Leaderboard

I have done my best to keep this pretty simple- there is rafts of literature on corrosion of metals and it can get pretty technical! There is no difference in effect between the various "causes" but rather promoters of corrosion. They all produce rust. When rust forms under water it is hydrated rust and a lot softer than the 'normal' stuff you get on a piece of metal in the open air. Chemically they are both still ferrous iron oxide, Fe2 O3, though Any two different metals immersed in something that conducts electricity will register a voltage between them and it they are connected electrically a current will flow. This current will cause one metal to lose weight ( corrode away) and one metal to gain weight. The whole thing is an electro-chemical cell. The voltage is called the electro-chemical potential between the two metals. The corrosion of your boat is caused because a piece of steel, which is not a homogenous (same everywhere) substance, is immersed in an electricity conducting fluid. In essence the steel contains both bits of metal and the connection needed to make them into an electro-chemical cell. There are potential differences between the various bits of the steel and between the steel and other bits of you boat. Badly installed shore power, dissimilar metals (bronze prop, brass skin fittings etc) below water can all make the routine effects happen faster, which is why people talk of 'galvanic' corrosion and other things. All corrosion is galvanic in nature because it happens between two different bits of metal or two bits of metal with different electro-chemical potentials. Steel is particularly bad because it is a mixture of iron, iron alloyed with carbon and a little free carbon plus millscale and other impurities from the mill. Bending steel and/or welding it produces areas which are more susceptible to corrosion and areas which are less. Brackish water, or other conducting chemicals increase the rate of corrosion too. Anodes work because they are more easily corroded than steel and so produce an electrochemical potential which works to hinder the corrosion of the steel. Empirically, they seem to have a radius of effectiveness of about six feet. The only way to prevent corrosion in your boat is to totally prevent the water from getting at the steel. In a canal boat, good luck. What you can do is maintain a good protective coat- epoxy pitch is good, chlorinated rubber is goodish, modified bitumens/vinyl tars are OK, ordinary bitumen is pretty ineffective. All the bitumen/tar based stuff is prone to dissolving in the thin film of diesel on the canals. Other things that help are reducing land-line use, or fitting a device to electrically isolate the boat earth from the shore earth, without losing the electrical continuity ( Isolation Transformer or Galvanic Isolator) and ensuring that, as far as possible the steel is not part of any electrical circuits. What do you do now? Have it re-blacked, taking care to dry out the pits and work some bitumen into them.. Pits are good for promoting corrosion at the bottom of the pit, because of the particular chemical environment at the root of the pit, but exactly why is v complicated and you had best go read a text book if you are that keen. Fit some anodes- ideally all over about 10ft apart. Then save up for an epoxy coating after shot blasting. Meanwhile stop worrying. Corrosion in canal water, without any of the corrosion promoters in place, is pretty slow. Modern boats will last for ages without elaborate treatment. Old steel boats have generally done pretty well too. Wrought Iron is different but the basic electro-chemical processes are the same. N

Maybe im missing something .... i am far from au fait with such proceedings but , as i understand it Mr Dunkleys & Mr Moores actions actually WON Mr Wingfields case . This is evidenced by CRTs offer to reinstate his license . It was Mr Winfields supposed defence team who LOST the case thru a combination of egotism & sheer incompetence by failing to put the interestts & indeed the express wishes of thier client first & foremost . That is what they are paid to do -& they didn t do it did they . So to speculate that Moore & Dunkeys involvement was in anyway relevant seems proposterous to me & their efforts i feel are instead to be applauded .

This island - where Steve Hudson started his boat building business - sold at auction yesterday for £152,000. http://auctions.lsh.co.uk/national/lot/38832 A lot of money for an island with no road access, no power or water, and floods regularly. Good news however for Steves family.

With bans and restrictions being proposed for diesel-engined cars, vans and lorries in cities, how long before attention turns to diesel-engined boats?

Interesting... but the shears are marked "Star Class" and the GA drawing matches closely... Nope the pic _is_ the right way round - at least the adjuster is on the correct side of my welding helmet and somewhere you can see the metric adjustable. But the left handed ladder was a problem (I'm a rightie) and I couldn't make the sky hooks stay in place properly... anyway the long weight was invaluable

Not in my opinion. The more exposure to what goes on; the more exposure to relevant legislation, the more understanding of what can be done and argued - the more equipped all sides in this melee are, to come to a rationale consensus. Human nature gets in the way of course. Nonetheless, I remain optimistic that education results in a closer approximation to harmony. Failing harmonious acceptance, arming for battle should be equitably balanced with all sides having access to the armoury.

