Show us your bowtruster locker lid. Go on. You know you want to.

[Jackofalltrades]

Our narrowboat shell is progressing well. It's only a month late due to 'Covid' apparently [cough]...  Today we received more photos of build progress (they won't let us visit due to Lockdown restrictions). The cabin sides & roof are now on. The front & rear bulkheads are tack welded in place. Maybe (yet) another week to go...

 

But the builder wants to make and fit a bowthruster locker lid that stands proud of the welldeck floor by about 3/4". This will obviously be a trip hazard and will make use of the welldeck floor space at times awkward. I requested that the bowthruster compartment opening and lid are made the same way as the cruiser stern engine compartment - i.e. with a U-shaped channel around the perimeter with drains in the port & stbd hull sides + a locker lid that is level with the surrounding floor. His first response/excuse was "I'll never get in there to weld the channel" (this was before the welldeck floor had even been put in place). As if he didn't know he could weld the channel on from underneath with the floor plate upside down on the workshop floor before it is fitted into the welldeck. The next conversation we had about this he rolled out an excuse about RCD and having to talk to his surveyor. I mentioned my RCD cat A lumpy water boat with a large deck hatch forward of the mast that is flush with the surrounding deck. Again he said he'd have to talk to his surveyor.

 

Is it me being an arse or is there something peculiar about narrowboats that makes it necessary to have a sticky-up bowthruster compartment locker lid?

 

 

 

 

 

[robtheplod]

Here you are!

 

[Jackofalltrades]

5 minutes ago, robtheplod said:

Here you are!

 

...

 

 

Thanks. Is that the standard way of doing it in the narrowboat world then?

 

Edited April 26, 2021 by Jackofalltrades

[robtheplod]

1 minute ago, Jackofalltrades said:

 

Is that the standard way of doing it in the narrowboat world then?

 

standard?     not sure but its how ours is........

[Chagall]

Mine is incorporated into wrap around seating in the bow deck with storage under the side seats. Wide lift up lid across the width of the bow meant it was relatively easy to get into and around the tube to paint. 

[ditchcrawler]

Mine isn't ina locker its under the deck

[Rob-M]

Mine sits on the roof, I have two a short one and a long one and they can be used at either end of the boat not just the bows. They are a trip hazard though when walking on the roof. You can see them in this photo with a space between for the plank.

 

 

[Ally]

An odd angle to see ours, but the only one I have to hand from very early days. Its a humongous locker, with double lid doors, BUT, we don't actually have a bow thruster, so actually it's just extraordinarily good storage! You could get a few children in it if you had a mind to....just to prove a point, obviously!  

[Chagall]

cue ..."girly button" and various other disparaging comments.  ? 

[Slim]

I , don't have a  bow thruster (they were considered too 'girly') when I was fitting out my boat 25 years ago. However, from the photos I would be concerned about water in the well deck when in some locks. The U channel is similar to the way my semi trad engine cover is. On a couple of occasions I've drifted back in a heavily leaking lock and the amount of water getting into the engine compartment was significant and I don't mean just wet. Just be aware. 

[blackrose]

13 minutes ago, Rob-M said:

Mine sits on the roof, I have two a short one and a long one and they can be used at either end of the boat not just the bows. They are a trip hazard though when walking on the roof. You can see them in this photo with a space between for the plank.

 

 

 

Interesting. How do they work if you're steering at the helm and you're single handed? 

Edited April 26, 2021 by blackrose

[David Mack]

1 hour ago, Jackofalltrades said:

 

Is it me being an arse or is there something peculiar about narrowboats that makes it necessary to have a sticky-up bowthruster compartment locker lid?

No. They are just suffering from we've-always-done-it-that-way syndrome. I can't see why you can't have a flush lid as long as there is sufficient room to fit the BT gubbins in below. Except putting a channel around the opening and the drains is extra work they haven't priced in.

 

1 hour ago, Jackofalltrades said:

(they won't let us visit due to Lockdown restrictions).

I find this worrying. Businesses like boatbuilders have been open since 12 April as long as masks are worn, social distancing observed etc. If they still won't let you visit with reasonable precautions I would be a bit  worried about not knowing what is going on. The photos they send you won't show everything you could see for yourself on a visit.

[Phoenix_V]

1 hour ago, robtheplod said:

Here you are!

 

I don't know if it is standard but that design is much less likely to let rainwater in, you can see that he has made the floor level by the simple expedient of rubber mats (with holes to let the water run away!)

[Slim]

1 minute ago, Slim said:

I , don't have a  bow thruster (they were considered too 'girly') when I was fitting out my boat 25 years ago. However, from the photos I would be concerned about water in the well deck when in some locks. The U channel is similar to the way my semi trad engine cover is. On a couple of occasions I've drifted back in a heavily leaking lock and the amount of water getting into the engine compartment was significant and I don't mean just wet. Just be aware. 

Posted before Chargills comments and NOT meant to be disparaging. Were I fitting the boat out again I would have one.

[blackrose]

2 minutes ago, Slim said:

I , don't have a  bow thruster (they were considered too 'girly') when I was fitting out my boat 25 years ago.

