Boat pics

[WhatsThisFor]

I think most of us have run out of fuel at some point, but the severity of the issue is amplified when you are on a boat, on your own, with a customer on his way to pick up his van and your tea in the oven.

Im just glad you didnt build an aeroplane.

Are you allowed to carry a 20 litre jerry can in the boat, if so that is what i would do until i gained the trust of the gauge.

Imagine if you had gone for your quick blast/trim test out at sea......

You may have been on one of those RNLI rescue programmes ( man on boat found drifting off the Irish coast, smoking a Hamlet Cigar and listening to Air on a G-String.)

Onwards and upwards

 

[Lpgc]

I wouldn't have gone for even a quick blast on the sea unless there was a lot more fuel in it anyway and the VHF was fixed.

Can't use a stick to check tank level, the tank is under the middle of the deck with a board screwed down above it and the filler is at the rear just above the swim platform.

Pic of the tank under the deck when I was messing with the old sender unit.



I know the tank is 29 US Gallons, 109.6 litres, because the tank manufacturer sticker is still on it.




Can and will start to take a jerry can but I don't think I'll have another problem with running out of fuel again now I've realised my mistake re the gauge will show higher level with the boat on the water due to the angle the boat sits at in the water.

 

[Lpgc]

Got the boat out of the river and towed it home today but went for a short ride on it before getting it out.

Opened it up at one point for the first time today, didn't check speed with GPS but the dash speedo read 45mph and we had the (un-aerodynamic) weather cover fitted.

The video in this link isn't going flat out, it is from an earlier point today when we got it on the plane

 

[Lpgc]

Thought to myself... If the speed limit on the river is 6 knots, say 7 mph, and at one point I was doing 45mph. it doesn't seem nearly as reckless as doing 192.8 mph in a car through a 30mph zone even though they're both exceeding the speed limit by 6.43 times lol. Still courteous and thoughtful, slow down to a crawl if any fishermen are on the banks, any other boats around (moored or moving) etc.

Didn't even get wet retrieving the boat from the water, backed the trailer in to the right depth then drove the boat onto the trailer, then climbed out of the front of the boat and walked up the trailer to the back of the car and dry land Step son was with me today, he did get wet a bit by wading in to connect the winch to the front of the boat. In hindsight could've walked down the trailer to connect the winch.

 

[Highway Dave]

Secret to never missing the trailer simon

 

[Lpgc]

Secret to never missing the trailer simon

View attachment 103724

Straight in there Dave . Mine's got position markers on it but this could be another incenticve to get it right kind of instinctively.

But in addition to making sure you get in the middle, make sure you don't go in too low or the old girl might not like it.

There may come a day when I need position markers for other stuff but not sure she likes tatoos.

 

[Lpgc]

Slides up easier when it's already wet

 

[Lpgc]

Wish I'd taken before and after pics of this. Last year I left some bolts on the bathing platform, they rusted and the rust stained the fibreglass.

Bought some oxalic acid powder and mixed some with water, applied the oxalic acid to the bathing platform, after around 20 minutes the rust stains had completely disappeared and it became easily the cleanest looking part of the boat.

Applied some to the sides of the boat, the waterline mark from the river completely removed so another great result.. But the acid doesn't remove stuff like marks from ropes / buoys / tarmac spots so it'll need further cleaning.

Apparently for a deep clean on the sides of boats they mix it with wallpaper paste so it sticks to vertical surfaces, something I might try. But no need for wallpaper paste on horizontal surfaces and I intend on using it to clean the top of the bow which like the bathing platform has an anti-slip coating making it difficult to clean.

The rebuilt engine has run a good few hours now so I changed its oil and filter. To change the oil you pump the oil out of the dipstick (it's designed that way). But then I fitted the new oil filter and started the engine just to fill the oil filter so I could check oil level again and noticed no oil pressure so quickly turned the engine off! Checked the engine and oil had pumped into the bilge... The seal from the old oil filter was still attached to the engine so I fitted the new filter with 2 seals which spaced the filter away from the engine and caused the leak. Soon sorted the seal issue, topped up oil again and the oil pressure is OK now but I now have an oily bilge I want to clean. Thinking about just adding washing up liquid and water to help break up the oil and brushing while I go around it with the soapy water and hosepipe with the drain plug removed.

 

[Lpgc]

Time to wrap the boat up for the winter now.

Few vids of me and my sister on the boat..

 

[Karlos]

Looking good sounds sweet
Do you not have speed limits on the river

 

[Lpgc]

Looking good sounds sweet
Do you not have speed limits on the river

Yes there's a speed limit and I broke it but only did it on a stretch where there were no moored boats or fishermen.

