What a great weekend on the Thames

Captain Coochie

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I just stayed messing around at Sunbury this weekend with the new toy and had a great time . After pulling Cuchilo over to the river bank i tootled off to the lock to get a weekend licence for Coochie /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif and then spent most of Saturday blasting around at 8 kts /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif
Mr Fanner popped over for a pint and a chat in his tender and i got a quick look at his air deck ( question about this later )and then it was time for a trip down river with a rather nice female .
Back to Cuchilo for a BBQ and then finished the night off with a few pints in the newley refurbished Pheonix pub . Nice what they have done to it but it's more of a wine bar feel now and hardly any female bar staff /forums/images/graemlins/mad.gif
Today was another great day with a wander up the creek by the side of the weir and then the most pointless trip ever . I went up to Lindon lewis marine in the new toy to get some fuel so i could get back to Sunbury /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif Although i did pick up an extending tiller and had great fun so not all pointless .
Back at Sunbury i bumped into a friend that has just bought two hire boats and was having a play around with them so more messing around with boats /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif
All in all a great weekend and i only did a fiver on fuel /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Now a question on the air deck for a wetline 2.4m 265 AR . Do they only sell the floor as an air deck or is there a cheaper version like a wooden floor ? I'm tempted to just drop a plywood floor in there but i dont want to if it's going to put the stresses in the wrong places and rip the hull out /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif
 
Our Bombard came with just slats for the floor. I cut a plywood floor out of WPB and sealed it with epoxy. The floor is jointed in the middle and theres a H section ali strip that goes between the floor panels. Not had any issues with it in five years and it makes moving about 100 times easier. The edges of the ply have been rounded off with a router and sanded smooth. Then I got some pipe insulation and put that around the edge. Put the floor in before you inflate it and it all goes rock solid.
 
Well that'll save me over £250 /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif Do you know where i can get some ply and a router /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif
 
Mixed.

Bad news is that the hose spigot bush was completely gone from the manifold cooler, not just cracked or loose.
Good news is that the spigot itself was recovered in good nick from the hose that leads to the exhaust elbow and that there were no other blockages or holes found..
Bad news is that getting the manifold section off requires many hours WD40 soaking on the stud nuts before they will shift without potentially stud shearing violence plus removing a 6" exhaust hose and a hefty lump of turbocharger. Plus, as my engines lie over to port, its the port one and harder to get at.
Good news is that a friend will weld up a new spigot fitting for a bottle of his favourite.
Good news is that the spigot, reversed, was a drive fit into the hole left in the manifold, and with plumber's putty a temporary fix with water circuit has been achieved. How long that will last remains to be seen. May be some time at river tickover, may be very little time indeed at higher power output.
 
Don't know if its any use to you, but I was in Mailspeed Marine today in Warrington. On the way out I noticed an airdeck for a 240 for sale at £85. I have no idea what boat its for but it might be worth a call.
 

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