Wednesday 16 April 2014

Decisions, decisions, decisions

On Monday morning we were up early and at 08.15 pulled pins at Foxton and cruised the short distance to Debdale marina. We were told that we would be the first boat out which would have been great if that had happened but for some reason they lifted another boat out before us. We could have left the boat with them to lift out but i wanted to look at the hull and rudder once it was out and we hadn't fully decided on what hull treatment we were going to have done. As we couldn't stay on the boat as the work was being done we decided to hire a car and get a Hotel down in Devon for a few days, So while we were waiting we got a Taxi into Market Harborough and picked up the hire car. Eventually at 13.30 Inca was lifted out.
boat lift and hotel 003                                                    Carolyn and Curly taking charge of the lift.

boat lift and hotel 008                                                                        Out she comes.

boat lift and hotel 011                                                           Inca on the blocks ready to be pressure washed.

boat lift and hotel 018 Just as we thought the blacking just came off in big sheets due to the mill scale on the steel hull.Fortunately there was only a bit of surface rust on the hull.

boat lift and hotel 017  With the sides pressure washed Inca is then lifted higher and then the base plate is pressure washed.

boat lift and hotel 009You may remember my dopey moment when i just caught the cill on the Top Buckby lock.Fortunately there is no visible damage and nothing appeared to be out of align. But as the tiller is still a bit stiff they are going to remove the whole assembly and check everything is true and aligned.
The Decision we had to make was what sort of treatment we applied to the hull. We knew that the hull had to be grit blasted and then blacking applied on top of the steel hull but we were given 3 options.

Option 1..Grit blast hull then apply Hempel 2 pack epoxy finish .

Option 2..Grit blast hull then metal spray and finish with Rytex blacking .

Option 3.. And the ultimate hull protection..Grit blast hull then metal spray and finish with Hempel 2 pack epoxy finish .

I have spent hours and hours researching metal spraying and everything i have read on it shows it to be very effective and results have shown that you can expect it to last up to 15 to 20 years and beyond. It also includes the base plate in the process.The process involves melting Zinc to its liquid state then spraying it onto the hull . When we were looking at boats to buy we started looking at boats that were between 8 and 10 years old and it was amazing how many of them had problems with pitting and corrosion to the hull although you could say some of it was through bad maintenance it nether the less reduced the price of the boats by several thousand pounds and made the boats more difficult to sell. Also on the plus side the boat would not need to be lifted out every 2 years to be re-blacked and should go 3 or 4 years before it is lifted out and checked. Also when the boat is eventually put up for sale it should be a good plus point for the buyer. It also comes with a ten year guarantee. I have also spoken to several other boat owners but as always with narrowboats everyone has a different opinion some are all for it and others wouldn't bother. After a lot of weighing up the options we have decided to go with option 3. Time will tell if it is the correct decision but we think its the correct way to go.

                                                                                                Now back to Devon
boat lift and hotel 027                                                        Carolyn and Curly enjoying the sea from in front of the Hotel.

boat lift and hotel 030                                                        A morning stroll on Goodrington beach in Paignton.

boat lift and hotel 038 With a bracing Easterly winds the waves were crashing over the sea wall and Curly was having fun not getting wet.

 We now have a very busy few days down in sunny Devon before hopefully being back on Inca at the weekend.

                                                                Happy (Expensive) Days

5 comments:

  1. very good I love it granddad love from abbie

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  2. Thanks Curly...You are very kind ...

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  3. top Blogging as ever GP. seems to be a lot less than a year if i'm honest but as they say "time flies when...".
    Mind you, you were in London just prior to the royal baby arriving and that seems like ages ago.
    Hope you managed to remember easter eggs for the Grandchildren.......
    looking forward to raising you a glass tomorrow after this evenings night shift......and don't say you miss it .

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  4. Hi David...Good to hear from you again. Where has the last year gone?. We Have certainly enjoyed our first year afloat and had some good times.Eggs all bought for the kids and as we are in Devon we can hand them out in person. Night shift ? I thought you only did days as a PC. I guess things have changed yet again.Hope you are keeping well and the wedding plans are going ok....

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  5. all changed in Jan...we did a 3 month pilot for 24/7 working and thats been extended by a further 3 months. it's tough as we have 6 off us on a pattern requiring a minimum of 9 . we'll see how it pans out..i expect it'll be rolled out soon full time as we are saving a good few k per month. Wedding plans OK too. enjoy your stay in Sunny Devon.
    all the best to you and Mrs GP. and the grandkids / kids

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