Leaderboard

Evening, it's a few years since I've posted on here, and I've sold my boat now but always browse and this problem rings a bell with me. About 2012 I was, I think on the Wenford Arm crawling towards the end, when my engine sounded like I'd cruised over a Tesco trolley. An awful grinding metallic noise so I shut the engine off and checked the prop. Nothing. Came on Canalworld for advice. Told to check around the Skeg. Nothing. I informed everyone that I couldn't even turn the prop shaft in neutral with a pair of stilsons. Told that the gearbox was then the likely cause. So after a while I started pumping more and more grease into the stern gland and gradually, using the stilsons, it freed itself. I was told by another boater, who had a similar problem that he had a lot of grit between his prop and stern tube. Worth a go I suppose before the gearbox gets dismantled.

I didn’t want to stir it up again though. I just wanted to say that I’ve only just read this lot and wanted to say thank you for the support and validating my belief that we didn’t do anything wrong. Just hope I don’t bump into the angry little man again! (Or vice versa!)

Would it stand a knock from Steve Heywood?

Not sure I agree! This weekend last year, we put the house up for sale, within two days we had sold at full asking price, which we had thought was optimistic, and the purchaser wanted to be in for Christmas. We lined up three possible boats so we would be ready to run when we exchanged. Come 1st December, we thought we’d be good until the new year, but then suddenly got told on the 10th, exchange today or its all off! Luckily all three of our short list were still available, so we offered low on all of them and took the best deal, had her skippered from Cheshire to Worcester and moved aboard on the winter solstice! The rest as they say, is history...

Has the engine been runwhilst the boat has been moored? I would not be happy if it has not been I'm also concerned about the lack of servicing. Proceed with caution on this boat. I would still go and have a look at other boats at around the same price and up to £10k more. The more boats you see the more you will understand about them.

I bet I could widen al the locks and wreck all the bridges...................................................Il get me coat................

I thought that boats were the ones that wot went under the water

Off topic but the best example of experienced boater (Not) was a couple I knew who lived on a boat for years making the occasional trip down the river. They saved up for ages to go on a year's cruise around the country and set off one Easter. By coincidence I caught up with them on the Rochdale. Going down into Manchester they were one lock ahead. Five locks down I heard their screams of despair. "Oh no the engine has seized up.... our lives are ruined," they cried. Looking at the situation and considering where we where I suggested it may be something large wrapped around the prop and they should look down the weed-hatch. "Weed-hatch, what's that?" they replied. After removing an old donkey jacket they carried on and fulfilled their dream

Or to put it another way, when someone uses the I’ve had 40 years line, I often think ‘no mate, you’ve had one years experience 40 times’

Yep. That guy whose best insult he could muster is “you shitbag”. How embarrassing. I should have done better.

And I see your boat's been done too!

As Dave says does it run in neutral

??????? 1st post says boat on the Middlewich arm so when going down to the boat to fit panels collect them from somewhere very local.

Not a name but I went past a cruiser the other day that had male and female puppets, next to each other, hanging from their necks in the window. Looked quite realistic, their necks were bent, and the rope looked to have been carefully made into hangman's knots.

Does it, I can't remember

1 5/16" AF. did the job. I found a 3/4 drive single hex socket in an old tool box, c/w breaker bar. Perfick

So would you if you knew you were just about to be stuffed into the bilge! ??

Whilst Kidderminster isn't on my list of overnight stopping places, and probably isn't on any list of loveliest British towns, the whole area being discussed here - Worcester itself and the canal up from Stourport - is one of my favourite cruises. The journey through Kidderminster doesn't detract from that and a brief visit to the town itself isn't actually one to be avoided. The view of the church and it's gardens as you lock up from the town is a memorable highlight. Please don't be put off - quite the contrary!

The OP actually said "well north of £200k" I think one could get a pretty nice widebeam for that sort of money. Maybe not high quality yacht finish, but last time I looked (a few years ago) a Piper widebeam was certainly available in that price range. Also, I'm not sure if the vat rules have changed since I was last discussing the topic, but a boat if that size might qualify as vat exempt if the builder knows what they're doing.

The old Ownerships system had "special" shares which included school holiday weeks (especially summer) and "ordinary" shares which did not. I can't remember the premium but I think it was about 20%. There were a few annoying aspects of "shared ownership" - some of them silly unimportant stuff, but you don't want first world problems either when you go for a spell of boating. In no particular order: 1. Having to book your weeks on board anything up to 18 months in advance, when your normal life is unpredictable from day to day. 2. Having to take all your clothes and personal effects with you to the boat, and remove them at the end of the trip. 3. Other "owners" stowing the boat's kit in completely illogical places. 4. Long road journeys to and from the boat's base. 5. Having to arrive back at base the day before your cruise "ends", because the boat has to be cleaned and serviced before the next trip. 6. Fellow owners moaning about brasswork that is less than sparkling. If you want to polish mushrooms, feel free, but don't expect me to do it. 7. Interminable owners' meetings where the colour of new curtains is discussed for two hours at a stretch. 8. The expectation that you will fill in a diary or log If we want to sit on the boat doing sod-all and going nowhere, that's exactly what we will do. I should add that as former members of an Ownerships syndicate, we got out and bought our own boat about 18 months before they went bump. We even got back our contribution to the "sinking fund"!

Because Isis was an Egyptian Goddess known (by the early Egyptians obviously) for protecting children, healing the sick and was the Goddess of life. Seems like a reasonable name for a boat to me.

Sir Osis of the River