How to sink a boat

[Keith 66]

Narrowboats have a flat bottom, on well built ones it would start off at 10mm thick but many will be thinner, Sides 6mm the top 4mm.

As for the U Boat one above, i can only wonder what it is like inside that thing on a hot summers day? You would be able to bake bread in it!

 

[optima21]

You would be able to bake bread in it!

fine cuisine on a narrow boat

 

[Pigeon_Droppings2]

I didn't understand how the bow plate was going to fit...seemed to be a gap at the bottom plate (4th pic)?

....it's not the biggest issue of course...just interested how things are done.

 

[OJCar]

Narrowboats have a flat bottom,

Apart from the ones that have a V shaped bottom plate.
( mostly the ones designed to go into faster flowing rivers and tidal waters as well as canals. )

 

[slim_boy_fat]

At least canals aren't very deep.

I believe it's possible to drown in a few inches of water.

 

[mcostello]

Some boats are made for the hard water We usually have in December.

 

[Bobupndown]

Is it the same bloke that built the shonky trailer?

Yep now that he's a coded welder he branching out.

 

[Melvyn Best]

I think you are all being a bit harsh!
Don’t you know it’s very difficult to weld using braille?

 

[dave h 2]

I didn't understand how the bow plate was going to fit...seemed to be a gap at the bottom plate (4th pic)?

....it's not the biggest issue of course...just interested how things are done.

Just ventilation m8 or more likely torpedo tubes. This may be before he puts the U boat deck on it

 

[spaffmonkey]

A quick smear of silicon sealant and she’ll be good……

Working on narrowboats you see so much horrendous attempts at welding. The comment about silicone on the seams as crazy as it sounds is something we have seen a scary amount of over recent years. I feel since the canals got very popular during COVID alot of hobby diy'ers brought up the cheaper boats as something to do and sell on. In the last year the cracks are literally starting to show. The amount of body filler we have found on some boats it's insane.

In the pictures of the boat you can see where the rubbing strikes have been removed as often on the older boats they were only stitch welded on which allows the rust to build up underneath.
In reality the person is going about the repairs in the best way which is removing the corroded areas and welding new plates in instead of overplating as that has a number of side effects from doing that.
Once the welds are complete and ground down the replacement rubbing strikes should be fully welded back on and if planned properly would bridge across the joints which will add extra strength.
From the picture the boat looks like an old harbrough marine so likely to be built around 1980's, once boats are over 25 years old alot of insurance companies now request a full hull survey with ultrasonic readings from around the boat to prove it's structural state. This boat will certainly require one to get insurance. Without insurance you can't get a waterways licence.

 

[aesmith]

Will that work need a inspection and sign off by some authority ?

There's actually more regulation for inland waterways than for seagoing vessels. We have no mandatory inspection or licensing or basically any formalities for our boat. And seagoing vessels are allowed through the Scottish canals without BSS certificate.

 

[bert]

I cut out and removed a large chunk of one of the keels on my boat but everything was fully welded, epoxy primed, epoxy filled, epoxy primed then underwater primer then antifouling. What I see going on on narrow boats scares me.

The Inland BSS doesn't even look at the condition of the Hull only, electrics, fuel and gas systems. Its just looking at the safe installation of systems.

My insurance insists on a Hull survey every 5 years though buy I know not all do.

 

[Bobupndown]

Do many canal boats actually sink, it's not something you hear about. Obviously canals aren't that deep that boats could sink without trace but do many of them take on water and have to be recovered / taken out of the water?

 

[Morrisman]

Do many canal boats actually sink, it's not something you hear about. Obviously canals aren't that deep that boats could sink without trace but do many of them take on water and have to be recovered / taken out of the water?

There’s a couple or rusty sunken wrecks sat at the side of our local canal, between Wheaton Aston and Norbury, I think they’ve been there for many years.

 

[Robotstar5]

There’s a couple or rusty sunken wrecks sat at the side of our local canal, between Wheaton Aston and Norbury, I think they’ve been there for many years.

I used to do recovery when they held car rallies on the old Wheaton Aston airfield, it got quite interesting one year when a discarded nub end set fire to some hay bales.

 

[CompoSimmonite]

Hate the idea of "overplating" of narrowboats. If the metal is so rusty that it's needed then why not do a proper job and cut out the bad sections instead of just covering them up with new metal. On a car that would be called a bodge but seems perfectly acceptable on a boat !

 

[voipio]

Whilst out and about on the east Anglian rivers, there were often seemingly abandoned boats dotted around, looking forlorn and unloved, and often sunk but poking above the water.

 

[OJCar]

Whilst out and about on the east Anglian rivers, there were often seemingly abandoned boats dotted around, looking forlorn and unloved, and often sunk but poking above the water.

On the Middle Levels or on a true river?

Map of the Middle Levels

 

[voipio]

Most of the sailing was done on the River Great Ouse, including the Old West River. The Great Ouse was tidal as far inland as Brownshill Staunch, with small tidal bores seen down at the Denver Sluice end of the New Beford River. The original Great Ouse that passes by Ely, is held between locks at Hermitage and Denver, giving around 30 miles of lock-free navigation.

 

[OJCar]

That is mostly Environment Agency water,
might be a small bit of Cams Conservators as well (not sure).