Barge

[NoelParticipant @noel26080]

First coats of paint. Nearly there.

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Forgot to mention that Noels barge made its maiden voyage last Sunday. I must say it did look like a whopper on the workbench (seat) but once in the water and with a scale figure sitting on it, it almost could have been a bit longer!

Noel has to grasp the thorny nettle of ballast now. He needs a LOT of ballast as demonstrated on this inaugural run where he had no ballast. We simply had nothing heavy enough at the pond (barring a small boy that is) to even make a try at weighing it down. The bits of lead that I carry around paled into insignificance. Good luck with that Noel!

Ashley

[Ray Wood 3Participant @raywood3]

Hi All,

The 2 & 4 pint milk cartons are great for portable ballast, fill at the lake with a cover over then remove and empty !

I use coal in my little barge

Regards Ray

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

We discussed having basically a lift out tray or box with concrete or something in. There are two wells either side for a bit of permanent ballast, but the centre has been sized to store the tug so Noel would not want the basic barge too heavy.

Ashley

[NoelParticipant @noel26080]

Indeed it did have an outing last week and was generally successful!

Here it is being towed by Eddie doing a negotiation of Richard's buoys.

I have since made up some big ball fenders for it based on squash balls which are correct for size and should also be effective at actually being fenders.

It has a couple of bits of batten glued in now for the tug to nestle onto when in storage, but still plenty of room for ballast.

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