Jump to content

tree

Member
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Posts

    1,012

  • Joined

  • Last visited

  • Days Won

    12

 Content Type 

Posts posted by tree

  1. Economic Problems Afloat

    in Living Afloat

    Posted

    :) never give up, to succeed in any aspect of life , takes a lot of hard work, especially going self-employed. Decide what skills adn interests you have and write them down on a sheet of paper, then see if you can possibly make money out of any of them. Once you have decided on something then think of a business name and get cards printed as that always looks professional. Always try to be presentable as sadly folks do 'judge a book by its cover' if it is going to cost them money. :)

     

    A very simple business i set up a few years ago was a gardening business, i only did basic gardening cuttin lawns ectera , keepin the gardesn tidy but it was a good way to earn money. Living on a boat should be no obstacle as long as you prepare yourself properly and irecon you will get more good advice on here. Good luck with your venture and remember 'nothign ventured, nothin gained' :)

  2. Single Females - Do you feel safe?

    in Living Afloat

    Posted

    As a lone woman about to move onboard soon , i think that you have to be extreemly aware of dangerous situations whether you live alone on a boat or in a house, good security is essential on both.But i also agree that having confidence can be a powerful tool to have as people who look confident and seem unafraid ( even if you are quakign in yer boots lol ) are a very visual deterent to possible weird folk. But I also have a dog who is also another visual deterent.The majority of boaters are decent folk but sadly in life you will find a few that are not genuine, you just have to be alert to this and hopefully you will have a wonderful life onboard. :)

  3. RIP Windfola

    in General Boating

    Posted

    For anyone to feel so despondent,that they feel they have NO hope and feel that they have no other option but to end their life is so terribly sad. I did not know you, but I hope that now you are at peace and your spirit will be cruisin the 'CUT' amongst us.

    Rest in Peace.

  5. Painting the engine bay

    in Boat Building & Maintenance

    Posted

    Hello everyone,

     

    I would like a bit of advice please, my engine is being taken out tomorrow and I am going to clean and paint the engine bay.

    Now am I doing this right?

    (1) Clean out most of muck,

    (2) Degrease the whole area;

    (3) Scrape away any flaking rusty bits;

    (4)Use a good primer then paint??

     

    What is the best product to use ? as knowing me when ime let loose in any chandelry i tend to go a bit doolally ( spend too much )

     

    many thanks :)

  7. Ignorant Boaters...........

    in General Boating

    Posted

    Sadly you will always find ignorant, miserable people where ever you go in life. What I tend to do when I unfortunately bump into one of these folks is to smile and when I receive a horrid or abusive reply, to my request for them to 'slow down please' I reply ' that is not a nice thing to say, how would YOU feel if some one said that to you or one of your family? this usually results in a red face on their part and an apology ( well 8 times out of 10). What we should all remember is that we are all boaters and it doesnt matter if you have a 70ft trad with a beautiful stonky engine or a fibre glass boat because we are all BOATERS :) and are helping to keep our heritage and traditions alive by keeping our beautiful waterways OPEN :) I have had a 70ft trad and now I have a 38ft cruiser-style n/b, but it doesnt matter as long as Ime on the cut :), so always remember 'you reap what you sow and if you treat everyone that you meet the same way that you would like to be treated you wont go far wrong. Happy cruising fellow Boaters and if you see me adn 'treespirit ' on the cut say hi and smile as I am basically a newbie oh plus yer carnt miss my beautiful lickle shiny green boat with flowers on board and of course my 'L' Plates :) :)

    • Greenie 1

  11. Fault Finding.

    in Boat Building & Maintenance

    Posted

    Hello again Tony,

     

    Sorry! for the lateness of my reply as I have only just seen it ( my newbieness really shows now :(. I have not been able to get back to my boat since my last post in June, due to work commitments and distance, but I will be going back to my boat this w/e and hopefully the marina engineers will have had a look at the problem.

    As I know nothing about my engine (as yet) then I have to rely on others peoples expertise, which for me as a woman is very frustrating especially since I live in Wales and the marine maintenance courses are such a long way from me. Still this should be soon rectified once I move onto my boat full-time next summer, which will enable me to learn hands on so to speak.

    Thank you ever so much for your advice and I hope to attend one of your courses in the not too distant future.

    Lorraine. n/b treespirit :)

  12. Power Saving Tips

    in Living Afloat

    Posted

    Using solar products can work really well, I have a solar shower kit which I bought for £4.99 and I chuck it on top of the boat and use the water that has heated up for washing the pots and small items of clothing. I also bought a couple of battery operated camping lanterns and use these at a night, and they are bright enough to read or watch a dvd on my lappy. I love my pressure cooker and after bringing up 4 children on land it is one of my essential pieces of kit, as it has saved me so much money. As you can cook a hearty meal in a matter of minutes.I will be a liveaboard next summer and intend to invest in some solar panels, I do not have an inverter or water heater on my boat, but I have bought a genny for emergencies. Just have to say a big thank you to everyone who contributes to this site, as a newbie, I have found such a lot of advice and information which is invaluable to me Cheers folks keep up the good work.

     

    :cheers: tree :)

  13. Engine Maintenance Course.

    in New to Boating?

    Posted

    I am a similiar ancient female who had absolutely no knowledge of engines when I bought my boat 3 years ago (never even looked under the bonnet on my car). I did the one day course on my own boat offered by RCR. I chose this as I knew that I had to be taught on my own engine to have any chance of remembering. I have been happily doing my own basic servicing ever since and havent had any problems - except when during a senior moment I poured water into the engine instead of the radiator - rang RCR and they told me how to fix it - soon sorted.

