nmptwentyone

i remember why i left canal forums now. at the end of the day i lived for 5 years with 390 watts of DIY panels providing 6 months of electricity to my batteries. we were the only boat lit up like a xmas tree all year round, washing machine, hair dryer, fridge etc. before we moved off the boat i had planned to upscale to 1kW which i planned to put on adjustable mounts to angle at the winter sun. the calculations say that would be sufficient (i used a computer programme called HOMER and didnt just make that claim up!). I have nearly completed a MSc in renewable energy, i work in as technicial support for a solar manufacturer and i give up untold free time to work on diy solar for developing countries but i know that pales into insignificance compared to the tow path experts who know everything! id like to see some boaters on the course because i know it works. as for the claim that 12v pv is available for £1 a watt? where? 36V modules for grid tie when brought as part of a 4kW system maybe. £40 is based on wanting to make one or two after the course the reason id like to see boater is because the right sort of boater might look into 1kW, just as i was planning to do. if this was the case the price would drop significiantly. its £200 for a weekends food, accomodation, materials and use of equipment. i just about cover my costs. it good fun. be nice to see some boaters.

Hello all, I'm a member from years ago when i lived a boat. i'm trying to get some interest in the liveaboard world for a course i started. im working on a charity project to come up with a very cheap way of producing a solar pv panel. we are well on our way and running the course helps out. pv is expensive, alot of boaters get turned off of it because they never feel the benefit from small expensive panels. the method we've developed for the charity makes PV affordable to people in developing countries to charge lights/phones etc. That means its affordable to boaters! We obviously can get things even cheaper for the charity because of the scale we will opperate, but for the purpose of the UK course i say that after the course you can go away and make a 50 watt panel for £40 max. maybe chaeper. The course is alot more than the info available online and youtube, its a method of producing a panel that will last as long as a factory panel. We cover a cost effective way to seal the panel, which is something overlooked by almost all online reasources. This is well suited to boat life, i belive you could live from PV all year round on a boat. i dont say that lightly, i lived on one for 5 years. Id love boaters to get involved in this. All food and accomodation included for the weekend course, the materials for a 15 watt panel and the use of all equipment. Thank you http://www.lowimpact.org/course_outline_build_your_own_solar_panel.htm

no i expected it. would have just left it at the original post if i was annoyed not everyone agreeed, thats the point of discussion. im not writting any rules here. im just suggesting things. one month, two, just time periods off the top of my head. but if it was out of the way, why not 2 months. increase the leicence a bit for the privailage, but bare in mind its not a mooring, just a bit of tow path. i dont think as the canals are becoming a bit busier the current system is best. yes it would need to be managed, yes its open for abuse, but im not writtig any rules here, just suggesting. people dont seem to be able to see past the them and us.

again ranting on about something different than what this topic is about. the rules. i know what the rules are! im suggesting that maybe they dont work and need to be changed! maybe resulting in cc-ers paying more for a more relaxed lifestyle. like its suppposed to be. im not on here seeking avice having just brought a boat on what i should do with it. im not telling you all bollo*ks to the rules im stopping here, what do you all think about that? ive not shouted (this is text not someones actual voice, you do know that?), swore or been abusive, try not to imply i have (recent post above) or maybe you like the rules set in stone and are still worked up about them banning the cane in schools! ****now lets try and get back on track. please re-read my posts and comment on them, try not to go off on one but be constructive. "i think the system is fine as it is, because..." or "i agree, maybe there are other options (yes options that are not yet in the rule book), because..." everyone get your heads out of the BW rule book and start using your brain.**** ill next log in tomorrow morning, if its just full of ranting about people not paying there way etc etc, ill log out never to be seen again.

