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Hi, having owned our boat for almost nine months now, a few jobs are coming up now that we are starting the cruising season:

1) The sliding hatch cover is starting to get a bit stiff. What is the best solution to get it moving again without making it too 'slippery'

2) What is the best way to clean the non slip surfaces on the boat e.g. Roof, gunwales etc?  I cleaned the roof in the autumn with a scrubbing brush, but it took ages and was hard work. I found hat ordinary sponges and mops just disintegrate due to the sandy/rough surface.

thanks as ever in advance for your tips.

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For the hatch cover slider, two approaches: one is to polish the brass runners with something like Brasso, since it is the corroded brass that causes the problem. Alternatively just wipe the sliding bits with a rag with some light oil on it (3 in1 etc). The latter is a shorter term fix as the oil gets washed away, especially in the sort of weather we’ve been having recently.

For the roof, you might find it easier to stand up and use a stiff broom rather than grovelling about on your knees with a scrubbing brush. But a bristled something is what you need, not a sponge or cloth.

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For the hatch slides I suggest you use spray dry PTFE. One treatment lasts several weeks and has the advantage over oil of being cleaner and longer lasting.

For the roof I use the cheapest surface cleaner Tesco does. (and a stiff deck scrubber). Last time I bought some it cost 25p a bottle. Morrisons do a similar product but that's costly at 50p :blush:. However I'll keep an eye out for Aldi's caravan cleaner.

 

Frank   

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3 hours ago, Nick D said:

Hi, having owned our boat for almost nine months now, a few jobs are coming up now that we are starting the cruising season:

 

Right, stop that IMMEDIATELY. 

The 'cruising season' is actually from 1st January to December 30th. The best bit starts in october and is just coming to a finish now. 

;)

  • Happy 1
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8 hours ago, Mike the Boilerman said:

 

Right, stop that IMMEDIATELY. 

The 'cruising season' is actually from 1st January to December 30th. The best bit starts in october and is just coming to a finish now. 

;)

So you lay up your boat for one day?  Do you winterise it?

  • Haha 1
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1 hour ago, Mac of Cygnet said:

So you lay up your boat for one day?  Do you winterise it?

 

No, I live on it. I thought I’d give CRT an opportunity for a bit of downtime for maintenance. 

Give an inch, they take a yard...

i noticed my error after pressing 'send' and wondered who would comment first. I was expecting a fair bit of fun poking but turned out not to be... ;) 

Edited by Mike the Boilerman
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I wouldn't bother cleaning gunwhales. They are there for your crew to walk along in muddy boots so they don't tread it through the boat.

For the roof, how about the traditional approach? A tough rag mop with a stripey paint job, just dunked in canal water, no cleaning product involved. Of course, you'll need a painted can to rest it on.

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13 hours ago, mrsmelly said:

The best bit of kit I have on the boat is a " Woman " some are expensive to maintain but if you get the right model then they are invaluable. This one does all the washing and cleaning whilst i type on here and drink beer. She knows how to clean stuff without my advice so choose the correct model. Oh and make sure shes one that doesnt ever read the forum :lol:

I've got two, just hope they never meet.

:)

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I had a similar problem with a sticky hatch but unfortunately, cleaning and lubricating rails did not solve problem.

Water had found its way between channel brass and steel causing rust to form and expanded pressing channel brass against runner thus preventing hatch from sliding smoothly.

Solution, if possible remove hatch cover and remove metal from channel in runners, making sure to remove metal from the non load bearing face so the hatch height remains the same.

Unfortunately I was unable to remove hatch cover as boat builder had mounted mushroom to close to hatch cover so I had to unscrew runners and fiddle them out one at a time.

Now, besides making sure everything is well lubricated, I fit lengths of pipe insulation over channel brass everytime I leave boat for any length of time - pipe insulation is already split which makes it easy to fit.

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12 hours ago, dmr said:

You have now discovered the two major disadvantages with non slip surfaces; they get dirty, they are not easy to clean.

.............Dave

I go for the alternative arrangement, normal surfaces and extra grippy shoes.

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47 minutes ago, Peter X said:

I wouldn't bother cleaning gunwhales. They are there for your crew to walk along in muddy boots so they don't tread it through the boat.

For the roof, how about the traditional approach? A tough rag mop with a stripey paint job, just dunked in canal water, no cleaning product involved. Of course, you'll need a painted can to rest it on.

Pedant alert -- they are gunwales, ie the strengthening wales above the gun deck.  No cetaceans involved.

We don't walk along ours - we take our boots off to go from one end of the boat to the other (inside). Since for safety reasons we should all be getting on and off at the arsend it really isn't an issue though. 

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1 hour ago, Brian422 said:

Unfortunately I was unable to remove hatch cover as boat builder had mounted mushroom to close to hatch cover so I had to unscrew runners and fiddle them out one at a time.

on my boat you lift the doors of their hinges and the hatch slides off that way, looking at other boats it would seem that they are similar.

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1 hour ago, Jess-- said:

on my boat you lift the doors of their hinges and the hatch slides off that way, looking at other boats it would seem that they are similar.

My hatch cover furthest edge is contoured to match roof line with approximately 1/4" clearance. Sliding it towards hinged doors is not possible because hatch opening is raised and almost touches the inside of the hatch cover ... very little wind and no rain ingress when hatch is closed.

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