Narrowboat Hulls ?

[brassedoff]

Can someone give me some idea how long the of Hull of a Narrowboat would normally last from new before it needed some serious attention with overplating.

 

Basing the answer on a decent Hull Manufacturer and one thats been carefully blacked every 2 years with 10/6/5/4 Steal ?

 

 

 

Basically how long is a new boat gonna last if its looked after.

 

cheers brassy.

Edited July 31, 2015 by brassedoff

[alan_fincher]

[brassedoff]

Twice its Length Folded in Half Alan.

 

 

I knew that was coming !

[Richard10002]

As good as forever if looked after properly.

[bargemast]

It's impossible to answer your question imo, as it's depending on too many different factors, but if you're lucky maybe 100 years, that is if your children will continue to look after the boat properly too.

 

Peter.

[brassedoff]

As good as forever if looked after properly.

Thanks Richard, i am 40 and hoping the boat will see me through my days.

It's impossible to answer your question imo, as it's depending on too many different factors, but if you're lucky maybe 100 years, that is if your children will continue to look after the boat properly too.

 

Peter.

 

Thanks Peter, i have no kids, so if it lasts my lifetime that will do me

[peterboat]

My boat was built in 2008 it was shotblasted this year and zingered however the blacking up to that point was done with comastic every 2 years. Even with this amount of looking after and no shoreline their was still pitting on the hull this is due to being moored on iron pilings which seem in our moorings make our boats the anode so for me I had to take remedial action as zingering now is cheaper than overplating later

 

Peter

[BEngo]

Our hull is 26 years old and has done a moderate amount of boating in that time. It was bitumen blacked for the first 21 years of its life and was then blasted and epoxied. It has no significant loss of metal through corrosion, though the wear edge of the 10mm baseplate at the start of the swim is about halfway to the point where something ought to be done. If I carry on boating like we have over the last 4 years then it will need 'shoeing' by about 2020 and will be dire by about 2025.

 

YMMMV!

 

N

[Alan de Enfield]

It has been known for a 2 year old 'new' boat to have a totally corroded / pitted hull such that it was at risk of sinking.

 

Depends on 'loose' electrickery in marinas

Depends on water quality

Depends on anodes working

Fresh water / Salt water (yes some rivers are tidal and are salt)

 

Blacking will have some effect

 

Your question has too many variables.

[mark99]

My boat was built in 2008 it was shotblasted this year and zingered however the blacking up to that point was done with comastic every 2 years. Even with this amount of looking after and no shoreline their was still pitting on the hull this is due to being moored on iron pilings which seem in our moorings make our boats the anode so for me I had to take remedial action as zingering now is cheaper than overplating later

 

Peter

 

Does your boat physically touch the iron piling (metal to metal contact) to complete the galvanic circuit?

 

If yes separate it.

 

If no then there is no simple galvanic cell between boat and piling.

Edited July 31, 2015 by mark99

[brassedoff]

_{Thanks for your answers everyone, i thought it would be a hard question to answer.}

 

_{It just sounds even more scarier now buying a boat even with getting an independent survey done, were planning on getting a 5 year old boat but i heard on another thread today someones boat sank at 7 years old. from dodgy bitchuming.}

 

_{scary as hell this is.}

 

_{may rot stay away from your bows.}

Edited July 31, 2015 by brassedoff

[pete harrison]

_{Thanks for your answers everyone, i thought it would be a hard question to answer.}

 

_{It just sounds even more scarier now buying a boat even with getting an independent survey done, were planning on getting a 5 year old boat but i heard on another thread today someones boat sank at 7 years old. from dodgy bitchuming.}

 

_{scary as hell this is.}

 

_{may rot stay away from your bows.}

I cant help thinking much of this corrosion is caused by the water being too clean nowadays, so holding free oxygen. This did not seem to be such a problem until fairly recently, with older boats wearing out rather than corroding away.

[zenataomm]

_{Thanks for your answers everyone, i thought it would be a hard question to answer.}

 

_{It just sounds even more scarier now buying a boat even with getting an independent survey done, were planning on getting a 5 year old boat but i heard on another thread today someones boat sank at 7 years old. from dodgy bitchuming.}

 

_{scary as hell this is.}

 

_{may rot stay away from your bows.}

 

Honestly chap what you do is look at boats until you fall in love, you make an offer subject to acceptable survey report.

Attend the survey so you can witness what he's doing and he can explain what he finds and its true significance.

Listen to his advice on how to progress and use the survey report to renegotiate final price .... or to retrieve your deposit and walk away.

[brassedoff]

I cant help thinking much of this corrosion is caused by the water being too clean nowadays, so holding free oxygen. This did not seem to be such a problem until fairly recently, with older boats wearing out rather than corroding away.

