I accidentally bought a boat :-D

[JonT]

I appreciate all and any comments and advice, I am a welder/ engineer/tinkerer ?......... no expert but I can turn a spanner and ive done some research always wanted a boat as a project so I will put pics up here of my progress if I do something wrong please tell me x

 

So me and Charlie have just spent 4 days cleaning up the 40ft Springer I have just bought as a project.  6-12 days travel from where I live. Hmmmmm should I drive/float/sail it there??..????......Yeh you are right i should do that instead of transporting it??? I just want to fail it,   So it is a 40ft Springer BMC 1.5 1984 George Orwellian. I've not read the book but I've read the manual.

3 days

1st day, Stripped the boat, starting from the bow took account of everything on board cleared the rubbish/ lockers and any other debris from the main cabin and front storage. Then started the engine bay 300ish liters of water  drained from the forward of engine bay section and coolant from the keel cooler. 

We used sawdust to lay down on the rest of the gunk on the engine compartment floor after clearing 3 bin bag of rubbish out of it and some.

So here's a few pics from the engine bay as it is after a clean and sawdust.

 

Please feel free to comment I will also put pics of the boat on too

 

Boat is currently on hard standing and needs some attention

 

I'll put pics in next post as they're on my phone. It's so far away but need a few test runs first.... just in case

.

[WotEver]

6 hours ago, JonT said:

Boat is currently on hard standing and needs some attention

Get the hull thoroughly inspected prior to dropping her into the water, Jon

[Alan de Enfield]

6 hours ago, JonT said:

So here's a few pics from the engine bay as it is after a clean and sawdust.

 

????

[Rickent]

You didn't buy it from a couple of young YouTube vloggers. ?

[JonT]

Hi sorry i couldn't put the pictures on last night. Heres a couple of the boat. It will only let me put one picture on, i will try to work out how to put more on.

[Alan de Enfield]

Looks 'tidy' from the picture but Springers were built with very thin steel and it will not have got any thicker over the last 50 years,

 

As WotEver suggests - get a structural survey (thickness tests) on the Hull, you don't want to do all the work, put her back in the water and then find the hull is full of pin-holes.

 

Good luck.

[JonT]

29 minutes ago, WotEver said:

Get the hull thoroughly inspected prior to dropping her into the water, Jon

Excellent, thank you yes i will be getting a full inspection and doing a test run, well probably a few test runs to make sure its floating and running right before i sail it back. Maybe its over the top but, i am going to buy an industrial pump just for piece of mind. I will be getting it black by a well know guy who works locally and has all the equipment needed.

[Rickent]

 

Give this a watch and you will see how wise Alan's words are.

Does look a tidy boat.

[JonT]

37 minutes ago, Rickent said:

You didn't buy it from a couple of young YouTube vloggers. ?

No it was a tall fella that was into bikes.

[bizzard]

You could satisfy yourself to some degree how sound the hull is by knocking hard all over with the pointed end of a welding slag hammer, without missing an inch. chalk every hit done.

[JonT]

7 minutes ago, Alan de Enfield said:

Looks 'tidy' from the picture but Springers were built with very thin steel and it will not have got any thicker over the last 50 years,

 

As WotEver suggests - get a structural survey (thickness tests) on the Hull, you don't want to do all the work, put her back in the water and then find the hull is full of pin-holes.

 

Good luck.

Yes I will be making sure I have spotters and be checking the process of putting it in the water very closely.

 

Yeh I have done a lot of research on the springers and other boats, the hull looks solid but yes like you say looks can be deceiving. I am a welder by trade and fully checked out the boat and checked the thickness. From my research most boats are 10/8/6/4. Springers were generally 8/6/4 or 6/6/4 and this is a v hull and doesn't look in too bad condition. There are a couple of spots that need some attention but it nothing major ?

7 minutes ago, bizzard said:

You could satisfy yourself to some degree how sound the hull is by knocking hard all over with the pointed end of a welding slag hammer, without missing an inch. chalk every hit done.

I have an ultrasonic thickness tester but also did the traditional methods when I inspected it. There is some plating on the front but it does look like a tidy job so not too worried about it

[JonT]

Thank you for all the comments btw. I will try and figure out how to put more pictures on. It says there is a size limit for pictures?? Am I doing something wrong??

[Alan de Enfield]

9 minutes ago, JonT said:

Yes I will be making sure I have spotters and be checking the process of putting it in the water very closely.

 

Yeh I have done a lot of research on the springers and other boats, the hull looks solid but yes like you say looks can be deceiving. I am a welder by trade and fully checked out the boat and checked the thickness. From my research most boats are 10/8/6/4. Springers were generally 8/6/4 or 6/6/4 and this is a v hull and doesn't look in too bad condition. There are a couple of spots that need some attention but it nothing major ?

 

That's good, but be aware that some Springers were only 4mm (5/32") base plate when built.

Several insurers will not insure a NB at 4mm or less, but if you only insure it 3rd party it'll be no problem.

 

I'm sure you are aware but you will need insurance and a BSS (Boaty version of the MOT) before you can get a licence.

 

A bit of history about Springers :

 

https://canalrivertrustwaterfront.org.uk/heritage/a-thrifty-beginning/

5 minutes ago, JonT said:

Thank you for all the comments btw. I will try and figure out how to put more pictures on. It says there is a size limit for pictures?? Am I doing something wrong??

No, the forum limits pics to 2.9Mb individually or in total, its a bit frustrating but you can host them elsewhere and then upload them onto the forum - try :

 

https://postimages.org/

 

 

Edited September 6, 2020 by Alan de Enfield

[bizzard]

2 minutes ago, JonT said:

Thank you for all the comments btw. I will try and figure out how to put more pictures on. It says there is a size limit for pictures?? Am I doing something wrong??

