Hesketh & MarlowCanal carriers · est. 1898

The yard

Dry dock & repairs

One dock, one 1911 graving pump, and a caulking bench nobody has dared to modernise.

How a hull visits

Six visits to the dock

Slip & survey

The boat comes up the slipway under the 1911 graving pump. Yard clerk Win Harrow writes down what she sees, which is usually everything.

Hull work

Rivets, welds, blacking. The caulking bench stays hand-worked: heat-dried oakum, a caulking iron, and no opinions about the 1980s.

Engine bay

The yard's two mechanics work on anything that floats in and most things that are carried in on a lorry by mistake.

Cabin & fit-out

Trim, stove flues, and the steady handiwork of the fit-out bench. The stove flue rule is absolute: measure twice, cut once, sweep yearly.

Back to the paint shop

No boat leaves the dock dull. The towyard painters take over and the hull comes back in bands.

The shake test

Win shakes the tiller bar. If it rattles, the boat stays another day. The yard has never once lost money to the shake test; it has lost boats, temporarily, to pride.

The dry dock · cross-section boat on blocks 1911 pump dock floor
Yard rates · 2026
ServicePriceNote
Dry dock week£180Includes pump, blocks, and Win's survey
Hull blacking£240Two coats, tar scent included free
Engine service£160Most engines, all opinions
Full repaintfrom £640Bands, cabin side, and the medicine

Demonstration site: fictional yard, fictional rates, no bookings taken.