Titan

Your thoughts Im just about to pay for a 57 trad, which has been on bw cannal basin for 12 months now, the boat was subject to insurance total loss due to sinking (weed hatch) the boat has been gutted and has been in water for 10 months awaiting the trials n tribulations of insurance etc, my concerns are on bw site it states if the license has expired, i am not elligible for early payment discount? when i phoned to confirm this i was told as long as i purchase on the first of a month they will grant me discount regardless??? However the boat needs to go into boat builders for a bulkhead and weed hatch alteration, as well as engine replacement so i cant use it, so bw suggested i request a trade license through the boat yard, the boat yard are happy to do this, but then point out, i may not get a license if i dont have a mooring after works are complete?? confused, am i better off obtaining license saying i have temp moorings at boatyard? or wait until the above work is done ? someone else has also mentioned that i can get b 56 days grace to arrange repairs and bsc?? discombobulated or what regards Martin

Thats very intresting, i shall be on the lookout for vactan vsoon, thank you for your advice regards Martin

Hopefully i will be embarking on a the biggest project/challenge in my life yet, and that is to re commision a 57ft trad which sadly sank 12 months ago due to weed trap issues, the inside has been cleared out 90% , i need to lift and clean and disssenfect all the ballast and remove surface rust from the floor and mid gunnells of the entire shell, any tips on what paint is suitable to reseal? intentions are to use just a redoxide type paint ? next will be flooring? which type? then insulation, is rockwell useable as friends within friends have a plentifull supply. During the initial clean up, i will be removing engine and stripping in the vain hope of salvaging it perkins 46hp 3 cyl? not come across this before so opinions on this or replacement would also be much appreciated, hundreds of questions to ask but realise i have years ahead of me to get it right or near as , thankyou if you have read this far kind regards Martin

Thankyou for your sentiments, i will try and do her justice, it goes without saying i do feel so sorry for the previous owners who lost so much when it sank, however im led to believe they had swiftly moved on to another newer boat and all is well and i wish them a trouble free life afloat, as for me lol, keep the faith??

Hi everyone, Just to say hopefully bi the end of this week, i will be the new owner of a 57ft trad shell, all i can say is it floats, as its mentioned on one or two of the forums for having sunk, firstly id like to express my deepest sympathy to those who had lost so much when the previous owners had it sink on them, i could only of dreamt of owning a boat untill now, so i have embarked on quite a project, and all advise and support will be gratefully received, kind regards Martin

Perhaps a little premature as ive not as yet handed over the money, but i think as at present i am going to be the new owner of this boat, i will gratefully receive any fitting out advice any one has, initially it will be a deep clean and remove inner surface rust and painting of the inner, to make good, also the lifting and replacing of the perkins engine, may decide to rebuild?? depends on how far its, gone? so offers of engines also welcomed, this will be a long and trying project, but for some the only realistic chance of enjoying canal life kind regards Martin

the comments so far i am most gratefull for, and i appreciate the price seems to be at first a little high, but all the contents i remove from any boat have to be measured and inturn paid to be disposed off so its quite difficult to find an accurate balance, if i pump out 25 litres of dirty contaminated water, then soak up all the emulsion with 5 litres off absobent medium, then use an alkalie wash and degreaser solution of say 20 litres to clean everything properly, and finally dry out this will create a significant disposal fee @ 50 litres a time it will soon add up. I am still waiting for a written reply from the enviroment agency at present, as indeed british waterways also dont know which desk my correspondance should land on so will let you all know in due course, thankyou to all those who have given input, be it posative or negative it has all helped me tremendously. regards martin

is it possible to fire up any inverter if the batteries are flat?

Thanks for reply For me to legally do this Enviroment/agency i firstly have obtained a hazardous waste license, secondly i have applied for a hazordous waste carriers license, and also most importantly have to keep records of all prouduct removed stored and then sent for the coorect treatment and disposal, as u can allready see it all has to be logged and proven that what i intend to do will be above board, each litre of waste and all wipes and granules need to be mesaured stored and paid for to be collected from my w/shop through the official enviromental bodies (headache), but the costs of the licenses and disposal are quite high, i anticipate the costs to be around £100.00, this may seem a little rich, but i assure you rules have to be adheared to. The other benefit would be as im by trade a diesel fitter that any issues with oil leaks engines etc would be high lighted at the time hopefully giving the boat owner , a greater insite of future maintenance regards,

mmm my understandingis that if an alternator is giving an output then its working it will give an output of 40 amps if that is whats required if your atarter battery is in a state of deep discharge it may givean output of 65 amps but only for ashort time,most modern alternators deliver full poweraround 1200/1500 rpm the increase in speed would not increase output but improve cooling to the windings. The 90a output from a lline charger is rated thus to accomodate a bank of batteeries 2/3/4 etc, and i also believe the rating on the allbright relays is across the contacts for the switched circuit rather than the coils? hope this helps

Good Afternoon to one and all , I would greatly appreciate any feedback from members, I am concidering starting up an engine bilge cleaning service, where bilges and all contamination from engine oils and gearbox oils including diesel fuel, will be removed in a controlled enviromental way, using marine friendly degreasers and granuells, all to be safely removed via specialist industrial vacuumes from the craft and then removed from site. I have applied for the correct Enviromental Licenses to be in place. There will also be a possible provision for the emptying and cleaning of fuel sludge etc from diesel tanks on boats, and promotion of oil wick type pads to promote a better understanding of the pollution caused. I am still in the planning stages at the moment, but all thoughts and suggestions are welcome, if intrest is there i intend to offer the servive nationally when possible kind regards Martin