does anyone actually read anything on here or just skim it. think they know roughly what it will be about and start on some rant? THIS TOPIC REGARDS PEOPLE WHO PAY, INC CC-ERS. ANYONE WITHOUT A LEICENCE NEEDS TO GET ONE, NO EXCUSE. SO IF YOU DONT HAVE (AND DONT WANT A MOORING) BUT HAVE A LEICENCE. YOU ARE PAYING, ALL THAT BW REQUIRE. (IF YOU BOTHERED TO READ WHAT IVE WROTE) SOME BOATERS ENJOY MOVING AROUND, THEY ARE LIMITED WHERE THEY GO BECAUSE THEY ARE NOT RICH (BACK THE THE "CLASS" ISSUE FROM EARLIER). THEY ARE STILL ENTITLED TO ENJOY THE CANALS SAME AS YOU. HERE WE ARE TALKING ABOUT A BIT OF FLEXABILTY IN SOME AREAS ON THE 14 DAY, WHICH I FEEL WILL ACTUALLY WORK WITH THE PROBLEM RATHER THAN AGAINST IT, BY JUST LINDLY MOVING PEOPLE AROUND. IM CLOSE TO GIVING UP WITH THIS FORUM, NO ONE READS ANYTHING, THEY JUST FIND SOMETHING THEY CAN RIP APART AND RANT ON ABOUT THAT REGARDLESS OF THE TOPIC!

HAVE YOU ACTUALLY READ WHAT I'VE SAID?

again, here we go, twisting what i'm saying to fit in with your arguement. ill repeat in caps. BOATERS WITHOUT MOORINGS, WHO ARE NOT CRUISING THE SYSTEM (BECAUSE THEY ARE LIKE MOST OF US AND CANT JUST TAKE OFF AND ABANDON WORK, IM SURE THEY WOULD LOVE TO). MOORING UP WHERE THEY ARE NO BOTHER TO ANYONE (IE NOT PRIME SPOTS). NOT STAYING FOR YEARS BUT MAYBE A MONTH OR TWO (FLEXABLITY). I BELIVE MOST BOATERS WILL NATURALLY MOVE ON FOR A CHANGE OF SCEANARY, OR A PARTY AT SUCH AND SUCH, OR TO MEET UP WITH SOME OTHER BOATERS ELSEWHERE ETC ETC. WHAT IS THE POINT IN MOVING THEM ON AFTER 14 DAYS? (SUBJECT TO THE CONDITIONS LIST ABOVE)THEY WILL NOT DISSAPPEAR. AS LONG AS THE MOORING WARDENS ARE ON HAND TO ENSURE NO ONE IS OBSTUCTING NAVIGATION OR BEHAVING AS IF IT WAS A PERMANET MOORING ETC ETC. WOULD THIS NOT MAKE THINGS EASIER FOR EVERYONE? RECONISE THAT CC-ERS ARE OUT THERE AND THE MAJORITY ARE NOT CRUISING THE SYSTEM, BUT THEY DONT NECESSARILY WANT A MOORING. THEY DO AFTER ALL CHOOSE TO LIVE ON A BOAT, WHICH BY ITS VERY NATURE MOVES! I AM NOT, TALKING ABOUT THE GROUP OF BOATS ON THE EDGE OF TOWN THAT HAVE BEEN THERE YEARS WITHOUT MOVING, DOGS RUNNING ALL OVER THE PLACE, MESS ALL OVER THE TOW PATH. IM JUST TALKING ABOUT RELAXING THIS REGIMENTED (AND IT IS JUST THAT ON THE GU (SOUTH) AT THE MOMENT) SYSTEM. ALLOWING BOATS TO MOVE ON WHEN THEY ARE READY, WITHIN REASON. STAY TOO LONG AND THE MOORING WARDEN WILL ASK YOU TO MOVE. KEEP THE CANAL MOVING JUST NOT BY THE CLOCK. STANDBY TO SADDLE UP THOSE HIGH HORSES... MANAGED FLEXIBILTY IF YOU CANT STICK TO THE TOPIC, IE START RANTING ON ABOUT SOME BOAT WITH NO LEICENCE WHO MOORED UP AT SOME PLACE ALL LAST YEAR AND HOW YOU PAY THIS AND THAT AND THEY PAY NOTHING THEN FEEL FREE TO POST YOUR OWN TOPIC. BECAUSE THATS NOT WHAT THIS ONE IS ABOUT! THIS IS A GROWN UP TOPIC, LOOK AT IT IN AN OBJECTIVE MANNER. THERE IS A PROBLEM, LET SEE IF WE CAN TALK ABOUT IT.

