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An unusual journey today. We were travelling from Shipley to Apperley Bridge and arrived at Field Locks - a three-rise staircase, for those who don't know them - to find three CRT bods in the middle of trying to sort a problem. They'd figured out that a large bit of timber, or similar, must have got stuck right through the paddle in one of the top lock's bottom gates (= middle lock's top gates), meaning an extra-leaky paddle and a gate that was difficult to fully open. So I invite one of them aboard to have a go from our back deck as we go through from the top to the middle lock - nope, water too deep, can't get at the problem properly. So I suggest backing up into the top lock, draining the water, and having him poke about from our front deck. Hence the boat ends up sitting on the bottom while the blockage is successfully removed, then has to be refloated by opening the ground paddles as per the photo, before heading through to the middle lock. Bit of a different experience of going through a set of locks, but it was nice to be able to help (and nice not to be stuck due to an out-of-action lock ourselves, of course).

So far this is the only post I have understood in this thread

Spillchucker has mangled what I wrote. Problem is I can't work out what I originally meant to write ?

wow, you plainly don’t have much experience of body piercing if you think that’s the most disgusting ?

It is CO2 that is heavier than air. CO and CO2 get confused a lot, by me too sometimes. As @ditchcrawler says CO is lighter than air and will pool close to the ceiling, which is why the alarm destruction manuals say to put it near there. Jen

Found myself at a double lock one day after a very long days boating, drained the lock, opened the gates, closed the lock, filled the lock up, thought to myself something doesn't seem right here and the it clicked I had forgot to put the boat in.

Peaceful? Fairly dead i would have thought.?

Perhaps we should call it the David Bowie sensor...

Who am I trying to kid? If there was no one about, I’d ride the bike.

So is doing 31 mph in a 30 zone but i bet you do that. If someone is taking a bike to a boat and they ride it slow or have it in gear and walk alongside then what is the big deal. People blasting along is one thing but someone being careful is not a first world problem. I would rather hear a motorcycle coming slowly than an idiot on a bicycle doing 20 mph in silence.

Agree with all this. Running these stoves hard, with dry fuel is the way to keep the flue free of clag. I've just used an old bit of scaffold pole to knock out the concrete like stuff that has formed with the weather being so mild and the stove ticking over 24/7. Jen

CO being heavier than air will move downhill and begin to collect at the lowest point.

Thank you everyone for replying, and thanks for your advice. Here's the culprit, it's a fatburg clinkerburg of tar and creosote (I think). Goes to show how this stuff builds up, to only having an inch or two diameter hole for the smoke to escape. The chimney was cleaned before we lit the fire last autumn. Since then we've burnt 13 x 25kg bags of Excel, and 12 x 20kg bags of New Heat. That's 565kg of coal burnt since September. It was probably November when the fire was kept in for 24 hours We've been burning New Heat (was told this will replace Excel???), it's good, but it's chemically. Fire was left to go out last night (glad the weather had warmed up). Today we got the bottlebrush out rattled a length of chain down the flue. Note to self: Clean the chimney more often. Note to everyone: Don't ignore an alarm.

The other ways of providing 2.5 minutes fire protection for filters in an engine space include: Some manufacturers offer clear bowls that are intrinsically fire resistant for 2.5 minutes, they may be marked as meeting ISO 10088, or provide documents stating the same. Some manufacturers offer OEM steel 'dog bowl' flame shields that attach underneath the filter. The makers have had these independently tested to certify that they meet ISO 10088 standards. Fuel filter with a "Dog Bowl Fire Shield"

I believe so. I noticed a huge number of greenhouses on the opposite bank. A missed opportunity for scrumping!

This is what my BSS examiner has said in a text: "Hi Mike. Glass bowls are not allowed under the BSS as they are not classed as fire resistant. Hope this helps."

At least you don't open the fridge door first, then stare into it for ages, like the Memsahib....,

Yes, I know it's a great place to moor - we moor there! ? Just didn't know what they are like as brokers.

Ive just added you to my " Following " list so you cant escape me ?

