teadaemon

I might be doing Womack to Wayford on Tuesday, got to borrow an outboard and sort a few things out. Don't suppose you fancy giving me a tow instead?

If they were built from plywood then they're American Higgins' Boats, the British LCA was built from steel. Although they were more or less expendable, they weren't expressly designed as single use, in fact the invasion plans depended on a certain proportion surviving to go back out to the fleet, take on another load of troops and equipment, and then return to the beach to drop it off. That's one reason why D-day was scheduled to take place on a rising tide, so that the beached landing craft would refloat themselves.

I think a bigger problem in this particular case was that the generator wasn't actually secured to the boat by anything except the exhaust. (It had been placed on an anti-vibration mat to reduce noise, but not bolted down.) Also, despite testing the exhaust system with the generator running before installing it, he hadn't appreciated that under load the volume and temperature of the exhaust gases would be greater, and sufficient to melt the soft solder he'd used to construct the exhaust. Although it only merited one line in the MAIB report, the fuel system was also very dangerous, to the point where if they hadn't been poisoned by CO, a petrol vapour explosion was a significant risk. In theory, it should be perfectly possible to take a suitcase type portable generator and modify it for permanent installation into a boat in a safe manner. However, I strongly suspect that once the cost of doing the necessary modifications is taken into account, it's unlikely to be significantly cheaper than installing a generator that's designed for the purpose. Unfortunately, somebody's attempt to do it themselves, without the necessary knowledge and skills, has had tragic consequences.

It's true that over the last year I definitely haven't had time to sail her as much as I'd like, and she is a bit green at the moment (nothing that a few hours with a scrubbing brush won't solve). Many thanks for the offer, I may well take you up on it. If she doesn't sell, I do have space at the new house to put her on dry land and do her up a bit at my leisure (assuming I can get her transported to Norwich without a trailer of her own). Having said that, I'll also have a workshop big enough to build a boat of my own, and rough plans are already being sketched out (about 18' long, glued clinker ply hull sheathed with glass and epoxy, 2 berth cabin, single lugsail with inboard electric auxiliary).

Ok, been putting this off for a while, but needs must. Due to changing circumstances, I'm looking to sell Liberty Song, my Express pirat e 17" yacht. She's got twin bilge keels, 2'3" draft, 17" LOA, 6'8" beam. Designed by Ian Procter (designer of the Wayfarer, GP14, etc), and built by Ryplas c.1980. The good bit is that she sails, albeit with the original (rather worn but basically serviceable sails - if you wanted to acquire newer ones she's the same sailplan as a Wayfarer Dinghy). Roller furling jib, stainless steel A-frame for mast lowering. For a 17' bilge keel yacht she actually sails very well, I've taken her racing and she points well up until she starts flying a keel (which is about when the leeward window gets submerged). Internally she has cushions, but is in need of some tidying up (painted interior is flaking, two windows have cracks but haven't let in any water while I've owned her). Tolls to 1st April this year, BSS certificate to August 2017. In the water at Womack at the moment (mooring is not transferable). I'm looking for £500 without an engine, might have a petrol or electric outboard available by separate negotiation (she only needs about 2HP at most, and will go nearly hull speed on my 57lb thrust electric outboard in still water). If you've got any questions, or want to come and take a look, then please let me know. Thanks. I thought I'd give forum members first dibs, she'll be going on eBay in a week or so if she hasn't sold.

Yeah don't trust him, he's a right cowboy.

Well a complete list of BSS examiners who say that they cover Norfolk is here: http://www.boatsafetyscheme.org/boat-examination/arranging-the-examination/find-an-examiner/?counties=Norfolk&search= Some of them are considerably further from Stalham than I am. dan@burrillmarine.co.uk if you want to ask for a quotation.

The BSS isn't perfect, nor is it designed to be - it's the minimum requirements for a vessel to be licenced/tolled by the relevant navigation or harbour authority. The BSS scheme (and I as an examiner) strongly recommend CO detectors, and even provide advice on where they might be best sited in a boat (with the obvious proviso that the manufacturer's instructions take priority). As far as lifesaving equipment goes, remember that boats requiring a BSS are located on several very different waterways, and what is good practice on the Grand Union Canal may not be appropriate for the Norfolk Broads or (to give a more extreme example) Loch Ness. (When I hired a yacht on the Caledonian Canal there was a pack of flares under the chart table, which we were instructed to only use if we were prepared to be lifted off by helicopter, as they were only 10 minutes away by air and would relish the opportunity to come out and practice on us.)

