Todays Boating

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

No boating.. too much to do, out playing in Clapham Common band-stand in the afternoon…no car..and just as well coz it looked a bit breezy and my "bicycle" boats would have been struggling in the wind and waves. No boating NEXT week either due to other commitments.Pah!

Continuing to build the German LCT. Dickering with the rear superstructure to a) enable 1/32 Airfix soldiers to fit comfotably on and in it, and b) because of this I cant quite follow the plans and will have to think on this. Life rafts, need to make some , about 2" x 4" (again this is a dickered with size).. but what out of? horrid thing to make…all round and curvy. First attempt out of Styrofoam too uneven. I may make some "combat boats" like the RM uses to shift a squads worth about. Much easier and would look the part?? Wonder if i can buy round foam rods/sticks? could just bend them round a former and stick them to the base to hold their shape..

It also needs a small crane on the front, but there again it will only be about the size of a man, and so too small to be believable, may alter this to be a simple derrick.

Ashley

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

wow.. look at this.. if this isnt the stuff to make life-rafts out of, i dont know what is…and so cheap. Comes in 10mm and 25mm sizes as well. I shall have enough for a whole landing fleet at this rate!

**LINK**

Ashley

[Trevor HollowayParticipant @trevorholloway99134]

Maybe there could be an informal "competition" to see what can be built out of it !

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Trevor, an idea! the stuff comes in 10 13 20 25mm diameters as far as i can see. It appears to be perfect for making rafs or rubber dingies out of.. may need a coat of EZE-Cote or something to hold final shape.

did think 13mm was a bit small for 54mm troops, but if you think of the relative sizes for a leg at this scale ands where a rubber dingy comes up to, I recon its about right.

You could make log rafts from it, "con tiki! for instance, or perhaps lightweight torpedo tubes! floats for helecopters….er er

Ashley

[Trevor HollowayParticipant @trevorholloway99134]

Looks like I will get some and start "tinkering" – perhaps a fleet of dodgems / bumper boats on the pond – cheap, easy and unsinkable !

[mike farrellParticipant @mikefarrell21522]

Ashley ,your treads make me laugh and I hope one day to get to your knowledge base. Here is my first tread for my boating .You may Help Went to local Queens lake ,holiday makers gone home lake free of obstructions so lets sail .Took my anglian man and my Esso pioneer for a few simple trials .

Great weather little wind so set sail with the A nglian man when along came a very official looking person with a loud voice booming across the lake said . what are you doing here .Replyed sailing my boat .

Next question Have you got insurance ,timid no from me ,well take that thing of f the lake and get your self insured . Next time I,ll report you Woops never thought of the problems a boat that can travel at walking pace could cause so much damage.Well as a retired defender of the law I must get insurance so where .thanks Michael

[Gareth JonesParticipant @garethjones79649]

Hi Mike,

Nice to hear from you again. The easiest way to get insurance cover for model boating is to join the Model Power Boat Association. Membership is around £21 per year, a bit less for senior citizens and will provide you with £10,000,000 civil liability insurance cover. You do not need to be a member of a recognised club, you can join as an independent modeller if you wish. See the MPBA website for details. http://www.mpba.org.uk/index.html. I am sure you could afford it on your government pension.

Gareth

[mike farrellParticipant @mikefarrell21522]

Little bit of knowledge well retained .Thanks for the address would not like to upset the jobsworth again .Showed the pictures of fab model and she was well impressed and encouraged me to try and emulate you . Thanks Michael

[The Long BuildParticipant @thelongbuild]

Regards Queens Park Lake, Is this a Private or Public Lake, Are there any signs to say you need insurance,no boats etc Who would he report you to ?. Insurance is always good to have but I have never heard of it being insisted on except Steam powered vessels.

Then there is the question what would this jobs worth have said if you had answered yes, How many Moddllers carry their insurnace certificate with them.

I see that they have a skate park, Wonder how many of the Kids using that have Insurance for their skateboards / Scooters as they fly around the decks periodicly crashing into each other.  

 

Edited By The Long Build on 02/10/2012 01:00:03

[mike farrellParticipant @mikefarrell21522]

Hi Longbuild, Well now the boating lake is owned by the local council and used by a company who use hire boats to holiday makers all summer .They have no objection to me trying out my boats ,up to recently I have been only checking the models to be water tight

I have a private water where I am allowed to sail at any time but is 10 miles away and about 6 acres,great in summer but a pain in winter.I will get Insurance if only to say up yours the next time jobsworth comes along.Michael

[Keith LongParticipant @keithlong89920]

Mike

Just a thought, check your household insurance, you might find you're already covered.

Keith

[Paul TParticipant @pault84577]

Royal & Sun Alliance does model boat and public liability insurance (lots of clubs use this company)

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

If you need insurance for model boats.. what else do you need insurance for?? cycling?? dogs with long leads?? pulling those annoying suitacases along? kite flying?playing football or any other "sport" at a picnic in the park?

