Scholar Gypsy

I was told this too by a very friendly and helpful C&RT lengthsman on the Northampton arm a couple of months ago. The risk is of flushing silt onto the cill of the bottom gates, making them hard to open. It is of course very dangerous to run water through a lock without the gates being shut. If the gate moves a bit (or a helpful passerby leans on the balance beam) then it will slam shut, with risk of damaging the gate or knocking for six anyone standing in the way...

I think Brandon lock on the Little Ouse is the only one you won't be able to use - but there is only a mile of navigable river the other side anyway so you can always moor up and walk!

A bit of a diversion, but when you finally make it to the Northampton arm you may notice the ex-Otis lift tower In Northampton and wonder what the view is like. Looking up: Looking down: A work colleague did this to raise money for a charity - donations are still being accepted here.

I should start by saying I am not a great polisher - I said to the painter I might do this twice a year. Anyway, I am using (this is a better website): bodywork shampoo conditioner, plus hot water sponge (generic!) hi tech aqua dry chamois super resin polish perfect polish applicator Aqua wax kit, which includes two low lint cloth And the routine is wash down the roof, and sidedecks shampoo side panel rinse in clean water chamois to get it dry apply polish with special applicator polish with lint free cloth apply wax (spray) polish with lint free cloth turn boat around and repeat.

On the advice of our painter, I used Auto Glym products. Quite expensive - about £40 for shampoo (the first time I have ever used shampoo on a boat...), wax, and polish, plus a special applicator for the wax and a chamois leather. I can list the precise products if you are interested. Anyway, it took about an hour to do each side of the boat (seven passes!), and the results are fantastic. Keeping it smart requires ten mins per side with hot water and sponge, and then chamois. I think I will only need to do the full works once or twice a year. I was advised very strongly not to use an electric polisher....

I think I am right in saying that nobody has yet asked for a photograph - odd as this is a common request on many technical queries...

The replies seem to be all about pubs, but the OP asked about other things to do. So how about: Althorp (about 4 miles walk from Whilton locks!) Stoke Bruerne museum Bletchley Park (Enigma etc) Wendover Arm, newly restored section, fine walks around the Marsworth reservoirs Berkhamsted Castle

See also earlier thread here which covers the same ground.

I don't know, really. As others have implied it just seems common sense to me. I guess I am in part conditioned by experiences on the tideway where if something large and with limited control (eg tug and barges) comes up behind you have a strong incentive to get them safely in front of you asap, especially where there is only one navigable arch at the next bridge.

Dear Alan It's rare I find myself in the "overtaker" position, I am more often the overtakee, being overtaken. My view is that in most cases on the canals(*) it is not safe or often even feasible to overtake unless the overtakee slows down and keeps over to the side as the overtaking boat you don't have right of way, so that in most cases you should not overtake without a clear signal. but unless you are just about to arrive at a lock, then it would be good manners and boatmanship for the overtakee to call you by when it is safe. The only reason I can think of for refusing is if the overtaking boat is going too fast eg making a breaking wash. (* PS on wider rivers, such as the Ely Ouse where I am at present, there is plenty of water and width for boats to overtake without waiting for permission - if they judge they have the space they need. The overtaking boat can sometimes go twice as fast as I can ....)

Dear Don Tide times are a little tricky: Saturday 21st HW London Bridge is 0920 and 2145. The former will mean an early (and pre-booked) start from Limehouse at 0545. The latter will mean arriving Teddington pretty much in the dark...

I also might be able to help, bringing a VHF radio. PM me if you are interested. I crewed on another boat recently on the SPCC convoy in May.

Just going back to the OP's request for step-by-step instructions, unless you want a big spark it is of course very important to make sure the positive croc clips do not touch anything they are not meant to, in particular any part of the hull or other metalwork. [You don't have the option of what you do with car jump leads, namely to connect the positives first and then the negatives.] I made up my own short jump lead, it gets used about once every five years.

Thanks to you and Mango - that's very interesting. Another bit of evidence in the debate (on another thread) as to whether any or all of the circuits controlled by the keyswitch should be fused. At the moment only the fuel pump is, on my boat (but it has worked fine for 20 years!). This explanation also illustrates why the keyswitch is supplied from the starter end of the main cable, rather than the battery end. If the latter was used then when the starter is cranking there could be a persistent voltage difference between the keyswitch and the solenoid control terminal, leading to excessive currents.

I can't quite see how this would work - surely the cable from the keyswitch to the solenoid can't be connected to anything else (eg the main starter motor circuit), and the other side of the solenoid is grounded to the engine block etc?

WJM, on 15 Apr 2014 - 4:05 PM, said: I think WJM is referring to the sign painted on the footbridge that goes over the lock. Unfortunately if you wait until you see it before you start turning, then (on an ebb tide) you will end up further downstream than is ideal... On a spring tide, you can wait for rather more than 15 mins at Brentford High St...

An alternative approach is to put a largeish loop (bowline) in the end of the line, and hang that on the tiller pin, leaving the rest of the rope neatly coiled on the deck. I find this quite useful when I am crewing and the helmsman has limited mobility. It makes it easy for them to pass the rope to me, or to fix it onto the dog clip that I have lowered down into the lock.

I am sorry, I have not yet had a chance to use them for real. I may do so at the weekend, if all the visitor moorings in Cambridge are occupied ... Will report further.

Many thanks - that was what I was wittering about, but did not know the precise term for it!

This looks fun, and nearly as complex as the drain system on my calorifier, which also doubles as a bilge pump. Is there an air vent on tank 2? I am trying to work out if you could close that off, when in fill mode, and let the air escape though a central heating automatic bleeding valve as the tank fills. Then when the tank is full the bleeding valve will shut, the pressure will build up in tank 2 and the pump will stop automatically. Alternatively the level switch could turn off the pump, via a normally closed relay, rather than close a solenoid valve

This posting on an earlier thread contains links to Google Streetview - so you can do the whole trip virtually if you want....

At the weekend I: finalised the research into the boat's electrics (results here). Next task is to understand why the tacho has never worked for the last 20 years (the integral hour meter is fine). The symptom is that the dial points at 1,000 most of the time, and then once a week or so springs into life for a few seconds and tells you something vaguely interesting. The W connection on the alternator looks a bit cruddy, so I will try that first; installed and tested one of my new mud weights (photos here), and managed to get it out of the water without giving myself a hernia.

Dear Alan One other thought - in my original Bowman installation the heat exchanger had a core - a simple tube - which gave something for an extra Jubilee clips to grip onto (your photo just has two on the aft cap, and one on the front one). Photo here. Both the end caps were blank ones: others have commented about the mysterious fourth connection...