John Orentas

Will it be at Lymm Liam ?

Spouse is there all weekend running the Rochdale Canal Society stand, an indoor do this year (a marquee to be accurate) so our caravan will be tucked away somewhere, I will be there on Saturday so if you care to buy some priceless artifacts or just to exchange a few words .....................

All the years I was boating I intended to arm myself with a pair of bolt cutters, I had always been lucky a never spent more than an hour or so in the weed-hatch at any one time so I never got around to putting my hand in my pocket even though I have known several people who have had horrendous battles with spring mattresses and the like. Looking on Ebay recently I have discovered that these handy items are absurdly cheap and everyone who sees the one I purchased for our canal society decides they want one for their own use. The best contact I have found is: lockstoxsupplies@aol.com (Good quality Draper jobs). I have calculated that an optimum size for a trad or cruiser is 14" (350mm). Cost about £6.00 + post

MESSAGE FROM BW The canal has now been reopened.

There are a lot of people being very ungracious here, there was a time not long ago when boating was regarded as something of a DIY hobby and many of the nicest boats even now are the ones that have been designed, built or much modified by their owners.. They have always had the massive advantage of having very few time constraints on the projects they embarked on and also where never bound by the fashion of the day. In my own case I was often demonised because I chose to design my own furnishings rather than follow the sheep down to the local Ikea store and why should people be pressurised into spending thousands of pounds fitting electrical contraptions that were designed solely for the enrichment of the producer, completely unrelated to any possible convenience to the boat owner. A fairly simple addition like a collapsible mast, well engineered, functional and fitted without the need to riddle the boat with fixing holes, just the sort of little project that I liked to get involved with, but met with howls of derision "Why go to all that trouble when prosperous people like me you can buy a plastic one at the local chandlers".

Just caught the end of a discussion on Radio 4 tonight, all about 'Fat Cat' salaries and stuff like that.. It seems that the top 4 executives at British Waterways collectively get £900,000 shovelled into their trough every year.. The presenter was making the point that BW was after all something of a one horse outfit in the scheme of things, he went on to give an example how many extra nurses the NHS could afford if all that 'loot' was diverted to more worthy purposes.

What's the point of asking "Skipper".. Wasn't he some sort of marsupial, what would he know about boats.. Returning to the original question, yes mad as a hatter.

The Gold colour and the anodising treatment are one and the same, scrape off the colour and you will also remove all the protection that the anodising process gives.. What I would recommend and it worked very well for me: Paint the window frames with mat black paint, very easy to do and it lasted for many years without deterioration.

'Manchester Coal Barge' means nothing but I tend to go along with Pluto a Lancaster Canal boat is the most likely.. That elegant transom makes it not so unlike the original Rochdale Canal Barges but sadly as far as is known there is not a single survivor, if it is one then it would be 'quite a find'. During the 1960's and 70's there was a similar 'concept' but a Leeds & Liverpool short-boat based around the Burnley area, a caravan installed in a similar manner but that bloke cruised regularly, saw him pass through Worsley several times.

ROCHDALE 9 FLIGHT Just been informed of a stoppage, Lock 88 Oxford Street, Manchester City Centre. No further information other than it is a damaged cill. UPDATE Scaffolding will be installed over the weekend and a further update will be issued by BW on Monday 18th May.

That stretch of the Llangollen through Whixall Moss, it feels like 50 miles of nothing but having looked it up on the map it is only a few inches.. Always a gale into your face and invariably raining.

Don't forget the golfers, http://www.canalworld.net/forums/index.php...art=#entry16700

I understand drill pumps work well with diesel though I have never tried it myself, in the longer term think about changing your fuel system into a recirculating type: tank, lift pump, pre-filter and back into the tank, a micro-filter leading to the injector pump tee-ed off after the pre-filter.. In this way your fuel circulates constantly through the main filter for as long as the engine is running, over a period of weeks or months you will be able to see the system cleaning itself up, to begin with as a consequence you will need to clean the filter a bit more frequently but it will soon settle down.

As for the use of Redex, it's best if you can manage to dribble some into the air intake when the engine is running, that way the oil gets to the valve ends that need it.. You can now get Redex made for diesels, (it doesn't burn presumably) you must be extremely careful when using the old stuff as the engine can run on it and can easily 'run away'.