     

    Thanks everyone for the helpful advice :) I had a bit of a blip at the w/e I had to remove the old exhaust and fit a new one well 3/4 fitted it myself and change the oil pressure switch. Without the help and advice of fellow moorers it would have taken me longer. But like 'stellar' I also need to do a course specifically for my engine a Perkins M30. If possible in the Northampton , Braunston, Crick area. Because I live 5 hours away from where she is moored in a marina. Happy days always everyone :)

     

    I have attended one of Tony's courses and if I remember correctly here were 2 ladies on it as well and I think they found the course very useful. The definitely weren't left behind.

     

    Thank you for the advice :)

     

    Do check with RCR, I think that Tony has stopped running the courses in Reading but does the RCR courses. I have been on one of his courses and found it excellent. When I went on a course there were 4 women, one quickly learnt to be devastingly competent and was the star of the course. I suspect about half the course had no idea when we started, all bar one person knew what to do by the end of the course. If you think the courses are stopping then book onto the last one at SPCC!

     

    Thanks :)

  14. Stupid question

    in New to Boating?

    Posted

    The old pagan way of re-naming a boat is as follows :

     

    (1) Take the boat out of the water (if possible)i.e. when it is being craned out or in a dry dock or is being pulled out to do maintenance work.

     

    (2) Have some offerings of flowers or food.

     

    (3) When the boat is going back into the water and at the point before it enters the water, you can say these words:

     

    I RE-NAME THIS BOAT ...whatever name you have chosen

     

    MAY THE GODS AND GODDESS'S BLESS AND PRESERVE HER AND ALL WHO SAIL IN HER.

     

    AT THE SAME TIME AS YOU SAY THESE WORDS OFFER THE FLOWERS ( as in my case) into the water.

     

    Job done so to speak, but then again I am a bit of an old pagan. I know others would do it different but hey its your boat do what

     

    feels right for you. Mind you the face's of the crane operator, marine owner and lorry driver were a picture I was laughing so much :)

  16. Engine Maintenance Course.

    in New to Boating?

    Posted

    Hello again folks :)

     

    I have my boat near Braunston and I need to attend an Engine Maintenance Course from the second week in August as that is when I will be back in the area on my boat. It will have to be one that caters for ancient females who have a basic but limited knowledge of engines ( no offence to my fellow females) but I aint got a clue but willing to learn. I do possess a degree but when it comes to engines I am as daft as a brush :) Any advice will be appreciated because at the moment ( now no offence to you males or enginners)but I am at your mercy as you could tell me owt and I have to accept that. I am sure that I will get there in the end and become a competent engine problem solving boater , well a Perkins M30 one :) Thanks in anticipation.

  17. Fault Finding.

    in Boat Building & Maintenance

    Posted

    Assuming conventional circuits.

     

    Those warning lamps have a common feed but from then on the circuits are totally different apart from some small diodes that MIGHT be used to allow a fault in either system sound a single buzzer. If one failed then a fault on one circuit might bring the other lamp on (I think) but this would be rare. I suspect the more likely fault would be the main wiring harness between the instrument panel and engine being trapped, allowing the wires for both lights to short to the metalwork. Vibrations may well allow such a problem to come and go so some careful cable following and inspection would be a good first step.

     

     

    There may well be a multi-plug in the main harness and these do cause problems but I can not see how it would cause those symptoms unless it was submerged in water with lots of rust and corrosion around. It would be far more likely to stop certain things working.

     

    Also worth making sure the thick battery "earth lead" is nice and tight where it joins onto the engine.

     

    Thank you Tony for the advice and I will check all the cables in the morning. As I am a total novice and have bought several books from the chandlers, I still need to attend a course because while looking at the engine - I just thought 'oh! my giddy aunt', as I was looking through my boats workshop manual and trying to see what was what and what went where :blink: still we all were in my position once :) I will ask the marina engineers to check again. I might have knocked a cable whilst I was putting in the new exhaust ( I managed that quite well )

  19. Are you new to boating?? CLICK HERE

    in New to Boating?

    Posted

    Hello to everyone out there,

    My name is 'tree' and my 38ft n/b is called 'treespirit', I am currently moored in a marina on the Grand Union after buying my boat early this year. I am a novice and look forward to attending an Engine Maintenance course asp (work permitting), so that I can keep my lickle beauty in good order and one of the prettiest boats on the 'cut'. Happy cruising days always everyone :)

  20. Fault Finding.

    in Boat Building & Maintenance

    Posted

    Hello everyone, I have a 38ft cruiser-style steel n/b with a Perkins Perama M30 / 103.10 engine. I am new to 'boating' and have just has a new exhaust fitted. My concern is that although my boat had an 'engine service' 5 months ago and I have only been out on her twice ( with no apparent problems), when I started her up today after a few minutes running with no problems, suddenly my ENGINE & BATTERY warning lights came on and stayed on. I had an engineer check the boat over and while he was there (sod's law lol ) she ran fine. About 5 minutes after he left the Engine warning light came on and stayed on. A few folk that I have spoken too said that it was possibly the OIL PRESSURE SWITCH. If anyone out there can help advise me as I am a complete novice and promise to attend an Engine Maintenance course as soon as I can (work permitting) Thank you.

×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.