All Nautical Bit & Bobs - "Boat Jumbles"

[Mike]

Member, George Waite, PMed me this evening to let me know there is a Boat Jumble on at Newton Abbott Racecourse, Newton Abbot, Devon on 23 May, starting at 10:00 am.

Here is a calendar of Boat Jumbles far and wide for the whole of 2009. Click on the PDF link below to see the details.


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You can access a bit more detail, including ticket prices, organiser telephone numbers, and links to maps, by going to the Boat Jumble Association website (http://www.boatjumbleassociation.co.uk).

Many thanks, George. Hope to meet up with you at one of these soon. Sounds like a good way to buy a few bargains. :approval:

Best wishes

[George Waite]

Mike
Went to the boatjumble and found a prop + shaft coupling + some Exhaust hose, + hatch covers. All for under £100.
George

[Mike]

Brilliant, George. :approval: What a price! Presumably, they are all good quality?

I've not tried a boat jumble yet but if that's what kind of thing's on offer then I will have to make time to go to one.

How big are these events, George, and what is on offer? A brief run-down would be most gratefully received.

Mind you, it's probably a bit early for me yet. I am already storing quite a bit of stuff bought on eBay at ridiculous prices. Scored a really good, brand new, water tank for next to nothing, and some 12V lights, and some stainless steel rigging, and a crappy old trailer that needs doing up, and some through hull fittings and cocks. The list goes on - and is mainly down to Jeannette. She's the eBay expert in our home.

Jeannette is also responsible for me having picked up all that beautiful timber stored in my old kayak shed: Brazilian mahogany planks (unused but 20 years old), teak planks, Douglas Fir, iroko, cedar, larch, and some beautiful, 20 year old and unused, oak planks that I will not be using on my build. There's about 150 cubic feet of the stuff altogether. And we got it from a pair of retiring gents who ran a bespoke joinery firm in South Wales specializing in windows and doors for the landed gentry.

Apparently, most of the wood we bought was purchased by them from the Army Apprentice School and was in storage altogether for 20 years. The Brazilian mahogany in particular is simply gorgeous stuff - and there's more than enough for fitting out our boat in some style. I intend to use the teak for decking and the cockpit seats. I may have to buy a little more Duggy Fir for the spars but I have everything I need now to build the hull and fit her out - bar the sails and a few ports. Won't be buying those on eBay though.

Best wishes

[George Waite]

Mike
sorry for the late reply. Boatjumble had around 50 stalls about 20 of them company stalls and the rest private individuals. All manner of stuff on sale including vintage bits. The character that sold me the prop informed me that there was "nothing he didnt know about boats" and informed me that the prop which was a 15 X 16 "would fit anything". Little did he know that he was talking to the man that had the one boat the "over square" prop would fit and I was almost resigned to paying around £300 for a new one. After filling a few minor cavitation pits with weld, straightening the blades. and a final polishing its as good as new for £15. Incidentally the cavitation pits were probably caused by somebody actually fitting it to "anything" and driving it too fast.

[Mike]

Anyone claiming there's nothing they don't know on any particular subject is both a braggart and a fool, in my experience. Sounds like your man got precisely what he deserved. Good buy, George, and very well done.

You might like to tell me what an 'over square' prop is 'coz I don't know and would like to broaden my limited knowledge. Certainly, I've not heard of such a thing in relation to aircraft props. :)

Your experience at that jumble backs up my own belief that a keen eye and an ear to the ground can turn up some real bargains for the patient and thrifty.

I will definitely go along to one of these boat jumbles when I get the build under way. Been a little distracted lately, what with one thing and another. Still feeling a little off colour and more than a little frustrated but things are on the mend now.

Best wishes

[George Waite]

mike
I have borrowed the description of a prop that has a higher pitch number than its diameter from engine design (bore x Stroke). It is a 15 x 16 prop which is quite coarse pitch, but the boat is flat bottomed with no obstructions forward of the prop so it should be around 70-80% efficient (I hope)

[George Waite]

Oh and by the way if you don't buck up I will be foced to come around to your home and ply you with strong drink to re-establish reality (W C Fields I think).

[Mike]

Ha ha! It's not a question of 'bucking up' so much, George, as recovering from a pesky and annoying medical problem I have had for years (and will have for the rest of my days, unfortunately). I get my good days and my bad. Recently, it's been the latter - and all I can do is rest up and wait for it to clear up so I can get on with far more important things. Thanks for your kind thought anyway. ;)

I think I follow what you mean about the 'over square' prop. I take it that it's a term that speaks to design rather than a physical over squareness. Heh heh. You had me worried that I really ought to know about it as it is a propellor type. I have, of course, studied (and used) props, including the very latest, scimitar-shaped, multi-bladed laminates. The term 'over square' of course rang no bells for me. The 'props' I like best are those that are annular and all turn in the same direction - not props as such but compressor and turbine blades. :teach:

Best wishes