OldGoat

Don't you need a special pair of 'pliers' to apply those clips??

It's not the avian waste matter, but the output from my marina's goff club festivities that bothers me... (said club had a fireworks diaplay and most of the spent munitions ended up on my roof. Even as a non-playing member, I felt somewhat miffed - to say the least, but pay tribute to their ability to aim (or mebe not) on a target some four hundred yards away and at right angles to any known hole in the course...

Perhaps it's because to geot to where we want toc cruise, we have to traverse a lot of waters that we already know, thus overnight mooring are governed more by "can we get a picture" than 'is this a good mooring' !!

scrap freeview and go fo freesat and a dish. You need to get a clear view of the satellites (no trees / buildings in the way) - but the're always in the same posiion in the sky. You'll need a compass on your phone and a signal strength meter. Easy once you'worked out how to do it -but a pain until you do. I gues most folks can't be bothered...

The Thames above Reading gets better as you go up and up and up. It all depends on what you want; I suspect the pubs ar not one of the highlights (I could be doing them a disservice), but we choose quiet moorings as and when we find them - thus catering is onboard, being country folks we perfer cows farting to folks puking.... However, there are pubs around, certainly with drinks, I know not as to the quality of the food - you may find some treasures.... As to boating and views and relative quiet then the river above Oxford has a lot to commend it. I'll try and dig soe photos out later, but there are plenty of YouTube videos to give you an idea.

I suspect that many of the replies above come from people who are not moored in 'London'. However what they write is generally true. The central area is certainly overfull and I guess the only way to geunally comply is to join one of the groups who have a solution - swapping mooring spots. You may have more luck if you stretch "London" to include locations further out on - say the river Lee or further back up the Grand Union and be prepared to commute to work. If not in 'gainful employment', you have more scope in finding a bit of spare bankside further out.

Ummm - Lots of discussion about repacking etc, but nowt about greasing the packing? The packing will take a lot of grease "over time" (methinks mot of it goes straight through) before - suddenly - there's resistance to more grease and the gland stops dripping a lot and becomes manageable. It too me some years for that to happen! Whereas driving a car doesn't need a daily check a boat does and what you check depends on your what you find need checking (badly explained, but I hope you understand...) So many threads on here are of the "suddenly we have no fuel / no gas / water in the bilge" variety which could be avoided by daily checks?

I fitted out our boat pretty much as laid out in the first paragraph above - except it's a 25 Kg anchor and lots of chain. We've only deployed it twice once in the weir pool at Sonning Lock and further downstream below Henly. It was a complete waste of time and effort. The danforth wouldn't dig in, so the boat drifted. The chain scratched the paintwork and trying to keep the anchor clear of the side of the boat was a disaster. On the tidal river an anchor will just slow your progress only slightly.....

The overall challenge is that - in order to make any installation / modifications to (inland) boating is the insufficiency of suitable / affordable materials ( wires, cables, connectors and the rest). Thus builders and fitters-out have to compromise / get lucky/ or be a wizard. Today's demands to have the comforts and facilities of land based facilities does not translate into a wet boating environment. It's not until a problem arises that the boater realises the challenge and finds / makes a workaround - or quite often, not... Over the years I've watched loads of YT videos with (self proclaimed) specialists making a complete foul up up of simple mechanical service systems, not through ignorance, but often because the "whatever" was added at too late a stage in the fit-out process AND because there was no provision for later additions. It's frustrating for an outside viewer ("I wouldn't have done it that way") doesn't help the boater with a problem... There's aeons of skills in beating acres of steel into submission to give an accepltable and pleasing shape, but the square root of diddly squat in manipulating the cables, pipes, other services that today's boater thinks are essential to troanspond his / her specific NEEDS from bricks and mortar into a (moveable ?) acquatic environment. Summat's got to move, but I know not what.. Nurse is calling - I must go and eat and watch today's display of brightly coloured folks on horeseback. (If only canal boats could be built with the precision exhibited this week's practices on Horse Guards Parade)

Given there's another reason - maybe there's something obstructing his access to the stuffing box?? I put a posh CVT type thingy coupling on our boat and there was room to pack the gland without any extra fiddling around.

