the stretchhhhhhhhhhhhh

[waterlily]

Has anyone had any experience of having their boats stretched? Is it worth doing and what are the risks? I might be needing a bigger boat in a year or so but am attached to mine - not literally - but she is too small for my long term plans. Would be great to hear form anyone who has had this done. Ta.

[Gibbo]

I was thinking of getting Lionheart stretched

 

Gibbo

[journeyperson]

I was thinking of getting Lionheart stretched

 

Gibbo

 

May I suggest L-i-o-n-h-e-a-r-t for the rename once it's done?

[Yoda]

Has anyone had any experience of having their boats stretched? Is it worth doing and what are the risks? I might be needing a bigger boat in a year or so but am attached to mine - not literally - but she is too small for my long term plans. Would be great to hear form anyone who has had this done. Ta.

 

Have a chat with Allen Jones of Keeping Up, as he has done this with a previous boat.

[Gibbo]

May I suggest L-i-o-n-h-e-a-r-t for the rename once it's done?

 

Oh so you want a free gadget?

 

Bl**dy cheek!

 

Gibbo

[alan_fincher]

Has anyone had any experience of having their boats stretched? Is it worth doing and what are the risks? I might be needing a bigger boat in a year or so but am attached to mine - not literally - but she is too small for my long term plans. Would be great to hear form anyone who has had this done. Ta.

 

I'm getting a huge amount of SPAM offering to do something not totally dissimilar......

Edited April 27, 2009 by alan_fincher

[journeyperson]

Oh so you want a free gadget?

 

Bl**dy cheek!

 

Gibbo

 

 

...it was worth a try......

[casper ghost]

Has anyone had any experience of having their boats stretched? Is it worth doing and what are the risks? I might be needing a bigger boat in a year or so but am attached to mine - not literally - but she is too small for my long term plans. Would be great to hear form anyone who has had this done. Ta.

 

You've got to consider the internal layout of your boat, will it be easy to stretch the inside or do you just want another room like a bedroom. Will your engine be ok with the extra length, what additional cost for licence/mooring etc.

[Keeping Up]

Have a chat with Allen Jones of Keeping Up, as he has done this with a previous boat.

Yes our previous boat Thistle was stretched from 45' to 58'6" in 1985. The moral of that is, if you want a 60' boat, make sure they measure to the right side of the cupboard !!!!!

 

It was actually done for the previous owners. The boat had been sunk for a while so the interior needed some refitting, and they took the opportunity to have it stretched while the interior lining was removed. It already had a big enough engine (Lister SR3). It was cut just behind the front bulkhead, where the hull is parallel and there was very little electrical or plumbing woork required, particularly as they left the stove where it was on the floor so that it ended up half way along the lounge instead of near the front, and heated the space very efficiently as a result.

 

It was easy to see the join because the new sections (steel hull, GRP sides and top) weren't quite the same shape as the originals. This led to a couple of leaks in the GRP roof - which you wouldn't have with a welded steel top. The work was done rather "on the cheap" which gave a bend to the left at the rear joint followed by an upswing at the forward join. Added to the natural upswing of a Harborough bow it produced a most impressive fore-end, allied to the natural handling characteristics of a floating banana.

 

The end result, despite the above comments, was 100% successful. Whether it makes economic sense in todays market, is another question entirely.

[Admiral]

Has anyone had any experience of having their boats stretched? Is it worth doing and what are the risks? I might be needing a bigger boat in a year or so but am attached to mine - not literally - but she is too small for my long term plans. Would be great to hear form anyone who has had this done. Ta.

 

My parents lengthened their Springer in the early 80's. Originally 45' they ordered a 17' section of hull and top. The boat was cut in half and the steel arrived only to find that the "template" (piece of wood with marks for bends) used at the yard to make the hull had broken 2 years earlier and a new "template" was made and of course it was not the same so the shape as the old, close but not the same. So the the hull pieces that were delivered as the "direct replacement" were very different! Caused a few strong words to be spoken.

