PeterDHS

Thankyou. You guys are marvellous and I thank you for your time and interest. Seems that moorings are a bit sparce but not impossible, and also that the Nene is a beautiful stretch of water which is well worth exploring. Peter

Just looking at possible places for our annual 'big summer cruise' from the Soar. The Nene looks very appealing and is virgin territory for the 'Feersum Endjin' and crew. However I'm concerned that mooring spots seem few and far between, especially if you discount marinas. Can I manage without towpaths and winding holes.....or pubs at regular intervals ? Love to hear from any locals. Peter

Hi Ricco, Just a thought.......when I fiited a car radio many moons ago I took advice that basically said I should not rely on a hull/shell connection as an aerial earth. It is not like a car where the body is purposely wired to negative. I was told it was OK to fit the aerial as long as I put a capacitor thingy in the positive line to prevent earthing the entire boat via the canal with consequent burnt wires etc. Could it be that you have something similar and the capacitor has over-loaded and fritzed ? Peter.

Ray T- Thanks for the photo.....I have never seen a gizmo like that, and I am sure a 'reverse design' would be simpler and cheaper than hacking into the swan-neck tobe. Cheers Peter.

Thanks for all the advice you peeps. Seems that the concensus is that I need not worry about about stray currents or removing the leisure isolator, but simply connect jumpers black to black then red to red (carefully). Then crank to start, and remove jumpers asap and no damage should be done. Correct ? Peter.

Kristian has a recent topic about 'running an engine without a starter battery'. I don't want to hijack his topic so am starting a new one. Can anyone tell me step-by-step how you would safely jump start from my 4 leisure batteries if the starter battery was flat ? I can guess the obvious bits but frinstance would it be adviseable to remove the leisure 'plug' whilst cranking the starter ? would it damage the leisure alternator ? would it boil/damage the leisure batteries ? Is the safest (and least effective no doubt) route to connect and 'equalise' the two sets of batteries for an hour with both plugs out, then reconnect and try again on the stater battery only ? TIA Peter.

Big thanks for all the advice to-date, although none deal with the crucial bit of how one might 'raise' the height of the tiller, anything on this would be great. 1) I appreciate what people say about the dangers of being in the sweep of the tiller should it hit or catch on anything. Realistically this would mean that at least two-thirds of the stern would be out of bounds. Also whether seated or standing would make little difference with only a couple of inches between tiller and bum rail- it will still act like a blunt scissors. Also how would this advice apply to a trad stern where the sweep covers all the available stern and there is no rail for safety ? 2) Interesting that some say there is little benefit in exceeding 45 degrees port/starboard. I am sure I was vaguely aware of this in theory if not practise. Last week I had to wind in a small widening in front of a red-lighted floodlock. I don't know if I would have succeeded without steering at 85 degrees. 3) Machpoint (thankyou)- your idea of a plank may be worth investigating....not because it helps with the height issue but because it would move the seat forward possibly far enough for a hinged tiller to work ! Keep it coming people, it is all appreciated Peter

I have two Massey Ferguson tractor seats which I want to mount on the bum rail of my cruier stern NB. Problem is this would clash with the sweep of the tiller which is only 2 inches higher than the rail and limit the turn to about 45 degrees each way. I have looked at ways of hingeing the seats to drop backwards or simply lift off but they are all a bit clunky inelegant solutions. The elegant solution would be if the swan-neck was simply 3 inches higher ! Is this a cut and weld jobbie ? Would it need a steel bar insert ? Expensive ? Anybody modified or swapped their swannies ? Thanks Peter ps I have looked at the tiller-hinge options and they will still hit the seats.

I have a Pheonix and it is totally reliable and trouble-free on the basis of switching on/off and not getting technical. If anyone is writing to Victron can I add a plea for their Instruction Manual to be issued in English ?

Transmitted sound comes in two flavours...airborne sound and structural sound. Airborne sound is higher frequencies travelling through the air in straight lines and can be minimised by lightweight baffles/egg-crate shapes which 'reflect' and absorb the energy. To be even 80% effective there should be no 'holes' such as vents etc that the noise can track through and this is difficult on a cruiser stern with what sounds like two abutting access plates. Strucural sound is the reverberation of the engine resonating through the steelwork and can be minimised by mass (weight) on the simple argument that it takes much more resonance to 'move' a heavy object than a light one. So the professional insulation panels have a heavy core with a foam bonded on the outer face. Any DIY solution needs to replicate this basic principle. Pete

I seem to remember that there are some serious issues to do with fixed aeriels when used on a boat (help me someone). If you use a 'car' aeriel drilled through the roof it is not the same on a boat. A car uses the metal body as the earth return path but on a boat you must not have an earth return path except a proper wire all the way back to the box. The consequence can be a lot of current exiting via a very thin aerial lead to the shell and the canal (biggest available earth), the cable melting and you can imagine the rest. There is a solution by putting a resitor thingy in the circuit but I can't remember the details. The guy at Maplins sorted it for me and was very helpful (turned out he was an ex-boater himself). Peter.