Two other places to check out.  Inside the weed box which is another waterline and also the rudder stock tube. If you have an integral fuel tank it probably passes through it, but if separate fuel tanks the tube should be getatable inside to check.

[bizzard]

To satisfy yourself about the rudder tube a quite simple way of making it sound is to remove rudder and stock. Get a length of steel tube that will pass up a close fit up inside the old tube, make sure the stock will pass through the new tube with clearance first though. Poke it up as far as it will go, cut to length and weld all around the bottom to tthe old tube area, refit rudder and stock. I've done this a couple of times including my own old Harborough Marine boat for peace of mind. The hull checked, the weedbox checked, the rudder stock tube done, complete peace of mind and ready to launch and go.

[JonT]

32 minutes ago, Alan de Enfield said:

 

That's good, but be aware that some Springers were only 4mm (5/32") base plate when built.

Several insurers will not insure a NB at 4mm or less, but if you only insure it 3rd party it'll be no problem.

 

I'm sure you are aware but you will need insurance and a BSS (Boaty version of the MOT) before you can get a licence.

 

A bit of history about Springers :

 

https://canalrivertrustwaterfront.org.uk/heritage/a-thrifty-beginning/

No, the forum limits pics to 2.9Mb individually or in total, its a bit frustrating but you can host them elsewhere and then upload them onto the forum - try :

 

https://postimages.org/

 

 

Ah yes, I thought 4mm was the smaller boats but not sure. Mine is 6mm and there is no spot less than 5mm thickness. It will be getting stripped back inspected thoroughly and fixed if needed.

Yes I have countered in the bsc. I was thinking of doing that the same time as the hull blacking. Not sure weather I will go with bitumen or epoxy yet.

 

I have sorted out the insurance and will be going fully comp and have a few companies I have contacted to get an idea of what is required.

 

Brilliant thank you for the link to the history I have been searching for bits and information on them.

 

I think I will try them on a program I have to shrink them to do it that way, as the pictures will be permanent. If the hosting site goes down they will be lost.

 

Thanks Alan very helpful comment

[JonT]

22 minutes ago, bizzard said:

To satisfy yourself about the rudder tube a quite simple way of making it sound is to remove rudder and stock. Get a length of steel tube that will pass up a close fit up inside the old tube, make sure the stock will pass through the new tube with clearance first though. Poke it up as far as it will go, cut to length and weld all around the bottom to tthe old tube area, refit rudder and stock. I've done this a couple of times including my own old Harborough Marine boat for peace of mind. The hull checked, the weedbox checked, the rudder stock tube done, complete peace of mind and ready to launch and go.

Ok yes this was what I was going to do after I got the engine sorted. I want to strip down the whole thing and check all the bushes and refresh them. It has a tiller arm and a steering wheel and dont mind that set up. Yes I will have to do something with the weed box to make it more accessible as atm it is bolted down and I would like to improve it. I was also thinking of stripping the stern tube down and repacking it just to be safe. Thanks for the advice I was going to get into that after the engine is sorted.

[roland elsdon]

After the surveyor has gone round then you can hit it with a Bigger  hammer.

 

[Alan de Enfield]

30 minutes ago, JonT said:

I have sorted out the insurance and will be going fully comp and have a few companies I have contacted to get an idea of what is required.

Did the insurers demand a survey before giving cover ?

 

Most (all ?) do at 30 years old, and many do at 25 years old.

[JonT]

16 minutes ago, roland elsdon said:

After the surveyor has gone round then you can hit it with a Bigger  hammer.

 

? always check it with a bigger hammer ?

[JonT]

14 minutes ago, Alan de Enfield said:

Did the insurers demand a survey before giving cover ?

 

Most (all ?) do at 30 years old, and many do at 25 years old.

Ah yes it is 84 the insurer dont need a survey its a bit more than some but i will see about it, because i would prefer to survey it later when it is fitted out, so going to do a bit more research first. The best way i see it is to find a better insurance company and do the hull survey to cover the engine and hull.

[Rickent]

1 minute ago, JonT said:

Ah yes it is 84 the insurer dont need a survey its a bit more than some but i will see about it, because i would prefer to survey it later when it is fitted out, so going to do a bit more research first. The best way i see it is to find a better insurance company and do the hull survey to cover the engine and hull.

Strongly recommend a survey before chucking money in to a fit out, if it needs welding then you'll end up ripping it out again.

[JonT]

Engine bay after a clean

 

Figured out how to do it, thanks for the help ?

12 minutes ago, Rickent said:

Strongly recommend a survey before chucking money in to a fit out, if it needs welding then you'll end up ripping it out again.

Yes of course it will be stripped down first, i won't do the fit out for a while yet. I am going to strip check and fix if needed. Sorry i must have missed out the fact i am a welder by trade in my post.

[WotEver]

7 minutes ago, JonT said:

Engine bay after a clean

AFTER a clean?  Good grief!

 

Well done for taking on this project

[JonT]

On 06/09/2020 at 10:55, WotEver said:

AFTER a clean?  Good grief!

 

Well done for taking on this project

Sorry for slow reply i Just had the weekend off and back on it today. Yea the engine bay was a mess bought out 3 bags of random junk wrappers and grime. We've got everything ready, tidied and cleaned, going to get on it first thing in the morning I'll try and take a few more pictures.

Thanks WotEver i am looking forward to it and then enjoying it.