The yard made good and sent 2 welders from the yard to correct but it was still the only springer with a 4 inch strip of flat bottom in the middle of the boat, the rest being v shaped!!

 

Steve

[ThePiglet]

it was still the only springer with a 4 inch strip of flat bottom in the middle of the boat, the rest being v shaped!!

Mine has a 4 inch flat bottom too! A 4x4in bit of rubbing wood is attached all the way along underneath.

[Admiral]

Mine has a 4 inch flat bottom too! A 4x4in bit of rubbing wood is attached all the way along underneath.

 

Was that the same problem?

[Gary Peacock]

Stretching a boat and ending up with boat that still look right is quite a skilled job I have seen boats where you would have to be told they had been stretched to know and I have seen others where the new part was very obvious.

 

The results can also depend on the original boat not the skills of those doing the job some hulls have very little structural framing relying largely on the strength of the plate itself alone. During the build, lifting and use of the boat stresses develop that can result in a lot deformation when you cut the boat in half and it can be very difficult to pull it all back into shape even before you start to build the new section.

[GUMPY]

Had mine done

Bit bigger than most

http://www.parglena.co.uk for pictures

[ThePiglet]

Was that the same problem?

It looks like it was built that way, only 27ft long now so I don't imagine it's been stretched... yet.

[Bob the welder]

Had mine done

Bit bigger than most

http://www.parglena.co.uk for pictures

Nice job thanks for the pixs. BOB.

[paulcatchpole]

It was easy to see the join because the new sections (steel hull, GRP sides and top) weren't quite the same shape as the originals. This led to a couple of leaks in the GRP roof - which you wouldn't have with a welded steel top.

 

Trying to stay on topic here...

 

How did they make a new section of GRP to fit in the gap?

 

Despite reading about Thistle in the past before we bought our GRP cabined boat, I'd forgotten it'd been stretched and never put two and two together afterwards - as it were.

 

Cheers! PC

[Keeping Up]

Trying to stay on topic here...

 

How did they make a new section of GRP to fit in the gap?

 

Despite reading about Thistle in the past before we bought our GRP cabined boat, I'd forgotten it'd been stretched and never put two and two together afterwards - as it were.

 

Cheers! PC

The sections were still available to purchase from Harborough at the time (remember, at one time you could actually buy the whole boat in kit form). Unfortunately the design had changed slightly in the meantime, so they weren't a good fit. You can play "spot the difference" when you see a GRP-top Harborough; if it uses shaped handrails fiitted to a level roof, it's an old one. If the roof has upstands moulded in, so that the handrail is a simple pole, it's a newer one. The old ones always leaked.

 

There were two joins, at the front and rear of the new section, and they used different techniques for each (typical for that boat!) to make them fit. At the rear join there was some flexibility in the end of the original roof so they just used fibreglass matting, but at the front the proximity of the bulkhead made it less flexible so they just put the two ends near to each other, squirted mastic everywhere, and screwed a 3"-wide aluminium strip across above the join. That one used to leak too.

[Dave H]

Has anyone had any experience of having their boats stretched? Is it worth doing and what are the risks? I might be needing a bigger boat in a year or so but am attached to mine - not literally - but she is too small for my long term plans. Would be great to hear form anyone who has had this done. Ta.

 

Hi Waterlily,

 

I had my Colecraft stretched by Dave Thomas of Braunston from 41ft 6in to 57ft 6in. He did the steelwork and lined it and i did most of the internal fitout. Very pleased with the result. I have aloads of photos of the ongoing work if interested......

 

Dave

[waterlily]

Hi Waterlily,

 

I had my Colecraft stretched by Dave Thomas of Braunston from 41ft 6in to 57ft 6in. He did the steelwork and lined it and i did most of the internal fitout. Very pleased with the result. I have aloads of photos of the ongoing work if interested......

 

Dave

 

My goodness Dave - that was a big chunk added. Did you have to get a bigger engin? My boat is 34 ft and have a vetus 3.10 engin. It was raised earlier about engin size and that had not occured to me.