YES i said they are out there. im not talking about 3, 4, 5 years stayers, have you not read anything ive wrote? they are the piss takers. YES the good book does say that. in black and white as well, who would have thought! god forbid we should question it?! obviously working a treat! You all have just read in the book that its wrong and jump all over what i say with worse case examples. when did i write "good on the bloke who's been in the same spot years without paying!" a bit of flexablity and a new approach to boater without moorings is what i suggest. why should we have moorings if we are not going to use them. ...and regarding your order for me to "get off the cut". this is a discussion forum. not an outlet for you to bark orders. disagree with what i say, but dont tell me to do anything.

because they pay to moor there. if they moved away from there mooring and went somewhere else they would be in the same situation. mooring permit on you boat makes no difference if your not moored on you mooring.

The majority of BW wardens are not employees of BW. But boaters who get a free mooring. No money changes hand, no contracts signed. The new wardens in my area are made up from cc-ers who moored in the area and have now been given a "mooring" (mooring = in most of the cases being allowed to stay where they were and put a sign up with mooring warden written on it. no mooring permit and to be honest no mooring. just suck out on there own, on the tow path, in the country side). I know most of them and have nothing against any of them if its what they want. Some of them will bend over backwards to help you out. Others will be waiting at your boat at 14 days and 1 minute, ticket in hand! I realise now this was probably the wrong place to post. Internet access is not something the majority of live aboard "bridgehoppers" (as you have called them) have. To the person who wrote how scandalous it was to only move up and down a 20-mile stretch and not cruise the system. Has it occurred to you people cant afford to do that. They need to work; some have kids on the boat who need to go to school. 20-30 miles is the best they can do! Im sure some would love to do more. Who on earth do you think you are?! Classes of person, your right with that one! One with money, one without. Both wanting to enjoy the canals, how dare you suggest otherwise, just because they are going about a different way to you! In a way they can afford! People have lived on boats since long before it became popular with the retired/holiday-retreat “class” of boater with £60k+ boats. (Nothing against that “class” of boater (“class” - not a word I would have chosen to use)) get out there and enjoy, good on them! But as for the other “class”, a “class” I could say im a part of I suppose. BW make no allowance for people of this “class”. There are only two out-dated options. Those that have a mooring and those that don’t! I could get a mooring if I wanted, but why? My boat would never be on it? We like moving around amongst, what was a bit of a waterbased community. We both work so can only go so far before we have to head back. I wonder what goes through all of your minds when reading my posts. 100’s of boats turning up opposite your moorings, playing music loud and staying for months! Quite possibly as you’re on the phone to BW, credit card in hand paying £2000+ for a years mooring a licence. Ill tell you what goes through my mind. People who don’t want to be cooped up, end to end in a town centre mooring, but want to choose a nice spot out of town or at an out of town canalside pub. (We don’t moor in built up areas, only ever in the countryside, so cant view it any other way). As long as they are doing no harm, causing no bother to anyone, not obstructing navigation, why can’t they stay longer than 14 days with no involvement from BW? You only move them elsewhere, the boats don’t disappear! I’m not suggesting the site becomes a permanent mooring. Boats naturally move on. If it gets too busy the mooring warden manages the area. From my experience if visitor moorings get too busy people move on, it’s the nature of the lifestyle.Maybe I was wrong to say try not to think about the £££’s. £££’s is what its all about. Remove that “class” of cc-ers from the system they don’t make us as much money. Money comes from the leisure industry, both hire boats and people that can afford a boat as a leisure interest. True, true maybe you say, canal system needs cash for maintainance after the cuts. It does, but could we have a different approach? I know im not going to win battles on here because it’s not representative of boaters on the whole canal system. give the p*ss takers another option. they dont have a mooring because they like moving. so there is only one other option on the leicence! im sure there are real p*ss takers out there, but i dont think they are as rife as you think visitor mooringing, actual vistor moorings in prime location, yes 14 days or less, on the nose. out of town section of towpath near a bridge, few dog walkers passing by, more, managed by the warden. too busy? move longest stayer on. issue with money? charge more for the leicence for this type of boater. why do you people only see black and white? we are all in it together, you and the "p*ss taking" (not your post i know) "bridgehopper".

