Teadaemon

You would think so, but if you do the maths it rapidly becomes very obvious that even a small hole below the waterline (like say a 1.5" skin fitting) lets in more water than the bilge pumps on any boat can cope with, and the deeper the hole is, the more water it lets in. Not to mention that even if a bilge pump can cope with the ingress of water, it will only do so as long as it remains unblocked and has power.

They're your goods, so you might (and I stress 'might') owe a duty of care to anyone they come into contact with. Having said that, I think you could have a very good argument that it was not reasonably foreseeable that those goods would be stolen and dumped wherever they ended up, so the chances of you being liable for somebody tripping over them is low to nonexistent. Proving liability for tort (negligence) isn't as easy as the ambulance-chasers make it sound. Of course that doesn't stop them trying it on, and in a lot of cases it's cheaper for an insurance company to pay out (with or without an admission of liability, normally without) than it is to fight anything other than a very large claim.

Whilst you might well not have fixed ventilation on sea boats, there's nothing to stop you having closeable vents (indeed the BSS requirements for ventilation specifically address this situation), some of which are designed so that they can remain open in all but storm conditions (such as the 'Dorade box' designed by the late Olin Stephens and first installed on the racing yacht Dorade).

As I mentioned when I posted the article in another thread, whilst the BSS probably does not apply (although there are an increasing number of harbour authorities requiring it as a condition of taking up a permanent mooring), a small fishing boat like this one would be subject to the requirements of the MCGA Code of Practise for Small Commercial Vessels. In general these requirements are a lot more onerous than the BSS (covering stability, safety equipment, regular out of the water surveys, etc), but I don't know how strict they are on ventilation. Having said that, it's wrong to assume that having sufficient ventilation as specified by the BSS, the stove manufacturer, or anyone else would prevent this happening. The stove undoubtedly comes with a warning not to use it as a space heater and not to leave it unattended (which includes leaving it on whilst you're asleep). This is in part because the ventilation requirements are calculated on the assumption that somebody cooking at the stove is going to get hot, and probably open a window or door (at least that's what I was told by the tutor when I was studying such things).

Another incident, this time on a fishing boat in Whitby harbour: http://www.whitbygazette.co.uk/news/local/update-boat-deaths-1-6374292 According to the article, the two people involved may have lit the gas oven before they went to bed, to provide extra heat. Now I know fishing boats aren't subject to the BSS, but they are certified under the MCGA codes of practise for small commercial vessels. As I don't do coding work, I'm not sure if these address ventilation in the same way that the BSS does (even if they did, it doesn't take into account misuse of appliances like this).

I could be interested in joining your crew, as this is an event I keep meaning to have a go at. I'll have to see if it clashes with the Three Rivers Race though, as I'm determined to enter that in my own boat this year (I crewed for a friend in 2011, but haven't been able to take part for the last two years, and now I have an unfathomable longing to spend the night drifting somewhere along the lower Bure, waiting for the wind). I wouldn't call myself an expert on the BCN, but I am a native Brummie, and have trodden quite a few of the towpaths in my youth.

I'm guessing this is the IIMS course in small craft surveying? I did a previous version of the course, qualifying in 2009 and starting my own surveying business in 2012, adding in BSS work from the start of 2013. I have to say that if you're already an experienced mechanic, and you'd like a job working with boats, then you'll make a lot more money a lot more easily as a mechanic than you will as a surveyor. (I'm not saying that as you'd be competition, as it'd be a rare job that'd get me to travel up to Manchester.)

Well I see local journalism is as accurate as ever (although to be fair they were probably going on a police officer's estimate). The boat is most definitely a Westerly 22, and as the name suggests it's 22 feet long, not 25. IIRC, it (or a very similar Westerly 22) has been on eBay a few times over the last few months. Given the legendary thickness and quality of those Westerly mouldings (below the waterline they're getting on for two inches thick), I wouldn't be surprised if there's anything other than minimal cosmetic damage to the boat.

I couldn't get the video to run (the perils of rural broadband), but I suspect this is a homebrew version of the burner found in Trangia camping stoves (and cheap Chinese knockoffs thereof). before I got my Origo I used one of said cheap Chinese meths stoves to brew the odd cup of tea whilst out and about (albeit moored up or on the mudweight). No problem with a bit of care (I set it up on a tile on the cockpit floor so it couldn't fall over), and one of the main advantages of meths as a fuel is that you put it out with water (something you're generally not short of on a boat) - I was about to suggest a bucket full, but as all you need to do is dilute it to less than 40%, a cup would probably be plenty given the small amount contained in the burner.