W'Lily

[paulcatchpole]

The sections were still available to purchase from Harborough at the time (remember, at one time you could actually buy the whole boat in kit form). Unfortunately the design had changed slightly in the meantime, so they weren't a good fit. You can play "spot the difference" when you see a GRP-top Harborough; if it uses shaped handrails fiitted to a level roof, it's an old one. If the roof has upstands moulded in, so that the handrail is a simple pole, it's a newer one. The old ones always leaked.

 

There were two joins, at the front and rear of the new section, and they used different techniques for each (typical for that boat!) to make them fit. At the rear join there was some flexibility in the end of the original roof so they just used fibreglass matting, but at the front the proximity of the bulkhead made it less flexible so they just put the two ends near to each other, squirted mastic everywhere, and screwed a 3"-wide aluminium strip across above the join. That one used to leak too.

 

Ah, I hadn't thought about the original sections being available - that's interesting...!

 

Our boat's vintage is a bit unknown, possibly ex-Bijou-Line according to a previous surveyor, but I've no idea really what that means!

 

The handrails are straight and wooden, attached to wooden blocks, screwed into from the inside. Ours leaks in a few interesting places, but mainly from actual damage that's been done in the past (looks like tunnel damage) and filled, which has then cracked.

 

Looking at the pics, is it the forward end that's been extended then? Cunning choice of painting panels in the later black/red views to disguise the location of the joins? It looks very well done in any case.

 

I asked as it's something I'd been musing with respect to a future project boat which is of a very similar construction. I guess I'd have to take a cast of a section of cabin, turn it into a buck and mould, before casting a new section from GRP?

 

Ta for the insight!

 

PC

[Keeping Up]

Looking at the pics, is it the forward end that's been extended then? Cunning choice of painting panels in the later black/red views to disguise the location of the joins? It looks very well done in any case.

 

I asked as it's something I'd been musing with respect to a future project boat which is of a very similar construction. I guess I'd have to take a cast of a section of cabin, turn it into a buck and mould, before casting a new section from GRP?

Yes the new bit was inserted just behind the front bulkhead. The last 1991 (Stratford) picture shows it best; the first join in the cabin side is just ahead of the big window, the other join is just visible ahead of the forward window which is in the new section. The change in design of the handrail can also just be spotted. The join in the hull was a foot or so away from the join in the cabin sides, I don't know if this was deliberate or not. Ignore the white vertical line that looks like it may be the hull joint, it's actually just the fender attachment

 

PS apologies to the OP for drifting slightly off-topic

 

PPS IIRC Bijou line ran out of Penkridge until the mid 1990's

[paulcatchpole]

Yes the new bit was inserted just behind the front bulkhead. The last 1991 (Stratford) picture shows it best; the first join in the cabin side is just ahead of the big window, the other join is just visible ahead of the forward window which is in the new section. The change in design of the handrail can also just be spotted. The join in the hull was a foot or so away from the join in the cabin sides, I don't know if this was deliberate or not. Ignore the white vertical line that looks like it may be the hull joint, it's actually just the fender attachment

 

PS apologies to the OP for drifting slightly off-topic

 

PPS IIRC Bijou line ran out of Penkridge until the mid 1990's

 

Yup, sorry OP, drifting a bit!

 

I see what you mean, from the description and pics - looks hardly noticable...

 

Any idea who built boats for that Bijou Line fleet? Teddesley perhaps?

 

PC

[casper ghost]

If I ever get around to it and get the time, i'm hoping to extend Casper.

I was originally going to cut across the front deck and extend with a cabin under cloths for my daughter's bedroom, but now I have found a suitable bigger engine i'd like to have a proper engine room and extend the cabin. I'd hide any join by putting side doors where I cut it in two, that's got to be cheating .

[paulcatchpole]

I'd hide any join by putting side doors where I cut it in two, that's got to be cheating .

 

Now there's a good idea...

 

Reckon you'd get away with it strength-wise?

 

I'd be wondering if a continuous weld would be needed, where the hatch would be?

 

Mind you, you're the boat builder!

 

PC