Ex Life Boat

[David Mack]

53 minutes ago, Sea Dog said:

You missed the bit about them being pig ugly and an abhorrent carbunkle when inflicted upon the English canal network. Of course other, perhaps more supportive opinions are available... 

Not all of them...

[Hudds Lad]

26 minutes ago, David Mack said:

Not all of them...

To be fair i’ve only seen about as many of these as i have fingers whilst out and about, but Navvie’s Ark is the only one that wasn’t bog standard orange under a layer of algae and pallets

[ditchcrawler]

[Sea Dog]

3 hours ago, David Mack said:

Not all of them...

Who was it said "A pig wearing lipstick is still a pig"? 

 

I mean it beats it still being bright orange, but the 'eye of the beholder' rule still applies...

[C Nash]

7 hours ago, Sea Dog said:

You missed the bit about them being pig ugly and an abhorrent carbunkle when inflicted upon the English canal network. Of course other, perhaps more supportive opinions are available... 

 

Well, from the historic pictures and remaining historic boats, grand union coal barges were hardly nice looking homely vessels before they were inhabited. The fun part is the creativity that people show when they make it into a home, add a flower bed, some paint, a bit of rattan etc

[TheBiscuits]

3 hours ago, Sea Dog said:

the 'eye of the beholder' rule still applies...

 

I've seen boats with purple flowers on them ...

 

 

[LadyG]

There is a very old weathered orange l/boat on the hard near me, it's for airBnB apparently, I fear he's missed this season, and likely the next one, I think the expression 'fools rush in' may apply.

Quite a few skipfulls of fibreglass and a week's work with a chainsaw.

I can't see anything except engine and prop being of much value.

 

 

[C Nash]

29 minutes ago, LadyG said:

There is a very old weathered orange l/boat on the hard near me, it's for airBnB apparently, I fear he's missed this season, and likely the next one, I think the expression 'fools rush in' may apply.

Quite a few skipfulls of fibreglass and a week's work with a chainsaw.

I can't see anything except engine and prop being of much value.

 

 

Yeah, don't panic purchase either, take your time to decide. I think if you own one, you may as well have fun with it and try to make it look nice.

 

And the engines a diesel by the way.

Edited May 5, 2022 by C Nash

[Sea Dog]

1 hour ago, TheBiscuits said:

 

I've seen boats with purple flowers on them ...

 

 

Purple and white winter pansies at the moment I'll have you know ...! 😋

[Sea Dog]

10 hours ago, TheBiscuits said:

 

I've seen boats with purple flowers on them ...

 

 

P.S.  You've got a heck of a memory! 

[C Nash]

14 hours ago, C Nash said:

Yeah, don't panic purchase either, take your time to decide. I think if you own one, you may as well have fun with it and try to make it look nice.

 

And the engines a diesel by the way.

I would steer clear of used diesel engines, especially if they came off the back of an oil rig. Best option is electric with fresh batteries and installed by a decent engineer.

[ditchcrawler]

1 hour ago, C Nash said:

I would steer clear of used diesel engines, especially if they came off the back of an oil rig. Best option is electric with fresh batteries and installed by a decent engineer.

??

[C Nash]

2 hours ago, ditchcrawler said:

??

Ok so you get a *good* boat, but half of the people think it's a pig ugly blimp and the diesel engine dies/ceases to function, and happens to cause a big oily bilge etc. Why bother, you might as well have an outboard or something .

[Alan de Enfield]

16 minutes ago, C Nash said:

Ok so you get a *good* boat, but half of the people think it's a pig ugly blimp and the diesel engine dies/ceases to function, and happens to cause a big oily bilge etc. Why bother, you might as well have an outboard or something .

 

What a strange view.

You could say the same /similar for pretty much anything, Car, House, Boat, Wife ..................

[C Nash]

Or not so strange. Diesel cars never really took off. The motors are disgusting if poorly maintained. 

[TheBiscuits]

21 hours ago, C Nash said:

and the diesel engine dies/ceases to function, and happens to cause a big oily bilge etc.

 

The decommissioned lifeboats (straight from the rigs) probably have the best maintained second hand engine you can buy.

 

Very regularly checked and serviced, very low hours and the person doing the maintenance could quite literally have their life depend on it working in an emergency.

 

 

[howardang]

2 hours ago, TheBiscuits said:

 

The decommissioned lifeboats (straight from the rigs) probably have the best maintained second hand engine you can buy.

 

Very regularly checked and serviced, very low hours and the person doing the maintenance could quite literally have their life depend on it working in an emergency.

 

 

The same principle  applies to all ships lifeboats, not just rig boats, where safety of life depends on  regular maintenance  and reliability of the boat engine, equipment and general hull condition. It has to be said, however, that some ships take this responsibility more seriously than others!

 

Howard

Edited May 7, 2022 by howardang

[C Nash]

2 hours ago, TheBiscuits said:

 

The decommissioned lifeboats (straight from the rigs) probably have the best maintained second hand engine you can buy.

 

Very regularly checked and serviced, very low hours and the person doing the maintenance could quite literally have their life depend on it working in an emergency.

 

 

Well why decommission them then? And what if the engines were used as auxiliary generators / heaters until they were too far gone to be of service? They might not come with alternators but I'm sure an oil rig engineer could rig one up. I would guess they were also used as launch vessels to sneak down the pub once a month too.

[TheBiscuits]

1 hour ago, C Nash said:

I would guess they were also used as launch vessels to sneak down the pub once a month too.

 

Why would you bother when there's a free helicopter ride available?

[C Nash]

Ok, well I guess the lifeboats are a blessing and a curse at the same time. A blessing to the seller and the community of oily workers, and a curse to the poor sod who buys it and is doomed to the solitary lifestyle of fixing all the sloppy old systems.

[ditchcrawler]

5 hours ago, C Nash said:

Well why decommission them then? And what if the engines were used as auxiliary generators / heaters until they were too far gone to be of service? They might not come with alternators but I'm sure an oil rig engineer could rig one up. I would guess they were also used as launch vessels to sneak down the pub once a month too.

I can assure you they don't. As posted above the maintenance is 100%  The davit ones get lowered for drills occasionally. I often use to take the circular Brooker Capsules out. Always launch at low tied or you don't get back on the hook and make sure you have someone on board who knows how the retrieval winch gear works. If you want to know what its like trying to steer one then try pushing a saucer across the table with one finger .

 

[David Mack]

3 minutes ago, ditchcrawler said:

 

And when they weren't saving lives, were they promoting instant mashed potato?

[Alan de Enfield]

13 minutes ago, David Mack said:

And when they weren't saving lives, were they promoting instant mashed potato?

 

Smashing they were, smashing !