Billypownall

Our boat needs a repaint. Our preferred yard is suggesting brush painting. WE seem to think that spraying would give a better finish. We don't know whether to go for the brush finish or look for a yard that will spray paint. What do others think?

Navigators and General

A fool and his money are soon parted but I would still like to know where the 45 marinas fr sale mentioned in Towpath are. I still cant find any.

What about a 300 berth marina then earning £625000 a year or even a 450 berth marina earning £1125000 a year. I suspect that such a marina would cost 7 or 8 million today which gives a more than reasonable profit. Most older marinas cost much more modest sums to build and their profits must now be in the mega bracket. Not that I begrudge them any profit they earn but I wish they would stop trying to put a block on new marinas which can only be to the benefit of we overcharged customers,

All the whinging by existing marina operators concerning the opening of new marinas is getting a bit hard to bear. There is no doubt this is caused by fear of their excessive profits being eroded. There seems to me no reason to charge anything up to £2500 to moor an average sized boat. This sort of charge has been brought about by a shortage of moorings. Nothing more and nothing less. This situation at last seems to rectifying itself and charges are coming under pressure . A Leicestershire Marina operator states in the latest edition of Towpath that 77 marinas are showing signs of failure and 45 are currently up for sales at a loss. I would like to know where this information comes from. I have tried more than once to buy a marina without success and I cannot find one for sale at the present time. Cartainly searching on the internet yields no result.Many marinas are at present being planned and if they are in good positions they are sure to be successful. The ones in poor locations may suffer but that is nothing to do with any potential glut of spaces.One of the areas cited for congestion is the area around Braunston.I have to say that in over five years in the area we had few problems and there is room for many more boats. May we have more new marinas to the benefit of local economies,for the good of the canal system and boat owners alike.

All the postings concerning Fuel Bug are very interesting however they seem pretty inconclusive. Particularly with regard to fuel additives . Seems to me as past sufferer of fuel bug that we need to know how effective the various fuel additives are. We had the bug with all it's well documented problems and since then we have used Marine 16 continually. We have had no further problems. Has anyone who has used Marine 16 regularly ever had the fuel bug?? If nobody comes forward it would be a good indication that Marine 16 is doing it's job. Adding it is quite expensive and I would not like to think we could manage with it. On the other hand getting rid of the bug when you have it is a major problem as we found out.

Glad to see your reply Alan. My physics is long since past it's best but I think you can have light or heat and tube heaters will give many times more heat than a light bulb. We have a modest 320 watts of tubes spread down the boat on a thermostat set at 6 degrees. In 8 years the interior temperature has not gone below 0. We do have front and rear canopies which I think must add alot to the boats insulation. We worry about the shore power failing for some reason but so far our boats have overwintered well.

It is rare for the flows on the river sections on the Soar to prevent passage in the Summer months. Even in Winter the river is usually benign. In obvious severe wet weather great caution must be used. Stay put must be the rule. Generally this does not apply very often. Do not be put off the Soar as it is a really nice run from Leicester to the Trent.

Our boat is due it's first Boat Safety Certificate. Is it a standard charge that all inspectors make or do they differ.I suppose travelling costs must come into it somewhere. Or is it a negotiable charge?

I dont know if it is still the same but on 3 the pay as you go credit used to run out after a time. I changed to Vodafone for this reason. I must say that I rarely fail to get a decent connection. The cost for my use of about £40 a year is worth every penny. With 3 I was getting time expired.

Halfords also sell this oil but Yanmar state that the viscosity should be 10/40 and maybe this oil is too thick. I think I am going to go with CF oil as the previous posting seems to say go upwards rarther than downwards. Maybe best to with Barrus Oil but the cost is very high. It's really all a bit confusing.

