Piper Boat Owners Club Forum

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David Pioer issue

Hi
I have got a David Piper narrow boat I think it is a 1983 and maybe previesly called Lady Ann but not sure. I am having a few problems with her and hopefully someone can help. The first problem is the shower goes straight onto the bathroom floor now I cant see any drain hole but the water appears to drain at the sides right under the raised skirting I have a switch and I can hear a pump under the floor but cant see it has anyone heard of this kind of thing before. Also I have found another tank at the side of the engine that is dry but don't know what it is maybe water if so to feed what? as the fresh water tank is at the front as normal. any help or info on the boat would be good. Thanks in advance. errrm how do I add pics???

Re: David Pioer issue

If your boat was 'Lady Anne' then I think that it was originally called 'Piglet'. In 1993 Pipers were selling two boats: Piglet and Owlet. Piglet was slightly bigger and smarter but we couldn't quite afford it and instead spent lots of time, effort and money restoring Owlet. Everything that can go wrong did but we really loved her and gained a lot of useful experience along the way. (In 2007 we commissioned Simon Piper to build us a new boat, Chouette, which is intended to see us into old age (nearly there!)). We had Owlet for 14 years and loved her to bits: happily she is is still in lovely condition and last seen last year moored at Great Haywood Marina.

I Think that your 'spare tank' under the engine is just that. The other side is the skin cooling tank for the engine water which was adequate for normal canal power/speeds but not quite enough for sustained river work. We had to run off the hot water taps to help cool the engine on the river Severn, etc., until we had the system altered to use the cooling capacity of that second tank. (Tony Perry at Red Bull Services can do this job easily). Also, the original tank can lose some heat transfer ability over time with the internal surfaces becoming coated with sludge, etc.

Your shower room floor should have a small bilge pump in the outer corner just under the washbasin cupboard? If it is the same as Owlet, then the shower floor is the steel bottom plate of the boat, and there should be a false wooden floor which lifts out for cleaning. Any bilge pump cannot suck the last quarter inch off a flat surface so the trick is to tip the boat over with body weight to run the water into the corner for it. We then lifted the floor and sponged out the rest - not my favourite job!

We last saw Lady Anne moored at Poynton a couple of years ago: maybe she is still there? If you ever see anyone aboard Chouette on the Macc Canal outside Heritage Marina do make yourself known and we will put the kettle on!

Patrick

Re: David Pioer issue

Hi Patrick
The piper boat I own is the one you are talking about she was called piglet at some point. I bought her as lady ann but she was in a very sorry state and needed a lot of work. I loved the boat as soon as I saw her so got her as a project and now 6 months on she is starting to come back to life. I have had to re-board her from top to bottom and most of the fittings ect where in real bad shape. Unfortunatly she has been very neglected at some point but I'm getting her sorted. Someone has painted her blue and red with a yard brush as the paintwork has to be stripped back and re-done. Thank you for your information on the shower ect it is exactly as you say but I'm in the process of fitting a shower tray as I wright this. By the way I'm moored near Ellerbeck boat yard at Adlington.

Re: David Pioer issue

Hello all (particularly Patrick(Marks)),
We own Owlet now (from 2013) and we are spending lots of money and time on her.She had a new bottom (ooh-err Matron!)in 2014 and we are about to repaint her roof this next week. She's just had a new cratch cover, cratch board cover and rear hatch cover, and a new Eberspacher. Your copious instructions in the "Red folder" were very, very, very useful when we bought her and still are!
Many thanks for that. We try to keep her look spick and span.
Regards,
Ian and Caroline Robinson.