 

[Highway Dave]

@Lpgc , I’m impressed mate, boat sounds sweet AND you kept both pairs of glasses on your head

 

[Lpgc]

@Lpgc , I’m impressed mate, boat sounds sweet AND you kept both pairs of glasses on your head

Thanks, yes I kept both pairs on during these videos but there are 5 pairs of my glasses on the bottom of the Ouse lol.

 

[Lpgc]

Heh at one point I let my sister drive, we were just going slow, then she said "Hey we can go a bit faster on this stretch can't we?" and before waiting for my answer hit the throttle. So she's driving and we're planing down the river doing 30odd mph, but she kept the speed on going past a few fishermen. Instead of slowing down she shouts "Sorry sorry!" to the few fishermen, then we turn a corner on the river and there were 3 young lads on a little boat with gunrails only 6 inches above the waterline. Sister shouted sorry to them too but they thought it was hilarious. I told my cousin who is a very keen fishermen about this in a Whatsapp group we were using to arrange a surprise party... and he posted the pic below in the Whatsap group lol.

 

[dognero]

Love the sound of it.
You have done a great job

 

[Carolina]

Well done Simon, absolutely fantastic thread this!

Another tip, while I remember (which you may already know) is nappies. Yup, good old nappies. I used to throw a few in the engine bay over winter and if there was any water ingress or any leaks, the nappies soak it all up. You can buy similar from the chandlery at 10x the price!

Also, there is a spray called ZUM - I'm not sure how easy it is to get here, (Amazon?) but I used to use it around the doors and windows of the cave to stop insects/spiders/ oh all sorts of little critters, entering. It is a lacquer and much stronger than what was available for my boat years ago. Any offending insects walk over it and die very soon afterwards. Spiders particularly were an issue with my boat, being moored on the river Nene. Once I started using a product like that, it was great coming back to the boat and it being spider free. Great for caravans too.

 

[Lpgc]

Thanks Carolina,

There's constantly a very small amount of water in the rear of the bilge, even if I tilt the boat far backwards and remove the drain plug it doesn't all come out. The bottom of the transom drain plug is very slightly above bilge level and there's a bit of a raised section running across the forward part of the engine bay bilge which seems to prevent a small amount of water forward of that point running backwards into the engine bay bilge. I might use a sponge to get out what I can then leave nappies in a few locations to soak up any water that does get in but no big worries about water in the bilge as it'll be stored on its trailer in the yard. Main worry about water ingress is for the trim, seats, carpets and wooden floor panel above the petrol tank area, don't want them damp all winter.

What if I like spiders? . Might help keep more damaging insects at bay, but I suppose your idea is better because (sure I've heard this somewhere)... if I were to go that route I'd end up needing a bird to cat to catch the spiders, a cat to catch the bird, dog, cow, horse. Seriously though I don't want any insects in the boat including spiders. Found an old wasps nest in another boat I once had, I might look into some of the ZUM stuff

 

[Lpgc]

As part of getting the boat ready for winter I polished and waxed all the exterior smooth gel coat, just used Tcut then Turtle Wax Super Gloss Shine. Hoping come next spring I'll be able to just give it a quick wash and it'll come up nice instead of being green etc. But I'm wondering if I used the best stuff for the job?

Another thing is there are some anti-slip areas like on the bow (roof of the cuddy cabin) and rear swim platform, I might describe the anti-slip areas as being a bit like fine pebble-dash in the gelcoat. I didn't know a way to polish and wax those areas so left them alone but now I'm thinking it might come out in spring looking all nice and clean where I've polished and waxed it but green on the antislip areas. Anyone know of a good solution for the antislip areas? It would be difficult to buff the antislip!

I remember asking on another thread for tips on how to prepare the gelcoat for winter and @dognero replied with some advice but I can't find the thread or reply.

I still haven't wrapped the boat up in the tarpaulin and there are some water stain marks on the wax, the marks wipe off easily at the moment but I'm thinking the wax I used probably isn't the best for purpose and definitely wouldn't be the best for the antislip areas.

 

[dognero]

Feldten Gelcoat Sealer

FELDTEN 08509 GELCOAT SEALER 250ML ● Cutting edge nano technological treatment of all Gelcoat surfaces above the water line that effectively combines cleaning, polishing and sealing in same working process. ● Very easy to apply with no need for any additional treatments. ● Use on fibreglass...

kildalemarine.co.uk

This gets good reviews.
I think you are better off using a proper product for boats

 

[Lpgc]

Daughter driving the boat this weekend.