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About 12 ft long on the roof

His son also posts some of his work/engines in the Gardner Diesel Engines forum on fb. Just in case you get bored and need to view more??

Presumably the next stage is 'flood the boat' until the gas locker lid is at water level, float the gas bottles into the gas locker, and then pump the boat out. Job done.

It is if you step in it!

Take a moment to consider how long you operate the BT for. A few seconds every few hours. The starter battery is probably 110Ah so perhaps 50A for 5 seconds (0.07Ah) per usage isn’t going to make much of a dent even without that current mostly coming from the alternator. When the BT is not actually running, the BT battery voltage will be fairly close to the engine battery voltage and the current flowing will be proportional to the voltage difference divided by the resistance of the round -trip wiring. Ie not a lot Regarding the relay I suppose it protects against a scenario of a lot of BT usage (and bearing in mind the slow recharge rate due to the wiring resistance) flattening the large BT batteries, following by stopping the engine. With the flat BT batteries in parallel with the starter battery, over time (over night or longer) the fairly modest current flowing from the engine battery into the BT batteries could accumulate to quite a lot of Ah and thus a low engine battery which could fail to start the engine. VSR doesn’t have a control wire. It just has connections to the 2 batteries and a local 0v wire. Whereas a normal relay has an additional connection to switch it on or off (ie 4 connections). Plus it will likely have some markings or branding on it.

It's sorted thanks Chris. I have in my mitts a new type 15 Gardner pump cover.

I agree, no point going up river if the flow is faster than 3mph as my narrowboat boat won’t go over about 4 to 5 mph so will take forever to get any distance. Probably n out of diesel before I get where I am going. Likewise going down stream and unable to stop even with full reverse is not going to end well.

Tightly stacked, 4' deep x 4' high x 8' long. https://cutthewood.com/diy/how-to-measure-a-cord-of-wood

We crossed the Briare Aqueduct this day 2013. It is actually the start of the canal lateral a la Loire and was built by the Eiffel company and opened in 1896 as originally the barges locked down in the Loire and and used the river as far as Digion but as the Loire is a free flowing waterway Either in flood or shallow they eventually built the canal but still had a shorter crossing Of the river until the Aqueduct was built.

I think it would have been polite to ask first, at the very least.

Gun and shop, two words that should never go together.

It does also depend on the locks. Locks in and around Birmingham are pretty quick, other narrow locks such as on the Coventry can take more than 4 minutes just to fill! Also depends on boat length. A shorter boat can still be moving quite fast into the locks when the gate(s) are closed, whereas a full length boat has to be fully into the lock and stationary before the gate(s) can be closed.

They do indeed but you then have to haul them out of the water Haggis

True. I reckon statistics that like being quoted would prove a bullet is fatal far more times than Covid is.

Screwfix sell stainless socket screws and the nuts to fit, I use them a lot. Might not be big enough though so you might have to look around a bit, they are not very expensive but I you are asked for lots of money then keep looking!

I'm pleased to say that the advertisement has now been changed and there is now no use of my material. (Well, there's still my picture of the Kelvin, but I'll let that pass).

The old fashioned way is paint as normal, then mask off the area you want textured, then paint with ordinary boat top coat paint, then sprinkle sand on it, wait to dry, brush, or vac off the excess, remove the tape, then paint one, or more coats on top to seal in the sand. That is how my boat is done. Used for the gunwales and rear deck where someone steps off and on. Jen

I thought the way to identify bitumen was white spirit on a white cloth and rub hard. If the cloth stains it's bitumen.

"Brass screws got messy" a difficult question this one, but do you know what size thread they are? I have some spare 5/16 x 18TPI BSW, brass screws, which may help. Bod.

Sounds like a job for a Tercoo disks, not cheap but very effective. I did a complete 57ft hull using a set of these although It was hard work doing such a big area. I would suggest for a water tank a single or a double would do the job. Force 4 do the double for just under £50 https://www.force4.co.uk/item/Force-4/Tercoo-Rotary-Blaster-Double/CZ7 Short video on its use here https://www.thewetworks.co.uk/products/tercoo-rotary-blaster-3-models

The one I ended up using was "SafeKote" used on commercial shipping, oil rigs etc. Description SafeKote Marine is an anti-slip single-component polyurethane coating incorporating uniform silica beads that provide an attractive, low profile and slip-resistant surface for wet or dry walkways which is easy to clean and maintain. Its moisture-cure aliphatic polyurethane composition provides ease of application with an extremely abrasion and weather resistant film suitable for marine applications. SafeKote has an attractive, low gloss finish which is easy to clean.SafeKote comes in attractive standard colours including transparent that will not fade or yellow from UV radiation, although safety colours and other colours are available on request. https://www.newventureproducts.co.uk/safekote-marine-anti-slip-paint/189-safekote-marine

Careful with angle grinders, even with sanding discs and adapters they can put little crescents in the steel that will last for the life of the boat.

We've been narrowboating for over 40 years, the last 13+ CCing. However I'm 73 with arthritic knees and ankles and my wife has hip problems so have decided that emptying cassettes regularly and making up a cross bed every night is now getting to be pain. But we are not giving up boating. We're having a widebeam with pumpout and permanent king size bed. Obviously we have to decide where to base ourselves so have opted for the Great Ouse to be near our son, doctor and dentist.

