Jump to content

Leaderboard

Popular Content

Showing content with the highest reputation on 08/04/21 in all areas

  1. This post cannot be displayed because it is in a forum which requires at least 10 posts to view.
  2. This post cannot be displayed because it is in a forum which requires at least 10 posts to view.
  3. This post cannot be displayed because it is in a forum which requires at least 10 posts to view.
  4. It is a pre purchase full survey.
    6 points
  5. This post cannot be displayed because it is in a forum which requires at least 10 posts to view.
  6. This post cannot be displayed because it is in a forum which requires at least 10 posts to view.
  7. This post cannot be displayed because it is in a forum which requires at least 10 posts to view.
  8. Hmm. I'd quite like to hear the steerer's side of that story. MP.
    4 points
  9. This post cannot be displayed because it is in a forum which requires at least 10 posts to view.
  10. This post cannot be displayed because it is in a forum which requires at least 10 posts to view.
  11. This post cannot be displayed because it is in a forum which requires at least 10 posts to view.
  12. This post cannot be displayed because it is in a forum which requires at least 10 posts to view.
  13. It's almost impossible from the report to understand what exactly was happening, but seemingly there was a woman with 3 children having lessons in one or more kayaks. There were 2 instructors, but presumable the children, one of them just 5 years old, were alone in the boats, and mother was watching from the towpath. All that and no-one saw a boat approaching, and the only way to avert a possible collision was for one of the instructor to leap into the canal. That is a very poorly run school to my mind. When we were a RYA school we had to submit an accident report for any such incident - I wonder if they did? Tam
    3 points
  14. Despite various definitions, opinions etc. the true answer is actually whatever the surveyor defines in their scope of work and terms and conditions. It's down to the client to decide whether the scope is sufficient for their needs.
    3 points
  15. This post cannot be displayed because it is in a forum which requires at least 10 posts to view.
  16. This post cannot be displayed because it is in a forum which requires at least 10 posts to view.
  17. I'm with you on this one Brian. I feel it is not helpful to tell new boaters what they must do without also saying on what experience the advice is based - having bought one narrow boat and sold none is hardly a wide experience of the subject. New people coming on here are looking for advice and they don't know who is experienced and who is not and I feel if we offer advice or instructions it is only fair to the new comers that we say what our own experience is. It is good to be helpful where we can but I think we must be careful that we are not giving a "bum steer". Haggis
    3 points
  18. It really isn't anything to worry about. Boating isn't rocket science. Just take it slow. If you're not sure, or worried, about locks, find somewhere to moor up near one and go and watch people come through, offer to help and ask for advice. Everyone was a beginner once, everyone has made mistakes, and we've all lived through them. The crucial bit is to take it slow, and don't let anyone rush you. Most of the rest is common sense and courtesy. Steering feels weird when you start as, unlike a car, you're not steering by moving the front of the boat, but by moving the back end. Bit like a dumper driver does. After a few hours it becomes automatic. If you do get stuck on mud, don't try to drive off forwards, stop as soon as you can and let the engine drag you backwards into the channel again. And if that doesn't work, wait for a boat to come past and get them to tow you off - we've all been there. If your prop doesn't seem to be pushing you along, pull in, turn the engine off and nip down the weed hatch - it'll just be a bit of weed round the prop and is easy enough (usually) to get off. Relax, take it easy, if you get a bit fraught, stop and have a cup of tea. And don't worry about asking for help or advice, we all need help at times and mostly the advice is good (just use your own judgement about it!).
    2 points
  19. If lightening strikes an all steel narrowboat the hull is likely to act as a Faraday cage so little if any damage is done, maybe a bit of burned paint.
    2 points
  20. Many casual river/canal users are blissfully unaware of the circumstances faced by boat steerers. As has already been pointed out, the profile of a narrowboat obscures a very large area of the water in front of it. They probably don't realise that boats don't stop very quickly, they don't go backwards very well and can't turn at right angles. At the same time, some boaters don't seem to understand that canoes and paddleboards are often under (out of) the dubious control of total novices and do not make allowances for that. Also, if they are confronted by a 'sudden' appearance of 10 -20 tons of narrowboat, sane thinking goes out of the window and blind panic sets in making them even more unpredictable. I can understand that a canoeist/paddleboarder does not hear an approaching boat. Not everyboat has a heavy thumping traditional engine, and even the old workhorses like BMC's and Perkins 4/ diesels can be silenced effectively. I can often cause panic to a hidden fisherman who I cannot see until he hastily pulls in his very expensive (invisible) pole. Sharing water with any of these other groups needs vigilance, especially around blind bends, and we should be prepared to make slower progress in these circumstances. People supervising school or youth groups should have some accredited qualification, and of course insurance. River users are probably more aware of the potential dangers when apart from the aforementioned users abound, you also get swimmers and around Henley and Windsor for example, there are numerous small motorboats, often with alcohol involved. Last year on the Thames, we shared Marsh Lock with another narrowboat, a cruiser and about 40 canoes/kayaks. Whilst waiting for the lock to open going up, the lockkeeper shouted himself hoarse at these to give way to the motor craft but they paid no attention to him, and the people instructing them did nothing to help him. We endured much hassle from these people as we tried to comply with his instruction, and having risen and started to exit the lock, many were intent on trying to weave their way through.
    2 points
  21. This post cannot be displayed because it is in a forum which requires at least 10 posts to view.
  22. This post cannot be displayed because it is in a forum which requires at least 10 posts to view.
  23. This post cannot be displayed because it is in a forum which requires at least 10 posts to view.