Have you seen the price of Spruce recently? A few years ago I was looking for a small yacht for myself, found one (a Newbridge Topaz) that had a rotten wooden mast for £600 with a good outboard and a trailer. Then I looked up the cost of materials for replacing the mast and discovered that the wood alone would be around £500 for Sitka Spruce. Given that a Waterwitch is never going to be a particularly high performance vessel, I'd be inclined to specify Douglas Fir for a wooden mast (much cheaper, albeit twice the density). Either way, it needs to be long lengths with clear, straight, grain. No knots or runout at all.

Obviously not having seen the mast itself I can't say for definite, but it sounds to me like a new mast might be the way to go. Using the repair method you propose might work, but it effectively puts an area into the mast that's stiffer than the rest of the structure, which puts extra stress on the areas where the sleeve ends. If there's any other damage to the mast at all (even seemingly minor dents or any cracks whatsoever) then it's definitely not worth wasting time and money on. New masts are expensive, probably the cheapest way to get hold of a rig might be to try to find a Waterwitch with terminal rot problems but a decent rig (of course you having different rig to that shown on the plans might complicate matters, but I suspect you aren't alone in having a deck-stepped mast.

I suspect a judge would ask why the boater had a problem signing a declaration to say that they were aware of the law and did not intend to break it. BSS examiners work for themselves, not the BSS. If people do not wish to comply with my terms & conditions (such as signed the above mentioned declaration), then I'm not required to do business with them. As it's my PI insurance (and £5,000 excess) that's on the line in the event of a civil claim, and my liberty and wallet at risk in the event of a criminal prosecution, I'm going to take such steps as I consider necessary to cover my own backside.

Also Gay's Staithe (by the entrance to Neatishead Dyke), Wayford Bridge, Dilham, Barton Turf, Irstead and Ludham Bridge. I have a feeling Traveller is somebody I've come across on another forum (there's a few of us that pop up here as well). I think when he talks about the BA removing 'wild moorings', what he's referring to is the BESL flood alleviation project, which is steadily working it's way around the Broads, removing old (often damaged and dangerous) piling, and replacing it with a sloped profile rhond (now there's a good Norfolk word), which is planted with reeds and over a year or two grows into a natural-looking reed bed. The bank ends up the same height as before, but it's much more resilient to wash or flooding (the earth gets washed out through gaps in piling, and if it gets overtopped by floods has a tendency to get washed away, forming a large breach). Unfortunately, this means that in areas where the bank has been reprofiled, it's not as easy to get ashore. It is still possible to lie alongside the reeds on a pair of mudweights, and a gangplank (strangely not normally part of the equipment for a Broads cruiser any more) could allow access to solid ground in a lot of places. Personally, I'm glad that the Ant above Ludham Bridge no longer has miles of river with big warning signs saying 'beware of submerged stakes', or that it's no longer common to come in to moor along some piling, have the skipper tell me to jump ashore, and look over to see that behind the piling (and out of view of the skipper) there's nothing but a big hole full of water and rusty steel ground anchors.

Actually, it's the result of the marine industry wanting a level playing field to sell their boats across Europe. The situation in the UK prior to the introduction of the RCD was actually quite unusual in that there was no regulation whatsoever (apart from the Sale of Goods Act). Most other countries in the EU had various standards that needed to be complied with (certainly in some it was actually illegal to use or sell a boat that hadn't had it's design signed off by a qualified naval architect), and anyone who wanted to sell boats in these countries had to make sure they complied with all of the various standards, some of which were quite different, if not actually mutually exclusive. Admittedly what we've ended up with isn't the greatest of systems, especially from the point of view of somebody who just wants to fit out a narrowboat, but it saves a lot of time and effort (and therefore money) for the larger boatbuilding companies like Beneteau or Sunseeker.

1) Ventilation is advisory, so not having enough will not prevent you getting a pass. Having said that, the examination report will definitely state that you did not pass an advisory check, which may be something that your insurance company is interested in, and if there were an incident, may affect your liability. 2) The relevant check is 2.10.3 Are all feed, return and on-engine pipes secure and in good condition? (Well actually as it's an appliance it'd be recorded as 8.1.1, but that just asks if the fuel supply to appliances meets the relevant part of the BSS, part 2 being the appropriate set of checks for diesel appliances.) If the pipe moves when light manual force is applied (this is defined as grasping the pipe with the thumb and forefinger and attempting to move it), then it's a fail.