FlyingFortress

Will add to the previous post. The Nuclear Powered Russian Ice Breakers were until the recent conflict doing tourist trips to The North Pole. No Biggie for these ships to get there.

I believe that when the first GRP Boats were laid up no one really understood how strong GRP really is so went overboard and laid them up really heavily. Later on when there was a better understanding of the properties of GRP they then did a lighter lay up. As OBB said earlier it is more to do with the age than anything else. I have heard that with some modern boats you can see sunlight through the hulls in certain places. My 1990's boat is nowhere near as thickly laid up as a previous 1970's boat although in certain areas is very strong. Hire boat builders are not stupid so they will lay up heavier on vulnerable places like the bows and quarters as they do take a bit of a bashing. Whereas the sides will not be so thick as they are not so vulnerable. It's simple economic at the end of the day. At the peril of boring some folk . An Ice Breaker will be super strong at the bow and the stern but not so strong on its sides. It will however have massive engines. Some of the biggest are Russian and are Nuclear Powered. Not sure if the Americans or the Canadians are still running their Nuclear Ice Breakers

Griff you really should know better than to post those pictures. Seriously though. The hull of a , I am trying hard not to identify the boat, on a boat that age and from that era will be laid up much thicker than a later one. My first Plastic Fantastic was a Calypso and to use a nautical term was built like a brick outhouse. Mid 70's build. My 2 subsequent boats have both been 1990' s era and are not laid up anywhere near as strongly. A berth neighbor decided to fit an echo sounder to his boat when it was out of the water and showed me the plug he had drilled in the bottom. It was almost an inch thick. This was a DC 30 so I am guessing late 60's early 70's.

Sorry Grendel missed this post. Maintaining ventilation cannot be a problem. Can it?

That's one modification I do regret not having. The de mister . We have very large fwd windows that do mist up a lot. It requires constant attention from a Karchar on damp cold mornings.

Interesting what you said about the price rigging Smoggy. I think if my Eber went toes up I still think I would replace like for like as it is a proven system. Yes Andy I remember the gas space heaters very well. Efficient but the amount of condensation they produced Only drawback was that on the boats I had with them on they were mounted high up so took an age to warm your cold feet. At least the blown air systems start low down and work their way up.

Very good news Ian. I did tell you Zak was good. He is also very conscientious as well in scheduling regular scans for Mrs FF even though she has been clear for a while now.

Didn't Richardson's try that on their Suncharm and Sunray class boats albeit powered by an Eberspacher diesel unit some time ago when they were new. IIRC it was not a great success, yard gossip was it was too complicated for people to operate properly and caused more breakdown call outs and was replaced by the more conventional blown air system. The reason I was interested is that my boat is the same class and would have been interested in maybe fitting this system but never took it any further as my conventional blown air system seemed to work OK but without the need to start the engine to start or run it. But then I keep my batteries in good condition.

🤔 Mmmmm But Nope 😳 Never mind. It was still amusing 👍

I suppose I can see the resemblance with something like a French Bulldog if I really sqint my eyes. Or have been on the falling down water all day. But a Labrador???

Think my guy does Mikuni as well. Can't swear to it but think so. He really is good and reasonably priced too

That's good news

Sorry must add that I have found someone locally who sorted me out when I had a complete debacle with a local franchise. If anyone wants the number of this chap feel free to PM me as he does not advertise but relies on word of mouth recommendations. Deals with both Eberspacher and Webasto but won't touch the Chinese ones that in his opinion are dangerous

And me !!! Having a quiet night on the boat towards the end of a long break on the boat.

I have an Eberspacher that to my knowledge has been in the boat since it was built in 1994. It certainly has been in since we bought the boat 19 years ago and is clicking away quite happily at the moment keeping us nice and toasty. The 3 boats we have owned with warm air heating have all had Eberspacher and after initial problems with them which we have sorted out have given us almost zero problems. Almost zero as I had to change the control unit on this one last year. Best bit of advice I was given was before stopping them always run them at full power for a short while. Best people for getting them sorted out have been Colchester Fuel Injection. It's worth the trip even from Norfolk.

When I first got together with Mrs FF I had a Black Labrador and she had 2 cats. One was a very pretty and dainty little thing and the other was of unknown age but definitely elderly and decidedly creaky in all his movements although he was a pretty large Tom Cat. My Black Lab was also pretty large and had grown up in a household with another Black Cat so was used to cats co existing with her as the cat was older than the dog. When I first came to stay with Mrs FF as we initially lived a long way apart and brought the dog with me I thought there would be no problems introducing them in her home. No The very elderly cat reared up on its hind legs and chased the dog out of the back door and down the garden battering the bejezus out of the dog while still reared up on its hind legs. The dog remained very wary of the cat in the unfortunately short period he was still with us.

Try telling that to the owner of a very prestigious boatyard on the Broads who produced the first Hybrid Pilot Boat. He had hell and all bother getting it in class. Although unlikely to catch fire it is a risk the classification society wanted some sort of mitigation for. Trouble is that standard fire fighting methods do not work so a CO2 smothering system in the Engine Room or more correctly battery room is as much use as an ashtray on a motorbike. If in the unlikely event of a battery fire the only thing to do is abandon the vessel and let it sink. Sorry should say that in class loosely means getting it certified for operation, or approved if you like. Google fires on ships recently and it is a growing concern in the marine world. Like developments in F1 technology does cascade downward, think ABS and traction control on cars, so what is now on commercial vessels is coming to the leisure world quicker than you would think.

Suppose it will be August next year then.

I should think all is OK now as it seems the unfortunate people on board hit the bank, easy thing to do when they are submerged. Also both myself and Petersjoy have been through there today and mine is still floating. Hope Petersjoy is OK

Probably walking the dog, the new hooligan. Or in the pub Heading back to The Bright side tomorrow. Been out a good while now so best check if the house is still standing 🙂

Happened around 1230 ish today. SOB was stopping traffic, including us, so it could get towed by EMS into the Marina. It was a bit of a "phew" moment for us as at first I thought I would have to follow them down The New Cut.

The dignity of our King and his Sister was truly a tear jerking moment . The Prince of Wales and family were regal i Even Andy and the lessor Royals played the part superbly including Harry . It was his beloved Granny after all. Chware teg Harry

Just salute everyone that took part in that magnificent display of Britishness.

Thanks Chris

Just a question that I'm sure our military members will know the answer to. Do the armed forces now have to swear allegiance to The King or does it automatically transfer?