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9 hours ago, Mike the Boilerman said:

 

Ah.... and I thought this was an experience familiar to owners of 100% wooden boats!

The butty Lyra had bits of plywood over the bad bits of the elm bottomsin the 1970s - and it was being loaded.

 

What could possibly go wrong!

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11 hours ago, zenataomm said:

Roland and I both revelled in the Small Woolwich Vegetable Bottom Traumas at the same time.

Although Rigal had a float operated pump I still habitually slept with one hand dangling over the bed.

Marcellus only having a standard car battery on clips for easy removal and charging, I concocted another float switch but attached this to a siren.

 

I was tempted by "Anthony" as well until I saw elm bottoms, I'm too old now to start ripping up flooring at a moment's notice trying to trace the origin of a steady weep emanating from the side of the kelson which probably originated umpty twelveteen feet away.  And you always had to move newly filled water tanks in order to realise it was unreachable because it was under the kelson or a knee.

Between dockings I was a master with greasy string and tingle patches.  Near the end of my time with them I had also learnt how to make Epoxy Araldite set under water.

 

And then laying underneath them every two years hammering oakum up hill two inches from your face. The vibrations causing lumps of muddy detritus to drop in your mouth. Every two years, having enjoyed my Easter holiday in such manner I'd return to work safe in the knowledge that within a few days I'd have gastro enteritis. 

Of course the easy solution to dribbly bottoms wasn't really available, namely throw 20 tons in each one and drag them for miles through the silt that passes for the cut these days.

Ah, the romance of the cut! Trying to drive nails through a plywood patch UNDERWATER to stop a leak caused by a different piece of plywood knifing its way through the rotten side of a joey boat as it went into a lock is jolly good fun too. (no gastro enteritis though, just potential heart attack) 

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Drilling a hole through a rotten footing under the waterline ‘to make the hole fit the bolt’ whilst breasted up in a lock, solo and being moaned at for the delay by a shiny boat in the rain was memorable.

’ Stop asking stupid questions and either help or .... off,’  as I recall.

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On 07/05/2019 at 19:43, roland elsdon said:

Yes but they would neglect it...

I fully understand that, and agree with you. my point was more there is a huge gap of older pleasure craft that all museums seem to ignore and that's the early part of pleasure convertion

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Just now, billybobbooth said:

I fully understand that, and agree with you. my point was more there is a huge gap of older pleasure craft that all museums seem to ignore and that's the early part of pleasure convertion

I love some of the old conversions and cut down boats, some of macolm  braines conversions were just fantastic. The cut down ex bwb and  leighton buzzard boats were lovely.

A shame if all go back to working trim.

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8 minutes ago, roland elsdon said:

A shame if all go back to working trim.

 

I've been saying this for years on here.

 

The recent removal of the classic and historic full length leisure cabin conversion on the THEMIS was particularly unfortunate loss, I thought. 

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2 minutes ago, Mike the Boilerman said:

 

I've been saying this for years on here.

 

The recent removal of the classic and historic full length leisure cabin conversion on the THEMIS was particularly unfortunate loss, I thought. 

this is my tare with towy, 1 hand says put back other says keep as is as been like it from late 60s early 70s

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2 hours ago, roland elsdon said:

A shame if all go back to working trim.

Ling was one that got me. There’s enough unconverted joshers out there with FMC cabins if they had one. Same thing with composite bottoms now. If you want a steel bottom, go get one with a steel bottom, there’s enough out there

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2 hours ago, Mike the Boilerman said:

 

I've been saying this for years on here.

 

The recent removal of the classic and historic full length leisure cabin conversion on the THEMIS was particularly unfortunate loss, I thought. 

Not that recent any more, of course.

You are aware that it now carries a conversion again over maybe half its hold?

All 3 fairly recent guises of Themis can be seen here.

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On 02/05/2019 at 08:29, Derek R. said:

 

...I suggest taking a further look at other items in the 'Dream On' boat sales link...

Thank you for your comments about my blog :)

On 02/05/2019 at 16:06, Dav and Pen said:

The narrowboat Dreamon has been abandoned on the canal lateral Loire for a long time. ... I know of one other narrow boat on the Burgundy canal that’s been abandoned for 3 years. 

It is the NB Bearly Afloat is abandoned. The NB Dream On is fine, Thanks :)
If you have some information about other NB abandoned in France, do not hesitate to communicate them to me. Thank you.

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4 hours ago, roland elsdon said:

A shame if all go back to working trim.

It's a mad world - converted, then de-converted.  Cut in two - rejoined  - or even new bows/sterns.  'Cut & Shut' jobs.

New bottoms, new cabin, 'new' engine - that only leaves the hull sides as the original boat.  

'President'?  Don't believe it.   'Emperor/Empress' - no-one knows for sure..

 

How much of the wonderful 'Flying Scotsman' is original?  BTW - last time I saw it she was being pushed by a Black Five, had just enough steam to blow her feeble whistle.

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1 hour ago, Dream On said:

For your information, the NB BEARLY AFLOAT has been sold. At the price of 2 900 euros, to which must be added 11% of taxes.
It is a priori a French who acquired it.
I hope it's to restore it.

 

https://dreamonnarrowboat.blogspot.com/2019/05/le-nb-bearly-afloat-est-vendu.html

absolute bargain, paint the interior white and tow it to Islington, 70k bijou flat, 

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45 minutes ago, Chris Williams said:

New bottoms, new cabin, 'new' engine - that only leaves the hull sides as the original boat.  

