Bee

Did that with wheelhouse roof, bit heavy for a whole roof but as you say, fit and forget. I also built a canoe from cheap and thin ply then covered it with glass tissue and clear gel, very thin, very light and looks as though its varnished. 10 years later it still looks pretty good.

Well it would have been planed originally and by a machine. Excellent things that plane the whole width of the slab in one go. Thing is that Stanley and Record and similar are narrow and unless you are very skilled at using (and sharpening) them they will make tramlines and a general mess of things. Belt sanders and hand held planers also make a mess of wide boards (well they do in my hands anyway)

I wouldn't try to plane it as it will tear out the grain and make a mess. Does look a little bit stripey in places - Sapele looks stripey but I think Victor Vectis probably has it right.

Well its brown so quite likely 'mahogany' but there's a few different types of 'mahogany' Don't think its teak as teak is greyish but I've just repaired a brown door with a bit of teak offcut and stained it and it looks pretty much identical to the brown wood. Nice bit of wood though.

That's a nasty hole. I think I would weld a bit in but if that means a trip to a boatyard I would probably bolt a plate in behind it, depends if you have enough electricity to drill holes. What I would do though is grind the end of that bit of guard down to a nice slope so it doesn't catch on things.

Just have a look at the shaft as you rev up, if it whizzes round then there can't be a lot wrong, if it doesn't then something is slipping,

You need to make sure you have room for a larger prop too, 43 hp Beta and similar = probably 18" prop. 44hp Kelvin = I don't know for sure but I guess 20" plus.

Yes, that is really sea down there. if you drink it its horrible and salty and crabs and flounders live in it.

Whatever you design and build it must be saleable. In a few years it must appeal to someone else. It must be easily fitted with an engine and the underwater design must be good. The more unusual the boat the smaller the potential market. Boats are probably less environmentally friendly than houses, all that steel, all that energy to make it, it might feel like small scale living but it seldom works out that way. Just a few random thoughts but good luck.

I have a radiator at home that makes a noise, thought it could be bubbles but having fiddled with the valves and changed the flow rate it stops for a while. I now think its a bit (s) of scale that dances around in by the inlet.

I've never used it but isn't it a nuisance re. leaves and stuff that can't be swept away?

I think that as its a new boat the engine will have to comply with the RCD. Any new engine should (Or at least it will have a bit of paper saying it does) Putting an old engine in will probably infringe the regs. A builder may not be too happy to put in some oily old thing out of a scrapyard so you may have to install it yourself, this requires some experience. You could just have it built without an engine altogether and with stern gear fitted for a later date.

And to add to Athys list, smell it. If it smells damp and mouldy then you too will soon smell damp and mouldy and things kept in low down cupboards will go green and furry. If the broker / seller says it just needs airing he could be right but a damp boat with poor insulation and ventilation is a horrid thing.

Hose jumped off the water tank, emptied entire tank into bilge. No water for three days (In remote part of France where there are no water points) Sorry, didn't mean to add this as a quote.

Brown sludge from the hot water side could be from the hot water cylinder, we get this from time to time especially if the tank has been disturbed or system has been drained. (Its a copper tank by the way)