Fitout "good ideas"

[Yamanx]

Whilst fitting the hot water instant heater I made a fundamental error. The unit is located on a wall at right angles to the sides of the boat at the end and above the kitchen worktop. After I had fitted the worktop I run the water pipes underneath, drilled a neat hole for each into the worktop up to the heater. Pipes were straight & looked the business.

 

However at this stage I hadnt yet cut the hole in the roof for the flue pipe. And when I measured it I realised the flue pipe would go straight through the hand rail. Bum. I had to move the heater over about 50mm to avoid the flue hitting the handrail.

 

But my pipes which looked neat and straight now look like an S shape banana. I'm going to have to box them in as they look really offensive.

 

Moral of the story is dont drill holes in worktop without checking flue position first.

[DHutch]

Ahhh, nightmare situation!

[wollix]

Internal doors.

 

It is usually impossible to buy doors anywhere near the shape and size you need and you don't really want modern looking units anyway.

 

So make your own, even if you are a good woodworker making framed panel doors with mortise and tennon joints will take forever. Cut the door from 3/4 plywood, you could leave it at that with a paint finish but it would be a bit boring, instead glue onto it an imitation frame, I used some offcuts of the 8mm T & G boards left over from the deckhead, plane off the tongues and grooves and trim to the correct width.

 

Think about the make-up of a panel door, horizontal wide frame at the bottom, slightly slimmer board at the top, slimmer still mid horizontal and vertical elements. Painted in contrasting colours the finished door will look every inch a handmade original door unlike those bland things you normally see on new boats.

 

Hang it using piano hinge, brass of course, by far the best method on boats.

 

B&Q have some nice slatted doors that are easy to fit and not too expensive - you can trim the size at either end and if pushed take the end off and a few slats and reassemble- did a perfect job for me!

[Theo]

When the safety scheme was introduced all ventilators were required to be fixed fully open, in the case of mushroom vents a locknut had to be fitted to the adjustment thread and locked solidly, the safety inspector would make checks on these items.

 

In recent years many of these regulations have been relaxed and made 'advisory'. We are now presumably to make our own judgements on safety.

 

I like to close the mushrooms when locking to prevent the centre rope's getting caught under them.

 

Nick

[John Orentas]

I like to close the mushrooms when locking to prevent the centre rope's getting caught under them.

 

Nick

 

 

But do you always remember to open them again, the BSS were at one time very keen on this sort of thing, mushroom vents were always regarded as FIXED VENTILATION. But then the BSS appear to have lost interest in this kind of thing. We must begin to ask, why do we pay out money for a saftey scheme, it's becoming a complete waste of time.

[Jason Wilson and Family]

I am not a boater, but.

 

As far as lights are concerned. When mounting lights in the rear cabin, install some that are a red light. If you are navigating at night, your eyes adjust to the dark around you. When you go below, a white light will blind you and force your eyes to readjust, leaving you blinded again when you pop back up. A red light, on the other hand, is easy on the eyes and you will retain your night vision.

 

(As an alternative you could just use the pirate trick, that is, an eyepatch. Pirates apparently used eye patches, not to cover their losses, but to provide night vision for on deck then, by switching eyes day vision for when they went below into lighted sections)

 

Also, while not really functional, a wood paneled boat cabin side (such as this one I photographed in Banbury) Is a very attractive addition.

[Jason Wilson and Family]

Also, any critical guages you have, it may be a good idea to fit a second one in your berth. at would allow you to check anything instantly if you wake up in the night.

[dacaB]

A red light, on the other hand, is easy on the eyes and you will retain your night vision.

 

Dead on, green is good too.

[RobinJ]

have tricolour navigation lights (white all round in a red, green, white sectored housing for the top of sailing yachts masts ) as well as fore and aft navigation and interior cabin lamps, made of sets of LED's.

Which reminds me! I've got a nav. light I can't get to because its been panelled over!

 

Captive nuts are a good idea, you don't need someone on the other side with a spanner, or don't end up with a pile in the bilge!

There are some 'top hat' things they use on chairs, s'pose can't get them in stainless or brass?

[Sir Nibble]

Where there is insufficient thickness of metal to tap, you want a thing called a "nutsert" they are fitted with a tool a bit like a pop rivet plier.

[RobinJ]

I like to close the mushrooms when locking to prevent the centre rope's getting caught under them.

 

I got fed up with the original "french beret" vents leaking, replacing them with mushrooms - if you drill a hole near the bottom of the thread and put a pin in, it stops them from being unscrewed completely from the outside.

[John Orentas]

Where there is insufficient thickness of metal to tap, you want a thing called a "nutsert" they are fitted with a tool a bit like a pop rivet plier.

 

 

Sometimes called 'Clinchnuts' too. All the manufacturers have their own trade names, these types of fasteners including pop rivets are also available in stainless steel.

[Jason Wilson and Family]

Not sure if this would be a helpful idea or not. I was thinking about the usefulness of having a hand crank port on the rear deck connected by a shaft to your engine. If you come back to your boat to find your batteries flat, you can grab your crank and get your motor started. The reason I say external is simply because I have thought about fitting some sort of electronic lock ('ark at me, I need a boat first) which would be a bit of a pain if the batts are dead.