  24. This post cannot be displayed because it is in a forum which requires at least 10 posts to view.
  25. This post cannot be displayed because it is in a forum which requires at least 10 posts to view.
  26. This post cannot be displayed because it is in a forum which requires at least 10 posts to view.
  27. Shortly after getting married, a friend of mine made sure his mother-in-law saw him getting the dog to lick the plates clean then putting them straight back in the cupboard. She didn't come round for a meal for years afterwards ...
    2 points
  28. This post cannot be displayed because it is in a forum which requires at least 10 posts to view.
  29. "Barge came out of nowhere..." - presumably it was beamed in from starship Enterprise. Or maybe barge was chugging along at 2.5mph, in sight for several minutes, but despite the coach being responsible for small children in the water, he/she wasn't paying attention. Yes, that sounds more like it.
    2 points
  30. its not hard to miss something that low in the water if it suddenly appears from say behind a moored boat and its view is already blocked by your hull shape. do they erect warning signs at a suitable distance when running the sessions to warn approaching craft of the possibility of inexperienced paddlers?
    2 points
  31. This post cannot be displayed because it is in a forum which requires at least 10 posts to view.
  32. As Stuart Mills explained at the recent HNBC AGM any funds accrued from the sale of property and e.g. the marina businesses is re-invested in other property which will hopefully bring in a better return (much of this property is not waterway related) and the investment return is actually performing better than average despite the move in recent years to 'safer' investment. These sale funds cannot be used to pay directors wages (or anyone else's) nor pay for maintenance as otherwise eventually there would be no property left to generate the much needed revenue to help maintain the waterways.
    2 points
  33. And closing the doors behind you. Nice and cosy - even if the stove isn't lit, you should get plenty of heat from the engine if the side doors are closed.
    2 points
  34. I suspect that Covid distancing rules would mean that a lot of things CRT need to do weren't actually possible.
    2 points
  35. This post cannot be displayed because it is in a forum which requires at least 10 posts to view.
  36. This post cannot be displayed because it is in a forum which requires at least 10 posts to view.
  37. I go along with much of that but remember this particular broker seems to have attracted more than its fair share of stories relating to sharp, if not downright illegal, practices. I feel it was important to let the OP know about the reputation and also point out other potential problems inferred from the sales bumph. Forewarned is forearmed and she is now far better informed. I hope it all goes well with the OP and she ends up with a nice reliable boat but we will see.
    2 points
  38. This post cannot be displayed because it is in a forum which requires at least 10 posts to view.
  39. I totally take on board that advice from someone with minimal experience such as myself needs to be taken with a pinch of salt, so to speak. I apologise to the OP and any other prospective buyers if I have painted an unrealistic picture of buying your first canal boat. I got involved in these particular threads because I was concerned that a decent but possibly naive and unsupported young buyer (no disrespect to the OP intended) might be at a disadvantage going into dealings with a wile secondhand boat salesman.
    2 points
  40. Wouldn't it be good to use a fuel that is more environmentally friendly ?
    2 points
  41. This post cannot be displayed because it is in a forum which requires at least 10 posts to view.
  42. I am aware of your vast experience of sea going boats and you have told us of the many jobs you have had in a wide variety of professions but I think you will agree that your narrowboat experience is limited to buying one boat. While some of your advice might be a preferable course of action it is not the only one yet you tend to be a bit dictatorial when you give advice. haggis
    2 points
  43. This post cannot be displayed because it is in a forum which requires at least 10 posts to view.
  44. So as a member of the IWA's Sustainable Propulsion Group, focussing on HVO use in boats, I'm half way through a trial using HVO in the sort of combinations of devices and engines usually found in typical inland waterway craft. Equally relevant to lumpy water vessels I think. As you rightly say, Volvo have given OEM approval to HVO use in their engines along with pretty well all diesel engine manufacturers worldwide and we have all but accounted for all of them now, including the manufacturers of base engines later marinised. We are just about to conduct trials in the more exotic engines like Bolinders and Gardners once lockdown is lifted. Webasto have given OEM approval for HVO use in their heaters and we've tested it in a Mikuni and the MX 50 replacement. It is happy in drip feed, pot boiler devices such as Refleks and my Dickinson happily devoured 200 litres of it earlier in the year. Indeed it burns cleaner than mineral diesel being devoid of sulphur, minerals and aromatics, which I find built up a deposit over a couple of months in the Dickinson. Eberspächer are being very coy at the moment, refusing to respond to my requests about the performance of their heaters with HVO. I'm about to conduct a trial with a neighbouring boat once they've run their tank right down but I'd be extremely surprised if it behaved any differently from a Webasto or Mikuni. My experience to date across quite a wide range of devices now, is that there is reduced odour from the exhaust and none from unburnt fuel which, unlike mineral diesel, is pleasant to handle and totally biodegradable. No grass killed where there are spills from the holding tank and no rainbow colours on the water if accidentally spilled there.
    2 points
  45. I am not bothered about that, just the fact that you were telling an inexperienced boater that she should insist on what bill of sale a broker uses, with in all honesty is a joke. What you do is up to you, I'm not bothered, but if you mislead others I will speak up.
    2 points
  46. Marvellous. Every time I go out on the boat now, I wonder if I'll get home again. The four counties ring is going to be busy as none of the hire boats can go anywhere else.
    2 points
  47. Helpfully my sister, her husband and four of the neicephews live not far from Tardebigge top
    1 point
  48. I think gutter sealant is black, comes in a tube and is Butyl based.
    1 point
  49. This post cannot be displayed because it is in a forum which requires at least 10 posts to view.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.