Ben Harp - To Hell and Back Again - Chapter 2

We have been overwhelmed by the supportive comments being posted to this blog.  Thank you for your sympathy and support.  Unfortunately we simply don’t have the time to respond to you all individually.  Instead, we will use the time to post our story in daily episodes for our readers.  The story is going to get more interesting! 

The Shell

From the Ben Harp Website “Ben has gained a reputation for unique designs and outstanding craftsmanship” <choke.. splutter! Find a recent customer who will agree with that statement!>

We were advised our shell builder had been changed to Tyler-Wilson. We were delighted to receive this news as they have a reputation for being one of the best shell builders in the UK.  Despite what has happened to us we know we have an outstanding shell.  Moreover Tim and Jonathan have been very supportive throughout our ordeal.

Ben Harp told us he had paid £34,000 for the shell and made no profit from it.  Well subsequently Tim Tyler told us the cost of the shell was less than that.  Another Ben Harp lie!

To ensure we could monitor progress on the boat we employed a reputable local boat safety surveyor to act as our representative. He was able to visit the Tyler-Wilson premises part the way through the construction of the shell and gave an anticipated favourable report on the quality of the work.

Kelly Harp was also reporting Ben was working hard on our boat. We were then asked to pay the 2^nd Stage Payment which included the shell and the money to continue with the fit out. Purchase of the engine and the canbus system (advance DC 12v distribution system) was specifically mentioned. We were also asking for an original signed copy of the contract and wouldn’t make the 2^nd stage payment until it was received. Eventually we received an original signed copy of the contract and then made the progress payment. Then Kelly Harp suggested we pay for the canbus system directly and avoid the scheduled increase in the VAT. This seemed like a good idea and we did purchase the system. We had also purchased six Rolls 595A/H heavy duty traction batteries for the domestic battery bank, a Camos automatic satellite dome and a bow camera system. All of this we had delivered to Ben Harp Narrowboats at their request. We’ve never been given it back – Theft! [definition of theft - "to dishonestly appropriate property belonging to another with the intention of permanently depriving them of it"]

By now it was early January and we were querying whether the February delivery date would be achieved. Around this time we were given access to some photo’s of the work Ben had been doing for our boat. It wasn’t much but did indicate work was occurring. Eventually the shell was delivered to Ben Harp’s poly-tunnel at Hixon, near Great Haywood. Kelly had blamed the delay in the delivery date on the shell builder Tyler-Wilson. We subsequently found out Tim Tyler had been delayed for some time attempting to obtain information from Ben & Kelly.

We have absolutely no complaints about the quality of our Tyler-Wilson shell and highly recommend Tim Tyler as a reputable shell fabricator. We are grateful for his personal support and assistance throughout our ordeal.

This is the photo of our Wilson-Tyler foredeck back in May.  Ignore the mess.  Note the port locker is a fuel tank for the diesel stove and the starboard locker is for storage.  The foredeck is lowered and has a storage hatch in it (partially obscured by the cloth and paint pots).

Ben Harp subsequently modified the foredeck to disguise the unique features in the photo above.  I strongly suspect he was creating a “Ringer”.

Both the locker and fuel tank have been removed along with the floor hatch and the floor height has been raised.

From inside the cabin you can see how the spray insulation has been roughly removed (arrows).  The lower bulkhead has also been removed and the foredeck floor raised.  Also note how originally there wouldn’t have been any spray insulation under the foredeck so it has been replaced with pieces of Kingspan insulation panels that are left over from our underfloor insulation.

None of this work fooled Tim Tyler the shell builder.

next – The Surveyor