I use Aldi paint for metal and have found it as good or better than "marine" paint in my bilge/engine hole/lockers Its on offer at Aldi Winsford as I type at £2.99 per litre Ray

The various makes and types of the Porta Pottie style of toilet can vary. Their varying height being the main issue. There's nothing worse than trying to have a comfortable 'sit on' and it turns out to be an uncomfortable one, indeed so uncomfortable that you can't even read a book or look out of the window comfortably. Yes, the toilets height is the usual culprit and to blame. The most uncomfortable combination is if you're tall and the toilets too low and you're committed to sit there with legs all jackknifed up like a Stick insect, not good at all. If you're short in stature and the toilets too high, then you're sat there with yer legs dangling off the floor like a little kiddie on a full size bog, not good either. DIY measures can of course be taken by placing the bog that's too low on a plinth of the required height to suit your stature or if you're a short legged dangler the feet can rest upon a box. A toilet that is too low can be adjusted for height by placing the toilet upon a simple homemade jacking device which will raise or lower it by the manipulation of a simple lever mechanism, this is probably the best and most sensible solution to the problem as it would cater for all sorts of lengths of people. If you have deep bilges then a very interesting and pleasing toilet set up can be made, a fully adjustable 'up and down' toilet, a toilet that when fully lowered the seat is flush with the floor, this position can have two or threefold uses, by legless users, for paddling in or used as a shower tray with the rose above your head as a space saver. But the most desirable, if futuristic would be ''The Laserbeamingbog'' The toilet with a magic laser eye that measures your height as you approach it and adjusts itself automatically for your sit on. A mechanical robot, ''The Robottom'' automatic bottom wiper could also be included. Both of these ultra modern devices would make your toileting experience lovely and lazy and so absolutely delightful.

Im pleased to be able to finally share with everybody the future plans for fuel boat Halsall. Ive been looking forward to announcing it on here as the forum has played a huge part right from the outset and there is so much negativity on here sometimes that it is nice to be able to highlight the positive effect it can have. Back last autumn I started a thread light heartedly seeking investment in my idea of starting a new fuel boat business down in London http://www.canalworld.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=70300 . Within an hour of me starting that thread I was contacted by Brian McGuigan, a forum member and owner of Renaissance Canal Carrying and operator of the fuel boat Alton (which works on the Macc, Peak Forest, Northern T&M, Weaver & Shroppie) to say it might be something he would be interested in working with me on. So we arranged to meet up and discuss possibilities over a pint. Things progressed over the coming months and we drew up a list of possible boats and ended up with Gosty Hill being the most realistic as it was already set up to trade and had been on the market for a couple of years. Unbelievably on the day we were ready to arrange a viewing I phoned up only to be told it had gone under offer a few hours earlier! This meant we had to re-evaluate and during that process we started looking at the feasibility of putting a second boat onto the round currently worked by Brian and Ann Marie on Alton as their business was growing and there was scope for more growth in the future so the London idea went on the back burner. We were then made aware of a Large Woolwich that was about to come onto the market and made an offer accepted (subject to survey) which was accepted. Sadly things didnt go well for us at the survey stage and we decided withdraw our offer & continue our search. This left us again disappointed, but I had seen a few posts from forum member Madcat intimating that she might think about selling Halsall in the future. To try and salvage something from the day we arranged at short notice to make the short journey across Birmingham and have a cuppa and have a look at her boat. Once we set eyes on Halsall we knew straight away that it was the boat for us, as Madcat has done an amazing job restoring the boat during her ownership and it was ready to go back into trade. Over the winter things developed, I sold my boat Albion and started putting in place plans to leave my job as a Dog Handler for the Border Force in France, as well as regularly working with Brian and Ann Marie on Alton learning the ropes on their Macclesfield/Peak Forest round. This all culminated in Halsall being purchased at Easter to operate as part of our new joint business venture Four Counties Fuels Ltd. After a quick dash to take Halsall up to the Easter boat gathering at Ellesmere Port it was back to the Midlands where work has started to configure the boat ready for trading as a fuel boat. The forum and its members have played a huge part in this process at every stage. Matty40s has done a fantastic job repainting the boat into the Blue/White GUCCCo livery in difficult conditions dodging rain and gales. Dave Moore has done the sign writing to his usual exceptional standards. George (Furnessvale/ex NB Alton) has assisted as a consultant and prepared detailed designs to enable Martin Kedian of Kedian Engineering to pull out all the stops and build a combined total of nearly 12,000 litres of steel tanks to go in the boat. Captain Fizz is dealing with the installation of everything into the boat and within 12 hrs of returning from a month cycling round Germany he was in the hold of Halsall with his tape measure. With both the previous and current owners being forum members I really do think it should be highlighted just what positive powers this forum can have and what great people it has amongst its ranks. So what for the future? We are now just a few days away from being ready to go, then well be out on the cut. Every 2 weeks Halsall (together with occasional runs by Alton) will cover part of the area currently worked by Brian & Ann Marie as Rennaissance Canal Carrying. This area will be T&M from Preston Brook down to Kidsgrove, The River Weaver, The Shroppie from Nantwich up to Ellesmere Port and across the Middlewich Branch. In addition to this we will be expanding to join up the 2 southern ends of this route to do the full Four Counties Ring once a month (T&M down to Great Heywood, Staffs & Worcs to Autherly Jcn and up the rest of the Shropshire Union). We are also looking at the possibility of occasionally running up the Caldon Canal which Brian currently covers with road deliveries. I hope this doesnt come across as too much of an advertising thread, which is not my intention. I did run it by Dan first and really just wanted to share the story with everyone and highlight just how much valued support the forum has played in helping me achieve my aim. Id just like to say a huge thank you to all those whove given me such tremendous advice & assistance over the past 8 month in making my dream become a reality. Ill be keeping the whereabouts of Fuelboat Halsall updated on the Coal Boats pinned topic, as well as daily updates on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and on the website www.fourcountiesfuels.co.uk , links to which will appear in my Signature panel once they are functioning fully. I look forward to meeting many more forum members out and about in the future. Martin.

