Leaderboard

I agree with both Ditchcrawler and Chewbacka, and wouldn't choose to go in a 7 knt stream for fun. However I have done it. Boards were shunting between red and yellow on the Thames and we needed to move the boat. Prior to casting off I ensured: my Beta 43 had enough guts to stop astern when going downstream, it had enough oomph to push it upstream, the engine was reliable and had sufficient fuel, the anchor was available, and I knew how the boat would handle if I tried anything clever. Then ensured I didn't try anything clever! This was when we were moving the boat from Pyrford to the K&A having just bought her and needed to be done in a few days, so wasn't going to take any chances with a new pride and joy that I hadn't got to know properly. The trip upstream was 'eventful' and a great learning experience but we ensured we never placed ourselves or more importantly, could place ourselves, in a situation we couldn't handle. BTW she stopped (i.e. no forward motion) under the Albert Bridge at Windsor running at 70% power and needed 90% to clear the bridge. That was somewhat nerveracking. Sounds to me you took all the chances in the world, would you have died or lost the boat had you decided not to do that journey, on a boat you didn't know. I couldn't stop in a 7kt flow or turned round and gone back. If the boards are going on why not just stop and wait, even if its for a month.

Where can you get diesel at under £1 per litre ? (most NB's seem to use between 1 and 1.5 litres per hour, near the bottom end if just 'ticking over'. And rise even further when we can only source White diesel and the waterways suppliers have to put in loads of new security and infrastructure - I can see £2 a litre on the canals.

Took a bit of persuading.

To be fair they are round windows, not proper solid brass portholes by the look of them. My portholes were about 10 or 11 inches at a guess and "traditional" (stupid phrase) Portholes. All my doubled glazed units lift out in seconds. Views change over the years and your next few boats may well be different? ?

GRP actually stands for glass reinforced polyester. GRP is therefore not a plastic and is not too difficult to bond to as the material has lots of oxygen molecules in it which can bond strongly to other things. Similarly with epoxies which again has 'active' groups as long as it abraided. Plastic on the other hand is a difficult issue. If it's Polyethylene or Polypropylene then it is very difficult to bond to. The material is all carbon and hydrogen atoms which don't allow much to stick. They are very hydrophobic so hate oxygen - which is what most adhesives use. Most adhesives tend to be hydrophilic. If it's PVC then it's easier as the Cl atom helps increase its hydrophilic nature. I seriously doubt any primer will work with PE or PP (polyolefins) other than flame treatment but maybe there is a proprietary primer for PVC or nylon. A primer for use on GRP used on polyolefis will not be any use.

Alexis, have you really looked into the ins and outs of composting toilets and the maturing then disposal of both the solid and liquid waste - especially in London, not many hedge rows you can distribute the MATURE waste along. They are probably excellent if you have your own ground where you can compost and mature the waste and distribute the liquid but otherwise you my have probelms.

Indeed. After 41 years of hiring and shareboating I bought a boat with a bowthruster. I found it very useful for reversing in tight spaces and when windy. After three years it packed up and I didn't fix it for a couple of years, but didn't really miss it unless it was windy and I needed to reverse in tight spaces.

Just answer one friendly question OP please. Do you think it is a cheap lifestyle living on a boat?

Diesel; think in terms of £1 an hour. More if cruising, a bit less if just battery charging. Expect cost to rise to nearer £1.50 an hour before too long (new tax situation).

They need charging much longer than when at 12.5v Charge until the current drops to less than an amp, terminal voltage after standing should be in excess of 12.8v.

Yes.

This looks interesting https://www.machinemart.co.uk/p/16598-sealey-cp20voskit-cordless-orbital-/ They are probably the product of the Austrian company Walters. The one I have is fitted with a slightly smaller 1.5ah battery. You should find that it tires at about the same rate as you, so no mater how you feel on the day the machine won’t let you overdo things. Takes 125mm dia Velcro attached discs, and like all cutting tools works best when sharp/new. Change the disc regularly (as already mentioned by others) and let the machine do the work for you. edit: bit cheaper from these guys on Ebay https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Sealey-CP20VOSKIT-20V-2x2-0Ah-125mm-Cordless-Orbital-Palm-Sander-Kit/233300756306?epid=4032744361&hash=item3651cf0752:g:xP4AAOSw1exfDAy8

Looks like you have it covered then. Always worth thinking about exits.

“Pas d'elle yeux Rhone que nous”

People tend to wire their single alternator to the engine battery, and then via split charge to domestic, thus maximising the current through the relay. If only people would connect the alternator to the domestic and use the relay to replace the very small amount of charge taken out of the starter battery Anyway, a relay will only overheat if it is under-specified for the current, or has loose connections

As they are connected to batteries, yes should be 25mm2. In reality less would be enough, to carry charging current but it has to be considered that they may have to carry current from the starter battery to flat bow batteries, volts drop will limit the maximum current in that case. I think I would be happy with just 16mm2.

