OldGoat

No - but CaRT would - I asked some years ago to bring mine onto the Shroppie and 'they' said No (can't remember if it was BW or CRT)

If you want silence - well as much as you can get in a practical pachage put a freshwater cooled Beta in a well insulated box with an electric motor drive with an huge battery pack for whenyou want it really, really, really quiet

Secretly that's what I hoped from mine - but the water block thingy smoothed out the flow so I get a constant stream instead!

I'd forgotten about the challenge of skin tank size. My boat fabricator did fit one (the other side had the intake / mud filter) but that was for a possible genset).

I borrowed a lower cost 1200W inverter from Bimble a couple of years ago and it ran not only a very efficient 3/4 height FF but (separately) an ancient full sized FF with two compressors without any trouble. However it would not start either when on the reduced standby setting. IMO the 'challenge' with running 240v compressor fridges is the standby power requirement of the inverter. It's less of a problem IF folks had a more than basic battery capacity - which looking at threads on this forum is as reare as hens' teeth.....

Mebe I shouldn't rise to the bait - but just in case anyone's remotely interested - When we hired boats many, many years ago I had to go down the weed hatch to clear a matterss - and burnt my elbow on the (insufficiently) insulated exhaust. The next hire was from Teddesley Boat Co whose boats were fresh water heat exchanger cooled. No more burnt elbows, quieter running engines, cooler engine bay. Sooo when I had a hull built for us, I asked for heat exchanger cooling. I got a massive mud box with a slotted intake and baffle to which I fitted a Vetus second stage filter. In 30 years of boating it has never blocked - apart from om one tine whe The Management pulled over to the 'wrong side' on the Audlem flight into a pile of leaves which restircted any intake for a miute or so. The exhaust piping is easier to run as it is flexible rubber pipe and I could put the externat exhaust flange where I wanted. It also meant that the engine mounts could be softer - further reducing engine noise transmission - great when charging batteries and not cruising. The engine bay is cool, we have quiet running and battery charging - sooo what's not to like

It's not so much the 'quality' of the engine but more of the marinisation (? marination) of the unit. Beta use 'flat' belts (whatever they are called) for the auxiliary alternators etc; othders use V-belts - I was forever adjusting an early Beta engine with those. If you're sensible enough to have freshwater cooling then the quality of the heat exchanger is part of the equation as well.

And me!! In addition to the above plaudits, I recommend Beta because IME the Kubota engine has been designed by the manufacturers to make it easy to adapt the basic engine to a very wide range of tasks, for example different gearboxes heat exchanger exhaust manifolds shallow and deep sumps power takeoff options Multiple alternators The founder of the company was a salty water boater and knew the challenges of restricted spaces in an engine room. That made me feel comfortable when deciding what engine to fit in my boat. At that time choice was between Beta, Ford, BMC, Petter and mebe some others.

The 'basic' BBC and ITV type channels are all free on satellite Since our main terrestrial transmitter mast was upgraded a few tears ago we've not needed the dish so I can't give you a list. here you go:- https://www.freesat.co.uk/channels

99.9% of conversations about TV reception revolve around terrestrial transmitters. However all of the land based broadcasts are also on satellite (go on - show me which ones aren't...). It's not too difficult to find a mooring with a clear view of the satellites cluster; use your phone as a compass, and plan your mooring as you cruise along. Seemples.

We haven't 'done' the Nene for years, but being a river it's probably less prone to water shortages than a canal as its function is one of drainage and being broad as well has more depth of water.

That's a blast from the past. A very nice gentleman (others may disagree). His company hire boats are one of the best fleets on the system, well designed and well kept. We hired from him at least twice and had a great time on both occasions. A railway station next door amd over the bridge with good connections to Oxenford and places a bit further north. There's also a bus service that runs every Thursday fortnignt (joke) with connections to that place above and some shopping-village or other. Thewy've blacked my boat twice as well.

They're trying to run EA as if it were a business as directed by the TWA 2010. After all much of the River runs through locations where there's loadsa money - so why not take a slice....

You will have to notifgy the EA and pay a 'registration fee' - but it's not very onerous IIRC and amount for each pole hammered into the river bed and another for 'being there'. The EA are quite heplful and friendly if approached in a sensible manner (!)

I think / recon / know that (drilling and) tapping into a steel is A BAD IDEA becuase once corroded you (almost certainly ) can't get them out. It's better to drill a clearance hole and put a stainless steel screw and lock nut through the hull. If there's proper panelling on the inside, a little judicious effort in getting the length of screws right right makes the job done proper and the fixings internally unobtrusive. Seemingly more effort - but it isn't really.....

Yes, everything fixed, floating, swiming in or in the River needs a licence. Something to do with a muddy field within sight of the M25 and a group of revolting Barons....

The Thames 'licence' is not a licence - it's a registration fee that just gives you permission to be there. You cab pass through unlicencensed and the EA can't stop you. BUT the EA can sue you for not being registered, though its an expensive process for them to recover the debt. Daft - but there you go.

It's not that many years ago (I've been boating for too long....) that water restrictions on The River were a regular occurrence and those that enjoyed 'working the system' as it was akin to what you have to do on the canals anyway. Provided 'they' don't lock the headgear and gates, thos that enjoy working the system - as you do on the canals - its pleasant to just work along at your own pace. The 'proper' locks with the beatifully balanced beams and wheeled sluices are a delight - especially if the lock is just 'you' and perhaps another boat who know what they are doing. That was 5-10 years ago mebe - and was taken as normal. Now its a panic and we'll all die of dehydration.....

Echo Ditchcrawler above Try contacting Shoreline - They're usually quite helpful (although my last contact was several years ago)

With so many boats on the system that never move, I would have thought there would be a roaring (pun not intended) in such artifacts. Stove, engines cabin tops.......

Please be aware that - England is small and the area(s) where you can cruise are even smaller, The areas where you can move the boat from one canal to another are even smaller The boats are / can be cramped when compared with any RV that you know and the facilitues within are certainly very basic when compared with anything in the US. As the boats are narrow - so are the 'best' canals for cruising - broad canals and rivers are only a tad wider. Contgrarywise the scenery can be beutiful, the natives often friendly and helpful and the journey from one 'place to visit' to another is achevable if you have enough time. If you haven't already hows about - looking at some of the canal videos on YouTube for information about and from of those who cruise the system a lot, not only for their journeys but for the boat layouts as well. There's one particular broker who presents his boats well and his listings may help in dedciiding what layout to go for. That's probably enough for starters....

Yea!! Adapt and rule!

Some time it's more fun doing the research than the actual cruising. With someting like CanalPlan (is there anything else??) 'you' find a helluva lot more than you thought yo would need - which in the end makes the trip sooo much more enjoyable in retrospect.. Must be an age issue / years spent on cruising and finding out than having everything on aplate... Festina Lente is the best. Perhaps proceed at moderate haste and discover the scenery...

Umm - so may requests for 'how long' makes me wonder - has nobody ever tried CanalPlan? Put together some years ago by entusiasts with a lot more tham basic information. Or is it me being a cynic - its so easier to post on fora and let someone else do the work?? Please say no... -------------------------------------------- Murphy he say someone will point out the obvious (to us old grizzled boaters) in politer terms...