Post by naughtyfox on Jun 13, 2020 10:15:56 GMT
I've put this up before when 'blacksheep' was asking something about the bits at the back end, and have just had another look myself to see if it raises questions I should ask later today when I have to phone to run through our repair work with the welder. I think it's not such a bad video for beginners and may be of interest to some here.
We had booked 3 days in a dry dock, which ran into 4 - not really for blacking as we did that ourselves last June, but it was re-blacked anyway as it was in the dock. This episode started when our insurance company (Collidge/Green) suddenly wanted a hull survey for boats over 30 years old, every 5 years, and for us that meant before June 2021 (survey having been done in 2016). They changed their minds and then said every 10 years but we had already decided to have a surveyor take a peek when we had it out for blacking last Summer - 2 years in advance of 2021, but two stones an' all that. The surveyor listed 2 'requirements' - a couple of shoe plates to remake the sacrificial edge at the bottom plate, and to re-weld a tiny spot on the water tank seam where there was a suspected leak.
As there's a dry dock just round the corner where our boat is moored, and the marina had a welder they recommended, we decided to have this work done before our Summer trip, and that should be the last 'major work' for many years that needs doing.
1. shoe plates - done.
2. water tank seam right hand side - we noticed 4 years ago after the seam had been re-welded there was a spot of rust on the sacrificial edge, water leaking out of the tank - one drop? The boat had to leave the dock right at that moment, and in the water we emptied the water tank and dried that corner of the water tank with a hair dryer to bone dry and waited and watched. Eventually there was a dampish patch. So I re-dried that area, and put a wad of Milliput on it. That was early evening. In the morning that patch was still dry, but I spread a generous amount of Sikaflex 291 over the Milliput. About 2 years ago with the water tank drained again just to wipe any sediment off its floor, I checked the Sikaflex - well and truly stuck on. Same last June - Sikaflex I decided to cut off with a penknife, got most off - the Milliput underneath was hard as a rock and well and truly not going anywhere (then I respread a layer of Sikaflex over it).
But the hull surveyor stuck 're-welding of seam' on his report. If we hadn't had the water tank empty and lid open, he wouldn't have said a thing about it! Anyway, how can a boat sink even if there was a small leak? Water would be forced outwards, with the weight of 850 litres of water, rather than canal water entering. And it's full of water anyway! I would not have bothered to have done anything but...
- now re-welded.
3. 2 scupper tubes - rusted through but tape wrapped around and not leaking - now cut off and new ones installed (just square-sectioned steel tube). Should we paint them inside with red oxide... (thought to myself)...
4. stem post - some previous owner had dented it and a seam needed to be tidied up. done.
5. stern bearing tube - hull surveyor of June 2019 and surveyor of 2016 mentioned 'play' of the prop shaft. We have been told that if it doesn't leak, don't bother doing anything. But the welder was on hand and we thought we'd get a new bearing put in. With the boat at 34 years old what was down there was probably the original stuff. Job done.
This all calls for a letter to our insurance company to let them know this work has been done and to ask them to bump our next 'out-of-water-survey' to 2029 - 10 years from the last survey (2019), rather than 2026.
We had booked 3 days in a dry dock, which ran into 4 - not really for blacking as we did that ourselves last June, but it was re-blacked anyway as it was in the dock. This episode started when our insurance company (Collidge/Green) suddenly wanted a hull survey for boats over 30 years old, every 5 years, and for us that meant before June 2021 (survey having been done in 2016). They changed their minds and then said every 10 years but we had already decided to have a surveyor take a peek when we had it out for blacking last Summer - 2 years in advance of 2021, but two stones an' all that. The surveyor listed 2 'requirements' - a couple of shoe plates to remake the sacrificial edge at the bottom plate, and to re-weld a tiny spot on the water tank seam where there was a suspected leak.
As there's a dry dock just round the corner where our boat is moored, and the marina had a welder they recommended, we decided to have this work done before our Summer trip, and that should be the last 'major work' for many years that needs doing.
1. shoe plates - done.
2. water tank seam right hand side - we noticed 4 years ago after the seam had been re-welded there was a spot of rust on the sacrificial edge, water leaking out of the tank - one drop? The boat had to leave the dock right at that moment, and in the water we emptied the water tank and dried that corner of the water tank with a hair dryer to bone dry and waited and watched. Eventually there was a dampish patch. So I re-dried that area, and put a wad of Milliput on it. That was early evening. In the morning that patch was still dry, but I spread a generous amount of Sikaflex 291 over the Milliput. About 2 years ago with the water tank drained again just to wipe any sediment off its floor, I checked the Sikaflex - well and truly stuck on. Same last June - Sikaflex I decided to cut off with a penknife, got most off - the Milliput underneath was hard as a rock and well and truly not going anywhere (then I respread a layer of Sikaflex over it).
But the hull surveyor stuck 're-welding of seam' on his report. If we hadn't had the water tank empty and lid open, he wouldn't have said a thing about it! Anyway, how can a boat sink even if there was a small leak? Water would be forced outwards, with the weight of 850 litres of water, rather than canal water entering. And it's full of water anyway! I would not have bothered to have done anything but...
- now re-welded.
3. 2 scupper tubes - rusted through but tape wrapped around and not leaking - now cut off and new ones installed (just square-sectioned steel tube). Should we paint them inside with red oxide... (thought to myself)...
4. stem post - some previous owner had dented it and a seam needed to be tidied up. done.
5. stern bearing tube - hull surveyor of June 2019 and surveyor of 2016 mentioned 'play' of the prop shaft. We have been told that if it doesn't leak, don't bother doing anything. But the welder was on hand and we thought we'd get a new bearing put in. With the boat at 34 years old what was down there was probably the original stuff. Job done.
This all calls for a letter to our insurance company to let them know this work has been done and to ask them to bump our next 'out-of-water-survey' to 2029 - 10 years from the last survey (2019), rather than 2026.