The weather is easy to forecast. I am having a barby in a few minutes and by some miracle its not raining. We are away in our motorhome tomorrow so it will rain all day every day until we return.

https://kanda.boatingcommunity.org.uk And some Facebook groups as attached.

The noise sounds like piston slap and the symptoms sound like poor compression could be to blame. I would look at the spray pattern of the injectors in case it's a diesel knock and if there isn't one squirting or dribbling move on to a compression test.

The oil filter has a bypass valve in it so when it blocks unfiltered oil bypasses it straight into the engine oil ways, so not that. No mention of the idling and revving oil pressure hot & cold so no way to assess bearing wear. 1.5s have been known to slip a tooth when the timing chain & tensioner block get worn and if you have not been cleaning the injector pump skew gear lubricator and its associated strainer the camshaft and skew gear drive may well be worn. That would mess with the timing. The tapping may well be the timing chain thrashing about. Pitted valve seats suggest water may have got into the cylinders regularly and if so goodness knows whet state the injectors are in. You imply you are using rather than gaining engine oil so that tends to rule out a leaking main injector pump shaft oil seal or a leaking lift pump. No bore measurements just a visual inspection with no mention of the size of the lip so cant comment on how badly they are worn (taper, ovality and maximum wear). Likewise no data for the straight edge checks on the head and block face. The long term black smoke might be associated with an oversized prop especially if it got worse as the engine revved in gear. Whitish smoke for a short while after starting 1.5s is not that rarer but oit when its hot. I expect the auxiliary spray holes in the injectors are blocked but they only have a significant effect when cranking. You can draw the skew gear drive shaft after taking the injector pump off but take great care to get it back in exactly the same place, it has a master spline. In theory you can get the timing cover off in situ but in many narrowboats you don't really have the space in front of the engine so taking the engine out may be easier. Edited to add: I assume that you have drained any water from the fuel tank and ensured the fuel filter(s) are clean.

Beware of using names to identify colours, names my be "house" colours that are specific to the paint manufacturer. Far better long term to learn to use the RAL and BS colour codes so you can get a very close match from any paint supplier (once cut back to remove faded old paint). link to online colour charts but on no account go by screen colours because they will be wrong, use colour cards instead

Watch London Boat Girl video on YouTube - the hazards of the pick-up pipe. Having watched this I was prepared for trouble. If your tank is lined with rust, weird looking growths and cr@p, then the pick-up toob is likely to be as well. Carefully inspect the interior - yeah!, good luck with that!! I managed to remove the threaded stop tap from the outside of the tank (once the tank was emptied!!!) inside the cabin. Thus I had clear access to both ends. Pushed a length of curtain wire through the pipe. {Curtain wire is also your friend for unblocking kitchen and bathroom sink outlet). Stripped plastic off end of curtain wire and worked it in and out until it would pass freely. Then try to uncoil the far end so that you have a vicious pointed hook. Reduce to a practical length and insert other end in an electric drill. The nasty pointy end plus the flexibility of the wire as it threshes around down the pipe should clear at least a useful size of hole. Keep at it until you feel happy with how freely it pushes in and out. (I actually found a similar 'drain unblocker' in a hardware shop which actually uses the same principal but is probably no more effective). My boat had survived 15+ years without the toob blocking so form your own judgement as to whether internal blacking is actually required. I haven't done as suggested above but, if you can manage it, it sounds like a good idea.

Tripping line attached to the tripping ring at the crown of the anchor. Lots of experience of anchoring........with ships and yachts in the coast, never once inland though have anchored a 90,000mt ship in the Thames Estuary! I would recommend a 20kg Danforth with 10m of chain and 20m of rope. When on rivers I use a floor mat on the cabin roof to place the anchor close to the helmsman, the other end needs to be made fast at the bow, with the rope/chain combo going outside of all obstructions on the boat. Never had to use in anger, but if you do you need it close at hand and able to deploy without it snagging on anything on your boat. it’s the weight of the anchor and chain that keeps you from drifting, not just the anchor itself. With chain only you need min 3 x the depth of water, rope at least 5 x depth of water.

If you do a search for anchor on the forum you will see a lot of discussion and conflicting opinions. The root problem is that the experience for actually deploying an anchor on a fast flowing river from a narrowboat, or wide beam in an emergency is very low. There just isn't enough real world knowledge to give much reliable advice. What does exist is for sea going vessels and this doesn't necessarily translate to inland craft. Buy the biggest heaviest anchor and longest heaviest chain and warp you can afford and pick up. Tie the end of the warp to something solid on the boat. Not the T stud at the bow as this can just be ripped off by the force of the boat coming on to the anchor. You've then got the best chance that it will work in an emergency. Now someone will come along and say this is completely wrong and they may be right. I've never deployed an anchor inland for real. Chances are they won't have either! ? Jen

I can confidently state that cleaning the rust from the water tank on my boat was the worst job I have taken on . You say 'we' so hopefully the other person is smaller than you so they can be the one to get in the tank . They need gloves . hat , goggles and mask and will emerge rust coloured and after about three showers should revert to their original skin / hair colour with most orifices dust free. I used a wire brush in a drill to get the worst rust off and used Vactan rust converter and then Bitumen paint suitable for water tanks. On mine the pipe from the tank needed cleaning as well as that had built up a layer of rust . I wish you well.