Great to see such enthusiasm- I do have a soft spot for Sabbs -when my own isnt out of action awaiting spares that is..?

The Gorton could be a good boat depends on the price. Its an early one, #1 Tug. Gary did build a sound boat, mine is Trad #9 and solid. Much easier to get a bike onto a tug deck.

Welcome...………………….. If you literally mean "accessed from the boat as you cruise" sadly this isn't going to work well - these days most brokers are not like car showrooms they tend to sell boats from their moorings or from a base - there are very few where you will be able to hop off your boat and look and more particularly where you will be able to view more than one or two a day without detailed appointments. My advice is DONT spoil your holiday but allow for a couple of days either side with a hire car particularly to view the "Braunston triangle" taking in ABNB/Whilton/Rugby/Tollhouse/Weltonfield/Braunston all of whom are in close proximity. We ALL started somewhere where you just want to look and gain ideas from touching and feeling actual boats and our internet based world doesn't help that - IMHO if you are completely new a day spent in the triangle is the only way to start ....................Whilton has a great café as does Braunston (just down the road) Have fun

I also have a sterling alternator (145amp) but i bought it together with a PDAR pro reg DW and also a remote panel along with 2 temperature sensors which were supplied with the PDAR , one to my alternator and one to my batteries, I also have my original A127 70amp engine alternator running in parallel ... I wired it all in a couple of years ago , but do remember and have just double checked on Sterlings site he expressly says check the alternator for an output before connecting the PDAR ... from what i could gather all he had done was added the white field wire to make it easier for a non electrical bod to fit a PDAR as if you fit one to any other alternator you have to find the "live" brush and connect a wire to it as i had done on a previous boat I fitted a PDAR to .... one of the selling points of the PDAR is that if it fails it reverts your alternator back to the standard regulator so i cant see any reason why Sterling would sell an alternator PDAR package where if the PDAR fails you have no charging so I suggest you either strip the alternator to confirm there is a regulator built in and wired and remove the field wire or take the alternator to one of the alternator and starter motor repairers and get it checked ... I did have one with no output a few years back I stripped and found one of the carbon brushes had seized in its housing! .... long shot but worth checking. As for Charles Sterling , I have spoke to him on several occasions over the years and have always found him most helpful, as for his equipment , i have a sterling PSW 3kw inverter, a 60amp ultra charger with remote a 32amp auto changeover switch on the boat and a B2B and 2.5Kw Pure sine combi in my motorhome oh and a A2B in my van/mobile workshop and never had an issue with any of it, used sterling for years on my boats and always will as in my experience its no less reliable than victron or mastervolt and a damn sight cheaper ... but each to their own! Rick

Since increasing my ignore list to include all the pratts that babble and the one or two who are just looking for an argument, life has been much more peaceful. I can recommend it, saves all the angst. The general content of posts seems to have improved too after certain members huffed and left. Just a few more to go and this will be a good forum. Still got a few wallies who ask for advice and then say its all wrong and do their own thing,they don't last long anyway. The thought has occurred to me that if I could also ignore myself, it would be really peaceful all the time. Is it possible with the forum software?

