Can someone please tell me where there might be an indication of date of manufacture of my Birchwood 25. I have heard that there might be a label in the engine room; but where?. St Kitts is fitted with a Volvo AQ105, 2lt petrol giving up to 120 BHP and driving through a Volvo AQ100A gear leg. Would these details help in dating her?  

--Last edited by Jimbo on 2008-04-16 17:35:16 --

Do you have the hull number?  

I do not know of any Hull numbers or identification marks at all. Can you tell me where I should be looking please. Is it possible to remove Land Lubber from under my name?

Not sure where my own Hull number is to be honest....

I'll post a thread about ranks....  

Well luckily My Surveyor Paul Homer showed me where the hull date stamp is.
On the stern section on the outside look in the middle just under the Rubbing strake. The stamp is there but its reversed so use a mirror to see it. This only gives you the date when the hull was manufactured and not when the boat was commissioned. Somewhere under the cockpit there's a label.  Will hunt it out  

--Last edited by flashheart on 2008-04-18 16:02:14 --

Here is a picture of a Birchwood 25 dataplate.

It is on the starboard side, below the front r/h side floorboard, looking aft.

Many thanks for the picture. I take it that the label is situated underneath the seat/bed on the right hand side in the bows. I will have a look when I next visit. Are there any of the original manufacturing details listing engine/ drive used in existance that you know of if the label has been removed? Many thaks again.

No, its under the cockpit. Lift the forward right-hand board in the cockpit (On my boat the left one covers the fuel tank, the centre the engine & the right hand one is over the batteries). The label is on the upright as you look aft.

As they are only stick-on, it may be long gone. It gives boat number and details of the original engine serial number.

The only other number I have ever heard of is the one Flashheart mentions above.

Well, I went to the boat today ,removed the 30ft x 12 ft winter protective plastic sheet covering together with at least 500 gallons of water in the swimming pool that had formed between the pulpit rail and the windscreen and started the annual pressure wash and clean up. Still need to polish up the GRP before antifouling the hull. Anyway I decided to try and find the Birchwood datie label. Looked everywhere but without success. So I have to assume that she was built some time between 1974 and 1978. Bit of a disappointment really but nothing that I can do really. Also looked on the transom just below the rubbing strake but nothing there either. Ah well I will have to have another beer. Cheers.

Oh well, at least your boat is clean!

Quote :

Ramage wrote : Here is a picture of a Birchwood 25 dataplate.

I wonder if you could tell us approximately how far apart the hull manufacture and the commissioning dates are?

We don't have a label in Nimue, but the hull manufacture date says "4/ 5/ 78"  

--Last edited by brianlj on 2008-06-15 09:08:29 --

probably impossible to say, as would depend on demand at the time I am guessing.  Also Birchwood did sell hull only's (if thats the right expression to be fiited out by other boats yards.  Our is one of those.

And another question which me may be able to answer...

The B25 roof: We all know the Intercepter was shorter, but No Regrets and Carli seem to have different ones despite being the same age and model!

No Regrets (1978) is flush sided with water run offs to the windsreen edge while Carli (1978) has a built in lip which acts as a gutter.

I see equal quantities of both...can we work out why I wonder?    

Quote :

brianlj wrote :  I wonder if you could tell us approximately how far apart the hull manufacture and the commissioning dates are? We don't have a label in Nimue, but the hull manufacture date says "4/ 5/ 78"

Like yours there is no label. But as my surveyor said - It could have been commissioned at any time maybe up to a couple of years after the hull stamp.

Regarding the roof. Is it possible that the design changed sometime in 1978 and they still had alot of the type that Carli and mine had left in stock. Yours "No Regrets" would appear to be the later one.
Problem I have with mine is that water does gather in pools on the roof and when you get in the boat it runs off into the gutter, but its that narrow it can't cope with the amount of water and pisses in.  usually all over me!!!

Note to myself: Get a well stacked lady in a tee shirt to stand next to roof edge instead.

Mine pools too....

If you knew the trouble we have had with our roof and water! We had additional problems as the large solar panel we have was originally fixed to the glass roof section - it made the cockpit darker, got dirt under we could not clean and eventually developed yet a further leak.

The rails holding the sliding roof section also developed leaks so the other Brian removed them and filled in the holes. Great idea except we lifted out the boat in December and large wind swept the marina and took off our roof - a large repair bill fortunately picked up by the insurers.

And the drainage holes put into the back of the roof (by a previous owner we think) develop their own series of leaks!

Took the roof off!!!

How on earth did they repair it and put it back on?

I've always wondered what to do if the roof was ever damaged beyond economic repair, could a replacement be made for a reasonable price?

I should have made clear it was the sliding roof not the whole roof! And it survived in a very broken form so the grp was stuck together and a new perspex section was made and fitted. It all cost hundreds of pounds and we were glad of the insurance - it might have finished off our boating!

A strap between the roof rails would secure it far better than the guides and two fasteners wouldn't it?

Thats an idea for windy winters....

I remember when I was looking for a birchwood 25, I came across one that Bray Marine sales had on the pontoon. Can't for the life of me remember the name of the boat but they had removed the sliding roof and replaced it with canvas!!!