 

I do have a bow thruster. They were still considered too 'girly' when I was fitting out my boat 16 years ago, but I didn't give a cr@p what other people thought.

[David Mack]

1 hour ago, robtheplod said:

 

What does your BSC Insector think of having a metal lid so close above that unprotected battery terminal? And what is over the other one?

[ditchcrawler]

Just now, David Mack said:

What does your BSC Insector think of having a metal lid so close above that unprotected battery terminal? And what is over the other one?

I would say its OK because with the lid on you can't drop anything on it and it can't jump up and short because its fastened down`

[Alan de Enfield]

4 minutes ago, David Mack said:

No. They are just suffering from we've-always-done-it-that-way syndrome. I can't see why you can't have a flush lid as long as there is sufficient room to fit the BT gubbins in below. Except putting a channel around the opening and the drains is extra work they haven't priced in.

 

I find this worrying. Businesses like boatbuilders have been open since 12 April as long as masks are worn, social distancing observed etc. If they still won't let you visit with reasonable precautions I would be a bit  worried about not knowing what is going on. The photos they send you won't show everything you could see for yourself on a visit.

 

He could even be sending the same photos to 10 different customers, all seeing THIER boat coming to fruition and all paying the stage payments.

You might laugh, but it has happened.

[blackrose]

I think your builders design is better in terms of not getting water in the locker. I'm just wondering if you could use 1" thick rubber scraper matting (the mats with holes in) to raise the height of the deck so that it's flush with your locker lid and less of a trip hazard? Homebase sell large 3' x 3' versions for about £18 each. You can use thick cable ties to tie them together.

 

The only trouble is it makes cleaning the deck a bit more hassle.

Edited April 26, 2021 by blackrose

[LadyG]

I would be wondering why he is employing a surveyor, not you? 

Is this standard practice? 

[Alan de Enfield]

17 minutes ago, LadyG said:

I would be wondering why he is employing a surveyor, not you? 

Is this standard practice? 

 

You do realise that he probably has a surveyor monitioring the build to ensure compliance with the RCR (don't you ?)

If you are building your own boat then the rules compliance is down to your own self-certification.

Edited April 26, 2021 by Alan de Enfield

[Captain Pegg]

29 minutes ago, blackrose said:

 

Interesting. How do they work if you're steering at the helm and you're single handed? 

You stop, walk down the gunwales, collect the pole, go to the front of the boat and push. I used mine - similar design to Rob’s and while single handing - to manoeuvre across the channel after being flagged down and asked to retrieve a football that had escaped from King George’s playing fields in Droitwich last Saturday.

 

Bow thruster’s may have their uses but they aren’t essential on canals on a narrowboat, even if single handing. And the bigger and heavier the boat is the more useful that shaft becomes. It has the advantage of being able to move the boat small distances in all directions in a relatively controllable way.

Edited April 26, 2021 by Captain Pegg

[Rob-M]

27 minutes ago, blackrose said:

 

Interesting. How do they work if you're steering at the helm and you're single handed? 

I usually just pick one up and walk to the end that needs a shove then walk back to the tiller and carry on. I never need to steer and shove with a shaft at the same time.

[Jackofalltrades]

15 minutes ago, David Mack said:

No. They are just suffering from we've-always-done-it-that-way syndrome. I can't see why you can't have a flush lid as long as there is sufficient room to fit the BT gubbins in below. Except putting a channel around the opening and the drains is extra work they haven't priced in.

 

I find this worrying. Businesses like boatbuilders have been open since 12 April as long as masks are worn, social distancing observed etc. If they still won't let you visit with reasonable precautions I would be a bit  worried about not knowing what is going on. The photos they send you won't show everything you could see for yourself on a visit.

Yes I agree about the likelihood of we've-always-done-it-that-way syndrome. If they wanted paying more they should have said so.

 

I can't say I'm not concerned about not being able to visit. It seems they are now, as of today's date, taking extra Covid measures. Or it could just be an excuse so we can't visit and possibly see other boats being built as ours is now a month overdue for completion 'due to Covid', apparently...

 

10 minutes ago, Alan de Enfield said:

 

He could even be sending the same photos to 10 different customers, all seeing THIER boat coming to fruition and all paying the stage payments.

You might laugh, but it has happened.

That thought has crossed my mind. We paid approximately a third deposit with the remainder due on completion - no interim stage payments. The builder is a fairly well known and well-established builder. Not that that necessarily means anything, I know.  The balance will not be paid until we physically see the boat and confirm all is OK (as best as we can).

 

[blackrose]

38 minutes ago, Rob-M said:

I usually just pick one up and walk to the end that needs a shove then walk back to the tiller and carry on. I never need to steer and shove with a shaft at the same time.

 

Well you must be stopped while you're doing it. You can't risk losing control of a moving boat by leaving the helm, getting onto the roof to grab a pole, walking down the entire length of the boat, using your pole to get the bow where you want it and then coming all the way back to the helm. I can think of lots of situations where that technique wouldn't work, including entering a large river lock full of other boats and needing to nudge the bow to one side.

Edited April 26, 2021 by blackrose