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It could be the Fooner Spamily?

Virtual green thing and a real pint if we ever meet in the real world

In 2005 on the land At Vankerkoven’s yard near Charleroi. Needed a patch. At this time they were a very efficient yard but when we went in 2011 for survey and for the new trwiv certificate we were lucky to get back in the water as they went bust 2 days later. on the same day in 2004 we were at Givet on the French Belgium border on our way back to our winter mooring near Antwerp

The Masurian lakes in eastern Poland, 6 September 1999. The lock is at Guzianka, and joins two lakes. The other photo is of one of the uncompleted locks on the Masurian Canal. Originally planned circa 1890, it was never completed because of the 1st WW. Under a subsequent plan in the 1930s construction work started, but was never completed because of the 2nd WW, bur several concrete lock structures survive. The canal would have linked the Masurian Lakes with Königsburg (now Kaliningrad).

Once stopped and lunched I just go to sleep. And that's it for the day...

New to Canalworld, I've found three useful things today: 1. How to moor a boat more effectively 2. The potential perceptions allied to not having a home port on your boat 3. Voltaire was a big fan of Scottish Enlightenment. We're never too old to learn.

I'll add it to my departure to-do list. It'll be item 61...

I would say in your case 240 volt as you will have mains available 5 days out of 7. I have a Mastervolt True Sine inverter and it was drawing 0.6 amps when I switched it of, it was only powering the laptop and MiFi. Take care if anyone recommends an inverter set to power saving as modern electronically controlled fridges may not start it up.

Or to put it another way - no longer how long you charge your batteries for, you are always exactly one hour away from charging them fully.

In the UK a maximum size 44 tonne gross HGV can carry 29 tonnes of payload - but many people assume it carries 44 tonnes! . Some years ago CBOA conducted an experiment by measuring fuel useage on a pair of narrow boats carrying 45 tonnes from Tyseley to the Thames. The JP2 used about 50-60 % of the fuel that two HGVs would have used, assuming 8 mpg for the lorry. So we learned that a single motor narrow boat is about equal in fuel usage to a lorry but if you tow a butty then there is a significant saving. If you go larger then the savings increase such that for a 500 tonne barges the fuel usage is about 35% of the equivalent trucks, Hull to Leeds for example. (Bear in mind the barge engine moving 500 tonnes is probably about the same size as the truck engine moving 29 tonnes). So even if the barge engine is old and less efficient there is still a net gain thus considerably fewer emissions. Often overlooked are the 'embedded emissions' relating to manufacture - thus some might argue that old barges should be scrapped and replaced by new, but unless they are worn out the embedded emissions from building would be massive related to any saving from (say) a better hull design etc. And the same goes for scrapping old diesel diesel engines - though there will be growing pressure on inland waterway operators (passenger and freight) to to be seen to be adopting cleaner propulsion in the future and for smaller barges up to say 1500 tonnes we are told that electric or hydrogen etc or possibly hybrid may be the way forward. For an on-going UK project involving 80 tonne barges (which would be new build) the customer is asking about electric (i.e. battery) propulsion. There are also other significant dis-benefits from using road transport and that is from the particulates generated from tyre wear, road surface wear and brake dust and these emissions are at least the same if not greater for electric vehicles according to recent studies*. regards David L *Timmers and Achten found that electric vehicles are heavier than the equivalent internal combustion engine vehicles, on average by 24%, and so take more power to operate the same distances and inclines (Timmers, VRJH and Achten, PAJ , 2016 (Source: Action for Yorkshire Transport who say: There is a very substantial and ever-growing body of evidence that all emissions, not just carbon, should enter transport assessments ).

Lidl have a good supply of stollen in before Chistmas, but they have to reinforce the floor underneath the pallet.

To satisfy yourself about the rudder tube a quite simple way of making it sound is to remove rudder and stock. Get a length of steel tube that will pass up a close fit up inside the old tube, make sure the stock will pass through the new tube with clearance first though. Poke it up as far as it will go, cut to length and weld all around the bottom to tthe old tube area, refit rudder and stock. I've done this a couple of times including my own old Harborough Marine boat for peace of mind. The hull checked, the weedbox checked, the rudder stock tube done, complete peace of mind and ready to launch and go.

