DandV

Love all of your photos and reading of you experiences in a boating environment totally alien to any of our experiences. Here currently 22deg daytime 14deg nights. Off on a 116year old yacht to a classic boat races and overnight end of year BBQ weekend on Saturday. Will probably avoid the snoring chorus below by sleeping on deck. Seasons Greetings from Auckland Don & Val

I was once involved in towing a yacht that had could not make headway under sail and then with sail and engine, in steep seas. At the top of each wave the rudder lost grip. the boat rounded up and the sails stalled. The boat was relatively short about 8m with a rudder extending well below the hull. I would have thought lifting rudder/prop could be a hazard in coastal/estuary passages in narrowboats let alone any channel crossings.

As shown the rudder seems far to shallow not to lift out of the water making the boat uncontrollable when in short seas near ahead or astern. I suspect the outboard would also be vulnerable to lifting the prop clear. cheers don

Just think of providing your boat with the very best preferential electrical current paths, that is by design you provide the least resistive paths and fault interruptions for the inevitable current flows under normal and fault conditions to minimise the very considerable damage that electricity going the wrong way can cause. It is much better that this current flows in captivity within the insulated cables you have provided then elsewhere in the next best place it can find, and if something does go wrong you have effective protection to shutdown the energy sources providing the push for this current. Cheers Don

With pumps resistive pressure drop on the discharge side of the pump just means less pressure available at the outlet. Resistive pressure drop on the suction side though, if excessive may cause the water to partially internally vapourise, effectively boil at low temperatures, severely affecting performance and life of the pump. This is known as cavitation and is the same as propeller cavitation. Suction pressure loss should be minimised by; Locating the pump as low as possible, minimising suction length, and sizing the suction pipework one or two sizes larger then the pressure side pipework. Impeller pumps are more prone to these problems then diaphragm pumps. Cheers Don

As other posters have said both your coolbox and absorption fridge are massively inefficient compared to a 12v compressor fridge, or even a 240v one operated through an inverter, including inverter losses. Changing the fridge over to gas just gives you another problem of always replenishing the gas bottles. When we installed a solar power system in our off grid holiday house we retired two 70 litre electrolux (dometic) caravan fridges that were rated at 400gram of LPG each per day. They were also rated 80w continuous on 240v ie nearly 2kwhr/day each. We replaced them with one standard Samsung 240v 320 litre fridge/freezer that even counting inverter losses uses less then 1kwhr/day. I suggest you look at the equipment plates on your appliances which will give their power rating but 80w at 12v = 7amp nearly or 160amp hr/day just for the fridge. A 40amp charger has to run 4hours just to keep up. Cheers Don

What I meant by TPS cable is as described by Wikipedia. That is Thermo Plastic Sheathed Cable. Historically we used to call it "truerip" as in twin true rip equaled two core. Don Edit add TPS should not be used where it will be subjected to flexing rather a multicore flexible cable should be used. The 16mm2 cable described by the OP looks good subject to the run length.

When I installed a 640w 24v solar array for on off grid house I was advised that in the total scheme the cost of the wire was small, but that minimizing voltage drop was critical. Keep cable sizes up and minimise run length. A savvy contractor advised that TPS cable gave the most copper for the price. I used one 2x6mm2 + 2mm2 earth for the positive feed an an identical on for the negative with all cores connected at the panel end and the same at the breaker end. This gave 14mm2 for a run of only 5metres. The best value cable here is premade extension cords. The heavy duty ones are 3 core 1.5mm2 so that for DC applications connecting the cores gives 4.5mm2 per flexible cable. Don

Here in new Zealand we have a significant active classic boating fleet with many of the boats over 100 years old. We also have the same debates over restoration and replication. It is simply not possible to be both, active and fully restored to “as built” using only original materials. Individual boats evolve over time. Of the gaff rigged yachts now actively racing only one I know of has not at some stage sported a Bermudan rig. Hemp cordage is virtually unobtainable and maintenance of cotton sails prohibitive to the rationed resources of the boats owners. However the owners have restored the essential features to as close as is practicable to original to replicate the experiences of the original crews. The sail plan and rigging are faithful replicas of the “as built” configurations without winches. Hulls and spars are all wood. However some modern features are fitted for safety and environmental reasons. Marine radio is fitted and toilets with holding tanks, however the veteran yachts are exempted by yacht racing safety authorities from having safety lines, (fences) around the decks. An absolute priority is to keep these boats active doing what they were designed to do, and to this end the Classic Yacht Association has a calendar of about thirty racing days a year summer and winter and including some overnight voyages. My own view there is a place for some inactive museum craft, but if a historic craft can be restored to become operational in close to original conditions, then being kept operational with the inevitable compromises in authenticity is far preferable to a static exhibit. Cheers Don

As many extended cruising boats are fitted with solid fuel stoves, and recent posters talk about taking delivery of ten bags of coal, my question is where on board is such fuel stored given the constrained space? and is the provision of such space a consideration when purchasing. Cheers Don

I really appreciate the Alvis's and Armstrong Siddeleys (or perhaps should they be Scammells or even Bedfords/Thames Traders)and "the proper engines" of the waterways and the efforts of their enthusiast owners to keep them active. They are like vintage cars, steam railways, and in my case veteran sailing yachts, a treasure in their own right. They give their current operators and hopefully a lot of others a great deal of pleasure, and their efforts keep heritage alive for the future to maintain its links to the past. Well done - however in this case we are just looking for a canal boat that exploits modern knowledge. Tomorrow I am off racing on a yacht that requires at least seven people just to pull the mainsail up to then spend three hours zig-zaging around the harbour when a modern catamaran with a third of the crew would do the same course in half the time, and Phylis onNaughty Cal would do it in a few minutes but she would have to obey the inner harbour speed limits - we dont. Cheers Don

