Leaderboard

The previous owner was grossly underestimating the almost administrative impossibility it is to sell a boat you live on, and at the same time buy another to move onto. Not only do you have to find a buyer for your old boat, but you need to find another boat that fits your needs with a seller willing to wait until you find that buyer. AND organise the money changing hands in a timely manner that suits all parties involved. It's hard enough finding the right boat, let alone the right boat at the right price and it having to be available at precisely the same time as you sell the previous boat. Complicated as it is, I think stretching their existing boat is the easiest option for the OP. Very helpful and informative post. Greenied.

In 2000 the 1986 Bullfinch was stretched from 45 feet to 57. The extra 12 feet gave a generous bedroom and an enlarged engine room. This allowed the 10hp Sabb to be replaced by a 22hp Sabb. The Colecraft shell was lengthened and engine fitted by Mike Sivewright to a very professional standard. The existing cherry planking by Ron Beauchamp at Colecraft was copied into the new bedroom walls with the rest of the woodwork done to follow the existing scheme. Other work was done. A full repaint, inverter and some 240 sockets, a new front stove, a new Alde boiler and other minor works. Now, back in 1986 the original boat cost towards £17000 and this new work cost back then a further £20000. On the face of it considering the boats value in 2017 then it seems worth it. We love the boat as it is but we've only owned it for 11 of those 31 years. For the previous owner, in hindsight, he didn't think that the stretching was right for him. It wasn't the same boat in his eyes and he has told us he thought it would have been better to sell and buy another 57 foot boat.

CRT cannot win. They are constantly criticised for lack of essential maintenance.

Haven't seen this posted yet... Three have started a new 12 month contract for 100GB a month for £30. Includes Huawei B310-s modem (needs power, no battery) and a thing called Go Binge which means you can stream Netflix, TV Player & a few other things and it won't affect your data allowance.

10 minuites for a number one 30 minuites for a number two

This will be damson gin at Christmas time. I thought that if the fallen tree was a bit of a random picture then this one is equally so. The good thing about damson gin is you need a couple of clear wine bottles and that means drinking the contents first.....

Who? Trump, trump, trump?

Glad it worked out for you Peter, sounds like it's made a lovely boat. As Mike said, because of our interior requirements being a little unusual, we're sure that stretching is the way to go. It also gives us the chance to increase the size of the galley & bathroom, which are a little pokey at present.

What a Dumbo! Some people Hathi no sense of continuity!

Rust continues happily to grow under the best coatings in the world. There is enough moisture trapped by the coating to keep the chemistry going. Get off as much rust as you can woth scrapers and other mechanical means then treat what is left. Ensure you use enough to soak the rust in yhe bottom of any pits then prime and paint. N

Rust is strange and destructive stuff. I don't fully understand the mechanism but from much experience have observed that it appears to hold its own supply of water and oxygen and so the rusting process can continue for some time after it has been sealed by painting over it. If you do a 99% job of removing the rust then it should be ok and the rust will stop. If you leave too much rust behind then new rusting continues and this perforates the paint surface and lets new water and air in and all your effort was in vain. A related phenomenon is the way that rust progresses under seemingly intact paintwork, bringing in its air and water from a perforation some distance away. When you rub down a tiny paint blister you often find the rust below it to be quite extensive. It ain't called tinworm for nothing, it digs itself a burrow. ................Dave

But you do live in one of the two most notorious communication black spots on the canal system so what do you expect . It could be worse, you could live at Consall Forge. ..............Dave

I think the glue on rivets are a much worse problem, even before solar is considered

Well tell the traditionalists to sod off then Lets face it its not possible to have " Traditional " solar panels so have what you want and next time a " Trad boater " moans at you kick his horse, put a whole in his elm bottom and smack him with his water can.

Boat left in the water. I had 4x 'greenhouse heaters' in my engine bay last winter whilst we were abroad - the running cost was approximately £1 per day (about 7KwH). I left the neighbouring boat with some top-up cards and asked then to keep 'an eye' on the boat / electric bollard particularly if it turned very cold. The £100 it cost in electricity was much less than the cost to have a lift out / lift in let alone the storage costs 'on the hard'.

It may be quite difficult to be certain that all water is removed from the domestic plumbing. Last winter was quite mild and as a result I noticed more condensation than usual. Even with no one on the boat there was condensation developing. The moisture traps I had in use were not coping. So I bought a dehumidifier and it immediately made a big difference. The dehumidifier was not cheap to run but better than risking mould issues . The dehumidifier also creates a little warmth so helps with frost protection.

A mammoth over-reaction...

The base plate is gaped and veed out prior to welding one very hot run is laid down the boat is raised to gain access and the underside is ground out before a further run is done on the bottom of the plate

I would say that more or less exactly sums up my experience having had 8ft added last year without changing the engine or prop. Steve

Forget the workshop and concentrate on the wine rack

A few pics of a stretch I only line the boats we stretch if asked and fit windows or portholes

If you read the IWA proposals you will be unsurprised that they haven't turned away from their first target of widebeams since they propose a length times width method of calculating the cost of the licence. As KevMc says above it is just an administrative nightmare that they are proposing, they want the CC's to prove that they are covering more than 300 miles per year by being fitted with trackers (as though there aren't any means of fiddling the results!). I more than comply with this already (average 1000+ miles a year) but I have no intention of having someone track my every move, if I wanted that I'd join Facebook.

If they charged for width as well as length they could raise millions MORE to spend on repairs!

that would be the better option! ..... As Devils Advocate though how about as well as charging by the length that the width is also taken into consideration...... ?

Vactan is made by Performance Chemicals: http://performance-chemicals.net/vactan/ Yes, yes, and yes. Although it is in itself a primer so only requires an undercoat and topcoat. In my (and many others) opinion, yes absolutely. I found it on eBay on my first Google: http://m.ebay.co.uk/itm/VACTAN-RUST-CONVERTER-AND-PRIMER-250ml-RUST-TREATMENT-/110979877654 Absolutely. Prep the surface as you would for any rust converter, slap it on, wait for it to dry, overpaint.

@Froggy, I took my life in my hands, donned life support systems and went into "the pit of doom" (otherwise known as the garage) and found this. I rarely throw anything away in case it may come in use! Looking at the picture of your header tank I think the pipe to the left of the central one may be a non standard addition. As before it is yours for P & P, it is of little use to me. PM me to sort out finer details.

Where does it say this is an IWA idea, it is just someone's idea so why do you blame all odd ideas on the IWA. Please aim you anger at the correct target.