Ashley (mr Grumpy)

is it PARTICULARLY model boats that are at risk to the public or all the above?

[Paul TParticipant @pault84577]

Ashley

As we sink lower into the current mire of litigious encounters it is only prudent to insure oneself against the money making opportunist.

Personally I mainly insure to protect my models against loss or damage but I also insure my models against accidental damage to other peoples models / property.

Paul

 

Edited By Paul T on 03/10/2012 08:34:34

[Trevor HollowayParticipant @trevorholloway99134]

Not having insurance myself – I wonder how likely you would get compensated (and by how much) if your boat sunk.

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

I cant imagine you would get much.. look at the prices of model boats on e-bay.. hardly reflects the cost in man-hours and so on. How would you force a reasonable sum out of someone for damage to yer boat??

Most of models total value would be a bit of hardboard and such gear that was unusable afterwards (and some old woolworth paint).

Ashley

[Paul TParticipant @pault84577]

Trevor and Ashley

The question should be how would you compensate someone else if your model damaged or sank theirs.

Take a hypothetical situation where you have a system failure and your model charges at full speed in to my Trent lifeboat splitting the hull and demolishing the superstructure.

The Trent is now beyond reasonable repair and so is essentially a write off.

Bearing in mind that the Trent is a show winner with a current value of £1500 how would you compensate me for the loss?

I appreciate that Trevor is not alone in not having any insurance, in fact it is estimated that over 90% of non club members don't have any kind of cover.

Paul

 

 

 

Edited By Paul T on 03/10/2012 10:28:14

[Gareth JonesParticipant @garethjones79649]

Trevor,

The answer to your question is that if you take out a typical 'model boaters' insurance policy you wont get anything if your boat sinks in the middle of the lake as its considered a natural hazard of the hobby and is usually excluded from the cover.

Generally speaking, the insurance cover which is demanded by local councils, for example if you wish to sail on their park boating lake, is civil liability cover. It is to protect you against claims which arise from your activity. For example if you poke someone in the eye with your transmitter aerial and blind them, your motor starts inadvertantly just when a member of the public is examining your propeller and gets his finger chopped off, or you boat goes out of control at high speed, flies up the pond bank and strikes little Johnny in a critical part of his anatomy while he's watching from his pram.

I suppose it would be possible to insure against the loss of your own boat while on the water but I suspect it would be difficult to put a value on the model (see the build me a lifeboat thread for example), and the premiums would probably be prohibitive.

The above primarily refers to policies taken out by individuals. Where the policy applies to a club then all sorts of other issues are usually covered, such as claims for inappropriate advice or training, libel arising from club newsletters or websites (must watch what I write), employers liability, vulnerable persons abuse and so on.

I must admit that if I was not a member of a model boat club club, I probably would not have bothered with insurance as I would have considered the risk to be so remote. However I used to fly model aircraft and in that case I definitely did take out the BMFA cover as I could see the real possibilty of one of my models going out of control and doing somebody or something some serious damage.

Gareth

[Trevor HollowayParticipant @trevorholloway99134]

Hazards like that surely would be more likely from cyclists and dogs on long or off leads, there seems to be no compulsion for "Third Party Liability" for them for example.

Whats the chances of getting compensation if little Johnny throws his frisbee and it damages a model boat or more likely a car ?

[mike farrellParticipant @mikefarrell21522]

Well argued Gareth,I have been assured by a friend at Axa Insurance that I have insurance cover on my household policy and as you stated why bother but as you point out the what ifs .So will make it todays job to get myself covered belt and braces.

[Paul TParticipant @pault84577]

Every adult has a duty of care under common law to ensure that their activities are not carried out at the detriment of others.

When push comes to shove and after little Johnny has been in hospital having an eye removed its no good saying to the Judge "I don't have insurance because dog walkers don't" especially when the court upholds Johnny's parents claim for injury and awards them £50,000.

I know it sounds far fetched but all it takes is one of these 'where there is blame' firms and you are up to your nickie nu nars in very expensive trouble.

[Gareth JonesParticipant @garethjones79649]

Trevor ,

I fully agree with your points. The decisions made by the bureaucrats are not necessarily based on any sound logical foundation. Unfortunately most private individuals and even organisations dont have the werewithall to challenge them. However Richard Branson seems to have done a pretty good job on the West Coast Main Line franchise decision.

Gareth

[Trevor HollowayParticipant @trevorholloway99134]

Just taken this from the MPBA wesite regarding their members insurance :

"Exclusions : Boat to boat damage on the water is not covered as this is considered to be a hazard of the hobby. Craft fitted with Gas Turbine engines are not covered."

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Cor, I shall not be doing "todays boating" any more at this rate!!

I shall be too scared to venture out from the house clutching a model in case I get sued!

I may make soft-foam models only from now on…

Ashley

[Trevor HollowayParticipant @trevorholloway99134]

"I may make soft-foam models only from now on…"

Now there is an idea.

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