>>2146613Not really, I did it for a couple of years 20 years ago & helped out my mate now & then until 2010ish.
I did find a pic of one of the barges though.
>Be me, 22yr old bad boy welder>Actually clueless fuckwit>Welding cabin roof on inside of pic related>75IQ labourer decides to black (bitumen paint) V bottom hull>SNAFU to be fair>I'm walking on the angle iron floor bearers anyway so whatever>He starts at say, port bow while I'm working at the starboard stern, as the lingo goes>I'm also bouncing about for heat distortion reasons, sequence welding, that's called>I eventually get to the middle, labourer has fucked off somewhere>Start next 2' run between roof bows, focus & attention is on the roof, dead arms & not falling off the 80mm angle irons onto wet paint>It's going well, I'm a natural>Suddenly, eyes start stinging, seems really smoky>Also legs are getting pretty warm>Lift mask, see roller tray full of burning bitumen between my feet>What do?>No panic at this point, it was more smoke than fire>Decide to place the tray on walkway (Gunwale) then go get an extinguisher>Pick tray up at shallow end in my gauntlets to pass through shoulder height window>Bottom falls out of plastic tray>Raging inferno 3 feet wide instantly>Cabin fills with Thick bitumen smoke in seconds>Get outta there in full panic screaming FIRE!! like a madman>My mate casually pulls a fire blanket off the wall & smothers it right away>Wait 10 minutes for smoke to clear, carry on>Labourer spreads out the spilled paint & fucks off doing something else>No harm done, except the blanket is ruined>Go home slightly less of a clueless fuckwit>Currently consider myself a cautious halfwit >Any do's or dont's when looking for one?
It's like giving advice on a used car init. Don't buy the first one you look at?
