ravenspell

Hatherton Marina four miles from Junction 12 on M6.Its in a fairly lock free area.Longest lock free run is approx 3 hours away.Also only 2 locks to Gnossal on an eight hour run there., Good mooring rates , very secure, fenced in, in a nice area, I dont work there, just stayed for a year .

What got me thinking was that it has "become acceptable" in the insurance claims world to now claim against boats moored up if the cyclist hits the mooring stakes. After all nobody puts warning signs up.If one claim is successful then others will follow.

I dont know that many boaters, but within the past two weeks I have been told by two boat owners that they are being claimed against by cyclists that have hit their boat mooring stakes in broad daylight.Both have said that their boats were correctly moored up ( I guess they were.I wasnt there ). Is this a new insurance scam ? Or do we need warning signs when moored up to avoid having to pay claims.

I was thinking a weak mixture could be the cause of this.Remove the spark plug and see if it has a "tan " colour.This is the correct colour, a black plug means either too strong a mixture or your burning oil, A white colour means a weak mixture. You can google this to show images to give a better idea. weak mixture can be a sign of a blocked jet or fuel line or fuel filter. Less likely , if the mixture is ok, is it could be the spark plug.I had an old outboard that if left standing for a couple of months, the spark plug would go duff..

One thing to check for is that the cooling water intake under the boat is not blocked .Easiest way to check this to remove the inlet pipe where it connects to the water pump and simply blow down the pipe..If you cant blow bubbles or meet strong resistance then there could be a blockage under your boat.

A little late but I can confirm that Coot was an Ernie Thomas hire boat.It was 4 birth.I can remember my father hired it in the early 1970s.

I havent been through the Harecastle yet. But with 60hp engine in a 27 foot Dawncraft..I think I would be quick..At full throttle the bow lifts so much its difficult to see ahead and the wash goes over the towpath. Why so much power?.........1.8 litre Ford diesel engine was much cheaper to put in than recon BMC engine. For those that will complain about the potential speed speed of my boat, I dont care, I think near enough everyone has tried out the top speed of their boat.at one time or another.

I dont wish to "jump the Queue" but I would also be interested in the farmers mooring near Church Minshull. My boats only 27ft so I dont think I will be in competition with the original poster.

On the last photo, why is there a young girl sat in the tree......Spooky

I have only had the one lock stolen from me.I was boating single handed. My boat was tied up I had emptyed the lock , opened the gates, walking back to my boat and watched a 70 footer just cruise straight into the lock.Nothing I could do about it.Most likely an innocent mistake.

Many thanks for your help.I am going back to my boat tomorrow and will hopefully be able to repair it.

Sorry for the lack of technical terms.On a recent boat trip I "lost" forward and reverse gears on my Morse controlled out drive .The cable from the Morse controller had come off the outdrive.I re-attached the cable to the "arm or pivot lever " using a couple of plastic garden ties I had .This has given me neutral and forwards , but reverse no longer works.The cable was re-attached to where I presume a 10mm bolt held the cable to the gear arm or pivot, What I would like to know is did anything more than just the 10mm bolt fall off.Such as any return spring mechanism?

Hi There,it could be a breather cap/pipe problem. When the engine first stopped did you open the fuel cap then replace and the engine worked fine for 15mins or so.Again did you do the same thing opened fuel cap and all was well for a short while. No guarantees, but it could be the problem.

The only thing you really need to know is that you wont be receiving any after sales service from those brokers

"are we there yet " one of my favourites along with "Norfolk and Good"

above all else LEARN TO SWIM. Joking aside, when I started out boating alone I found out that in the summer months it could be wise to plan "a coffee break" near to imposing locks to see if someone would motor by to share the lock with.

Im sure I have seen a book from someone who has done this before.If five foot waves from cross channel ferries doesnt put you off then the risk of loosing your boat should.I doubt if you could get insurance plus the costs of various bits of equipment to be used once plus extra engine power needed it will be cheaper to have your boat carried over. Just because we can do something doesnt mean we should.