I wonder - With all the needles 'juddering' AND the gauges / lights flashing, etc - I wonder whether the engine is running too slowly for the alternator(s) to charge smoothly. I set my Bera system to tickover at a minumum of 800 rpm...

Oh dear, how canal boating (well mebe inland waterway boating) has changed..... Perhaps I should be glad that we've given up. Anyone want to buy a 60 footer on the Thames - it's not at a Thames price....

Off the top methinks you principal problem in pushing the shaft back will / migh be that the rudder wiil be in the way of the shaft for 4 inches. Anyway why do you need to mobe the propshaft anyway? I just remove the stuffer plate and pushed the packing into the space with very little water ingress (if any).

! Duh - I meant the construction of HS2 around the city. Lots of tired old factories being demolished to make way for new transport connections and 'the bits left over' will (I have a feeling) will / are being landscped sympathetically). As a boat visitor from darn sarf I'm impressed by what's happening to the city centre; making it pedestrian and boating friendly and pleasant to cruise!!

I'd rather have the Farmers' flight rather than the Aston - but that's probably because the former has become 'smart' and the Aston is mebe in the process of having its surroundings being rebuilt. (Anyway turn rignt at the top of the Aston and get a view of the mayhem of HS 1 1/2....

Only when thw cameras are on...

Wot he says above. It's difficult to insure your own competance and though difficult to say - you must be prepared to take a hit - espicially in areas of which you have no knowledge. Easy - to some extent if buying a car as there is some safety (!) in buying a car - MOT, or a house. But a boat is a can of worms. I'm selling at the moment and an getting frustrated because I don't know what buyers want (nor do they...) thus I can't say why my boat is better than the rest ? what is better? Its full of the best 'technology' - but what sells is painted white with no built in furnitire, so nobody come to look... Bummer

This is what the boat coul look like :- It looked horrible and the cabin was difficult to clean. In practice the boat had a marina moorings and the shutters were never used in anger, so they were removed....

Ahh - happy days! I spent my formative years and 'professional training' in London (city) mixed in with various hobbies - thus it's interesting to recall addresses connected with boating and not business. Miss it but not trhe travel!

Not the answer that the OP wants - but from a matter of practicality, the plastic lenses transmit a lot more light than the glass ones - so are better at doing their intended job. If you really must have a glass one, how about - painting the inside of a clear lense, red or fitting a red sweet wrapper (or similar) inside a plain lens? Neither are really satisfactory but may provide a temporary solution.

How quaint - a navigation light and - presumably used... (I jest) I see the example came from Sheridan Marine - the home of older craft on the Thames and accordingly should be treasuered. I wonder whether the OP might look for salty stuff 'proper' marine chandlers where glass lenses would be othe order of the day? Arthur Beale stock the light from Timage - thus may be able to help with a lense??

Come on BR - you've been (in a previous existence maybe) on the Thames, so you well know how whatever knowledge of water-craft rowers have (or not). Thus it should be no surprise to you. I suspect thee and I are the only folks that use sound signals. Methinks the best is five blasts which to me says - as once shouted to me by the late Duke of Edinburgh - "Get out of the bloody way" (but that was in a carriage driving event and I was a marshall). Happy days..

No it's some Testo-di-catso spouting off. The rules apply to everybody...

Birmingham is well worth a visit (or maybe essential to visit). The area around the conference centre has been spruced up and there are lots of (relatively) quiet moorings available. When boating we tend to moor out in the sticks - but are equally content to moor in Brum. There are many Youtube videos around so you could almost choose your exact mooring ! After you've had an overdose of shopping I can recommend - The pen museum National Trust Back to backs NT round house The jewelery quarter The art gallery The library - great views from the roof. All the above are walkable and pedestrianised from the canal(s) Most threads on here discuss cruising but ignore places to visit. The BCLM has been mentioned - do not forget the fish and chip shop which is excellent. Enough!

In this case it's not that boats are complicated - it's a matter of adapting a motor vehicle system and parameters for generating electricity but failing to realise that the parameters are different (alternator running at slow speeds on a boat) - and not adjusting it.