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Project OBD ( Norman 32 )


W+T

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Looks like a lot of work but for a project a grp boat makes a lot of sense compared to wood or steel and the Norman is an attractive design, - a little like the Creighton Inlander, which I think is a maybe the most beautiful inland cruiser ever made.  I came across one of these Normans a few weeks ago heading up the Middlewich branch (suggested they share the lock with us but they weren't too keen). It was immaculate, co-owned by an Australian couple, and their son/daughter in law I think, and they just used it for summer visits - how they managed to keep it in top condition I don't know but among all the Clonecraft it shone like a beacon. 

 

I'll watch the progress of this latest project with great interest.

 

 

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27 minutes ago, Naughty Cal said:

You must be mad. You have not even had time to enjoy the first one properly yet!

 

Yehh but having made Admiral straight from Captain he needed 2 boats to get to the top job as Admiral of the Fleet

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3 hours ago, Ange said:

I had a feeling you'd want a new project once you were done ? Is this one to sell on or are you building up a fleet?

I think he’s building a fleet to lease to the RN ‘cos he feels sorry for them. 

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9 hours ago, croftie said:

Glad to see you have found your new project, and its even got a houdini hatch which I know was your No1 requirement ??

 

Good luck.

 

 

OMG no way is there going to be a Houdini anywhere this one.

 

 

8 hours ago, RLWP said:

Will it fit on your drive?

 

It will but i have been told its not coming home, cant see why ? 

 

Anyways, i have a mooring for it ready four boats up from Khahsoggi, good size pontoon for working on aswell.  

 

5 hours ago, Naughty Cal said:

You must be mad. You have not even had time to enjoy the first one properly yet!

Come on Rach dont be like that, raving lunatic i prefer lol. 

 

Must of had 12 days since launching Khahsoggi. And as the Norman will be close its will be perfic for a fettle and chill. T will be coming every other weekend as she is busy with the lad at foot ball, so all will fit in ;)

 

 

5 hours ago, RLWP said:

 

Ahhh, but what does he enjoy - boating or boat building?

Bit of both actually Richard. I have been real enjoying faffing with the last few bots on Khashoggi and then chilling out.

 

 

5 hours ago, Ange said:

I had a feeling you'd want a new project once you were done ? Is this one to sell on or are you building up a fleet?

 

Its a keeper, working my way up. Khashoggi will likely be for sale in two years maybe.

 

 

So already messed up with my plans, my own mistake as i was going to cruise it to the mooring on Lancaster canal.  Only to find out that the draught i got of the Norman Owners website was 0.55m draught and the max for the Ribble link is 0.7, when the actual Norman 32 draught with the leg is 0.9m ?

 

Now change of plan, cruise it to Rufford and then transport/crane to the Lancaster, either Ashton basin again as Khashoggi was or Garstang Marina. will be getting  prices tomorrow.

 

Ah well it will be scraping the Lanky`s bottom lol.

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7 minutes ago, W+T said:

OMG no way is there going to be a Houdini anywhere this one.

 

 

 

It will but i have been told its not coming home, cant see why ? 

 

Anyways, i have a mooring for it ready four boats up from Khahsoggi, good size pontoon for working on aswell.  

 

Come on Rach dont be like that, raving lunatic i prefer lol. 

 

Must of had 12 days since launching Khahsoggi. And as the Norman will be close its will be perfic for a fettle and chill. T will be coming every other weekend as she is busy with the lad at foot ball, so all will fit in ;)

 

 

Bit of both actually Richard. I have been real enjoying faffing with the last few bots on Khashoggi and then chilling out.

 

 

 

Its a keeper, working my way up. Khashoggi will likely be for sale in two years maybe.

 

 

So already messed up with my plans, my own mistake as i was going to cruise it to the mooring on Lancaster canal.  Only to find out that the draught i got of the Norman Owners website was 0.55m draught and the max for the Ribble link is 0.7, when the actual Norman 32 draught with the leg is 0.9m ?

 

Now change of plan, cruise it to Rufford and then transport/crane to the Lancaster, either Ashton basin again as Khashoggi was or Garstang Marina. will be getting  prices tomorrow.

 

Ah well it will be scraping the Lanky`s bottom lol.