Hi @MrsM we did go and view the boat but we also saw 50 other boats for internal inspection and 35 for close-up inspection during our 7-day, 1,300-mile visit in our motorhome. I've now got a fairly accurate idea of quality, market trends, best brokerages to deal with and, of course, what style, layout and technical spec would suite us for constant Crusing. Six of the marinas visited had new NBs for sale and all had a price variation of between £89,000 for the P-J boat right through to Piper and Aqualine boats at c.£140K fully fitted. We also viewed the Knight Boats at c.£118K; and there were the small time builders with their own fit-outs that we're built on Jonathan Tyler and Colingwood hulls, priced at c.£94K each. (We also saw a few dozen secondhand boats). The P-J boat can be had for c.£85K and IMO is well equipped albeit the finishing of the boat is not precise and the minor snagging list would be longish. The new NBs at 'New & Used Boats, Mercia Marina', (c.£95K) also looked fresh and were well equipped but the fit-out materials and the general build quality seen is what I would expect from a new budget Taylor Wimpy House. It then became apparent that these boats had been fitted out by actual house builders and not by boat builders as I had first expected. The Aqualine, Piper and Knight Boats were better quality with the Aqualine being top of the pile albeit a new Aqualine NB was in the process of being returned to the dealer as it was having huge problems with bubbling paintwork. In summary the P-J had a good price point but, as @Dr Bob mentioned previously in this thread, it appears that most of the sub-£105,000 are thrown together with little skill and often by folk who are not typical boat builders. It's nice to have a new shiny boat purchase but some/most of the new ones viewed would almost certainly start falling to bits in a couple of years. We now have a fairly good plan on what we want from a boat but, it's also appropriate to say that the experience of the last 7-days has been worthwhile and I would certainly advise any newbie to do mass viewings/comparisons without committing themselves first. However, the trip was also stressful, tiring and frustrating at times. I'll start a thread on my experience of the various brokerages from a newbies perspective as one particlair broker was utter appalling. I hope this makes for interesting reading. All the best, Andrew

Ignore the childish bickering and enjoy your life on your widebeam and, hopefully, here

Huge thanks to all of those who have taken the trouble to offer me valued advice. As for my starting WW3 re not following search protocol to reference old threads - I am very sorry. I am new to owning a widebeam (and to this platform) and I am understandably apprehensive regarding navigating a huge (to me) boat I have owned small cruisers but never a narrowboat. One of the reasons I have made the decision to live on a widebeam on a marina is my past experience re the love shown by the boating community - I have never known such kind and helpful people - sadly I cannot say quite the same about the hostile reception here! So many wonderful people here too, but sadly the 'canalworld police' are not so warm. Maybe newcomers to this fantastic forum should be allowed a little understanding until they fin their way around! And yes, I am a woman! xx

I appreciate all and any comments and advice, I am a welder/ engineer/tinkerer ?......... no expert but I can turn a spanner and ive done some research always wanted a boat as a project so I will put pics up here of my progress if I do something wrong please tell me x So me and Charlie have just spent 4 days cleaning up the 40ft Springer I have just bought as a project. 6-12 days travel from where I live. Hmmmmm should I drive/float/sail it there??..????......Yeh you are right i should do that instead of transporting it??? I just want to fail it, So it is a 40ft Springer BMC 1.5 1984 George Orwellian. I've not read the book but I've read the manual. 3 days 1st day, Stripped the boat, starting from the bow took account of everything on board cleared the rubbish/ lockers and any other debris from the main cabin and front storage. Then started the engine bay 300ish liters of water drained from the forward of engine bay section and coolant from the keel cooler. We used sawdust to lay down on the rest of the gunk on the engine compartment floor after clearing 3 bin bag of rubbish out of it and some. So here's a few pics from the engine bay as it is after a clean and sawdust. Please feel free to comment I will also put pics of the boat on too Boat is currently on hard standing and needs some attention I'll put pics in next post as they're on my phone. It's so far away but need a few test runs first.... just in case .

My narrowboat is almost 40 years old and I have owned it since April 1986. In my ownership I have always painted the base plate every two years . I am a member of a boat club that has a slipway with a trolley that enables me to walk under the boat one end and crawl under it the other . During my ownership I have had to have two surveys for insurance purposes using two different surveyors and both commented on the advantages of painting the base plate . The most recent survey carried out in July this year concluded ' Troys ' hull below the waterline showed little general wastage and no indications of significant galvanic or electrolytic pitting within the sample areas inspected. For a vessel of her age this is considered exceptional and almost certainly due to the use of good quality original materials ,good initial preparation of the steelwork and regular maintenance over the years . I always use Sealex B130 Bitumen however this year I noticed it is much thinner and easier to apply than previous years . I am convinced that the reason base plates are not blacked is the majority of boatyards cannot get the boats high enough to be able to work underneath . In another thread I mentioned my most recent surveyor told me he surveyed a Braidbar narrowboat that had pits on the unpainted base plate of 5 or 6 mm . I should perhaps add my boat is moored in the crystal clear waters of the River Nene , the steel shell was built by Peter Nichols and the boat is 12 volt only so no mains supply with the problems that can generate .

Quality inverter. Mains fridge. End of.

