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Apologies for the long post but we have a real head scratcher. So we have a 93’ harboro boat. We have done a series of modifications including fitting a Victron multiplus 2 with 7 batteries and a new calorifier (75lt) with a 1kw immersion. We have also removed a very light bench style sofa and replaced with a sofa bed barn sofa all of this fitted to the port side of the boat. We noticed a slight list and so planned to remove a small amount of ballast. On the weekend we noticed that the bilge pump was kicking in and when we investigated it the engine bilge did have sufficient water around the sides of the engine (not under the engine pan). At first we thought that the calorifier had leaked as the pipes leading from the engine to the calorifier were empty - we called RCR who we paid to swap the calorifier and the engineer thought the water in the engine bay (was yellow) was coolant but he couldn’t locate a leak and opted to send another engineer at a different time. The second engineer came and checked the pressure on the water system which remained at 6bar although we couldn’t see any water in the header tank (we could still see water in the header tank when the first engineer came and we haven’t run the engine) anyway the second engineer cleared the water system and said that the water was sitting on the port side swim (uxter) and running down into the bilge and that he felt it was a slight leak on a weld or rust letting water through the uxter plate or through the side. we had the boat out of the water in May and blacked it and we didn’t see anything worrying. We replaced all of the stern gear and had to cut a sufficient amount of steel from the back and this was noticeably thick and well preserved much to the shock of our welder who thought it would be thinner. We have booked to get out of the water to investigate but I suddenly thought of something else. When we run the immersion heater and the victron is running the temp is c32 degrees and higher in the heat that we have had the last few days. Could we be creating crazy amounts of condensation in the bilge (all the heat stays in that area) the cooling tanks are directly located in the same area on each side of the boat Some additional points we do get rain in the bay as the gutters are poorly designed could this increase the amount of condensation? we also painted the bilges and cleaned everything in April again didn’t notice anything untoward, the boat had a survey a couple of years ago and the chines were worn so the previous owner paid to have a full over plate of the base in 6mm steel this was pressure tested and we have the receipts and could see the work when we had the boat out of the water in May we have removed the ballast and no longer list slightly but still creating very small amounts of water from the same place the temp is currently 26 degrees according to the victron and the outside temp is 18

Hi there, my 1978 narrowboat has a persistent leak coming through the ceiling. It appears to come in via a crack going along the side of the entry hatch where it slides across the roof although no exact hole in the steel roof can be identified. The whole area has already been sealed twice, once using weathermate and once using body filler, however keeps leaking just as much. Any thoughts or suggestions would be much welcome?

Hi. Can you help with a wet under floor please? 2008 65 foot narrow boat. The cabin bilge is always wet. I suck out about 5 litres per month. There was a small leak in the bathtoom 2 months ago but it’s been fixed. Still seeing some wicking up the base of the wooden bulkheads so I drilled some inspection holes. Photos attached. The whole floor is like this. Could this be condensation? Do I need to force ventilate under the floor? Having been searching for a leak for a month and not found conclusive evidence of one anywhere I’m at a loss. Your advice very gratefully received. Thanks.

Hi all My first post on this forum I hope someone can help. Ongoing water issue in bilge stern and bow for a while now. I've taken up flooring, ripped out old shower tray, sorted stern gland, checked windows/pipes/pumps/hull and after almost abandoning ship I finally found the leak. When I fill the water tank (about every 4/5 weeks) there must be a crack or split in the filling tube so if I overfill and get run off about 3/4 litres of water fills the bow bilge very very quickly which then runs through the boat slowly ending up in the stern bilges. I'm so relieved I've found the leak but does anyone know how to sort it out? The 'pipe' going down to the tank is about 3/4 inches long. I can't see that this is cracked so it must be where it joins to the tank. The tank appears to be metal. Is this repairable or do I need a new tank? Thank you!

Hi, Purchasing this boat and just wanted a second opinion on water in the engine bilge. I’ve attached some pictures and wondered if anyone had any advice comments as to the amount of water of the general condition of the area. its a 30ft steel hull narrow boat 1995 with a beta marine engine. The brokerage say it’s just rain water and I tend to accept then but still as a first time buyer it’s slightly concerning. cheers!

Hello Folks, My partner, Isobel and I purchased our first narrowboat last July (2015) Its a proper 'project' boat, which we spent a month fixing things like the engine, and fitting in insulation, new T&G cladding on the walls etc before embarking on an epic journey from London to Bath, where we are now moored in a marina and have just survived our first winter aboard. Now thats its spring at last, we want to start repair works again, but could use some advice! The boat is a 48' cruiser stern narrowboat, built in 1975. Steel hull and a GRP fibreglass roof. We have learnt now what a royal pain it is to have a fibreglass roof, and have spent a large part of the winter catching leaks which have been coming through under the gunnels We applied sealant all along the joint outside the gunnel, but have found we probably missed making a full seal and water has been getting in. We will be scraping out and redoing this this spring. Also, the handrails are snapped and broken. They were wooden and not looked after, and now need fully replacing. We were hoping for advice about doing this, and generally in ensuring the GRP roof is totally TOTALLY TOTALLY waterproof (please!) I've seen a few people covering their roof with products like flow coat and a product called rubbaroof. Does anyone have experience of applying this and can recommend whats best and how to do it? Also, we're debating whether to reuse the existing holes drilled in the roof (which are currently sealed over with Sikaflex) and make wooden handrails, or if after sealing over the whole roof anew, we can just drill new holes, perhaps adding metal handrails instead such as these: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Pair-1800mm-316-Stainless-Steel-Boat-Grab-Rails-Handles-/290374973664 Any thoughts and advice would be much appreciated, we would love to get the boat waterproof, looking great and properly shipshape before next winter! Thanks a lot for any help : ) Laurence and Isobel