Leaderboard

Unfortunately, hot on the heels of last weekends Ciara floods, from tonight sees a procession of low pressure systems latch on to the jet stream and hit the UK. Very heavy overnight rain tonight will also leave some snow in the North of England, and then another low comes Friday with more wet stuff. Saturdays low pressure has been called Storm Dennis by the Met Office, winds will be quite bad, however, rain on already saturated ground will be the big threat. The storm seems to be stalling North of the UK on Saturday night and some areas of the SW, Wales and NW England could see 36 hours non stop rainfall. Anyone on a river or river navigation should take steps to reach a secure area if possible, or take steps to allow your boat to rise and fall without going over banks/towpaths. I do have to say that sometimes, the safest place is in a lock.?

For me a catamaran is a bit like having two women in tow, I can manage one but not two. No paddling pool!

On Sunday some parts of Hebden Bridge were under 4 feet of water. Today I reckon half of the shops are open with more due to open tomorrow. The flood damaged stuff piled up in the streets is almost all gone, the fire brigade (and council) have hosed down the streets to remove the mud and stones, today the fire brigade were cleaning up the paths in the park next to the Calder. There are still a few skips in town and one or two little heaps of sad flood damaged stuff but otherwise its almost like nothing happened. The people of Hebden are truly impressive. The towpath is looking pretty tide too, I did that. ? ................Dave

Except that the £15k would more likely be spent on story / interpretation boards or blinds in somebodys office or a managers bonus or suchlike. The 4LW will not make BIRCHILLS shift on its own as it needs to be mated to the correct gearbox and propeller. I suspect the shape of the hull and its draught will help, but ultimately it is the steerer and their understanding of how the boat interacts with the water that will make BIRCHILLS 'shift'

ARIES has clearly suffered in a similar way to many wooden narrow boats, even though it was subject to major works 40 years ago. In working days wooden narrow boats had a life expectancy of 20 to 30 years, and during this time would be subject to regular dockings and maintenance. In working days there were countless boatyards throughout the waterways system that had the facilities as well as the skilled workers to maintain these wooden hulled boats. As commercial carrying came to an end so did the majority of boatyards that could maintain a wooden hull, leading to the condition of most wooden boat deteriorating and losing value - and when combined with 'enthusiasts' buying them as cheap boats is far from ideal. A few 'enthusiasts' had / have the commitment and finances to restore these life expired boats, regardless of time and costs, hence a boat like ARIES being a survivor. Once a wooden boat is restored it then goes straight back into the 20 to 30 year life cycle again, although a boat restored nowadays probably will last longer as modern building and coating practices are much improved. The vast majority of wooden narrow boats restored in the 1970's and 1980's have suffered through lack of docking as boatyards with the facilities and skilled staff remain few and far between, so problems that should be dealt with regular dockings are usually left to the point of near failure by which time an expensive repair is required that can easily be more than the value of the boat. This is harder to accept with a museum exhibit such as ARIES, which clearly has not been maintained for several years by its owners at Ellesmere Port - for which they will claim multiple reasons. I expect restoration cost for ARIES would easily exceed £100k, but its end value would be less than £50k (and that is being generous). It has to be said that whilst metal hulled 'historic' boats appear a better proposition they are not really, except that worn out or heavily corroded iron / steel can be patch overplated and worn rivets welded up. This method of repair is O.K. if done properly but can cause bigger problems later on, but because these boats are 'desirable' an owner will sooner or later replate the hull - and a good restoration of a metal hulled boat will easily exceed its end value just like a wooden boat. I am not sure how much of the above is just my perception or whether I have answered you question edit = and do I regret selling my Jaguar XK Dynamic R - yes I do, but I do not regret buying my boat.

It does! I painted mine a very dark blue and a few years ago the boat was unbearable. Painted much lighter, in the heatwave a couple of years back it was relatively comfortable, and I've a lot of insulation under the roof.

Ken is the chap Can’t help on that one regrettably. It is always a nightmare getting stuff done on the Ouse.

I cannot see where CO2 has been discussed. CO (which is a deadly gas) has been discussed and one would have thought that it would be a valuable point to make if you are considering making a double glazed sealed cratch.

I went in to Aldi for one of their centre aisle special buy chocolate tea pots and they had sold out already. Only had ecofans left.

Because it's not convenient for either me or Liam at the time of delivery, and not particularly safe, and there isn't room for all of the bags I buy, and......... I have carried them both through the inside of the boat, and along the mooring to load them via the cratch. Depends how I feel at the time of doing it. Given that 20kgs are available, and Liam and other customers were struggling a bit with 25kg bags, it's worked out well all round.

Have you checked the pump strainer to see if that is full of crap

When my 40a sterling charger was bost, I bought a £40 12a halfords 2 stage car charger, and just left it on (at the time I was on hookup and not moving). It took me 6 months to get around to getting the sterling fixed and everything was fine. If you're hooked up 24/7, you don't need anything fancier.

Sounds like the pump is breaking up? Is it bits of rubber?

All the offshore yachts I sailed on had "flying saucer" vents, very easy to slip on, one very quickly learns to avoid them! There again mushroom vents would be a trip or a rope tangling hazard. Never know the saucer vents to leak even in a Force 9, the strongest wind I have been at sea with.

Definition of a Scottish gentleman : someone who can play the bagpipes, but who doesn't.

Flying saucer vents are the work of the devil... they always leak eventually.

If you go the double glazing route maybe you could look at static caravan style as the frame profile is quite thin from memory.

@The Dreamer was talking specifically about Avon lock at Tewkesbury, not all the locks on the river. That one is manned (well womanned actually!) and is usually operated for you.

So, coal store/toolshed/spare parts hoard/... :-) I do know one boat where they really do use it for eating but it has a permanently set up (albeit removable) table and they don't CC or liveaboard so have fewer storage requirements. And it is lovely. I have a feeling not that common though.

Funny you should mention my other interests....?

As often as that? I am thinking of getting mine chromed its easier than never polishing

The important thing is, after whatever you do, , don't start up the engine directly after the process, leave it alone for a good few hours for any muck still in the tank to settle,''and there will be'' after the disturbance.

So is ours, but it turns out to be possible about once a year.

I can't speak for all different ecofans, but for the one I had, this just isn't true. I tested it. When the fan was spinning at full speed on a very hot stove, I held a smoking ember in front of it. All the windows and doors were closed and the air was perfectly still. I even held my breath. The smoke went straight up. No horizontal current whatsoever. This is all the evidence I need that they don't work. If someone on here is convinced they work. Then try this too. Film it and post the film on here. If it works, then I might just change my mind and buy the same model of ecofan I see in the film. Otherwise, I won't be wasting my money.

And from anecdotal evidence on here, some that are advertised as not needing one don’t work properly without one.

Yes, but he says it was there on the wrong mooring, badly moored for months. So he must have visited it there, so why not either moor it properly or insist it be put back on its contracted mooring? Have to stop now, the wife's playing the tuba and it makes my head hurt. It's like living with a bloody foghorn, you can't think straight after a couple of minutes.

There’s your answer “worked on boats” not lived on a boat while working in a coffee shop in Hoxton because they dont want to pay for a flat.....