Scholar Gypsy

The sinking was caused by the bottom of the air intake being below the water line! See photos here. The other issue, I would observe, is it will depend on whether your boat is the sort that cuts through waves or bounces up when you hit them, Mine is the latter. Here is a photo of the former (courtesy of Leo Mo 2) - it does mean your bow fender gets washed regularly.

With a wide boat (over 7 feet) you are constrained to the Nene and Ouse river systems - unless you fancy crossing the Wash, which is feasible, if a bit uncomfortable? Moorings in Cambridge are tricky: nearby there are some at Upware, Fish and Duck, Ely, Streatham etc.

Thank you Nick - good to hear from you! I now have a little convoy arranged, so we should be able to do some pushme-pullyou, certainly above the lock.

Thanks - I have also been looking at the very helpful blogs by Keeping Up, of their visits in 2011

Thank you. My understanding of the various guide books (not very clear) is that: a) the doors at Chapel Hill close when the Witham gets too high. There must be a pumping station somewhere to empty the Kyme Eau. b ) in the winter Bottom lock is not useable, as the bottom V doors are chained open and the guillotine is used as a sluice So are you saying it can get a bit shallow above Bottom lock? We seem to slice quite nicely through most weed - but not in Walsall.

Can I (slightly) hijack the thread and ask the same question about Kyme Eau? I hope to visit there, and also the WND, on 8-10 August. PS there was a weedcutter moored at Washingborough last week, but I guess that is just used on C&RT navigations?

I think the filter can just be seen here?

Here is Google Earth - looks a good fit! Cottages on the right, and the swingbridge above the lock

The BBC website - much in the news - gave me this which (to my completely inexpert eye) could be the same artist. http://www.bbc.co.uk/arts/yourpaintings/artists/h-l-burton

This reminds me of when I went to the Scilly Isles by helicopter. The wind was too strong so the chopper was grounded and we were advised to take the boat (rather shallow draft and a flat bottom). Four hours later, feeling rather ill, and just above to arrive at St Mary's port, the chopper flew over. Not a good start to the honeymoon....

See notice below from C&RT website. I think the earlier fault must have meant that only one set of gates was working - hence you could lock through only at high tide with the gates open at both ends. Latest position appears to be: ________________________________________________ Notice updates: 08/07/2015 @ 16:26 We can update to say that work is now 70% complete but there will be a short delay while extra parts are made to complete the repair. We have increased the amount of time that the lock will be available. Please book in advance by calling 020 7308 9930. ________________________________________________ From 7 July we're making emergency repairs at Limehouse Lock and this will reduce availability to half an hour either side of high tide. Please book in advance by calling 020 7308 9930. For access to and from the Thames, boaters may find it easier to use the lock at Brentford. The lock can be booked by calling 020 8568 2779. The lock at Bow may also be available and can be contacted on 020 7517 5570.

Ah, I was asking (out of interest) what you do when leaving the boat in winter, given the risk of freezing in the raw water circuit.

Yes - use an antifreeze mixture. As Tony said, don't fill it right to the top else when the water heats up and expands it will just come out of the little expansion pipe and dribble down into the bilges. As Tony says an inch from the top is about right. I have a pipe connected to mine, which then drains into a bottle/container to collect any overflow. What do you do with your raw water circuit in the winter?

I agree - it generates lots of useful data / information. You need to use it with a map just to make sure the settings are not doing something odd. For example if you want to go from Denver Sluice to Boston it says 275 miles and 139 locks on the defaults preferences, or 42 miles and 2 locks if you fancy the Wash.

A detective story is fun. My hunch is that the sea cock is visible in the second photo) ... feeds the sieve/filter (you can see it just in front of the battery box) and then .. goes to the water pump that is visible under the alternator, on its own belt. Take the screws off to have a look. and then through the oil cooler and then into manifold via the end cap on the front (not visible) and then out to the canal via the pipe that comes out of the aft end cap And then the primary cooling circuit is as Tony says. The thermostat housing is visible next to the oil filler.

If you have a head for heights, and don't mind a bit of crawling, I can recommend going up the Octagon of the Cathedral. The view downwards (inside) is spectacular. More interesting than the tower (though not quite as high).

Do you mean an indirect system, ie with raw rater pumped (by water pump 1) through the end caps on the heat exchanger) and clean water pumped (by water pump 2) through the heat exchanger? Also, why do you say this is overheating? My engine has an 82 deg thermostat, for example.

Here's a vote for the Upper Thames, and a couple of photos to tempt (more here). It is indeed very quiet & isolated.

Oops, thanks. Suggest these three posts can now be deleted!

I'd be grateful for any thoughts on good places to stop for the night on the Chesterfield. I hope to do the whole canal, in a reasonably leisurely way. I prefer to stop overnight in out of the way places, and do shopping, emptying the loos etc during the day. Current plans are (starting on 2nd August) Sunday - lock in at West Stockwith early afternoon, so probably stay the night there Monday - somewhere around Retford? Forest locks maybe? Tuesday - Kiveton Park Wednesday - an excursion to somewhere (Mr Straw's house looks quite fun, though we will have bikes on board?) and then back down towards Retford. Osberton Hall perhaps? Thursday - stop a couple of hours short of West Stockwith. Drakeholes? Wiseton? Friday - get to West Stockwith in time for the flood (at 1200), and then overnight in Lincoln. Canalplan says its 31 miles and 46 locks each way, which they estimate at 20 hours. I am hoping that the various flights & staircases would be rather faster than that, hence easily doable in four full days plus bits on Sunday and Friday. Many thanks in advance [subsequent plans are Saturday - Kyme Eau and maybe an excursion to Sleaford Sunday - Witham navigable drains Monday - Boston, in readiness for Tuesday - to Wisbech via the Wash. Wednesday - Whittlesea Thursday - Salters Lode Friday - Ely]

I suppose one could build some ballast tanks into the hull construction, to allow one to partially submerge, and then use compressed air to blow them once though the bridge? Has anyone actually done that on inland waters? There's a boat near me in Burton Waters marina with a flying bridge that (I think) is on a giant hinge mechanism so you can rotate it back and down. It would certainly need to do that to exit the marina... Sorry no photo as I cannot remember the name of the mechanism.

Cathedral Marina in Ely have diesel, and a good jetty to tie up to. Hope you get to Wicken Fen!

Here's what Diamond 44 looks like - a nice peaceful spot.

Here's one with a 1 km range, and a 12V lead that would be easy to wire into your boat. £70 http://www.fireprotectiononline.co.uk/heavy-duty-megaphone-25w.html And here is one with a radio microphone, so you could mount it at the front of the boat and use it while you are on the bank supervising the locking crew... And it says it can play music when you are not talking. http://www.fireprotectiononline.co.uk/45w-wireless-megaphone.html

I have a ship's bell inside the cabin, controlled by a long piece of cord with a nice chrome ring at the other end. A bit like an old fashioned London bus. OK provided people can remember the code. [one ring = tea please two = I need to go to the loo NOW three = man overboard ] I am now moving into walkie talkies, which are very effective as an intercom. I have thought from time to time about a loud hailer. Someone had one for the Diamond Jubilee rehearsals, and used it (while we were waiting at 0500 to go through the Gauging locks at Brentford) to say hello to someone staying in the adjacent hotel, whom he had met in the pub the night before.... Here's a photo. You can see the loudhailer on the cabin roof ...