Are you absolutely sure about that draught - have you actually measured it?  According to the Norman register the draught on a 32 is 1'10".

 

In any case it will go through the link I'm sure, Savick Brook has been dredged recently I know for certain that a 3' draught boat will go, and that is of course a flat bottom boat.

 

Can understand though if you don't want to risk it at this time, personally I'd put it in the water at Bridgehouse, I would expect it to be cheaper than Garstang. 

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On 28/07/2019 at 18:40, W+T said:

Hey i am at it again 



I have been looking for another project for a few weeks now, infact not long after i finished Khashoggi. I looked at many and thought of many to buy from part done to shells again and start from scratch, sea boats to river boat to canal/river boats.



I found some boats that could be made into crackers but they were asking stupid money, i mean a 37 foot GRP MS bare hull ( once ripped out ) and engine for £5k. 



Anyway after a good talk with T i decided to get another river/canal boat, T is not mad on going to sea and as she is ok with me getting another project, and i am happy with it then why not please us both. I fancied awide beam and had a thought to widen this one to ten foot, but then in the future we may ant to cruise more of the UK canal system which a lot of it is narrow. 



Ah now where does the title come from. Some may know i just love boats in all shape and form and condition and rather save a boat and enjoy the hobby , that is where the `OBD` comes in 



My good lady, very good lady i have to say and one in a million, well she diagnosed me with this problem i have OBD ` Obsessive Boat Disorder` 



Lets just get to the introduction now hey of what is an unnamed boat at the minute to me. 





This is a Norman 32 6`10" beam cabin cruiser. In need of much work, but less than the Buckingham i did last time. Trust me it does....i think 








67385262-2450987735184579-38609008113913

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67344306-479657206125679-832052238742244

67150795-433437607250976-116058278566507




The engine which is a Mercedes OM636 with outdrive / Z drive runs great, needs a few things like air filter and a good battery for now to get it to the home mooring i have for it a few moorings up from Khahsoggi.






20190726-185134.jpg

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It has a new starter motor a basic service and Inj pump refurb 



Sounds well once it got going but when viewing the seller didnt bother to preheat the plugs for some reason so smoked like a good un.


https://youtu.be/B7NsjhYSkNU

 

https://youtu.be/py01B_uioi0














In a few weeks i will start the 4-5 day trip to get it there. I will be doing it during the weekends and as after a days cruise it is not that far from home for the first few days i will leave it over night and go home, but the last leg i will stay in a BnB as this will be before the Ribble Link which beside the adventure to do the whole trip this is the biggest part and will need to be prebooked to get on to the Tidal stretch.



So plan is



Get it to the mooring and rip out whats left needed to be done, not a great deal left. But i will be taking down the inner skin of th cabin top as its got a ply inner top, sandwich construction, this will be redone by adding ribs in place every foot or so then to save head room by a good 20mm i can insulate it with spray foam this time,



Windows are all coming out and getting toughend glass to replace the plastic naff thats in there. 



Well as you will see there is water in the bottom, i have three bilge pumps to pump out the boat once out of Manchester, saves homeless folk and squatters taking over if its full of water. Then this will i hope see if the leg has any leaks or exhaust etc. Still i will be dragging it out locally to redo them all an d remove the engine to clean it up and fit a drip tray etc etc. 



Ok that as far as i have got. loads as you will see the plan and do. 





Bring on the next so many years. I/we will be staying on Khashoggi every other weekend and working on `OBD`as said its a few boats down from it.



I will get a walk around video if i remember when i move it in a few weeks 



Admiral Faffer

 

Brilliant intentions but just dont put yourself through it! 

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38 minutes ago, Neil2 said:

Are you absolutely sure about that draught - have you actually measured it?  According to the Norman register the draught on a 32 is 1'10".

 

In any case it will go through the link I'm sure, Savick Brook has been dredged recently I know for certain that a 3' draught boat will go, and that is of course a flat bottom boat.

 

Can understand though if you don't want to risk it at this time, personally I'd put it in the water at Bridgehouse, I would expect it to be cheaper than Garstang. 

 

I know thats where i looked before i bought the boat to see specs. But after asking about its be said it is 0.9m draught. I am going to try measure it this weekend.  Thats will the leg lowered though so i guess its hull draught.