I know what you mean but it's a bit nit-picking when my gist was obvious. The carrying boats did not have much in the way of side fenders and largely didn't need them as a profesional boatman would rarely do more than 'kiss' the bank/lock/ whatever. (my romantic view and probably as untrue as life itself). My father (ex petty officer)would no doubt quote Queens regs on setting orf on a jolly boat with fenders down (ten lashes) but don't get confused between over-crewed spit-and -polish RN bull and what goes on ont cut. Do whatever you are comfortable with as long as you don't cause harm. Peter.

Excellent wheeze. I will try it on and report back. Thanks, Peter.

Fenders up, fenders down, not important and do what you like. I'm a bit hacked with the purists out there, or any dictats on how you do your boating. Assuming you have a standard width boat ie it fills a narrow lock or half a wide lock (including fenders)AND your fenders are not trailing in the water and thereby wasting fuel/warming my globals, then fenders down are fine by me. Much better than risking a scrape as my recent experience when a fenderless boat was steered alongside by a gin-sodden twerp resulting in two yards of paint damage to my boat and virtually none to hers (fact, not sexism). The bottom line is CONTROL. A skipper should be in absolute control of the boat and crew in order not to cause harm or damage to others or the environment. If this is best served by fenders down then fenders down it is. It is also served by keeping 'reasonably'sober at the tiller. Peter (by no means a killjoy) from NB 'Endjin'

Does anybody out there have the RAL reference/ product name for 'Beta engine green? I would like to touch-up the damage caused by topping up the anti-freeze without my specs on (duh) Thanks again Peter.

I have a Beta 1505 in NB Endjin which has never ever got hotter than 68-69C even working hard against the Trent in full flow. I did a coolant flush and change recently and took the chance and put 'pink'antifreeze in instead of blue. The result is that the engine now rarely gets hotter than 65C. Be happy....a warmish engine is better and cheaper than a white hot one. If your problem is the water cooling in the calorifier overnight then you need decent lagging. Peter.

Top Tip.......when you cut the tee into the calorifier top hose from the engine extend it vertically and terminate with a 'drain down' cock. This allows you to fill and bleed from the highest point in the system thus avoiding air lock problems when you change the coolant. Peter.

Got to believe it then Firesprite, thanks. Tony Brooks thoughts also make sense, as always. However we are drifting off topic a little bit.....does anyone have a green B38 with a wasting anode and if so where is is (photo) ? Thanks Peter.

Firesprite....are you sure? The guy who used to berth next to me had a 'red' engine in the NB 'M&M' and that was keel cooled, indeed the keel was often full of water!....although he did seem to boil up once a fortnight! (he eventually discovered that his pump impeller was worn to a stump). My assumption had been that the red engines were superseded by the green eco-friendly none-smoking variety ???? Peter.

My egg-beater is circa 2003 and green in colour. I think this is important as the previous red engines had a Zinc wasting anode on the front of the water jacket which had to be checked/replaced periodically. Anyway I drained down to replace anti-freeze, thought I would check the anode whilst empty, but blow and be-damned if I could find one! Checking on the BetaMarine 'fast moving parts list' I find that the red engine has anode part 209-61840 listed, but absolutely nothing for the greenline engines. I am tempted from this to believe that the 'superior' green engines don't have an anode. .......unless anyone can tell me different????? Also, I am doing a complete flush with a view to going 'pink'(OAT antifreeze) instead of blue. Opinions??? Thanks in advance, I don't know what I would do without your accumulated knowledge. Peter. Grammar- knowing the difference between your shit and you're shit.

I wanted to call my boat the Bluarzd Flyer but the cabin staff objected. Peter.

A first for The Forum then......100% agreement that flying pigs and snowballs have more chance than the poor old boater.Funny old World. Thanks, Peter.

Thanks you guys...I'm convinced. Well I guess I was more or less convinced before but perhaps not quite convinced enough to part with money! I will get the Safeshore GI as it looks idiot-proof. Thanks again for the help.

Last year was my first full year on the water, however from August I could only go North from my mooring as all directions South were closed due to the Water Authority taking reservoir water for people to drink and shower etc, selfish bleeps. What are our chances if we all gang together and demand a BWB rebate??? Pete.

As a failed Architect but with 40 years in the building game, I am bemused with the concept of double-glazing an NB. The ventilation required by the Regs (for your safety) means that the heat loss by ventilation is far far greater than heat loss difference between single and double glazing. If your problem is condensation the cure is good ventilation. Sealing yourself up in your own fug is daft and dangerous. Lol, Peter