blackrose

Efficiency may be variable from person to person because it's dependant on how or even if a fuel gauge is used. For example, if an accurate electronic gauge is on the wall and is easy to read then there's a fair chance the person using that system will have a better idea of how much fuel is in their tank than the person (like me) who uses a dipstick but rarely actually uses it because of the hassle of finding it, dipping it, wiping the diesel off and putting it away. In my case I hate getting diesel on my hands so I'd put on some latex gloves first too. The electronic version sounds much more efficient to me.

Or runaway diesel engines... I had a mate who overfilled an old engine because he couldn't see the level of new oil on the dipstick so stupidly poured a load more in. He had no idea how to stop it once it ran away. The engine was wrecked and he was very fortunate that the boat didn't catch fire. Apparently smoke was pouring out of the boat and the harbour master at the French marina was at the point of setting it adrift to protect other boats when it eventually stopped. That's interesting. Why is there that difference between the two? Well, I've only ever had one battery explode on my boat and it wasn't lithium. I was just lucky I wasn't in the engine space at the time as I'd have been seriously injured. Yes indeed! I can't help thinking that some of the anti-lithium naysayers don't realise the benefits of LFP batteries on boats, especially for off-grid liveaboards. Combined with a decent solar system it's almost like being on shore power. Even in the depths of winter I only need to run my generator once every 10 days or so. Once you install LFP, lead-acid batteries seem like something from the dark ages.

Which exclusion? Sorry, I'm just catching up...

I disagree. I think we need more pinned threads, not fewer. Then we wouldn't have so many repeated topics and some of our more aggressive forum members wouldn't need to get so frustrated and harangue newbies for not searching in the archives.

What made you imagine someone putting some decking over scaffold poles would be an engineer? It's just a DIY job that wasn't finished. Perhaps whoever did it didn't own an angle grinder. Your friend managed to find the only mooring at Staines that wasn't suitable for his boat. I used to moor on the other side of the river, sometimes overnight down by the riverside pub/restaurant by the railway bridge. But I always had a couple of tyres on rope attached to those handrail hooks.

Yes better standards and attitudes on the Thames in my experience. 😊.

No you're not being unrealistic but your approach is all wrong. It's very easy to fall in love with a boat that you've viewed but you need to resist that temptation until after you've had a positive survey done and agreed the price with the vendor. If you fall in love with a boat before that point your heart may lead your head which can result in all sorts of problems.

Whoever fitted the bolts from the gearbox case to the bell housing was a bellend. 🔔

Passed. When using any of these spontaneously combustible oils, for me the risk is real enough not to leave used rags on the boat or anywhere where they could start a fire. Why would you? Put them in a metal bucket away from combustibles if you want to reuse them, or if it's not windy lay them flat on concrete to dry out.

I agree, but I think the idea is that the posts allow users to either use bolts into the posts or use standard battery terminal clamps onto the posts

And you sound like another one with a large mouth if I'm being honest. There's no more a "typical wide beam attitude" than a typical narrow boat attitude. That's just a figment of your own prejudice and bigotry. So you intentionally insulted someone because you didn't like their boat and then you got offended when they returned the favour? Can you spot the hypocrisy? There are plenty of instances of conflict and insults thrown around between owners of lots of different types of boats including narrow boat vs narrow boat. But if you really want to try to negatively characterise people on the basis of the boats they own it really says much more about you than it does about them.

Yeah, as long as you don't mind lots of condensation

I knew I couldn't be the only one...

Side doors is the correct term if they don't have the top part that hinges onto the roof in which case it's a hatch , but people also use the term hatch for side doors. It doesn't really matter.

Why don't you just put a large umbrella or small parasol over the hatch? You need a way of attaching it to the boat so it doesn't blow away and a few thin "guy ropes" from the ends of the umbrella spokes to keep it stable in the wind.