CygnusV

Sheffield basin is like a big goldfish bowl, and it's damned hard work to get there because of the number of old worn out locks. If I remember right there are 15 locks between Eastwood and Sheffield. Hard work and no reward when you get to the dead end. I'd be much more tempted to head the other way, but of I don't know where you're coming from! Agree with pub at Sprotborough if it's still open and definitely agree with comments about the Don.

Better than a burst tank!

I did a search of the forum and found no reference to Bob, so I thought I'd post this. Bob French sadly died on the 6th. February, of Cancer. He retired from work (though he didn't stop) and married last year. Our heart felt condolences to his wife Andrea, and all family and close friends and colleagues . We have not heard a date for the funeral yet.

Snowing again in the sticks near Doncaster. and still frozen!

As I understand it you have to do it by appointment. There are other rules but I can't remember what they are

That's good to know, thanks.

Bramwith is a nice quiet place and it's only a short hop by boat or car to the New Inn. Smashing waterside pub with massive tasty meals. Also on Sundays there is an outside market right next to the pub. Probably handy if you have a car.

Quite right but if I raised the calorifier we wouldn't be able to get into bed!

We use the bow cabin as a big double bed and it was the only place that had enough space to fit the 55 litre horizontal calorifier. there are 2 bulkheads, 3 feet apart, then the main cabin. The Boatman is close to the second bulkhead on a plinth. It is possible that I may be able to fit the pump under there, I'll take a look. The space between the Boatman and the calorifier is only 6 feet I think that gravity feed will be a problem. I know I mentioned a radiator. In fact I'm going to run a 22mm copper ring around the bow to act as a radiator. This will be too high for gravity to work properly. I've been looking at contactless pumps but they are way too expensive.

Brought to mind by Monsoon Merchants thread, but not wanting to hijack it I thought I'd best start a new one. We have a twin coil 55 litre calorifier connected to the engine, and later this year (for next winter) it will also be connected to a back boiler on our boatman stove. The stove's output is stated to be around 4KW. I'm going to put a radiator in the feed line and wondering if there is some kind of thermostat that I can use on the pipe from the calorifier to divert heat to the radiator when the output of the calorifier reaches around 65 centigrade. Any thoughts on piping this up appreciated. Edited cos I forgot to ask. I'm going to need a pump in the circuit, and because it will be under our bed we need a very quiet one (variable speed preferred). We can run the pump from either the 24 volt leisure bank, 240 volt from shore power or our 1500 watt inverter when winter motoring. Any recommendations?

After being told that this subject has been done to death I've been amazed at the response, both positive and negative! Our boat is just over 60 years old, mahogany on oak and a bit draughty, rather than a narrowboat or similar. Prior to me buying the Eco fan a couple of fellow boaters on our marina had already got one and were telling me how amazing they are. The one problem that we had was the lack of heat below knee height when sat down and I was assured that the Ecofan was the answer...... I think I believe that the effect is phycological rather than actual. As weird as it may sound I'm not selling it. Figure that one out!

Oops, I didn't know that

I've had one of these for about 4 years now. When I went into the chandlery a few days ago I noticed that the price of the 3 bladed one has risen to £140 After 4 years I'm still not really sure that they do much at all. What do you lot think about yours?

Just out of interest. When I bought ours she came complete with a very comprehensive workshop manual that covers both engine and gearbox. Anyone needing from the manual is welcome to PM me.

Maybe another approach could be to ask him to swap places with you?

Had our boat safety done a few weeks ago. We've been having serious 'mucky' fuel problems and we're getting the tanks cleaned in Spring. I bought a twin CAV type filter and was given a new Leyland water trap with a glass bowl. Asked the boat safety man for advice and he said that there is no problem with the glass bowl water separator as long as it isn't fitted in the engine compartment.

Got rid of our Morco last year, worst and most unreliable piece of kit I've ever owned. Replaced with a calorifier from Surecal, absolutely brilliant!!!

Thanks for all the replies. From what I've seen so far I agree, it's going to be a fabrication job. Any recommendations in the Doncaster area?

Thanks for that, loads of Bowman stuff but not the bit I need. Stu

My mate Ian has twin Thornycoft's on his 1960's cruiser. The engines are Fordson Major's, 4 cylinder diesels. Each engine has a Bowman heat exchanger that are connected to the top of the engines with a 90 degree cast alloy bend that has a flange on each end. One end bolts above the thermostat, taking the place of a thermostat housing while the other end bolts onto the back of the heat exchanger. One of these bends is badly damaged and leaking. I've tried Bowman, Mermaid Marine and Lancing, with no luck. Just wondered if anyone on here might know where I might get one either new or secondhand.

Realistically 20 minutes running will barely replace energy used in starting engine, let alone put much into the leisure batteries. Is your starting battery and leisure batteries on separate circuits? How many leisure batteries and how old? What output alternator? As already said, much more info required including the load being applied to the invertor / battery (or batteries). Even for modest use you need at least 2 leisure batteries. We've got 4 leisure and 2 starter charged through a 1-2-both-off switch. You don't necessarily need an expensive Stirling type charging system, but they do make a better job of keeping the batteries properly charged. Very important if living aboard.

I fitted a 55 litre calorifier last year and have been using a 1KW immersion heater for hot water. I'm now ready to connect the engine and solid fuel fire to the calorifier for 'free' heat. The engine is about 10 feet from the calorifier and the pipes will have to run under the floor. This means that I will need 6 or more 'slow' 90 degree bends which so far I've been unable to find. The feed pipe is one inch inside diameter. Does anyone know a company that supplies 'slow' or 'swept' bends to suit 1" pipe? Thanks in advance, Stu

As I understand it you won't be allowed onto the French canal system without an I.C.C. You can get your International Certificate of Competence through the R.Y.A. BTW we live on our 30 foot boat and have done for 10 years, love it. However we have almost 3 feet more beam than a standard narrow boat and that makes a BIG difference.

Altogether a very sad state of affairs They need locking up!