Well, Nickilino, it seems for once we are complete agreement. I am rendered speechless by the goings on - other than complete outrage.

Plant more trees and stop cutting them down to print rubbish like the Bible and the Quran would be a good start, that and poxy Heat magazine, the world would be a much better place without those three

It may help if I clarify what happened from first-hand experience. My apologies for not doing so earlier, but I have been away from the laptop and knew I couldn’t get on here until maybe Wednesday, so I told Tony what had happened and asked him to let you all know. His [missing] post was accurate in all but one meaningless detail, but I can elaborate for the curious. First off, as important to Andy, CaRT obtained their usual Order and an Injunction banning him from all their waterways – and that Injunction applies regardless, as mayalld points out, whether a boat licence is needed for a particular area or not. It is an interesting challenge that needs to be made at some point – no court is entitled to subvert the common law; yet that is what everyone of these injunctions does. Andy intends to move off CaRT waters and find some pleasant marina nearby a town centre with the facilities he needs/wants. I am confident he will be a lot happier out of Mr Garner’s reach. From such a position of safety, he can let CLP do their best with an appeal - which will be dependant upon whether Legal Aid agrees that they have a case. Rather than leave you with hearsay as to what the defence etc said, I will post up the relevant documentation to scribd and provide the links when I next post.

I don't disagree with the sentiment about material being available. However, there is an approach that you could take so that people would take you seriously, and an approach that sees you dismissed as a ranted grinding an axe. You lose the argument, not because you are wrong, but because you alienate the audience. And as to my experience in the field; Http://www.freebmd.org.uk/

Well I must say I hadn't realised quite how much I should be despising fishermen until this thread. I clearly need to review my attitude and stop getting on with most people I meet. I've had a quick look and the sh#t list appears to include: fishermen (obviously), anyone with a bicycle, all CRT employees, shiny boats, ramblers, moorers of any type, people in hats..... Oh dear, I've just realised how long it's going to take to type this list on a phone! Too much like hard work - I know it's lazy of me, but I'm just going to continue deluding myself that most folks are ok and it's only a small minority in every group that spoil things.

I personally prefer 12mm for walls but that is my choice, many use 9mm quite successfully. as regards the deckhead a lot will depend on any curve required. I have always found that, although the panels are heavier to work with, it is easier to get good level jointing of edges, with thicker panels edited to add....Marine ply is over the top for interior work especially in a steel boat. A lot of the standards for proper marine ply are concerned with types of wood/glue/and lack of voids or filler. any external grade ply (water and boil proof) is quite adequate just pick sheets with a good veneer as the outer sheet. Marine ply is too expensive to use for anything apart from hulls or cabin structure. eta check 9mm ply thread further down this page!