 

Sounds Scientifici, but maybe it is something to do with ph stuff god knows, maybe we should rub anti-aging cream on out hulls hahaha !

 

Honestly chap what you do is look at boats until you fall in love, you make an offer subject to acceptable survey report.

Attend the survey so you can witness what he's doing and he can explain what he finds and its true significance.

Listen to his advice on how to progress and use the survey report to renegotiate final price .... or to retrieve your deposit and walk away.

 

That makes good sense and adds up good, think maybe i am doing too much thinking and worrying.

 

I am female though lol.

 

thanks for that paragraph, it totally made me think more positive honestly it did.

[mark99]

 

Sounds Scientifici, but maybe it is something to do with ph stuff god knows, maybe we should rub anti-aging cream on out hulls hahaha !

 

That makes good sense and adds up good, think maybe i am doing too much thinking and worrying.

 

I am female though lol.

 

thanks for that paragraph, it totally made me think more positive honestly it did.

 

You are overthinking.

 

Hull survey, regular slipping out to recoat/examine. Install a galvanic isolator if you use shorepower. Don't connect your boat to another steel structure (eg steel piling) with a metal to metal connection. It's what everyone else does who cares about their hull.

 

Follow best practice as offered in this forum and your hull will be ok. After all, if you over-analyse, you can talk your way out of ever doing anything.

Edited July 31, 2015 by mark99

[brassedoff]

 

You are overthinking.

 

Hull survey, regular slipping out to recoat/examine. Install a galvanic isolator if you use shorepower. Don't connect your boat to another steel structure (eg steel piling) with a metal to metal connection. It's what everyone else does who cares about their hull.

 

I have no clue what a Galvanic Isolator is, thanks for your help

 

I will come back tomorow and ask what one of them is, i think i need a bottle of wine.

 

Thanks Mark.

[mark99]

 

I have no clue what a Galvanic Isolator is, thanks for your help

 

I will come back tomorow and ask what one of them is, i think i need a bottle of wine.

 

Thanks Mark.

 

You're welcome - the search button will tell you all you need to know. Be aware however galvanic corrosion via stray or fault currents is a bit of a dark art. Principle simple but in real world, loads of variables.

[brassedoff]

 

You're welcome - the search button will tell you all you need to know. Be aware however galvanic corrosion via stray or fault currents is a bit of a dark art. Principle simple but in real world, loads of variables.

 

thanks

 

scatches my head where i use to have hair. lol

[Sabcat]

Thanks Richard, i am 40 and hoping the boat will see me through my days.

 

Thanks Peter, i have no kids, so if it lasts my lifetime that will do me

 

Oddly, I'm also 40 and hoping that my boat will see me through my days.

 

As others have said, it's all about keeping on top of maintenance. Do that and it could last forever and if it doesn't, over/replating is not the end of the world.

[nb Innisfree]

Spoke to someone who ran a dry dock for several years and he couldn't come to any conclusion about the hundreds of boats that went through there. Boats with anodes corroded and some not corroded, boats without anodes corroded and some not corroded, various coatings gave similar results. Couldn't find any sort of pattern.

[mark99]

 

thanks

 

scatches my head where i use to have hair. lol

 

If you use shorepower you are offered some protection from fault or stray current galvanic corrosion via either a galvanic isolator or galvantic transformer (more expensive). As said, ensure you have one and then look up the theory at leisure. If you can fully explain it, then let me know!

 

Put very simply, for a galvanic cell to work, the dissimilar metals (eg your hull and next door's hull or the submerged metal fixtures in the marina) need to be electrically connected as well as sitting in an electrolyte (canal water). A faulty shorepower on one persons boat can unexpectedly electrically connect boats sitting in the marina or the submerged metal structures via the earth cables in boats through to earth. If you are unlucky, your boat becomes the anode and dissolves as the ions in the hull migrate in the water from one hull to the other (anode gives up positive ions) with the common electrical connection (faulty earth path) between hulls letting the resultant current flow providing the continuous circular reaction.

 

A GI or GT will put a little "barrier" to currents flowing, breaking the galvanic cell and therefore halting the ion flow underwater (+ve ION flow from one hull to other is metal loss to the hull sending the +ve Ions).

 

ETA

 

You still need an earth for electrical safety so the GI or GT merely acts as a "dam" holding back the small voltages created in galvanic reactions but are designed to be overwhelmed if a true 240 volt fault develops on your electrics, opens up and provides a safe earth path.

Edited July 31, 2015 by mark99

[Alan Saunders]

Brassy; as above, you are 'overthinking'. You must chose a surveyor carefully and trust their expertise and judgement.

