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Post by Deleted on Oct 6, 2019 5:42:54 GMT
Did I miss a thread? Looks lovely. Any more pics No I didn't start a new thread about it. Will do once I have been briefed by my handlers and allowed on the vessel on water. And will be able to get more photos at some point.
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Post by patty on Oct 6, 2019 6:48:26 GMT
Did I miss a thread? Looks lovely. Any more pics No I didn't start a new thread about it. Will do once I have been briefed by my handlers and allowed on the vessel on water. And will be able to get more photos at some point. Lovely looking boat..the fleet is expanding..
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Post by Deleted on Oct 6, 2019 7:09:32 GMT
No I didn't start a new thread about it. Will do once I have been briefed by my handlers and allowed on the vessel on water. And will be able to get more photos at some point. Lovely looking boat..the fleet is expanding.. The idea is to knock out a couple of the other boats as this one performs two functions as it provides a safe and stable transit vessel for the London tideway. Seems silly to have a boat on an East London ditch and a boat on the non tidal Thames and use trains to get from one to t'other. Neither of the other boats are comfortable on the tideway through London. This one definitely will be. Limehouse to Teddington only about 3 or 4 hours but getting to the non tidal thames on the cut is a day and a half trekking through the weed ridden London slums. Not ideal.
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Post by patty on Oct 6, 2019 8:47:03 GMT
Lovely looking boat..the fleet is expanding.. The idea is to knock out a couple of the other boats as this one performs two functions as it provides a safe and stable transit vessel for the London tideway. Seems silly to have a boat on an East London ditch and a boat on the non tidal Thames and use trains to get from one to t'other. Neither of the other boats are comfortable on the tideway through London. This one definitely will be. Limehouse to Teddington only about 3 or 4 hours but getting to the non tidal thames on the cut is a day and a half trekking through the weed ridden London slums. Not ideal. Sounds ideal..always good to have plans.. look forward to seeing more pics
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Post by thebfg on Oct 6, 2019 11:51:15 GMT
Did I miss a thread? Looks lovely. Any more pics No I didn't start a new thread about it. Will do once I have been briefed by my handlers and allowed on the vessel on water. And will be able to get more photos at some point. Looking forward to it. Almost tempted to arrange a day in london. To come see it. It looks nice
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Post by Deleted on Oct 6, 2019 12:11:12 GMT
It's in Lincolnshire at the moment. Going to be delivered to Reading next week hopefully.
I prefer to get used to it on the non tidal bit check all systems are working then start contract MI6 work on the tideway once I'm happy with it.
It's a lovely boat. Very unusual and rather unconventional.
Too many unusual features to list but one particularly interesting thing is it has a household toilet with a cistern which discharges to a holding tank. So no sea toilet which is good for a boat used inland.
It's a dark green suite. Low profile cistern.
Loads of other things you don't normally see on small boats.
Very meticulously designed and executed.
Also very quiet in the wheelhouse as the engines are in their own room behind with a full steel bulkhead. It's ok to start then with it out of water as it is keel cooled therefore no jabsco pump. Just like a vehicle engine.
I've been plagued by noisy diesels for years with having canal boats and the yot is very noisy.
I think this boat is going to be a revelation.
Steering is chain and rod linkage and also has a clutched autopilot motor on it.
Radar seems to work. Nice old NASA stingray red dot spinner depth sounder. All 1980s gear. Old fashioned but pleasant.
The top of the wheelhouse which is all steel is a great platform for a few solar panels.
Space on rear deck for a car.
Or sofas.
There are big levers to batten the hatches including the door hinges being doubled so the hatch batten clamps the door firmly against a rubber seal.
Real belt and braces job designed for some serious rough water use.
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Post by thebfg on Oct 6, 2019 15:12:23 GMT
Nice. Seems like it might become the flagship.
A nice outdoor sofa set will be a lovely place to wind down with a few beers.
Hoping to be in reading next week to see another member
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Post by Deleted on Oct 6, 2019 15:26:37 GMT
A nice outdoor sofa set will be a lovely place to wind down with a few beers. Exactly what the seller said. Sofas. It's about 10ft square back deck so plenty of options given the cranes which I reckon will happily lift and swing up to 100kg. Dinghy store, benches, sofas, tent for the kids, moped etc. Quite a handy bit of space actually. I originally thought it was a waste but an enclosed deck with lifting gear from both sides is quite a useful thing to have on a boat to be fair. Street view image There is a lot of gear up high on it but it was child's play to fold it down because it is cantilevered and counterbalanced by massive coil springs in the engine room. Big ones. About 3.5 inch diameter like giant trampoline springs. It just folds gently down and is easy to pull back up. No problems not even necessary to use a winch.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 6, 2019 15:39:05 GMT
Whoever made this boat has really been thinking. When the radar arch is up the exhausts are routed to where the orange bits are in the picture. Yes that's quite a long exhaust pipe... So back pressure relief vents have been included close to the hinge area I have coloured purple. The hinges are massive custom made arrangements with moving parts in stainless steel. When folded down the cantilever part which the chain going to the spring is attached to hinges up as the arch goes down and becomes a dry exhaust stack same height as the wheelhouse. Bringing the air draft down to 6ft2 approx. Very low profile boat this one. Amazing bit of design and in perfect condition. It really works lovely. Everything has been thought out to a very precise level of detail. It's probably a bit complex to work out but seeing is believing !! The square vents behind the wheelhouse are ducted to the exhaust silencer area and have fans so forced ventilation of the interior parts of the exhausts is available. Sensible for a dry exhaust system enclosed in an engine room.
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Post by thebfg on Oct 6, 2019 16:09:37 GMT
You do seem exited and happy with it.
Will you take it sea at some point?
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Post by Deleted on Oct 6, 2019 16:23:58 GMT
You do seem exited and happy with it. Will you take it sea at some point? Yeah it's good. Not sure if I'll go to sea on it but might do at some point. My main priority was to get a boat which is going to be comfortable in any situation on the tidal Thames through central London. I think this boat will be perfect. Having tried it on other boats it's definitely not somewhere you want to go in a small boat or a canal boat unless conditions are pretty good or you like hair raising adventures. I don't.
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Post by greenman on Oct 6, 2019 19:25:54 GMT
Are you going to paint it that stealth matt black so it doesn't show up on radar
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Post by Deleted on Oct 6, 2019 19:27:51 GMT
Definitely.
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Post by greenman on Oct 6, 2019 19:31:55 GMT
It looks a cracking boat
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Post by Deleted on Oct 6, 2019 19:45:22 GMT
It does seem quite pleasing.
Returning to the original topic I now realise why there were 4 stern tube greasers in the engine room.
At the time I found this slightly odd but it seems most probable that the original oil feed to the rear bearing has been replaced with a grease feed. It's such a well arranged engine room it's just not going to be a problem going in there and turning the greasers. More of a pleasure really.
Another pretty sweet detail is that the steel ladder down to the engine room is removable and it clips over little vertical lugs.
There are 2 pairs of these lugs on top of the rubbing strakes on each side of the boat so the ladder can be deployed in different places for boarding the dinghy or swimming.
Another pleasing detail. While motoring the ladder remains in the engine room clipped in securely providing access to engines if required.
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