the majority of BW wardens are not employees of BW.

i wonder how many of you that posted cont. cruise? i am not suggesting we just have a mooring free for all. we generally move every 14 days (water tank lasts the same time!) i can count on one hand the amount of time we've overstayed. none of this is really for my benefit, i just think the system is wrong. the problem as far as i see it is the enforcement. we all know its 14 days just like we all know its 70mph on the motorway (but no one speeds do they?). wonder how many of you curse the lorry in front thats doing 40mph on an a-road and you cant overtake. rules are there and there for good reason. chances are if your doing 75/80mph on the motorway with the rest of the traffic the police arn't too fussed as long as you are safe. but if they saw somethingelse suspicious they have a reason to pull you over. rules are important. i feel constant cruisers are veiwed as a pest, a gang of unruley kids that need to be watched and moved on soon as possible. the trouble with this issue is no one can see past the £££'s. "constant cruisers are just people who dont want to pay for a mooring". i would like to see more leicence options. 14 day cont. cruise leicence should just be for people cruising the system. boaters sticking to an area (without moorings), as a massive amount of boaters do, should be on a different leicence (and probably more expensive with it, for those who think its all about avoiding the £££'s!). mooring wardens could then be used for what there name suggests. a warden, managing the area. move on when your ready (within reason), the warden would insure any area didnt get too busy, restict certain areas to a certain amount of boats etc etc. things would still have to be kept moving but at a more relaxed pace. mooring wardens would stop being water based parking attendants! BW would better spend there time reviewing the structure of the leicence rather than hassle boaters with letters, verbal warnings and signs. if we went back to begining why isnt it possible that if your cruising around and find somewhere you like you stay for a month? why? what is the big deal. its supposed to be a life away from the rat race. oh, i forgot to mention the £25 a night over stay fine!

Let me set the scene. i'm going to try (in brackets) to stop the tread going off on a tangent as people rip apart what you write. I really want to keep things on track because i feel it’s a growing issue in the area. (im going to justify what i write in brackets (in brackets)). I know the subject of constant cruisers tends to get forums going, but i don’t want this to become about the rights and wrongs of the current licence options (2 options). I’m a constant cruiser; we had moorings and gave them up because we were never on them. The fact that the amount of money we pay to BW has drastically reduced wasn’t a deciding factor (it was paying for something you never used. a bad financial move in anyone’s book). We cruise a large area mainly centring around Leighton buzzard, but as far south as Berkhampsted and north as Fenny Stratford (im not making comparison with people cruising the system but other "spend alot of time on their boat" types). A wind of change seem to blow through the canal system (in this area) in October 07. Every section of canal im familiar with (through milton keynes running south, through leighton buzzard, through marsworth, into berkhampsted) now has a mooring warden. The mooring wardens have “(un)welcome” letters to give to you when you pull up. Telling you to stay no longer than 14 days. If your lucky to be handed the “welcome” letter in person your likely to told about the 14 days, you, until now was blissly unaware of! (Sarcasm, no response required). A friend of mine who was displaying an out of date licence, even though he’d been paying for a new one and super efficient BW had not sent it. Had a notice stuck to his boat telling him to display a licence and not to stay longer than 14 days! Welcome! Things need to be kept moving; boats cant just set up shop (not an actual trading establishment) anywhere they like for years! But! This is a relaxed environment. London style parking wardens are not welcome. 14 days should be something to aim for but not enforced on the 15th! Especially in winter. I love winter on the boat. No hire boats going past every 5 mins (nothing against hire boaters, just making the point its quieter). A bit of a community builds up among the winter “spend a lot of time on their boat” types. Maybe centred round a canalside pub who welcomes boaters to boost winter trade? That has been completely blown apart this year. Everyone is on the move every 14 days. (I can almost hear the keys being pressed before ive finished typing. Maybe we don’t want to buy winter mooring because we don’t want to stay there the whole winter. We still move around in winter though choice, but maybe just maybe that don’t coincide with 14 individual days!) Please separate £££ (who pays more than who etc) from your posts. BW’s licensing structure is a completely different matter. To only have two different options. Have a mooring or don’t, doesn’t work with what actually is going on in the real world. The issue is the borderline harassment that’s going on and for what gain. Its winter, its quiet, so what if someone stays for 28 days! What difference does it make? Helps a lot of pubs through the quiet months. This post was prompted by what I saw last night as I cruised. I don’t know if it’s right to mention names, so I wont. Over Xmas one of the boaters in the Leighton area died on his boat. I met him and spoke to him a few times. Nice guy. I know where the boat was moored when he died. I was shocked to see the boat in the next mooring wardens patch double tied with another local boat. I managed to get the number of the guy who had the boat double tied and called him. “Surely they haven’t moved the boat on!”“ yes they did” WHY? ITS WINTER, THE MAN HAS ONLY BEEN GONE TWO MONTHS!!!! It wasn’t causing any bother where it was. The guy who had the boat double tied, told me it wasn’t even a month after Xmas that they had started on about when it was going to be moved to him. “BW” even had a conversation with the man’s mother were they asked when it was being moved! I think “BW” are going too far. YES - get unlicensed boats licenced. YES – enforce BSS. YES - ensure boats aren’t staying places for long periods of time (14 days with a good bit of leeway BEFORE YOU ARE EVEN APPROACHED BY A MOORING WARDEN. unless of course its just friendly chat, condition – the words 14 days do not leave their mouth) Board line harassment by SOME mooring wardens and BW. I can’t see boaters putting up with it for too long if it gets any worse. Is this happening in other areas?

