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.
                                                    Carolyn and Curly taking charge of the lift.

                                                                        Out she comes.

                                                           Inca on the blocks ready to be pressure washed.

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.

  With the sides pressure washed Inca is then lifted higher and then the base plate is pressure washed.

You 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
                                                        Carolyn and Curly enjoying the sea from in front of the Hotel.

                                                        A morning stroll on Goodrington beach in Paignton.

 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