 

 

@BeetBee

 

You lost me there fella. If you mean dont save the boat and enjoy my hobby then  you dont know me lol.

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50 minutes ago, W+T said:

after asking about its be said it is 0.9m draught.

Somebody can't do metric.

 

I'd have thought less than 0.6m (2 feet) would be more likely, and 0.45m (18") is possible.

You could always ballast the nose down if you need to, lifting the stern, but I'd say you wouldn't need to.

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8 hours ago, Naughty Cal said:

You must be mad. You have not even had time to enjoy the first one properly yet!

I don't think he's mad in the slightest, sure you don't either. Wayne is definitely OBD, sure some of us can empathise. The fun of having a good, functioning boat to enjoy and one to captain faffer with. I think that sounds perfect! I'm looking forward to following another project, and what a lovely boat it will be.

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There is another angle to this of course.

 

Fine if you want a steel narrowboat there are still plenty of decent fabricators/builders who can turn out an acceptable shell, but if your preference is for grp you have no choice but to find something secondhand, and if you want a custom built interior you might as well start with a wreck rather than pay good money for a decent boat to hack about.

 

It all makes perfect sense to me.

 

One thing Wayne - given that you are starting with a bare shell have you thought about fitting a bowthruster?  It's not a huge job to DIY on a grp boat, you just have to make sure you get the holes in exactly the right place...  I know some will laugh - a bowthruster on a 32 foot boat - but they make life so much easier on a light displacement boat especially when getting in and out of tight spaces.     

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On 29/07/2019 at 21:00, TheBiscuits said:

Somebody can't do metric.

 

I'd have thought less than 0.6m (2 feet) would be more likely, and 0.45m (18") is possible.

You could always ballast the nose down if you need to, lifting the stern, but I'd say you wouldn't need to.

I will be sticking a few hundred KG of ballast in the bow as got loads here as can borrow some from doing the drive at home ;)

 

 

 

On 29/07/2019 at 21:07, BilgePump said:

I don't think he's mad in the slightest, sure you don't either. Wayne is definitely OBD, sure some of us can empathise. The fun of having a good, functioning boat to enjoy and one to captain faffer with. I think that sounds perfect! I'm looking forward to following another project, and what a lovely boat it will be.

 

At last some sees where i a coming from ;):)

 

Best  of both worlds and both boats near as dam next to each other.

On 29/07/2019 at 21:53, Neil2 said:

There is another angle to this of course.

 

Fine if you want a steel narrowboat there are still plenty of decent fabricators/builders who can turn out an acceptable shell, but if your preference is for grp you have no choice but to find something secondhand, and if you want a custom built interior you might as well start with a wreck rather than pay good money for a decent boat to hack about.

 

It all makes perfect sense to me.

 

One thing Wayne - given that you are starting with a bare shell have you thought about fitting a bowthruster?  It's not a huge job to DIY on a grp boat, you just have to make sure you get the holes in exactly the right place...  I know some will laugh - a bowthruster on a 32 foot boat - but they make life so much easier on a light displacement boat especially when getting in and out of tight spaces.     

 

Its a few more things but yes, thing is to me it get a shell of a GRP boat of half decent looks or one that can be made better wit not much effort, one they have so much better looks/character than a NB and in my budget or i would get a wooden boat. 

 

At the cost of a Bow Thruster i will stick with knowing how to control a boat normally. I have always looked upon them as like self parking cars, for folk who cant drive a car or to lazy to learn to do it properly. Not for me. Cruising and boat control is part of the fun to me..

 

 

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On 29/07/2019 at 21:00, TheBiscuits said:

Somebody can't do metric.

 

I'd have thought less than 0.6m (2 feet) would be more likely, and 0.45m (18") is possible.

You could always ballast the nose down if you need to, lifting the stern, but I'd say you wouldn't need to.

I could easily believe it has a 3ft draft. Our little cruiser with stern drive has a 3ft draft.

 

One another note Wayne, be prepared for that drive to be a bag of trouble.

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3 hours ago, Naughty Cal said:

I could easily believe it has a 3ft draft. Our little cruiser with stern drive has a 3ft draft.

 

One another note Wayne, be prepared for that drive to be a bag of trouble.

I am thinking on converting to inboard with prop ;) and more ideas, but you will think i have lost the plot;)

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