[ChrisPy]

Not sure if this would be a helpful idea or not. I was thinking about the usefulness of having a hand crank port on the rear deck connected by a shaft to your engine. If you come back to your boat to find your batteries flat, you can grab your crank and get your motor started. The reason I say external is simply because I have thought about fitting some sort of electronic lock ('ark at me, I need a boat first) which would be a bit of a pain if the batts are dead.

sounds a good idea - looking forward to receiving your design sketch proposal.

 

(or it might be easier to get a jump start or borrow a good battery I suppose, on the hopefully rare occasion that you are stuck).

[-Jack-]

Not sure if this would be a helpful idea or not. I was thinking about the usefulness of having a hand crank port on the rear deck connected by a shaft to your engine. If you come back to your boat to find your batteries flat, you can grab your crank and get your motor started. The reason I say external is simply because I have thought about fitting some sort of electronic lock ('ark at me, I need a boat first) which would be a bit of a pain if the batts are dead.

 

Hand cranking a diesel is not easy without first opening the decompressor's and then flicking them back in, one at a time. Most modern engines do not have a heavy flywheel, which assists hand starting and mostly you cannot decompress the cylinders individually without making some modifications.

 

I think it's better to wire up correctly your bank of domestic batteries and your engine start battery. Then your domestic useage cannot flatten your engine start. Conversely if you wire the system correctly you can, in an emergency, use your domestic batteries to start your engine.

 

Or as Chris said 'Jump leads' could be useful.

[Jason Wilson and Family]

Figured there'd be some sort of problem or not enough use, otherwise we'd still have them on cars today.

Edited July 20, 2007 by Jason Wilson and Family

[-Jack-]

Figured there'd be some sort of problem or not enough use, otherwise we'd still have them on cars today.

 

Some of the older marinised BMC engines had an 'expensive extra' fitted for hand starting. It was a heavy duty spring that you wound up and when released turned the engine over etc. That seemed like a good idea but never caught on etc.

 

Now here's a thought - I wonder if you can 'bump start' a boat

[blueprince]

Magnets to hold painters/floats in place, fridge magnets on the plastic, kitchen door magnet on side of boat, piece of string back to tiller and you've got an auto release system.

[ChrisPy]

just an idle thought - if you've got the space, a gas-tight compartment with external access adjacent to the galley for the gas bottle. Makes the installation much simpler than running pipes half the length of the boat. May be difficult to justify the use of space on a narrowboat but should be feasible on a wide beam.

 

has it been tried?

[Gary Peacock]

just an idle thought - if you've got the space, a gas-tight compartment with external access adjacent to the galley for the gas bottle. Makes the installation much simpler than running pipes half the length of the boat. May be difficult to justify the use of space on a narrowboat but should be feasible on a wide beam.

 

has it been tried?

 

 

This boats gas locker (2 Cylinders) is incorporated in the seating area on the rear deck along with the air handling unit for the air-con, we do quite a few with rear gas lockers.

[ChrisPy]

This boats gas locker (2 Cylinders) is incorporated in the seating area on the rear deck along with the air handling unit for the air-con, we do quite a few with rear gas lockers.

Air-con !! Don't get John Orentas stirred up again !

 

I was thinking more about a gas locker fitted into the cabin side.

 

PS: I do like that enormous rear saloon.

Edited July 21, 2007 by chris polley

[anhar]

just an idle thought - if you've got the space, a gas-tight compartment with external access adjacent to the galley for the gas bottle. Makes the installation much simpler than running pipes half the length of the boat. May be difficult to justify the use of space on a narrowboat but should be feasible on a wide beam.

 

has it been tried?

Hello Chris

 

My gas locker is on the rear deck of my cruiser stern narrowboat and holds two cylinders, accessed externally by lifting off the brown lid that can be seen. It is adjacent to the kitchen which is immediately inside the doors. In fact as well as being much handier than the usual front gas locker, it provides a very useful place for putting stuff like a map, cup, windlass or whatever when cruising or moored. I think this design is a big improvement on the front gas locker and doesn't take up any space on the deck which one would otherwise use.

 

The centre boat in this picture

 

By the way the poor paintwork on the stern is because the picture was taken before painting was entirely finished.

 

regards

Steve

[Gary Peacock]

 

This boats gas locker (2 Cylinders) is incorporated in the seating area on the rear deck along with the air handling unit for the air-con, we do quite a few with rear gas lockers.

 

We tend to recommend people to put the galley in the wheelhouse for a number of reasons.

 

 

 

Wheelhouses seem to be becoming very popular on the bigger boats these days too.

[Lesd]

Hello Chris

 

My gas locker is on the rear deck of my cruiser stern narrowboat and holds two cylinders, accessed externally by lifting off the brown lid that can be seen. It is adjacent to the kitchen which is immediately inside the doors. In fact as well as being much handier than the usual front gas locker, it provides a very useful place for putting stuff like a map, cup, windlass or whatever when cruising or moored. I think this design is a big improvement on the front gas locker and doesn't take up any space on the deck which one would otherwise use.

 

The centre boat in this picture

 

By the way the poor paintwork on the stern is because the picture was taken before painting was entirely finished.

 

regards

Steve

 

Ours will be the same, three bottle gas locker (on the right in this shot) plus a general locker on the cruiser stern. The pipework will go straight through to the galley area at the rear.

Les

[ChrisPy]

We tend to recommend people to put the galley in the wheelhouse for a number of reasons.

 

 

Wheelhouses seem to be becoming very popular on the bigger boats these days too.

...............and an AGA !

 

.................. Ledgard showing off or just winding up John O ?