Gordon and Will Crookes from a commercial postcard. Not sure if it is the Southern landing stage with the power station behind, or the Northern with the STC works behind. Detergent foam in evidence, although the river was possibly less polluted when this was taken than it was in the early 1950's, when you sometimes used to get quite large "foambergs" thrown up by the paddles. By 1968, when I spent the summer working at STC's works at North Woolwich and sometimes had my lunchtime sandwiches sitting by the river at their wharf, the Thames was much cleaner, with green algae growing on the embankment walls, and worm activity visible as the tide came in over the mud banks.

It's not real world practical. It' s one of the reasons baseplate is thick. The coating will get penetrated anyway soon after blacking unless you never ground the boat. Consider electrolytic corrosion. Is it better to have a uniform metal loss across the bottom plate or concentrated in one or two spots where the coating has failed possibly leading to localised pinholes?

The only drawback I can think of is that it would annoy the purists if it was steel and not shiny yellow metal. If you have a tiller with a 'Z' kink in it, the tiller pin will hold it quite happily, so get your local tin basher to fabricate one. I suggest you then paint it in a vivid colour, preferably one that clashes violently with the boat livery.

A common question. If you want a quick answer you may find the excellent forum search function useful. If you are happy to wait then the regulars may respond shortly.

This is the bit I've wondered about too when considering blacking the baseplate. No point doing any of it if you can't do all of it. In a dry dock this would mean refloating several times which they surely don't do.

I can't get the battery out of my CO alarm.

Looks like someone is in there already. Assume therefore it's an archive image. If not, might be worth having a look through windows in case they need help?

It's just marking it's territory........

Lol. So true

I don’t think there are many that carry 40 tonnes net the majority are 25 tonnes with some 30. The infrastructure only allows 40 tonnes in specific places. To move 300 tonnes from Gent to Arles in the south of France would need 10 truck journeys. When my friends get back home I will ask them how much fuel they used for this journey but I’m sure it will be less than 10 trucks use.

Sounds like you eat too much for lunch which will make you drowsey. I get fish and chips once a week. I buy the senior citizens deal, cod and chips for £4-20p which is quite ample for less drowsiness and allows me to work on after gorging on it.

Hi sorry i couldn't put the pictures on last night. Heres a couple of the boat. It will only let me put one picture on, i will try to work out how to put more on.

So instead of interacting with one another, all we need to do is use the search engine and not bother. Doesn't that rather reduce us to an alternative to Wikipedia? Most subjects have already been discussed one way or another, does that mean that discussion is now dead? (title of the Forums, Canal World Discussion forum). On this thread there have been additional comments that haven't appeared elsewhere, if people are just supposed to 'use the search engine' they would not have appeared. If a newbie is seeking advice on a subject and you don't wish to offer any, that is your freedom, others may have a different take on it, let them get on with it.

God this forum is becoming a real home for niggling at each other rather than discussing the subject

I know you are always very honest and forthright with each other, and generally respond to each other's comments in good humour, but as a newbie some of your bickering can be rather uncomfortable to read. You are responding to a question in the "New to Boating" thread. You have not given the OP a very pleasant impression of either boaters or this forum. Please have a thought for people with far less experience and confidence than yourselves who are simply after some friendly advice. And please don't be nasty to me for making this comment. You will have forgotten that it takes quite a bit of nerve to start joining in with CWDF.

Box?

There is a boat that is often at the markets at Alvecote marina, cant remember the name of them though, they sell lots of tiller pins.. Maybe someone else will remember?

When I was very, very new I grounded the borrowed boat on a collapsed bank on the offside. I was rocking it and revving the engine trying to drive over it when a chap moored by the towpath offered “Would you mind if I make a suggestion?” He then explained that I might be better off reversing off the silt instead of trying to motor through it. Obvious now but as a newbie I appreciated the advice. Oh, and I came straight off

I'm getting the impression you're not a fan of this sort of thing? But why don't you tell us what you really think? ?

I haven't, would not dream of inviting you (or others) into my life. There are some that I cannot watch, some which I see occasionally (when the subject interests me) and two which I am subscribed to and follow. Perhaps it's me but they are definitely not all the same. If they are boring just don't watch them.

Be interesting to see the backdated invoice for Foxes! Can't really claim non-commercial when you have a series on Amazon Prime ...

Not another sponging poncing boater who thinks they are going to make a living doing nothing like a lot of young kids on narrowboats. “I’ll start a Youtube channel and be an overnight sensation” Go and get a job and work until you have earned enough money to be self sufficient . What’s next Patreon donations? Far too many young kids and couples basically begging to support their lifestyle on the canals through Youtube. Go and get a job and support yourself. Another pair of the Snowflake generation who do not want to work and want everyone to do everything for them. How old are you two and what have you done to support your self’s?

Two cars on the drive, nowt in the fridge.

Solihull. You get two range rovers thrown it at that price You have to file the 3 acres of green belt.