 

Even if a baseplate is seriously pitted it seems that you have the skills and determination to protect it with a 2k coating. I cannot recommend tough, filthy hull blacking as a commercial service but it can save a lot of money if you DI. e.g.: Your surveyor estimates £1,200 for blacking and the purchase price is reduced accordingly; you dock and black the hull for, say, £500 ignoring the cost of your time, labour and the horrible filth, exhaustion and need for a decent hot shower every night.

 

Alan

[brassedoff]

 

If you use shorepower you are offered some protection from fault or stray current galvanic corrosion via either a galvanic isolator or galvantic transformer (more expensive). As said, ensure you have one and then look up the theory at leisure. If you can fully explain it, then let me know!

 

Put very simply, for a galvanic cell to work, the dissimilar metals (eg your hull and next door's hull or the submerged metal fixtures in the marina) need to be electrically connected as well as sitting in an electrolyte (canal water). A faulty shorepower on one persons boat can unexpectedly electrically connect boats sitting in the marina or the submerged metal structures via the earth cables in boats through to earth. If you are unlucky, your boat becomes the anode and dissolves as the ions in the hull migrate in the water from one hull to the other (anode gives up positive ions) with the common electrical connection (faulty earth path) between hulls letting the resultant current flow providing the continuous circular reaction.

 

A GI or GT will put a little "barrier" to currents flowing, breaking the galvanic cell and therefore halting the ion flow underwater (+ve ION flow from one hull to other is metal loss to the hull sending the +ve Ions).

 

Mark i cant tell you how much i appreciate what you just wrote that must of taken bloody ages, thanks

 

I will show that to my dad he can read stuff better than me, but is that like Electroplating giving a positive charge to the hull of the Boat and desolving a boat like an alkosaltzer in a glass of water?

 

me heads buggered and i better not type while on the wine i end up woffling.

 

really appreciate you help.

Edited July 31, 2015 by brassedoff

[Giant]

Ours isn't a narrowboat, but built of the same stuff. The original hull plating was 5/16", about 8mm.

 

She worked the canals as well as salty tidal waters and would regularly be left to sit on the bottom at low tide.

 

Towards the end of her working life she was almost certainly laid up completely unmaintained for years, as there was no work for boats of that size anymore.

 

We overplated her as the original steel was finally getting thin in the pits at over 60 years old.

 

Having to worry about 5 year old narrowboats with 10mm bottoms seems like total madness to me. What are people doing to them?

Edited July 31, 2015 by Giant

[brassedoff]

Brassy; as above, you are 'overthinking'. You must chose a surveyor carefully and trust their expertise and judgement.

 

Even if a baseplate is seriously pitted it seems that you have the skills and determination to protect it with a 2k coating. I cannot recommend tough, filthy hull blacking as a commercial service but it can save a lot of money if you DI. e.g.: Your surveyor estimates £1,200 for blacking and the purchase price is reduced accordingly; you dock and black the hull for, say, £500 ignoring the cost of your time, labour and the horrible filth, exhaustion and need for a decent hot shower every night.

 

Alan

 

Thanks Alan, i feel its only polite to respond to every bit of help i get thats maybe why i have a lot of posts in only 10 days,#

 

I never knew that the hull blacking could be taken off the price of the boat if the surveyor said it was needed, so much help on this forum its unreal.

 

I dont mind getting dirty one bit, i would rather a few days of that and have a piece of mind of knowing what i am sleeping in/on.

 

I know their are some really good people out their who care about their jobs, but some dont. ie. slap some shit over it, it will be reet they wont know once its in the water.

 

Add : another thing is i would not be able to use 2k over tar base. hopefully i get a 2k boat which would be a plus.

Ours isn't a narrowboat, but built of the same stuff. The original hull plating was 5/16", about 8mm.

 

She worked the canals as well as salty tidal waters and would regularly be left to sit on the bottom at low tide.

 

Towards the end of her working life she was almost certainly laid up completely unmaintained for years, as there was no work for boats of that size anymore.

 

We overplated her as the original steel was finally getting thin in the pits at over 60 years old.

 

Having to worry about 5 year old narrowboats with 10mm bottoms seems like total madness to me. What are people doing to them?

 

thanks giant, maybe my brain rot is more of an issue LOL

 

Oddly, I'm also 40 and hoping that my boat will see me through my days.

 

As others have said, it's all about keeping on top of maintenance. Do that and it could last forever and if it doesn't, over/replating is not the end of the world.

 

Thanks Sabcat, rekon we should be ok from what people are saying.

 

lets enjoy it well we have thickness LOL

Edited July 31, 2015 by brassedoff