Princess 32 - Failed Survey

[iwalm1979]

Just out of curiosity...has any money changed hands (like a deposit) ?.....or did the owner pay for the coring out of his own pocket ?

No idea, I mean, the survey was done and issued the guidance to have it cored, but from my perspective [and practically anyone else who may have been interested in buying if I refused] the coring would have had to be done - So presumably the vendor has paid for this. A deposit had already been paid for the boat (10%) but my understanding is that at any point up to and including the river trial you can still back out of the sale. I don't know if in practise the marina deducts these costs from the deposit amount but that is between the vendor and the marina.

If the cores had come back bad we likely would not have progressed - We want to be out on it this year and really not waiting four months or more to get her on the water. Outside of this on the survey the only other action point is to replace a hull fitting for the sea toilet and we are having the boat lifted for that after the trial. We have a family holiday over Easter, then we'll have a weekend on the boat at the marina to meet a few people, work out the basics, do any cleaning or little maintenance jobs that need doing (things like cleaning windows/window seals, reproofing any awning parts and such). We then have a local RYA guy coming over to do a days adhoc training on getting the boat in/out of the marina and running into Newark to negotiate a lock or two. All being well we ought to be vaguely near ready to venture out alone by mid May.. maybe!

We skipped the river trial on weather advice today although I think by late afternoon today it had probably turned quite nice [certainly was in Grimsby] - Shooting for tomorrow instead [watch it throw everything down now!].

 

[iwalm1979]

On the topic of petrol vs. diesel this does seem to be a marmite topic and I do get both sides of what people have said (and everyone has valid points - if you ask the question you can't just expect people to back your position!). From what I can gather when we are looking at costs at river speeds it's not amazingly relevant. My primary concern with petrol would be availability (although home marina in Farndon has it, and there appears to be petrol if you head for Lincoln at Burton Waters) - Don't know if Nottingham end has petrol covered but assuming one of the marinas there has it then really whichever direction we head we have some sort of coverage and we aren't talking ranges here that are going to require hundreds of litres of petrol to be kept in the tanks.

In terms of safety, we've all done 80+mph down a motorway chocked at 3 lanes in a car with 60 litres of unleaded under the rear passengers - Potentially just as dangerous really. Common sense on refilling (nothing near hot engines, avoiding spillages etc) and ensuring bilge fans are running (and a suitable gas detector is installed - which it is on this boat) should hopefully keep any risk suitably minimised. With anything that is all you can do, work as safely as possible, and ultimately having had a caravan previously, I think we all have the problem of being susceptible on the gas side of things [again we have a gas sensor installed for leakages there too].

 

[billskip]

Enjoy it

 

[Greg2]

On the topic of petrol vs. diesel this does seem to be a marmite topic and I do get both sides of what people have said (and everyone has valid points - if you ask the question you can't just expect people to back your position!). From what I can gather when we are looking at costs at river speeds it's not amazingly relevant. My primary concern with petrol would be availability (although home marina in Farndon has it, and there appears to be petrol if you head for Lincoln at Burton Waters) - Don't know if Nottingham end has petrol covered but assuming one of the marinas there has it then really whichever direction we head we have some sort of coverage and we aren't talking ranges here that are going to require hundreds of litres of petrol to be kept in the tanks.

In terms of safety, we've all done 80+mph down a motorway chocked at 3 lanes in a car with 60 litres of unleaded under the rear passengers - Potentially just as dangerous really. Common sense on refilling (nothing near hot engines, avoiding spillages etc) and ensuring bilge fans are running (and a suitable gas detector is installed - which it is on this boat) should hopefully keep any risk suitably minimised. With anything that is all you can do, work as safely as possible, and ultimately having had a caravan previously, I think we all have the problem of being susceptible on the gas side of things [again we have a gas sensor installed for leakages there too].

Having identified some of the downsides of petrol engines I should also mention that the major positive, particularly when pootling inland, is that they are a lot quieter than diesels which is a real bonus on the river. You are also quite right about fuel use and with the size of tanks that the P32 will have you will likely be able to operate only ever filling up at your home marina.

A couple of tips - always let them warm up before letting the lines go. Might sound obvious but it isn’t necessary with diesels and I have seen people get into a little difficulty when their cold petrol engines have stalled as a bit of breeze carries them sideways.

The second one is ventilation - you are already onto bilge pumps and it is a good idea to run engine bay extractor fans for a few minutes before starting the engines. There have been instances where a build up of fumes has caused an explosion when the engines are started. Not common but it has happened so, as you say, sensible precautions will minimise any risk.

Hope all goes well with the river trial - a new boat is always exciting but there is something special about buying your first boat.

Here is our first boat - we loved our P32 - enjoy yours!

 

[stelican]

In addition to Greg2's advice always run extractor fans during refueling as vapours are known to spill over decks and into the bilge.
Can make a big bang when restarting engines!

 

[billskip]

Attachments​

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That looks like my (ex) princess...
You didn't own a Scimitar did you?

 

[Greg2]

Attachments​

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That looks like my (ex) princess...
You didn't own a Scimitar did you?

Nope.

We owned her for a couple of seasons around 2002-2003 having bought her on the Gt Ouse. When we sold her she went to Scotland if memory serves. She was named ‘Lady H’ back then.
.

 

[iwalm1979]

Well, great day today - Lovely weather out at Farndon and took the boat out for trial with Alex. We are going to go ahead so if any of you are moored here or in this neck of the woods we might see you about

 

[Greg2]

Well, great day today - Lovely weather out at Farndon and took the boat out for trial with Alex. We are going to go ahead so if any of you are moored here or in this neck of the woods we might see you about

Congratulations!

 

[Sticky Fingers]

Well, great day today - Lovely weather out at Farndon and took the boat out for trial with Alex. We are going to go ahead so if any of you are moored here or in this neck of the woods we might see you about

Excellent news, hope this is the start of a great adventure

 

[oldgit]

In terms of safety, we've all done 80+mph down a motorway chocked at 3 lanes in a car with 60 litres of unleaded under the rear passengers - Potentially just as dangerous really.

Not the same at all.............
Your car does not have an handy container underneath it to catch and retain any fumes/vapour/ leaking petrol which could be ignited simply by a spark from a starter motor or anything else capable of generating a spark ........even at 12volts.
Has the boat got/need a current Boat Safety Certificate , if so , good chance that somebody will have checked the integrity of the fuel and gas pipes.
Its blimming hard to set fire to diesel ?
Warnings over petrol use following three serious boat incidents - YBW
fuel pipe & hose connections | Boat Safety Scheme | Go Boating - Stay Safe

 

[Momac]

Has the boat got/need a current Boat Safety Certificate ,

I expect it does as it is not new to the marina and needs a BSSC to be allowed to buy a river license.
I doubt anyone would attempt to sell a used boat there without at least a few months remaining on a BSS certificate .

 

[Momac]

We are going to go ahead so if any of you are moored here or in this neck of the woods we might see you about

Yes hope to see you. It does look well kept boat.

The vhf radio is used on the river to communicate with lock keepers so if you have't already done so the VHF course is worth doing and is in fact a legal requirement to have before transmitting .
https://www.rya.org.uk/training/courses/marine-radio-src-course-and-exam-srcc

 

[ZebraSmasher]

Well, great day today - Lovely weather out at Farndon and took the boat out for trial with Alex. We are going to go ahead so if any of you are moored here or in this neck of the woods we might see you about

I've been looking at a couple of boats at Farndon. Alex seems like a great guy, haven't got a boat (yet), but will probably see you one day!