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Tom and Bex

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About Tom and Bex

  • Birthday 31/10/1975

Profile Information

  • Gender
    Male
  • Location
    Lapworth
  • Occupation
    Emergency Care Assistant
  • Boat Name
    Diesel & Dust
  • Boat Location
    Lapworth

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  1. We're not able to make this now, so hope those boats there create suitable chaos!
  2. Was planning to spend that weekend in Birmingham anyway, so have signed up. Should be interesting finding a mooring on Friday/Saturday night though!
  3. A big thanks to @Captain Pegg for organising this year's challenge, and thought communication before and during the event was excellent. Had a great time, and really surprised to come 2nd! Thought we'd be much lower, as we seemed to be losing time on almost every section, so unable to complete route as planned. Congratulations to Rivets 5000, can't have been an easy 24hrs on that boat! Thought the finish worked really well, and was good to have the option of approaching from 3 different directions. Would have loved to stay longer, but unfortunately had to be back for work early Tuesday. Have remembered to book next year off already though. As to future finishing points, I really like the suggestion of Brownhills, and we've always said Walsall would make a good finish. We've been doing the challenge since 2013, and not finished at Walsall in that time. Withymoor and Hawne Basin have both put on a really good reception in the past, but what about a finish in Typhoo Basin one year? Wednesfield junction? Finally, @Captain Pegg, any chance of seeing the answers to this year's questions?
  4. Wasn't us! Was fine and surprisingly easy coming up Rushall yesterday morning.
  5. Tatty Lucy struggling with weed and lack of depth on the Daw End - makes a change from rubbish and lack of depth on the Walsall I suppose! Still yet to see any other boat on the move!
  6. We seem to be making very slow progress up Perry Barr 😥 Not seen another boat yet! You can track our (slow!) progress here: https://trackme.nebo.global/?link=ZBDDIB1J4NS2VQKZCYJ1G0XLW6 Something behind bottom gate cill lock 5 Perry Barr. Managed to shift it into lock enough to close bottom gates, but take care through that lock!
  7. Team Tatty Lucy fed and watered, and ready for an early night and early start! Follow us on Twitter @NBtattyLucy for regular updates and photos!
  8. There always used to be a BW tug moored just below firepool lock for this exact purpose. Can't remember ever seeing it actually used though, and probably not been there for years.
  9. YMCA used to have separate boaters facilities - toilet, elsan, (and shower?) accessed via bw key. Shane if they've gone as were always well kept and clean. Bathpool still being built when I used to boat there regularly!
  10. Thank you for the update, and glad things are looking better than the original article implied! I know the canal well having boated the full length many times, and interesting to hear the latest developments. I assume the boaters facilities are being reinstated at the docks during the redevelopment? Are there still facilities at the YMCA? It's nice to see the occasional boat in unexpected places when I come back 'home' to visit the area - have to get our day boat out on the canal again!
  11. My understanding is the ongoing maintenance was at least part funded by the councils as part of the restoration agreement. That agreement might now have ended though. I presume CRT also get income from the water transfer from Taunton to Bridgwater. Having boated this canal many times, and seen it's improvement and restoration, I find this whole saga over Bridgwater docks very sad. There's not really any other use for it other than moorings, and as said, it's a bit of a dismal place anyway surrounded on all sides by residential flats. @magpie patrick is correct, there's no alternative mooring, and not really anywhere suitable to create any. Bathpool moorings is only suitable for short boats, and Maunsel has very limited online moorings, and always full. Why should boaters who have made Bridgwater their home have to suffer because of a disagreement between CRT and the local councils? Bridgwater docks was a much nicer and safer feeling place with all the boat's there, than when it used to be empty with the access to the canal padlocked. As to crane out, I'm struggling to think of anywhere other than Bridgwater docks, where the boat's are presumably now banned from. Huntworth near the Boat and Anchor pub? Bathpool? Would be very tight down the lane there with a widebeam though!
  12. Ours have effectively now done 5 winters of full time off grid liveaboard use (installed September 2018), and we've not killed them yet! During that time we've double our electric usage, (and now have 2 kids to use the extra power!). No regrets at all from us. Best investment we've made (other than the boat!), and more than paid for themselves. We're now running engine for around 1-1.5 hours a day in winter, down from what felt like all day running a genny with our old LA, and the LA were still knackered after a year. No constant monitoring or checking tail current to measure sure they get to 100% every few days, just charge when you like, and use what you like. Occasional glance at BMV to see how long to charge for around teatime is all the only monitoring we do. Batteries get a 100% charge to synchronise the BMV every month when we go for pumpout, but seems to remain accurate to within 5% during that time.
  13. You'll find the insulation boards will generally stay in place once wedged in. I stuck most of ours on with a PU sealant though such as Sikaflex or Puraflex 40. As to the handheld spray foam I used, I think I assumed it was closed cell, but didn't really bother to look into it much. Its only gap filing after all. Definitely ended up with a much much better insulated boat than our current boat which has polystyrene insulation🥶
  14. As others have mentioned, rock wool will hold moisture against the hull promoting more rapid rusting, will be difficult to keep in place, and tends to get wet and sag down over time. Added to which is it's just not a nice product to work with, very itchy and dusty. Definitely best avoided at all times in a boat, but definitely in a partly fitted one. We used kingspan or celotex boards. We subsequent had some welding carried out on an area we'd previously insulated with no obvious problems (well the boat didn't go up in flames anyway!!!). When i mentioned sprayfoam, I was meaning the handheld cans (used with a gun) and using it to fill any gaps between the boards. This is much easier than accurately cutting the boards for a tight fit and manipulating them into position, there'll always be some gaps to fill!
  15. Don't use rock wool anywhere on the boat, horrible stuff! Insulation boards similar to what you linked to is what we used on our last boat. Fill any awkward gaps with fire resistant expanding foam. We then used thin (5mm?) laminate floor foam insulation cut into strips to bridge any remaining exposed steel, all sealed to insulation boards with foil tape. Use handheld gun with expanding foam canisters, instead of just the cans on their own. More controllable, and lasts longer.
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