Aintree Boats

[pico3116]

Hi Everyone
Looking at getting a new narrowboat sailaway shell from Aintree Boats in Liverpool
Hoping to be able to kit it out all electric/solar!!
Any reviews/recommendations on this boat builder? 
😀
thanks
 

[pearley]

Although we have a few issues with the fitout there is nothing wrong the shell or the engine installation. They use a sub contractor for the engine install, Chris Jones, who is an approved Beta engineer.

[Alan de Enfield]

 

They are a 'budget' builder & there are better quality builders, so it all depends on your budget - do you want a  Trabant , a Mecedes or a Bentley ?

 

On the subject of fitting out, have you investigated the Recreational Craft Regulations (RCR) what is legally required and what the implications are if you do not comply.

 

There was recently an example of a 'private fitting out' and due to illness the lady needed to sell the (2 year old) boat - the boat could not be sold and so she has had to have a surveyor PCA (Post Construction Assessment) at the cost of several £1000's.

You build as you see fit but you do need to be aware of what happens if the boat is non-compliant.

Edited October 27, 2021 by Alan de Enfield

[jpcdriver]

There are lots of boats our there based on Aintree shells and they appear to be ok. There are elements of that show them up to be from the budget end of the spectrum (such as weld seams not being ground back to smooth).

[J R ALSOP]

The modern day equivalent of a Springer

[Bee]

They are a middle of the road, conventional perfectly OK shell. There are boats that are, say 10% better but would cost you 20% more, that sort of thing. A sort of Ford. For those of us bought up on old wooden joey boats and plywood cruisers an absolutely marvellous boat. If you get a new shell pay a bit extra to get it epoxy painted.

[booke23]

3 hours ago, J R ALSOP said:

The modern day equivalent of a Springer

 

No they are above springers. For a start they build in 10/6/4, not vee bottomed and not built out of scrap gasometers…..unlike some Springers!

[TheBiscuits]

5 minutes ago, booke23 said:

not built out of scrap gasometers…..unlike some Springers!

 

Sigh.

 

Scrap gasometer steel was far higher quality steel than most boats are built from.

 

It's almost like it was specified to contain many tons of poisonous, explosive gases in residential areas.

 

Yes it was cheap repurposed steel, but that didn't mean it was low quality.

 

What condition do you think modern boat hulls from most builders will be in fifty or sixty years?

[northern]

1 hour ago, Bee said:

They are a middle of the road, conventional perfectly OK shell. There are boats that are, say 10% better but would cost you 20% more, that sort of thing. A sort of Ford. For those of us bought up on old wooden joey boats and plywood cruisers an absolutely marvellous boat. If you get a new shell pay a bit extra to get it epoxy painted.

 

Having been to Aintree and asked the question over the paint prep before 2 pack painting, it was confirmed they don't blast the boats before painting.  Given the shells are also kept outside before painting too, you might not get something long-lasting.

 

They did say that could get somebody in to grit blast but it would be expensive.

Edited October 27, 2021 by northern

[Alan de Enfield]

8 minutes ago, northern said:

.......you might get something long-lasting.

 

 

............. but, you probably won't.

[northern]

Just now, Alan de Enfield said:

 

 

............. but, you probably won't.

Typo on my part.

[booke23]

2 hours ago, TheBiscuits said:

 

Scrap gasometer steel was far higher quality steel than most boats are built from.

 

Is that the case after a truck has been driven over it repeatedly to straighten it? 

Edited October 27, 2021 by booke23

[JamesWoolcock]

As I understand it, Sam Springer bought an old road roller for this purpose, having laid a flat concrete bed in the yard over which to roll it.

And gasometers were invariably built of boilerplate!

Quality indeed.

Edited October 27, 2021 by JamesWoolcock

[ditchcrawler]

38 minutes ago, booke23 said:

 

Is that the case after a truck has been driven over it repeatedly to straighten it? 

Like rolling

[MtB]

19 minutes ago, JamesWoolcock said:

As I understand it, Sam Springer bought an old road roller for this purpose, having laid a flat concrete bed in the yard over which to roll it.

And gasometers were invariably built of boilerplate!

Quality indeed.

 

If it was ever true in the first place, the number of boats Mr springer built he would rapidly have run out of gasometers! 

[TheBiscuits]

52 minutes ago, booke23 said:

 

Is that the case after a truck has been driven over it repeatedly to straighten it? 

 

Yes.

 

The quality or grade of steel has nothing to do with how many dents are in a plate of it.

 

It's all about the trace elements and process when the steel is originally produced.

[booke23]

19 minutes ago, MtB said:

 

If it was ever true in the first place, the number of boats Mr springer built he would rapidly have run out of gasometers! 

 

Must be true. I read about it on an internet forum!

[MtB]

7 minutes ago, booke23 said:

 

Must be true. I read about it on an internet forum!

 

People sometimes make stuff up on the internet just because it sounds plausible or good.

 

Didn't you realise this?!!

[Tracy D'arth]

Sam was an oil tank fabricator too, he would always have bought lots of steel plate.  He probably had no need to repurpose a gasometer but its a lovely story to perpetuate.

[pearley]

16 hours ago, northern said:

 

Having been to Aintree and asked the question over the paint prep before 2 pack painting, it was confirmed they don't blast the boats before painting.  Given the shells are also kept outside before painting too, you might not get something long-lasting.

Yes, they do keep completed shells outside before going off to other builders or going into the paint she'd but they are all primed before.

How many boat builders routinely blast their shells before painting? My previous boat was built by Graham Reeves who was adamant that he wouldn't allow his shells to be grit or shot blasted.

[dave moore]

Strange, all these different approaches. I’ve known instances where boats have been left in primer, some are porous, then had issues with subsequent coats, rust forming under the primer. When Graham Edgson was building at Norton Canes, he would put a bare steel shell out to rust up before grit blasting, the rust facilitating removal of mill scale on the steel. 

[nicknorman]

3 minutes ago, dave moore said:

 When Graham Edgson was building at Norton Canes, he would put a bare steel shell out to rust up before grit blasting, the rust facilitating removal of mill scale on the steel. 

This is surely the right way to do it! Although the paintwork on our boat is still in good condition after 10 years, the hull blacking came off in chunks during the first year due to it being primed, left in the water during fitout, and then blacked over the primer! We then had it grit blasted and 2-packed and it’s been great ever since. If we were ever to get a new boat again (unlikely) I would want it blasted and 2-packed from new.

[Tracy D'arth]

7 hours ago, dave moore said:

Strange, all these different approaches. I’ve known instances where boats have been left in primer, some are porous, then had issues with subsequent coats, rust forming under the primer. When Graham Edgson was building at Norton Canes, he would put a bare steel shell out to rust up before grit blasting, the rust facilitating removal of mill scale on the steel. 

Les Allen did the same, using acid if it did not rust fast enough. Then sanding off the whole boat before priming. But then Les was a perfectionist.

[Phoenix_V]

blasted and preprimed steel or pickled and oiled does not cost much more than steel with the millscale on.

[matty40s]

8 hours ago, nicknorman said:

This is surely the right way to do it! Although the paintwork on our boat is still in good condition after 10 years, the hull blacking came off in chunks during the first year due to it being primed, left in the water during fitout, and then blacked over the primer!

Virtually every new Aqualine that comes over just blacked suffers from this same problem from ones I have seen and worked on. Although it the front and back end get primed on most, the middle is just millscaled steel and will have little or no blacking after 2 years.