Canarrowboat TBD

I bought through abnb three years ago - very efficient and friendly experience - so much so, that I will sell through them when the time comes..

C&RT seemed to have had the last laugh... I cannot believe there were no comments on their parting words... ? “We are a charity and dealing with problems vandals cause is a real drain on our resources.”

1GB valid for 1 month after activation - £3.99 3GB valid for 3 months after activation - £11.99 These are good to have as spares - over the last few months the price has hiked making them poor value, but with current offer (maybe today only, not sure), it's good value again. Just ordered 5 x 1GB for when travelling. Kind Regards Mark

Hi, I've been running, what looks like a clone of this - see here for over a year and it works fine. :-) - I think it was £35 at the time? I can remote tilt and move the camera to 'look around' and it has night-vision. It connects to my onboard MiFi (older version of this), which is using a three 3G PAYG (sometimes 2G) internet connection, that you tell the camera to connect to (need a laptop for that step). My one has it's own DNS (run by the company Tenvis), so as the network IP changes (approx. quarterly) it updates online. Then you need a piece of software (lots of options available, but 'IP Cam Viewer Basic' works well on Android devices) to view the output, or you can go via it's built in web site, but you need to configure port passthrough on the MiFi router to enable that. It works no problems, other than when Three reset their network (not often), or if I allow the SIM on the MiFi, to run out of Internet Data. If you think about it, unless you're viewing the camera scene all the time (on a console), it's not really using data except when you open the window to view the camera. You can get it to email you if it triggers a configurable 'motion detector', and it will send snapshot photos of what's occurring. Hope that helps? Kind Regards Mark

Second vote for this one - got the 45A, 4 Stage one approx. a year ago (£135) - and had no concerns since...

Hi, Just stumbled across this new product development on the way.... More options for 'free' electrickery , where there's flowing water. Probably more useful on the rivers. If you see a yellow thing trailing behind a narrowboat in 6 months time, at least you'll know what it is ;-) http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/burthamner/harvest-natures-energy-for-usb-power-to-go Kind Regards Mark *Not linked to it, just found it interesting.

Also just moved into 2nd year with CraftInsure, whose auto renewal was 8% lower than previous year ! Very surprised and happy to renew. Mark

Many Thanks Everyone ! I'll attempt a 'multi-quote' responses to cut down on the number of 'updates' to this thread Thanks, Matty - will tighten and check as suggested. I knew I'd done something wrong ! Now, where's my Marmite, oh cr*p, it's in the oil sump ! Thanks, that's a relief ! It was definitely 'cause and effect', as it's never done that in 6 months. The packing 'should' be new, as the seller replaced the stern gear before sale, but who knows ? ;-) Thanks - it's a new symptom, hence the (slight) concern. Ever on the lookout for something that might sink the boat ! lol Thanks, Richard - that did occur to me, it's just the first time it's done anything like that, so wanted to check if something else was amiss ? Lesson learned, I won't be handing my tiller over readily in future ! Thanks, will look into it. It is a good point. Having only seen a photo of 'packing', I had assumed (there it is again!) beneath the 'rope-like' appearance there was in-fact grease. Now I realise the grease only comes from the greaser, so thanks for the clarity ! Though when I did clear up the pile yesterday, they're did seem to be a little material in it, so possibly some of the packing had been forced out ?? It was (supposedly) fitted new about 6 months ago, so not having revved it so hard myself, this could be true !? Thanks, I don't know enough about this to comment !

Hi, After accepting a kind offer by a marina to help moor my boat against a very strong wind, I handed over the tiller. I cringed a little at the time, at what I thought was excessively harsh full throttle and then full reverse maneuvers (being new to boats, I had never gone full in either direction, let alone from forward to reverse and back repeatedly). But hey, I thought he must know what he's doing, he does this all the time, right ?? Anyway, after leaving the marina and then popping below I discover the 'effect' of such 'help' ? The two questions I have are.. a] Is the outcome to be expected from the described actions (or is something else amiss) ? b] Does this grease amount, represent most of the Stern Gland packing and therefore it needs replacing, or is there still likely enough left to leave it for a while ? Happy to do the job, but not unnecessarily ? The Stern is supported by a manual greaser, which is turned regularly. Many Thanks In Advance Mark

Hi Nicknorman, Just read this thread, as I am having a similar problem with heat loss overnight. Did the new thermostat completely resolve the problem, so you can have hot showers in the morning again ? Thanks Mark

This is completely supported by my 11 year old ex-hire boat. It was taken out of the water 2 weeks ago, and jet-washed. I have the photos, but not to hand, but there was virtually no pitting on or around the anodes, but as you moved towards the centre of the boat (where no anodes exist), there was severe clusters of pitting. Also equally-spaced pitting on base plate (no anodes). The yard said that in their experience/opinon this boat had rarely been properly blacked (rather than a quick slapping on to cover over scratches and wear), and so this supports the above description. In an environment where galvanic corrosion occurs, good blacking regime and/or anodes are required. For the record, I had the base plate blacked also, with two coats, to halt/stall further pitting. Kind Regards Mark

Hi Larry, I'm really interested in this too. I want something simple and not too expensive to give a 'good indication'. I twisted myself up reading some of the complexities on the forum posts and Gibbo's site ? :-( In addition to your link, there appears to be a newer model , which will do 'more', has a 200A Shunt and also separately report on the Starter Battery (two inputs). Any additional views appreciated ? thanks Mark

Hi, I too had bought a boat with Shoreline, an Inverter, but no charger. 3 Leisure Batteries and a Starter, same configuration as yours. After lots of excellent advice on here, I opted for this mid-range, yet multi-stage and multi-output, designed for Marine use @ £135 The only question was the Ampage, I eventually chose the larger 45A one, but the same company do a 30A @ £89.50 Both have dual output for individual Starter and Leisure Charging. Lots of technical output on the rotating display, if you care for it. But honestly, I plugged it in in October, and it's been running ever since (except when out and about, of course). Seems to be one of the best mid-price options, and if it did fail, I will be less concerned as it's not multiple hundreds of pounds ! Hope that helps ? Kind Regards Mark

Just an update to thank everyone for their timely advice and knowledge. I also found the training website very useful and the information is laid out simply, which I really liked ! It looks like it was frost damage on the Shurflo, as it's located under the floorboards, which did get very cold the other day, even though the main cabin was 4 C. I've replaced it with a Jabsco and am in the middle of slightly relocating it and adding some protection and sound proofing. The accumulator is sat on the side deciding if it should go back in or not. Luckily, as an ex hire boat, there are several isolation valves in place, making the removal/replacement fairly easy, without having to drain down the system ! I did also screw the pressure switch by mistake, thinking it to be another holding screw ! Now the dust has settled, I see how the water system is actually very simple. Isn't it strange how things take on a more sinister pose when they go wrong and you are trying to learn it all and work out what's going on ? The experience has also now given me the courage to order a water gauge, so I can see the state of the tank, and hope to be fitting that next week. ! Once again saved from the support of this forum and the combined knowledge - thanks to all Kind Regards Mark