pete.i

They are also a pile of junk. I have them all over my house and most are leaking to one extent or another from the same place. They are a ball valve which really doesn't like pressure of any sort after a while. They are useful in a boat where space is at a premium especially with water pipes etc that tend to to be laid in extremely tight areas. I'm replacing all the ones in my home with gate valves where I can. Unfortunately gate valves tend to be a lot bigger with a great big turning thingy on them, I will, probably, have to keep one or two of the ball type isolators due to space constraints but we shall see.

Actually yes. I also remove any advertising stickers in the window AND change the number plates for Ebay ones that only have a post code on them which is nothing to do with the car maker. Unfortunately it is illegal to use number plates that do not give any indication as to where they were made. I also cannot change the shape of the car but to be honest in this day and age it is very difficult to recognise one maker's design from another's.

I think I would try ringing the insurance company that you think you are insured with. I suppose that that might be difficult if you cannot use your phone properly though. And what the hell has Amazon and Visa cards got to do with this thread????????????????????????

EEERRRRR wot???????

The way trhings are going I would think that the canals will become unusable long before you will need to think about electric boats.

Yet another cloud cuckoo land resident. He says he works for a "renewables company" so I suppose he has an invested interest in pushing heat pumps. Good luck with that one.

And all the ships burning that heavy fuel oil that brings us our lifestyles. The things that are being proposed at the moment will not make the slightest difference. We will have to go back to the stone age to reverse climate change, if indeed climate change is actually happening or if climate change is not one of the natural progressions in the planet's climate cycles which have happened for the last millions of years. Making me get rid of my gas boiler wont change a thing.

You wont miss much between Freeview and Freesat. It's all junk but at least it's free junk unlike Sky junk that you have pay mega bucks for, apart from the scamming BBC licence fee of course.

In my ten years of boating I did join the IWA at first because I read the blurb and decided it was a good organisation to be in. I very very soon realised that it had lost it's way. Tom Rolt and Robert Aickman got together in 1944 after Tom Rolt wrote his book Narrow Boat. In 1946 the IWA was formed. Over a period of years the IWA saved the canal system in this country. Basically two people did that. As said. the boating fraternity is as fragmented as hell but if anything is to be done to save the canals for a second time then some of the whingers and whiners need to form a new orgaisation to do just that. All I can say is that I am glad that I am no longer on the canals.

I used RCR twice in my ten years of boat ownership and they were brilliant. It's only the whingers on here that get the bad experiences.

Absolutely this^^^^^^^^. Water does come in from the stern gland and other areas also condensation will deposit water. Obviously the best way is to check it on a daily basis. If you cannot then the next best thing is an automatic bilge pump. They are all junk, partly because they are all made in China and partly because of where they are situated. But if your boat isn't checked regularly and the pump packs up for whatever reason your boat could sink. Dead batteries or a burnt out bilge pump are not the end of the world, a sunken boat could well be. Boat ownership, just like house ownership, is a risky business. The big difference between a house and a boat is that a boat tends to be left for long periods of time without anyone checking it. IMO even with all the potentail problems that an automatic bilge pump has having one far outweighs not having one.

Absolutely the ONLY reason for a twin wall flue, on a boat or in a home, is safety. If your stove is in a corner near some steps, as mine was on my last boat, and you have children on board then it does make a bit of sense to have a twin wall flue. On my boat I did find that my hand got seriously close to the flue when I ascended the steps to the cratch area. Because of that and because my grandchildren came on the boat I installed a twin wall flu. BUT you will lose heat AND having a twin wall flue does make the flu nearer to any combustables because it is thicker and I do not think the recomendations change, as to distances from combustable materials, just because you have a twin wall flue . I don't think the rules and regs apply as such to a boat but that doesn't mean they shouldn't be taken into consideration when fitting out. If your flue isn't near to anywhere where hands can touch it easily I wouldn't bother. As said a perforated steel wrap would be better if only from the point of veiw that it would allow some of the heat from the flue out into the boat. Mine wasn't perforated and I'm not sure of the aesthetics of a perforated flu personally. Ah you're talking of a twin wall chimney. Different kettle of fish all together.