The life ring or similar is not required for the BSS on a private boat, however I believe it is part of the BSS checks for hire boats (which I don't currently do, as there hasn't been an appropriate training course run since I qualified as an examiner). In addition, it's also part of the Hire Boat Code, which hire operators on the Broads are required to adhere to as a condition of licencing.

Peter, was good to finally meet you before the 3RR, even if I was a bit flustered, having been a very last minute replacement crew (I got the call at 10:30pm on the Friday night). I had been planning to skipper my own boat in this year's race, but circumstances dictate that I'll probably be selling her instead, or she'll be out of the water for a refit (I haven't quite decided yet, it depends a bit on a house move). So, if I want to do this year's 3RR, looks like I'll be after a crew berth somewhere (and having now done it in a YBOD, I'm going to say that 'somewhere' should have a cabin and the ability to make tea). Dan

Unfortunately it's almost certainly beyond economical repair, certainly if it's done professionally. Having been on board several boats that have sunk and been raised, I'd expect the interior to be thoroughly coated with a mixture of mud, oil, diesel, and (if fitted and not empty) the contents of the black water tank. Even short immersion in fresh water will mean that a lot of work needs to be done before it's safe to think about starting the engine, the electrics may well need replacement, as will the gas system (ok, in theory a Gas Safe engineer could probably strip down and clean a cooker or similar, but it'd probably be cheaper just to pay them to install a new one). A narrowboat of this age and type may well be insulated with rockwool, and the interior woodwork is probably from materials that will not survive immersion (interior plywood or various sorts of manufactured board). So, to get the boat to a state where it isn't going to fall apart, or rust away from the inside out basically involves stripping it out to a bare shell and starting again. If the insurance company write it off, then they'll take possession of the boat and sell it to defray their expenses. I've seen similar sized narrowboats that've sunk going for a couple of thousand pounds, which is a fair reflection of the amount of work required to get them back into good order. Although dealing with this sort of situation is part and parcel for my job, I do feel for anyone who has their boat sink, it's a profoundly unpleasant thing to have to deal with.

Actually, I rather suspect that they do need a BSS. To quote from the Broads Authority's website: No mention about an exemption for houseboats, although if it's a question that is of direct relevance to you then it might be worth asking the question. Of course it's not just the Broads Authority that might require a BSS certificate. It may be that whoever is providing insurance for the location where the houseboat is moored requires it to have a BSS certificate.

It is. If you find her on Craig's database, his pictures clearly show a solid fuel stove at the front of the cabin on the port side, with the flue going straight up through the roof. The commentary on the second video also mentions that the fire was started by the solid fuel stove (although how he knows this I'm not sure - it could just be educated guesswork, or he spoke to somebody on board). From a BSS perspective, as far as I'm aware, checks on solid fuel stoves only came in at the start of 2013, so this boat may well have last been examined under the old checks.

As Mark says the main reason why leisure boats tend not to be made from carbon fibre/epoxy composites is cost, however durability is also an issue - carbon fibre is very strong, but it suffers much more due to fatigue than glass fibre. Using it in racing boats makes sense because the effects of saving so much weight are significant, and the lifespan of the boat is less critical (since rule changes or improvements in design mean that few modern racing yachts are still at the front of the fleet 10 years or more after they're launched).

The technical term is "Passarelle" (I think it's French), and they're very popular on boats in the Mediterranean, where stern-on mooring in harbours is the norm. Potentially useful, but it is difficult to design them to work effectively over a wide tidal range (another reason why they're popular in the Med, where tidal range is similar to the Northern Broads rather than the Southern).

Beaten to it - I was about to ask if she was a Bruce Roberts. I've seen a few completed ones, mostly the spray yachts (based on the hull design of Joshua Slocum's Spray, in which he became the first man to sail solo around the world). they're much beloved of the 'build your own boat and then take off to slum it around foreign parts' crowd, as although they don't get you anywhere particularly quickly, they do generally get you there. They're also fairly easy to build, and some people like the look (personally I can take it or leave it, but I've learned not to judge other people's taste in boats, unless they own a Foster 30 (see other thread)).