As I started this thread I must thank the posters of the replies. Indeed I bought 5 litres of CC grade from Halfords as I understood a basic oil should be used. Something about bore glazing. Actually on the can it states for classic engines. Now realising that Barrus quote CD grade it seems I have bought the wrong oil However if CD grade is obsolete what are Barrus doing recommending it. It seems like the oil the plot thickens. Castrol RX super is mentioned and is probably cheaper than Barrus oil. Putting barrus oil in is probably the easy way out however unless someone knows better.

Barrus recommend API CD engine oil. Is API CC suitable or not. What is the difference between these oils?

Not only do the brushes wear out but they tend to stick in their holders. Make sure they are free. If not a gentle rub with emery cloth will free them off

Sounds like an asset to Cropredy and the Oxford canal in general. Will bring new life to the area.

Is there any need to chnage Alternator Belts at only 900 hours ??

We are having a new boat built and we have come to the question of battery charging from the engine alternator. This is 80 amp and will be charging the engine battery and the three 115 amp domestics. We have had success with the sterling alternator to battery charger but our boatbuilder will not fit this and proposes a Mastervolt batterymate.Will this split the charge between the batteries alright? Does it increase the voltage from the alternator as does the sterling unit? Most of all are they reliable ? I would have liked a larger alternator but apparently Yanmar will not guarantee the engine wih a larger one fitted. (which seems rarther strange).

We bought the Imray guide to the Nene last year for our cruise to Peterborough and found it to be virtually useless.The information it contained was very much out date.

Does your charge of a "little over RCR's price" include the cost of the oil and in my case three filters ? If so you sound very reasonable.

Beeston Marina are advertising moorings. Only 4 miles from central Nottinghamn.

I would like to know just why the narrowboats have engine problems. I suspect that it has nothing to do with stress but more to do with fuel. All the crud which has settled on the bottom of the fuel tamk is disturbed by the motion usual on a tideway. This in no time will lead to fuel problems. I would never venture on a tideway without verification that my fuel tank was spotlessly clean.

I am surprised anyone leaves a boat with the gas supply not turned off either by a dedicated gas tap within the boat or at the bottles. Best do this whenever the gas is not being used particularly at night. Having helped rescue a familly from a cruiser which exploded on the Thames some years ago I witnessed the dangers first hand. Keep it turned off when at all possible.

You have been very unlucky Tony. I have bought lots of things from Ebay from Koi Carp to a 1987 Rolls Royce. A 1932 Austin 7, Television 2 Cameras and several Steam Locos and a Steam Boat. Maybe 200 items in all over the years. Only once was I as you say ' ripped off' That matter was resolved OK. I consider most of the items to have been at bargain prices,some incredibly so. Only a few did not come up to expectations. I think most people would say Ebay is a great tool for both buying and selling.

I am sure Gibbo is right with his calculations. However in our case I have to say that the Sterling Alternator to Battery Charger appears to have solved all our problems. Last year we had nothing but low battery problems mainly because the voltage from the alternator reaching the batteries rarely reached 14 volts. Barrus checked the alternators and deemed them OK. Following Gibbo's advice on this forum we had the cable from the domestic alternator increased in size. This helped and we did see 14.15 volts but no more than this even after a full day's cruising. Mostly the most we saw was 14 volts.A somewhat crude clip on ampmeter would show a charge rate of about 55 amps when the batteries were fairly low dropping to 25 amps as they became charged.The inevitable smartgauge was fitted which seemed to verify that the alternator would take forever to charge our batteries (660 amp). The wiring to and from the batteries was changed as Gibbo recommends. Input and output from one end from one end of the battery bank and negative from the other.This maybe helped a little. The Sterling unit appealed as it seemed so simple to fit ( I would not have a clue how to fit a relay) and the idea of the engine alternator doing a bit more work appealed. It would not futhermore void the guarantee on the alternators. Well why or how I do not know but the Sterling has worked. We now get 14.7 volts at the batteries. The ampmeter shows a much increased reading and the Smartgauge will show 100% in about 4-5 hours. Maybe we have been robbed as to the cost but the result to us has been worth it.