A good argument for lowering an anchor rather than dropping it! Other problem with just chucking everything over board is that the chain could end up on top of and around the anchor, and a fluke with a loop of chan round t is never going to bite. Use rated shackles. The rating is usually around half the actual breaking strain.

Not only are gallons in the USA smaller but so are pints (16fl.oz. not 20), which is *much* more important...

Yes that is where I was thinking of. I reckon the ideal would be to put the bows into the Marina entrance and hope the locky opens the paddles so that the current grabs the stern and swings the boat around by pivoting on the point of the spit. I suggested other options to Pingu but she seems keen to go to the supermarket just West of there, and insists that she doesn't want to have to carry the shopping a long way. Actually if you don't count the fenders and rudder we are only 67 ft (I've often been told I'm a yard short of a full length ? ) so it sounds like there should be room. Oh wouldn't it cause a lovely obstruction if I got stuck!

And don't forget to block the old hole in the hull! A wooden plug hammered in from the outside, cut off flush, and blacking over the area, will do until such time as the boat is out of the water and the hole can be welded up (say next time the hull is blacked).

In case anyone is still interested in the Leonard Leigh boat 'Swallow', here's a photo of her taken in the early 1960's, when her then owner, the daughter of said Mr Leigh, used to let us boys crew her. She was kept then at Braunston.

Have you tried using a bathroom, when access was from a boatman's cabin, through the engine room and through a bedroom to get to it. Unless you're very friendly with the person in the bedroom, you walk around the outside of the boat and back in through the front; I have. Difficult week.

Today 2008 we went through the tunnel on the Burgundy canal for the first time. When I went to get the radio and paperwork from the lock keeper he asked if we would take a Swiss family and their bikes through with us. Ok but it made me even more nervous. The lock house part way down the flight after the tunnel has all these tools on the side of the house and given the size of his woodpile looked well set up for some cold winters. 10 years later there is even more stuff there.

Timing is everything

Indeed, or even consider at the outset fitting one of the , admittedly more expensive, hydraulic systems? Howard

If you are thinking about fitting a bath, not only do you have to remove the water, (easy with a pump) it also has to be filled, which greatly depends on how big the on-board water storage is. (Main water tank and hot water tank) Bod.

I see from the Yorkshire Post article https://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/people/barge-operator-wins-long-running-battle-canal-river-trust-over-taking-freight-leeds-wharf-2929913 that problems outlined by David are close to being sorted and the traffic could start shortly. Tam

pity you can't give the OP a meaningful answer. the question of whether a BT is necessary has been done to death many times on this forum. I, for one, couldn't have docked my widebeam in a crosswind (there was always a westerly) without one at my particular marina location ............................. and I am prepared to wager that you couldn't have either.

I had a 50ft dutch boat with ship's windows. Bloody heavy things (I bought two more to fit to another boat). Lovely bronze frames, glass about 30mm thick. Secure as you like, plus they opened to let the breeze through (or to let you lean out and feed the ducks/swans). Loved that boat.

New squirrels have a half bowl shaped cup screwed under the flue, it is recommended to remove this for use in a boat

I have had good experiences with Crewe Engines.

As a strong point attachment I have passed the rope through one of the well deck scuppers to tie a loop around the hull side. Should be plenty strong enough. The risk might be that the sharpish edge of the 6mm steel side would cut the rope. Never actually tried deploying the anchor. I used it because it was already there. There are limited places to put in a nice big ring bolt on my and many other boats. The well deck has a stainless water tank immediately underneath. Other steelwork forms part of the gas locker and putting a ring bolt through that below the level of the gas cylinder valves could lead to arguments during a BSS inspection. I really should fit one at some point. Probably the top of the gas locker would be the best spot. Jen

About 12 ft long on the roof

May I suggest that you actually go on a course and learn how to helm a boat - otherwise you will become reliant on the 'sissy-button' and the very time you REALLY need it, the battery will be flat and you will have no idea how to actually steer. They are a useful accessory for newcomers to assist in mooring with a strong wind, but you become addicted and you can hear them coming from miles away as they are used to try and stay in a straight line on a straight piece of waterway, YES, you can handle a widebeam without a bow thruster, it just takes practice. I currently have one boat with a 14 foot beam and another boat with a 23 foot beam - neither have (or need) a bowthruster. Good luck.

In 2013 we passed a boat, called Snowgoose. It had a French quotation under the name - "A l'eau c'est l'heure". The story goes that before the battle of Trafalgar, as was customary, the French admiral was boated over to speak to Nelson aboard The Victory, gentleman to gentleman, before the battle. As he left, he said this phrase, as was often used in the French navy, in effect meaning "The hour has come - to the water!".

Romanes eunt domus ?

I had to wait a long time for my boat, Godot.