I'm geting Dijinskiia, a P414 delivered by interboat next Friday from Woodbridge in Suffolk to our moring at Windsor. I was going to drive her round, but lock closures on the Thames and job commitments forbid.
I was super pleased with the surveyers covering letter when he wrote 'never seen a boat this age in such good condition, what a find!' His only recomendation was a second hose clip on a toilet pipe, and a polish.

What's the info on running 60c's at slow revs? I'll only get her below Wandsworth twice a year so the boat will clock a few hours at slow speeds, does this clog up the engines? Should I run her on one? The Americans over at Marine Diesel Forum seem very keen on 'Marvins Mystery Oil', anyone heard of it?

Lastly, I'm going to put in a holding tank or two for the heads, Bill at Wargrave (Vetus Agent) is trying to steer me away from flexi tanks, but too get a solid tank under the floor I'll have to enlarge the access hatches. Anyone done this?

cheers chaps,

Richard

The less ou use an engine the worse condition it is going to be. All marine engines generally rust done before being wore out. It's a good thing to ty and use the engines at high revs for at least some of the year even to check performance and that they are running smoothly, and stern gear is smooth and free from vibration.

There are companies that do double skinned flexitanks designed for black water. We have flexi tanks for diesel and there isn't even a wiff of diesel from them - completely odourless. When installing flexitanks you line the enclosure with carpet and completely enclose the area so that the tank can't shift about.

Hard plastic tanks are a better way to go but it means some serious cutting out and re glassing the floor which is integral to the strength of the boat and should only be carried out by an experienced glasser and then checked by a surveyor.

Thanks Mark, I've taken your advice and carpeted the 2 voids under the floor below the galley, and piped both heads to flexitanks there. Some two way valves, deck fitting and a 12v macerator pump mean I can now pump anything from anywhere to anywhere. I found Princess engineers drawing for a stainless holding tank in the paperwork, but as you say it has to be fitted under the GRP galley floor, as the boat being built not an aftermarket option. I got everything from Vetus (old Bill at Wargrave) which came to just shy of a grand, but when it comes to crap in the bilge I won't compromise on quality.

Now I'm looking for a fly bridge cover extending to aft deck cover, anyone know a good trim shop? Off the peg would be great.

regards
Richard
414 Djinskiia, Windsor.

Sounds like you made a good job of it

Not sure if you have, but it's a good idea to not just carpet the bilge area and sides but the ceiling of the space too. Also, you can mount a piece of wood over the very bottom of the bilge to allow any condensation water to run back to the main compartment bilge pump.

A good check before carpeting is to run your hand around the entire area and be careful the first time for any fiberglass spikes which will need grinded away ready for covering with carpet.

I stuck ply across the bottom of the vee to allow the bilge to drain and to give the tank a flat surface to sit on. I will carpet the underside of the floor, thanks for that. I must admit I'm very impressed with the quality of build on Djinskiia, and it's all the way through not just skin deep. I'll be at the boat show last Thursday and Friday if anyone wants to meet for a chat and a pint.

Richard

Good job, Richard. Yes, I have found the british build quality to be excellent. Looking at other boats at the show, Princess is a great, well engineered boat.

Let us know how you found the boat show.

Well the boat show was worth going to, I bought a Standard Horizon GPS to replace the old Cetreck unit, which with maps of Europe and a VHF thrown in was £650. They're so cheap now that it's cheaper and easier to fit a second unit on the flybridge then to pipe up a repeater. The Princess fellows were very friendly, allowing us to look all shown boats and inviting us for a look around the factory when we pull in to Plymouth in the summer. They told me the hull number is hidden under the forward shower grate, in the GRP.

Richard