You're correct, the Foster 30 and 45 were the two designs I was thinking of, and they're amongst the ugliest floating objects (I'm not sure they deserve to be called boats) it's ever been my misfortune to lay eyes on. Sadly they're not the worst I've seen, that title is shared by a few home built steel canal boats I've come across on eBay (unfortunately I don't have pictures, although unless you have copious quantities of eye bleach to hand, you may appreciate this). There seem to be a few people out there who think that because they can weld steel, they can build a canal boat, and the design isn't that important. I've never quite understood the mentality of somebody that will put hundreds of hours and thousands of pounds into a project, but baulk at paying several hundred quid to buy an off-the-shelf set of plans for the hull.

There are (were) two firms going by the name of Dawncraft - your Dandy is built by the one that was based in Worcestershire, whereas I think Andy is referring to the one based in Wroxham. Whilst they did build some nice looking wooden boats, in later years IIRC they were responsible for possibly the worst hull design in the forward-steer bathtub category. If it's the one I'm thinking of, it has fairly sharp corners at either side of the bows, and pretty much every example I've seen now has stainless steel reinforcement (or other less aesthetically pleasing) over them, as they're incredibly vulnerable to impact damage.

I don't think working boats should be eligible really - after all, their form follows function. Not to mention, I quite like little tugs like that, and the protected drive pod is a really good idea (especially as she's a pusher tug, so it's also used to steer the tug and tow). I think it was a collaborative effort from Stevie Wonder and Ray Charles.

Just in case anyone is interested, the boat in question is Joshua, formerly owned by three different members of another forum (some or all of them may be members here, I'm not sure).

To my eyes, the hull looks like a Dawncraft (not the ones from Wroxham, the ones built in the Midlands, mostly for customers on the canals). I can't place the exact model, as the windows don't correspond to the usual layout, but as they're normally cut out of a completed moulding it's possible that the original customer specified a different layout with the circular window aft. It's also possible that it was originally sold as a bare moulding for completion by somebody else. Do you happen to know the beam? IIRC, most if not all Dawncraft were 6'10" beam so they'd fit on the narrow canals (not that that's particularly uncommon for small GRP cruisers of that vintage).

There have actually been a few similar problems on various lock flights of the BCN and associated canals this year. On top of the need for maintenance, I wonder if the weather, alternating between very hot and (certainly in the Midlands) torrential rain has accelerated things by causing the ground to move more than usual. I don't think the Wolverhampton 21, or the locks at Smethwick (where there's a closure at the moment due to the collapse of a side wall) have had lock keepers on site at any point since the canals started to be used for leisure, as they're both in the middle of cities. Also, while undoubtedly on-site lock keepers are justifiably proud of their locks and keep them looking their best, even a team of keepers isn't going to prevent problems like this, where the required maintenance involves draining down the locks, excavating the collapsed part and pretty much rebuilding them. I do have a bit of a soft spot for the BCN, I grew up near to the old and new main lines (in fact I had to cross them every day going to and from school on the bus), and walking the towpaths around Birmingham used to provide me with my boat 'fix' in between annual Broads holidays.

Just found this, although AFAIK the Wolverhampton 21 are still closed. The problem is actually that one of the locks (number 20 IIRC) has had significant movement (collapse) of the side wall. CaRT have said that vandals messing around with the water levels may have had something to do with it collapsing now, but most of the damage is simply deterioration over the lifetime of the lock (around 200 years for this particular one). Like any other structure, canal locks don't last forever, especially if maintenance is put off until they fall apart (which unfortunately is often how things are done on our canal network).

Congratulations, as you said, you've achieved something a lot of people didn't think was possible. Over the past couple of days* I've had the opportunity to glance admiringly at Raisena over the basin from where I was doing a survey at Woods Dyke, she's a very impressive boat. Not sure I'd want to handle something that big, even with a willing crew, but I guess Mr. Bunn is made of sterner stuff (not surprising really considering the amount of races he wins). So, are you entering your white boat next year? I was going to enter Liberty Song this year but then got roped in to a family gathering (father-in-law's 70th birthday). *It was only supposed to be one day, but there was a slight problem with a forklift breaking down right where the boat was supposed to go, so I had to come back today once they'd fixed it.

Just a small point, but it's worth pointing out that 12V DC can be just as dangerous as 240V AC, in fact due to the much higher currents involved, 12V can be a bigger problem. Anyone who's ever accidentally shorted out a 12V battery will know exactly how much energy they store - enough to melt a decent sized spanner when it all gets discharged at once.