Most of the comments on here about the costs of owning a boat seem to be comparing with having a mortgage (presumably from people who have or had a mortgage). If comparing with renting then the equation changes somewhat. I'm certainly not ignorant of all that - I used to have a mortgage, paid it off, but my ex now lives there, so the alternative to living on a boat for me was renting. My current financial situation wouldn't allow me to get a mortgage, however I am in the fortunate position of having plenty of capital (though not quite enough at the moment to buy a house with cash), hence I could afford to buy a decent boat - my attitude is that it might not appreciate like bricks, but if looked after properly neither should it depreciate significantly, hence it's an asset. I've read lots of comments on here, done the sums again and again and I'm still convinced it's far cheaper than renting, at least for me given my circumstances - a single bed is no use to me as there's no space for my kids (my boat has a second cabin for them), hence I'd be looking at £800+. Of course it does all depend on your exact circumstances but as an alternative to renting, living on a boat certainly can make financial sense IMHO. I've never hired a boat either - instead I started living on one in winter! As the OP discovered, hiring can quickly eat up a lot of money compared to buying - even at long term winter rates. I suppose it depends on how prepared you are to take a risk - but not only on that but also what other experience you're coming in with. The OP mentions that he's happy with camping and that living on a boat would be a step up - in that case he's unlikely to have big problems with the living conditions in winter IMHO. That was one of my considerations when I decided to get a boat - I don't need luxuries (though as it happens I have plenty on my boat) and happy to cope with all the stuff some people seem to think is difficult. Sure I might have only been living on board for 3 months and have a lot of winter ahead, but I'm nowhere near my discomfort zone at the moment despite several nights of frost - TBH it's not really anything like camping, it's far easier than that, but coming at it with a camping attitude makes it all seem fine. The other point you mainly cover is the moving a boat aspect - I'm not sure how much of that the OP is planning on doing, but again I've found it nowhere near as hard as some seem to make out - certainly not if you're young and fit as I'm guessing the OP probably is (I'm not so young myself, but way fitter than most 20 year olds). I gained my basic knowledge of steering and working locks on the first day I owned my boat! Well that and through doing a huge amount of research in advance, and a lot of experience of sailing dinghies which helped a lot with the boat handling. Personally given my circumstances there was only one possible option of where to live - my whole voyage started when I found there was a mooring available here. It is indeed the most important thing, I didn't commit to buying a boat until I'd got the mooring confirmed. Again it depends how confident you are about doing new things like this - my trip to get here was 80 miles and 130 locks and took me over a week single handed. The first time I'd ever driven a narrowboat was when I had to get mine out of the marina where it was moored (which is still the hardest thing I've ever done, it's way easier getting in and out here). The first time I'd ever done a lock was about an hour later, the first time I'd slept on one was a few hours after that. Most people probably think I was a bit mad, but I made it here without any major mishaps and now kind of know what I'm doing. I'm so, so glad I did that - it was an adventure with a purpose which I'm never likely to repeat. It is sensible to set a limit on range when looking though for practical reasons - that was about the furthest away I was considering (though plenty of choice within that range for me).

The plan is to use the voltage to "nudge" the SOC: most of the tracking of changes will be done integrating the current, but if the voltage is consistently giving a lower or higher answer, the SOC can be trimmed up or down as needed. I think I need to get the real batteries in place and record a few complete discharge cycles first, to see if I'm generating data which has useful information in it. There's plenty of storage in the computer to log stuff. One problem I may have with coulomb counting is that I'm using a hall-effect current sensor, not a shunt. It's pretty accurate, but can suffer a small persistent offset due to induced magnetism after large current excursions. The spec says this is 300mA max (in plus/minus 200A) but it does represent some drift. Time will tell. 480Ah bank is arriving tomorrow! MP.

I don't think you do it with live ones, if only because they would break the clay ...

If my balls were stuck on spikes I'd want to go to hospital too!

Lol ? ? ? ? ? that’s unfair, instead of jumping in, I do read, and I do ask the forum for advice. i like the job to be done correctly, i keep asking questions, I’m on the forum because I want it right and safe. And I’ve had qualified people work on boats in the past, who hasn’t done a proper professional job. yes I haven’t got a lot of confidence in my self, and I do keep asking. I want to get it right. in the past I’ve had worked checked, and has been approved. if by asking the forum I’m upsetting folks let me know, and I won’t ask no more. i just like to add, the wiring was done correctly, it was my mistake getting the sketch wrong. yes I made a mistake on the 12v but with the forums knowledge I will get it fixed. everything I do I want it right. col

Judging by her distinctive leather toolbox, she's a Vodafone lineman - the mobile phone mast behind her gives it away.

My my... how embarrassing, seems I need fuel... ??‍♂️

But he won't be able to see your post Dr Bob... Don't worry, I'll pass it on...oh.....no...won't see that either. ?