Trix

Thickness report on survey showed boat had lost very little my concern was did he miss that area or would the rust show up as the metal being thicker as it appears in the pictures , having chipped away at it the bottom seems pretty solid I may take the bath out and dry and paint it but that will have to wait until I have moved nearer where I need to be.

Just had a walk down the tow path in Newbury the water is running very fast especially once past the Marina heading East hopefully it will ease up soon or we are in for an interesting ride .

Whilst looking under floors etc today after finding some unwanted rust earlier i found this, its from 1989 and makes for interesting reading , licence fees, the latest systems at the time etc etc but the list of builders is enormous and it lists number of hulls built , springer had built 4000 by 1989 calcutt 200 . They sent a survey to 110 builders i wonder how many are still going ???

Heres what i can see camera held under floor

Yesterday my shower pump became inefficient , I have only had the boat three months but I'm learning fast , so guessing a blockage I removed panel behind sink found the pump then the hair trap . It was full so I emptied and pump great again . Then I pointed my torch to the bottom of the boat and to my horror saw lots of what looked like rust , and it's a little damp. When I touched it it began to crumble . Now very worried I took deep breath and stuck a screw driver into it , about 1-2 mm came away but it is very solid underneath the boat was surveyed and apart from some small pits all was well . What worries me is would the survey have been ok if this had been seen ?is it something I should panic about ? Should I now dismantle the bath room remove the rust if it is rust and paint it ? Should I contact the surveyor and ask his advise ?

We are heading in the opposite direction , we stop for 7 days whilst I work then travel for two when I'm off , other half is on the boat full time so if you want to moor up next to us we can keep an eye on it for a week if needed . Hope that makes sense . Currently though we can't get passed hungerford last I heard closed until March 1st.

i found the marine electronic/electrics bible very good

I don't blame Crt the work has to be done but it is driving me mad , had another meeting with the boss today and got a stay of execution but still another month of 120miles to work and back which is taking its toll on me and my bike, oh well . I went to look at the Thames yesterday and agree i would not be taking that on just yet but every mile i get closer is a help , Newbury would be fantastic the way things are at the moment .

im fed up with this that will be three month's i have been waiting to get past hungerford , if i have too wait any longer it could even cost me my job , where did i put my bolt croppers :banghead: :banghead:

We are going the other way into London but have been stuck at Bedwyn for weeks , Hungerford is now closed until the 22nd Feb so looks like a few more weeks yet hopefully the water levels will have dropped by then , not looking forward to the Thames as im very new at this but have to go eeeekkkkk

Where did you get the info is it reliable because if so ill set of next week towards hungerford

I bought my boat in a marina and had to sit there for a few weeks and all was well , the minute i left onto the canal things started to go wrong, whilst sat at the many stoppages along the way i have learnt a great deal about the boat and how it works in the last two months . This forum has been a big help as well . Once you sort out the niggles it is fantastic but I know how you, feel hanging my head down the engine bay to discover the broken fan belt in the dark with flat batteries is not much fun as was the heating packing up . My heating was caused by a build up of rust at the pump that circulated it which in turn caused an air lock i got there in the end and all is now well , but i rarely use it as the fire keeps us very warm indeed and is cheaper than the gas. buy a couple of basic books on marine engines and electrics to help you.

I'm on a 48 hour mooring on the k&a and have been for weeks , I can't move as the canal is shut I'm desperate to move , they open the lock in front of me on the second of Feb but yesterday that closed hungerford for three weeks and I have no way of getting to the next water tap. I phoned crt and explained ,even asked for help to get through there answer stay on the mooring until you can move . Guess I'm one of those bad guys . My point find out the circumstance of the individual first . Also if there are any volunteers to help me carry my boat past the stoppages I'd be grateful .

We are at great bedwyn i took a walk up the tow path the other day at hungerford to see if there was any way i could get water etc this side of the swing bridge but there is nothing so we are now stuck here at least we have water , shop etc but i really need to be heading towards London now .

I phoned crt about this the other day as they open lock 65 on the 2nd Feb but are closing hungerford today that means we are stuck here another month , I informed them I would be on a 48mooring during that time and asked if they could delay or if any assisted passage was available , the answer, "sit on the mooring " They did also say that the weather may delay the work and to keep an eye on the Web site , it's causing me many issues with work and driving us mad as we want to move .

I was at willow tree marina yesterday the marina was completely frozen but the canal was free from ice

You have lost me with the comment about three rails

Fridge is currently a box outside , I use a maplins 150 watt charger for the lap top but only when engine is running , today both phones are in the van being charged , but I normally work on a bike so that's a temporary thing . My bulbs are car type so the lidl ones won't work but thanks for the link . I think my issues are around the amount of charge I'm putting in . With the addition of LED bulbs we will see how we go , I do have a shower when I get home so have two pumps running for that short time but hopefully more in and less out will sort it . One last thing I'm he not a she lol

Cheers Chris that makes a lot of sense I do have a generator but it's massive drinks fuel and is very loud have been offered a smaller one that's quiet for a swap but with much lower output . I'll start the routine of bringing the batteries up tomorrow .

Ok I'll give the engine a good run tomorrow , hell that water will be hot lol you can't touch it after an hour , will also get some bulbs and see how we go from there

There are two leisure batteries and one starter , not sure on alternator size but will look in the daylight on Wednesday when I have day off . We have been on the boat a month or so but on shore power we are now trying to move up the k&a but are stuck so it would be nice to have some light , does it hurt the engine running for longer , I'll try and find some LED bulbs tomorrow at work . I have an amp clamp so I'll see what they are taking

Can anyone point me in the right direction here. I run my engine for about an hour in the evening when I get home from work , at this time (7pm)I charge my lap top and two mobile phones when I turn off the engine I turn off the lap top charger but keep one phone on charge as it is my internet hub. I have two lights on which are basically stop and tail car bulbs 21w . By 10pm I'm sitting in the dark , the batteries have been tested and I'm told are good so are these bulbs too big or do I need to run the engine for longer . Currently stuck at a stoppage so I can't cruise for a while . I do want to invest i.e. solar when funds allow but is there anything I can do in the meantime , possibly LED bulbs , would they make much difference ? Any help gratefully received as I'm fed up with the dark .

Thanks for the replies I'll take a look at your suggestions

Today I got home from work ran the engine for half an hour which usually gives me enough hot water for a shower but it was still cold , the other half had ran it this morning for half an hour and had hot water . When I checked the header tank it was empty , it took three ltrs of water to refill , when i got the boat about a month ago i checked it and it took a ltr then once topped up the water began to heat . There are no apparent leaks and the engine oil is nice and black so where is it going , i can't believe its evaporating that much , any ideas ?

not me but a good friend of mine look up the chonda challenge on face book thats another of our mad ideas