And there you have the problem.

I do not know why everyone is bothering with hybridisation or Telsa or anything else that purports to save the planet. It's either doomed or it isn't no matter what paltry contributions we make. Big businesses are not going to stop shipping your iphones and all the other tech we use in great big heavy fuel oil powered ships belching out massive amounts of pollution. Nor are they going to stop using aircraft also belching out massive pollution in those pretty vapour trials everybody goes "OOOOOHHHHH" at. And that is not taking into consideration the vehicles on the roads or the industry or all the people who want to fly off to "exotic" locations around the world. Some of the ships on our oceans at the moment and aircraft in the skys....... Think about it.

We bought one of those Yawn things advertised on telly when we moved. We knew that our furniture wouldn't be there when we got to our new home. It was one of the most uncomfortable things I have ever slept on and as an ex squaddie I have slept in some bad places in my time. It was also freezing cold as the cold came up from the floor. I suppose if we had used a topper it might have been a bit better but as soon as our regular beds arrived the following day the blow up bed went in the bin.

I would think that if boaters took up that idea those plastic bags would end up hanging from various tree branches around the system just like dog poo bags just waiting to burst and distribute their contents all over the unlucky person underneath.

Sounds like another place NOT to go with a narrowboat IMO.

Yes but that aint gonna happen. And boaters are just as much at fault in this regard as fisher people

I've used Ricky Tropman a couple of times. Very thorough, fair and tells you exactly how it is, good and bad. I was also with him for most of the time that he carried out the surveys for me and he was more than willing to answer my questions.

And the quality is going down and down and down. I have never rated the quality of most woods that I buy from, so called, timber merchants and I don't know about the quality of exotic stuff like oak but pine, plywood etc is absolute rubbish. The ply is unlaminating in places and there are large gaps between the layers. Most of this junk is coming from China but I have had stuff from Latvia and other mid european countries that is just as bad. I have even sent wood back to the timber merchant that I buy my wood from because it is unusable. don't even think of getting "proper" marine ply. It's non-existant. Suppliers keep telling me that WPB ply is as good or better, it isn't it's just the same old rubbish that will de-laminate in weeks.

I did and this is all I could get. Image dated 5/7/2020. It's the big white blob in the middle of the pic.

There was/is one just like that on hard standing at Selby boatyard just rotting away. In the years that I had a boat at Selby I never saw anyone go anywhere near that boat. I wonder if it's the same one that someone has finally done something with. Unfortunately as I have now moved away from Selby, back to Wales, I cannot check.

Everything is going up and up in price. Suppliers are blaming covid and the lack of supplies because of a ship that was stuck in the Suez canal even thoughthat ship was unstuck weeks ago. It's just an excuse for suppliers to hike prices.

It would be better if you could give a blow by blow account of what you have done as Tony Brooks has suggested. Bet 1: lack of adequate bleeding. Bet 2: Lift pump fault (diaphragm or cap seal). Bet 3: seals in fuel filter incorrectly fitted. The rarer thing like fuel pick up pipe split or blocked etc. There is a knack to bleeding the 1.5 and the 1.8 BMC engines especially when you get to the high pressure pump. There was a manual online, which has been reproduced on here lots of times if you search and there was a Wilton Marina You Tube video of how to bleed the BMC engines which has also been reproduced on here. Any air leaks anywhere in the fuel delivery system will prevent the engine from starting. After you have successfully bled the engine you shouls get a good dribble of fuel from the delivefry pipes at the injectors if you loosen one. Do not undo it fully the diesel jet is quite powerful. Just crack the nut and a goodly amount of fuel should come out. Once you have a good dribble at the first injector the should start although it will be very lumpy and horrible sounding. Once it fires then loosen each injector nut a tad to release any air and allow fuel to reach the injectors. As long as all the delivery pipes are tight and the high pressure pump is good then everything should fire up and it should be good to go.........................At least that is what I used to do when I had a BMC 1.5 and it seemed to work for me. These videos might be useful.