If some engines require a certain amount of sulphur then surely an additive could solve that the same as an additive was required for some cars that were not compatible with unleaded petrol. I share the concern that biodiesel being much more hydroscopic is a significant potential problem. Diesel bug requires both fuel and water. All diesel is hydroscopic to a degree, but when there is limited water absorption bug growth is largely confined to the water fuel interface. However if more water is dispersed throughout the fuel there is more interface. Another potential problem I see is this dispersed water reacting with some of the residual sulphur producing acid and with the acids produced by any bug cultivation these will be be dispersed throughout the fuel causing potential problems to any alloy and brass components on the fuel system. Because of the especially intermittent nature of recreational boating these problems will be much more pronounced then in most other diesel fuel applications. Another potential problem in biodiesel is its differing hydrocarbon makeup may have it including a higher percentage of organic compounds that are less compatible with the rubber compounds used in hoses and seals. All good fun but I can see the need for greater fuel housekeeping and better fuel filtration.

As a devout coward I would not volunteer as crew across the channel except in the cab of the low loader but I am interested in how narrow boats get on handling head or following seas. With a relatively shallow prop and rudder located so far astern would not they be prone to lifting their vitals out of the water causing at best loss of useful power, but at worst loss of control and breakdown inducing stresses? Cheers Don

Our current parameters are less the ten years old although one or two 11-12 year old boats currently for sale would be on our "to see" list based and the published sales data. In three years time that would rule out any Springers. What we would be looking for is a comfortable reliable boat and its systems that at the end of the two (or three) seasons we can list with one of the big brokerages using their expertise to set a very realistic price for a relatively quick straight forward sale. We would settle for a Ford/Vauxhill but probably prefer a Toyota and envy the Mercedes. Dont need the high acceleration and superior cornering abilities of the Audi but do appreciate superior steering. Just No Allegros or Marinas or Hillmans! Cheers Don

At this stage our preference is a cruiser stern I just don,t like the appearance of those cut-off square ones and those jutting out corners could give some very abrupt stops instead of a deflection during a misjudged astern manoeuvre. Just think of how much extra foredeck room would be available with a cutoff square barge bow, like on house boats snd what they would do to the skill levels of steerers, get slightly out of line entering a lock and bang an abrupt stop. would add rapidly to the learning process. Cheers Don

Ok I am impressionable, There appears to be one camp that the hull is just a steel tube and that evaluation should be made on the current condition of that tube and another camp that some builders build better hulls, probably reflected in a higher initial price but this build quality will continue to provide a more durable hull, and for those "in the know" a more favorable resale price. I am currently in the transition towards being "in The know" hence the questions. What interests me primarily is functionality and durability ahead of pure aesthetics although even I draw the line against transom stern cruiser hulls in spite of the extra room on the aft deck. Cheers and thanks for your inputs. Don

I was instructed that the correct torque is about quarter of a turn less then when it had stripped or broke! Don

Played with the search function some more and found the thread entitled "Boat Valuation -where is the base line" started 1 May this year which covered the ground of my original question using the same analogies so thanks everybody and my apologies for recovering old ground. Cheers and thanks everybody for your help Don

Well you could use that photo of the propeller retaining nut as you avitor and change your user name to the "The Mangled Nut" Cheers Don

Took your advice Typed "Boatbuilders" in the search bar - The Result? One Post Your One! Taking volume produced hulls less then ten years old and volume produced cars less then ten years old surely both are produced to recognized standards but on some meeting price points is at the expense of better detailing, better features and finishes. This becomes significantly more important the longer you intend to own the boat. The quality of the functional fittout, protective coatings, electrics, plumbing etc is yet another matter not readily visible but important to the functionality and reliability. It is our intention to visit England at least once before arriving to purchase our boat and set off, so we would devote some of this time viewing boats and focusing our requirements but with 1200 narrowboats listed on Apollo Duck setting prescreening criteria is a requirement. Cheers Don Cheers

As I have said earlier we are looking at purchasing a 2plus 2 berth narrowboat in a couple of years time for two or perhaps three years of six months cruising, six months away six months cruising etc . Current indications is that a purchase budget of 35000-45000GBP should give a sensible reliable "clonecraft" 5 to 10 years old 45 to 60ft long. This is a bit cheeky but it would be helpful to us if forum members could rate well known hull manufacturers as motor car equivalents say Ford, Toyota, Honda, BMW and Mercedes. Liverpool Boats = Ford equivalent? Cheers Don & Val

If there was an LPG leak during the transfer which placed the air intake of the diesel within the air/vapour zone then this would become an uncontrolled fuel source for the engine hence potential runaway. There was an incident of a lorry engine running away at a fuel station. There was a motor spirit delivery underway into the underground tankage when a lorry came into refuel and the driver did not shut his engine off. The air intake snorkel of his truck found itself in the discharge plume of motorspirit vapour being displaced from the underground tanks during the delivery and his engine started an uncontrolled runaway. The tanker driver shutdown the delivery just before the runaway disintegrated but the comments were that the engine sounded like a boy racers Subaru WRX. Don

My wife was bought up in outback South Australia. At the southern end of the Flinders Ranges is the remnants of the original 3' 6" Ghan Railway operating as heritage line from Port Augusta through the Pichi Richi Pass to Quorn. For some reason all the directional signage on the railway and adjacent road has since time immemorial kept losing the first letters in all three words indicating the Pass. Don