Admiral

Thanks Paul. Steve

Hi I have recently bought the EX - FMC motor boat "France". I have setup a website to try to chart the history and to highlight the restoration process. So, if anybody out there has pictures, info, sightings or just stories about the boat as either "France" or "Adder" or as WFBC camping boat I would be most thankful and you will get credited on the site. Thanks again Steve www.nbfrance.com

Graeme Pearce at Stockton Dry Dock has just finished a restoration of a National DM2 and has a clip of it running on youtube. The new lucky owner is David Daines and is going into Cyprus, looks nice..

Very sensible idea, if it was done along the lines of a lease purchase over a set amount of time, I am sure a private buyer could be found and would be willing to leave the boat at the museum. I was at Stoke Bruerne about 6 weeks ago and took pictures of the boat which looked fantastic, I had no idea it was that bad a shape in the important parts.

Well lots of info there, thanks for that, went to the usual sites of historic interest but not much info on this boat. Anyone got any pictures?

Hey So does anyone know the origins or history of Narrowboat Don? It is apparently a 70'converted Severn and Canal wooden motor boat? Advertised on WFBC website http://www.wfbco.co.uk/narrowboats_for_sale/Don Anyone want a cheap boat if I take the engine?

My sea going boat: 7 feet draught 46" X 33" prop Cummins 6 cylinder 360hp Narrowboat jp2 3:1 draught 36" (alegedly) 24" X 14"

I have read the entire post of this thread (QSS all threads), in fact I have been each day catching up on the latest news. My first thought when this news broke that the community of boaters would get together and find this boat in days. I think there are unanswered questions regarding the viability of the hire and the precautions taken by the owners in that process as well as the misleading info given early on BUT is not the overriding thing here to find the boat and return it to the owner? I would assume that when found at that time maybe all the truth would come out about who did what and how and when. In the meantime this forum which is a superb information exchange, surely should be used as that to find the boat? I have seen mention that people are losing interest in the "hunt", I can understand that after reading this thread! Yes there seems to be misinformation and yes there are inconsistencies but is it not possible to pull together and judge later? I boated for a couple of days in this period and was a bit more interested at looking at cruiser stern narrowboats (at one time going aground while comparing portholes to the printout I had!), this boat could be anywhere, I am sure it will turn up sometime in one form or another, in the meantime lets act as one and find it or it maybe seen as an easy money gig in the future. Probably gonna get lots of nasty emails now!!

Graeme Pierce at Stockton would be someone to help you with that. 07919577905

Hey Fantastic work with this. Can you put the files on an ftp or http site and then could download and watch easier? Thoroughly enjoyed. Steve Harmer