someone else off the forum could offer ? If they just accompany you for the first three hours or so to Little Venice that covers the four locks and the (short) Maida Hill tunnel. But if not, I suggest you download and read the boater's guide on the CRT website, try to make sure your engine is in working order and you have basic equipment such as windlass (and spare!), lines, mooring items etc., then just go for it. If you meet other boaters at locks you'll find they're usually happy to answer questions, show you what to do, etc.

Thanks for all the info Peter! Yes feel a little more confident I could do it myself after checking out the boaters guide!

[Need boat moved Central London to P&S Marine]

1 hour ago, howardang said:

Only you can know your capabilities and limitations, but if you have to ask the question it does cast some doubt on whether you would be able to do the move on your own. It would also be helpful to know a little about the boat - size, engine etc and location from and to. As Mike says if you think a quote you have is too much what do you expect to pay?

 

Howard

Like I said, I’m a complete novice, have no experience on a narrowboat apart from the short run when buying, so any starter tips would be appreciated. She’s a 52 for narrowboat, 35hp. Need it moved from King’s cross to p&s in watford. Don’t know what the going rate is but would have thought £100-£150/ day would be reasonable 

[Need boat moved Central London to P&S Marine]

Hi guys. Absolute novice here, but just bought a narrowboat in central London and need to bring her up to p&s marine for some work before shipping her to Ireland. The broker put me in touch with someone who could help move her, but the price for doing so seems very high. So the question is, if I was to fly over and move her myself, firstly would it be feasible on my own, and what would I need to know before doing so. (I’ve had a quick run through on how to start the engine already and she seems to run fine, and I’m sure i could steer fine (I’m mostly unsure of how to navigate locks!) Alternatively, could anyone recommend anyone trustworthy who would run this trip for me at a reasonable rate. Thanks in advance! 

[Does my baseplate need gritblasting?]

Thanks for all the suggestions andy sorry to hear of the horror stories...to update, we’ve found the money to get the grit blasting and epoxy, figured it’s the safest bet....presumably if any holes do appear after blasting they would have rusted through eventually anyway, and the idea of over plating doesn’t sound too appealing, now or further down the line....presumably any holes that did appear would be noticed and welded? Or would this require over-plating? (we’re going with a well reviewed boat yard so presumably they’d check steel integrity after blasting, but I will make sure to talk to them about it) The hull survey does mention evidence of rusting from the inside suggesting there were issues there that have since been dealt with, as it now appears dry... If we were to sell the boat down the line I think a history of epoxy coating would satisfy any buyer doubts (?) Also, we’re moving the boat to Ireland so I’m not sure we’d have the same level of boatmanship over here when it comes to narrowboat maintenance, so probably best to get it done before shipping 

[Does my baseplate need gritblasting?]

Thanks for all the info. Reckon I’ll just get her blackened for now and see where we are in a few years as unsure whether we’ll be in her long term 

[Does my baseplate need gritblasting?]

She’s 30 years old this year 

[Does my baseplate need gritblasting?]

Looking for a bit of advice...I’m looking at buying a narrowboat which comes at a good price, however the survey recommends gritblasting and painting the baseplate, because apparently it is thinner than usual and has ‘widespread pitting’ There seems to be two schools of thought when it comes to baseplate maintenance from what little research I’ve done, ie painting or leaving as is because of thickness/lack of oxygen etc.  I would prefer not to have to blast and paint it if I didn’t have to because of the expense.

 

Here’s an excerpt from the survey for more details....

 

‘The base plate had a nominal thickness of 8mm, but point thickness measurements indicated some diminution. The majority of readings were above 7mm, the lowest reading being 6.1mm.
Widespread pitting, not uncommon on narrowboat base plates, was widespread, resulting in shallow craters with an estimated depth of 0.5 – 1mm, but no loss of structural strength was detected with hammer testing.

 

1. Given the comparatively thin base plate, grit blasting and applying a protective paint coating would greatly reduce the chance of serious diminution in the future. However, boatyards are reluctant to take on this work due to the limited access beneath the hull.