'President'?  Don't believe it.   'Emperor/Empress' - no-one knows for sure..

The originality of these old boats (and I imagine steam locomotives) is very much life expired and much of what you mention is maintenance in order to keep them in some sort of existence. My boat is typical of a large Northwich motor in so much that 'British Waterways' rebottomed and refooted it along with replacing the steel cabin with a wooden cabin - and most also had their National 2DM's replaced with a Petter PD2 (my boat being an exception). Throughout their working lives most will have had their wooden gunwales and running gear replaced, as well as their cloths as these all rotted for a pastime. Since coming out of full time trade 50 odd years ago most will have had this work done all over again, and a few more than once. There is little originality in most of these boats but what is important is that they are maintained in the spirit of their design in order to preserve something tangeable for the future. TADWORTH is being discussed in another thread and it is claimed to have originality, and because of this originality it is absolutely knackered. Once works are completed I am confident that if TADWORTH is to return to carrying service it will be a very different boat, with much of its originality in a skip.

 

Fortunately there are a few individuals that spend time researching narrow boats, not from the internet but via original documentation in both archives and private collections. This work has positively identified a number of boats in recent years as well as answering questions around PRESIDENT and EMPEROR / EMPRESS - so there are people who know for sure, but they are massively outnumbered by 'enthusiasts' with an opinion that they are unable to back up :captain:

Edited by pete harrison
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3 hours ago, Tiggers said:

Ling was one that got me. There’s enough unconverted joshers out there with FMC cabins if they had one. Same thing with composite bottoms now. If you want a steel bottom, go get one with a steel bottom, there’s enough out there

why I would love malvern, just because of the way she is, again wouldn't be changed just left as is. she is one of the few boats that brakes my rule for buying a boat but still ticks a few boxes. every year the list gets smaller there are a few boats that have been put back into working trim that would tick alot of the boxes but for the reason they have been put back would be enough for me to loose intrest in them, how many put back boats now look virtually the same with every bit of fancy paint or bling on them!

Edited by billybobbooth
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1 hour ago, Chris Williams said:

It's a mad world - converted, then de-converted.  Cut in two - rejoined  - or even new bows/sterns.  'Cut & Shut' jobs.

Most cabin conversions that have been removed over the years is due to them being 1960's and 1970's wooden constructions that have rotted to the point of being beyond economical repair - with deconversion to a cloth / carrying boat being an easy option. The problem I see now is that modern cabin conversions are steel and well fitted out, so less liable to rot and more likely to be permanent - but there is obviously a market for these modifications and if it allows the structure of the hull to be preserved then it can be no bad thing. My preference is for unconverted hence I have recently had the steel shell of a cabin removed from my boat, and it will be replaced with new running gear and cloths.

 

'Cut & Shut' jobs are nothing new as this was done as much during carrying days as it is now. Several owner boatmen had their horse boats converted into motors, much as buttys are still being converted to motors today. Other boats would be both shortened and lengthened as required, especially on the B.C.N. and for the creation of maintenance boats - with quite a few getting a new fore / stern end :captain:

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9 hours ago, Dream On said:

For your information, the NB BEARLY AFLOAT has been sold. At the price of 2 900 euros, to which must be added 11% of taxes.
It is a priori a French who acquired it.
I hope it's to restore it.

 

https://dreamonnarrowboat.blogspot.com/2019/05/le-nb-bearly-afloat-est-vendu.html

Thanks for

 

7 hours ago, Mike the Boilerman said:

 

Oh, what can one say........

 

821491626_Screenshot2019-05-09at23_26_13.png.a336dc66eac94701ebac0455558976c4.png

 

 

I suppose in 50 years we will all be saying "Classic 2000s conversion".....

 

 

Historically, of course, it's neither nowt nor summat; but I must say that aesthetically it's not displeasing.

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13 hours ago, Mike the Boilerman said:

 

I've been saying this for years on here.

 

The recent removal of the classic and historic full length leisure cabin conversion on the THEMIS was particularly unfortunate loss, I thought. 

I was the owner of Themis that removed said cabin.

 

I was intending to live in the cabin but the need for a total re skin or rebuild of the cabin was needed. As Pete Harrison has mentioned the age of the cabin on certain boats and the ingress of water over many years made the keeping of it not financially viable. Also the hull sides and the front to the boat behind the cabin was suffering in a bad way being constantly damp. Between the cabin and the engine room the steel had almost completely rusted away.

The boat had spread and I had to chain it in in a lock on the Trent and Mersey and the windows nearly popped out as the seals had long gone!

First night it rained one of my suitcases filled with water from one of the many drips in the ceiling! A loss yes but something had to be done with it.

 

It is sad to see a long term conversion be removed but in this case it was either reconvert (which the following owner did) or de convert.

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One of our regular haunts in the 80s was uxbridge lock where themis was gradualy deteriorating. Used to walk past going to work from our colecraft. No way of contacting owner.. she survived and is none the worse. Was a lovely cabin in those days.

 

our boat has very few origional bits due to waterways ownership. We try and maintain a theme but have no illusions about what we now own. 

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7 hours ago, pete harrison said:

Several owner boatmen had their horse boats converted into motors, much as buttys are still being converted to motors today.

That's being slightly rebalanced back the other way by a butty that had been converted to a motor now being converted back to a butty!

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