HORSE BOATING For those who are interested in the workings of horseboats, Sue Day is now moored at the visitor centre at Marsden on the Huddersfield Canal, she will be bringing her boat Maria and Bilbo Bagins (her very nice horse) through and over the top, respectively of the Standedge tunnel on Sunday on route back to the boats mooring at Guide Bridge during Monday on the Ashton Canal.. She had been prevented from making the longer passage to Huddersfield by the breech at lock 41.. There will be a 'Teddy bears picnic' at the visitor centre on Sunday morning prior to setting off.

It gets better than that, BW having totally ignored the Rochdale Canal Society and Sue Day's, Horseboat Society are in the process of consulting the local bar owners.. I happened to get wind of all this only via the Manchester Council planning department who have agreed to copy me with details of any developments which may affect the canal. This stretch of canal is unique on the system in that Canal Street acts as the towpath and has always been this way since it was built 200 years ago, why a bunch of 'fly by night' bar owners or a crowd of BW engineers with similar attitudes should hold any sway over this situation beggars belief. Yes, the Waterways Trust are the owners of the Rochdale Canal, BW are contracted to maintain the waterway for a defined period of time into the future.. As many of us will know there are some peculiar access problems for boaters in the area but most people regard them as being part of the charm and character of the canal, few I think would want to make significant changes.

A purpose built cupboard is one way, keeps everything neat and tidy.. Squeers has a large engine room but it would work just as well for a cruiser. http://www.canalworld.net/forums/index.php...=si&img=919

No I am happy to say I have never tried it, but I do know that people forgetting to refit the weed hatch is probably the most common method of sinking a boat.. Because you are fortunate enough to get away with it on one particular boat is not a good reason to recommend it for others.

A hole has appeared in the bed of the canal and it is likely to be closed for a week or so.. Unofficial so far but Sue Day was due to be passing that way today having legged Maria through the tunnel.. She will now be winding and retracing her steps back through the tunnel and down the Huddersfield towards Ashton. Anyone planning a trip up that way would be advised to check with BW.

Had similar problems on my first boat many years ago, not so much a vibration as a very loud rattle.. The cavitation plate was allowed sufficient movement to allow it to contact the sides of the rectangular aperture.. I solved the problem by welding 4 extra separators between plate and hatch cover 1" x 1" box section if I remember, it made for a very rigid assembly. Not sure I would advise running a boat with the weed hatch removed, water can come up there at a fair rate of knots.

This design of skin tanks was quite common some years ago, my own Liverpool Boat had a very similar arrangement, it was responsible for some overheating problems but it was quite easily cured once the fault was identified.. Thermal action tends to route the hot water from the engine through the uppermost layer of the tank thus bypassing the cooling effect of the base-plate. The overriding principle is that the water must extract from the tank very close to the bottom plate, in my case I fitted a tube that passed through the depth of the tank to within approx. 15mm of the base.. I would be surprised however If the Pipers were not aware of the potential problem and designed their system accordingly.

And also many silly owners refuse to pull their fenders in.. I once had a nasty moment with one such in the Iron Lock, he steadfastly refused to remove his fenders, the boats jambed and came close to sinking.. I had the great pleasure of taking my Stanley knife to his very expensive looking accessories. I suspect the lock has not narrowed at all in recent years, just suffering from stupid people.

Hi Geoff. The canal system in it's working days was very much a 24 hours per day business, even today people still ask "Is it OK to travel at night" well of course it is and always has been, so the purpose of the white paint is fairly obvious.. The curved spikes have slightly different names around the country but 'strapping posts' is perhaps the most common, a fully loaded narrowboat takes a lot of stopping when you have only one horsepower, equally it would take a lot of effort to accelerate it up to walking speed. Many boats used an ingenious pulley system on the towing line, the horse would have a 2:1 advantage for the first 30 feet or so of travel, the boat end of the line having been looped over the post, it would slip off as the boats towing mast past by.. The boatmen would often take a turn around another post with a mooring line on entering the lock, he could slow and then stop the boat with little effort. There are many variations and added contraptions on the various canals, they were originally all privately built and owned, watch out for rollers fitted to exposed stonework.

All the steam MSC tugs in service were converted to diesel about 1930, Kelvins if I remember correctly.. Frodsham used to moor close to me at Furness Vale, then moved onto the Bridgewater in central Manchester.. As Allan has said the boat it is a 'narrow' replica probably about 20 years old now, I don't believe any of the originals survived. I can recall seeing the original tugs in action near Worsley, they would comfortably tow three loaded coal barges.