Dav and Pen

It was very good and stood up well to the job . I can’t speak for the current production but when we were using it I think it was the first of the film faced ply and very strong.

Wisa form is a film faced ply. We used it to make moulds for precast concrete. It was then birch ply .

If you use 18mm shuttering ply make sure it’s not far eastern ie brown wood with very few layers use American or Canadian white wood.

The gravel barges were designed by a navel architect who clearly had never seen a canal. The prop was in front of leg which to my simple mind is usually for reversing, I did have one tide on one and very poor performance, it’s hard to reinvent the wheel. I have recently been on a new ship on the Norwegian coast which was powered by LNG and batteries that could power it for 4 hours. It had twin azipods and variable pitch propellers and the engines ran a a constant speed. The pods made the ship very maneuverable and it was fascinating to was them coming alongside or leaving which happened in 34 ports some of them very small and tight. Maybe soon there will be more powerful electric outboards which might be an answer as there would be no need for shafts or weed hatches.

They were talking about the Wash barrage in the late 70s when I was on IWA council. We went to see a large model of the rivers that fed into the wash where they even trickled sand into the flow so they could measure slit build up , Im desperately trying to remember where it was but stumped expect someone will be along soon. The project was obviously being taken seriously but as usual came to nothing.

My experience of H2O is that they do not do cheap they are a very established broker. If the barge is at St Jean they have a trailer that can pull a boat of this size out of the water for an inspection. With the survey report it should be easy to see if there is any thing obviously wrong. Doubleing is perfectly normal on barges of this age as they were not built originally of more than 5.5mm steel . The Peugeot based engine could be repaired anywhere in France. 50000 is to much however.

You won’t get caught out by the closed canal as the information is well published and is Oct 31 to April 1st so if you are on one of these you won’t be moving at all. The commercial canals and of course the rivers don’t close. The vignette is the license to move. We absolutely loved the French waterways and only stopped because of health issues.

At that price you must be bit suspicious. It is a bit narrow but otherwise looks ok. H2O are not known for being cheap quite the reverse if work is needed. There are French surveyors and one Dutch man based in Burgundy but nothings cheap I’m afraid.

As long as it’s under 20m there are really no regulations for the boat you have to comply with but your insurer will want a survey every 5 or 7 years. You will need an ICC steering certificate or the French equivalent only hire boats are exempt and ideally a vhf radio certificate. We had a winter mooring contract with VNF which was about 330 euros for a 22m barge. Many canals close for the winter months in any case. Electricity and water on the small moorings range from free to between 2 and 5 euros a day but can be much more in popular places. There is also a vignette from vnf needed when moving.

Didn’t go to that one but took a load of coal down for the opening of the upper Avon. Queen mother opened that.

Had a walk at Braunston this afternoon and saw this don’t know wether it’s advertised anywhere.

Grade 2 listed and west Northants council not a good combination (speaks from experience)

I had never been to the Braunston show until this year as we have been on the continent for 18 years and then the plague. I’m not a fan of shiny paintwork but do like polished brass. Met some old friends and made some new ones and people who are serious about maintaining the boats even if they are not”working boats” . I tried to make a joke to the friends of Raymond’s crew by saying they were in the wrong place ie on the corner by the bridge but it fell flat as they said this is our place. Great atmosphere between the crews and I for one thoroughly enjoyed it.

Both Colin and Jeff where apprentices to Willow Wren

I knew both the founders of Rugby Boatbuilders very well. Colin Payne and Jeff ? They both had been apprentices at Braunston and started up at Hillmorton next to the pub. They built up a good business but sold out in the end. The original boats had wooden cabins as was common at the time like Barney boats and Jeff was a very good carpenter / joiner. I can’t remember ever seeing a steel hull being built but it’s a long time ago. They quickly got into the hire business and my eldest daughter helped with the turnarounds. The Stowe Hill yard was developed by Peter Hill trading as Stowe Hill boats and his hulls had a very distinctive style.