Narrowboat Hull Blacking at Wigan Dry Dock

Blacking a narrow boat hull at Wigan dry dock.
2021-10-29 - 2021-11-05
The dock was flooded, the gates opened and the boat floated into position.
The dock was then drained and the boat rested onto trestles. Care had to be taken during the drain down to ensure delicate parts of the boat such as rudder, skeg and propeller were clear of the final trestle.
With the water drained, the hull was defouled using an industrial power washer. This process revealed bright metallic spots where galvanic corrosion has been taking place.
Any loose remnants of the old bitumen blacking were scraped clear using a chisel. Initially more attention was paid to the waterline which was taken back to bare metal using a grinder with abrasive pads.
After assessing the condition of the remaining coating, it was decided that all old material beneath the waterline level was to be removed back to bare metal. The texture of the old material had become so deeply furrowed that overpainting it and achieving a consistent coating thickness would have been impossible.
The chisel was used to scrape off all remaining material from the waterline down to the baseplate on the entire hull; a painstaking and physically exhausting task.
The flat metal finish was much easier to paint than attempting to overpaint the previous coating. The warmer than average temperatures for the time of year enabled us to apply three full coats of bitumen hull blacking whilst adhering strictly to the overcoat times specified by the manufacturer.
New anodes were also installed since the old ones had less than 25% remaining.
The boat was refloated on 2021-11-05.

[@whosyourbuddy8]

Good video Craig. Very cool seeing the dry dock flooding and draining. The boat is nicely done too. A fresh blacking really makes the topside colors look more vibrant.

[@UTUBEFREAK1974]

Great video.

[@nicholasnunn806]

did they do the bottom of the boat?

[@jtwood4925]

Hi Craig - very interesting. I know ship yards have systems like that in the US but most marinas have travel-lifts, fork lifts and cranes to pull boats out of the water and put them on the hard. How do they charge you for this service. Do they charge you a certain amount per day? What do they do from an environmental waste perspective. Some US marinas require you lay plastic to catch all the waste.

[@melanie1171]

i cant believe they shut it doing repair work on it, yet i see your still stood in water , ridiculous

[@truckerfromreno]

The music ruined the video. I had to stop watching.