youy definatly going for a sterling? ive got a victron phoeix multi plus and can not recommend them enough. so much more than just a pure sine inverter, for not alot more. worth a look. you can combine a lower rated victron and a generator and it'll use both to run the same appliance ie 1000W genny 2000W/1800W/1600W victron, they call it power assist. works a treat for me when putting the hoover round 1400W hoover running off 1000W genny and a bit of battery. which it charges back up once youve finished.

anyone got the filter numbers for a lister sr3, misplaced my book. had the fram filter part numbers which work well when it came to reorder, but they are with the book. cheers

reckon theyll be charging the same price as road diesel or slightly cheaper?

i might just do that. depends if someone comes to me with a name. i'm only guessing the guy wasnt drunk because his van was outside.

Picture the scean. Flight of Three locks (in fact "three locks" on the southern GU) in the middle lock going down sit two hire boats, with two fresh faced families only hours into there weekend holiday. Both first timers from what we discovered. we'd just finished our dinner and were drinking up before returning to the boat. all of a sudden water started spilling over into the bottom lock and come to think of it the hire boats had been in he middle lock some time. on one side the top paddle had been left open, a common happening especally amoung new hire boaters at three locks. i dont blame them either, it was only 5 years ago i was in a similar position, having picked up a hire boat for the first time the first locks you hit are three together, quite daunting. Saw some chap go running up to the middle lock to point out what was happening, the top paddle got shut and all was well. water had spilt over to just outside the pub doorway. but as quick as it happened it drained back. no harm done. hire boaters where made aware of their mistake and all was well. Or was it? the mother and son from the boat who HADNT made the mistake came down to the bottom lock to get it ready. the son on our side. he was about 16-17, skin head and quite a big boy. A large built (not fat) chap, mid 50's, breaded, wearing a LOCKHEART MARINE (PEARTREE BRIDGE MARINA, MILTON KEYNES) t-shirt with an exceptionally smug grin on his face appoached the boy and unleashed a barage of abuse. every sware word under the sun. the boy gave back but very defensive, kept telling the man (twice his size) to back off and leave him alone. The guy kept going on about what had happened. the mum tried expaining they had not long picked the boat up and were sorry for the mistake (even though it wasnt them!) my misses is a nurse and pointed out that looks can be decieving and that the boys apperance was probably due to medical reasons (and she turned out to be right). With that the mum said to the man to back off as her boy wasnt well. The guy did, FOR 30 SECONDS!!! then he was straight back, only ever picking on the boy, not the 5-6 adults on he boats waiting to enter he final lock! When he returned i got up, said to the guy he'd had his say and to go back in the pub. then i got the abuse! "what the f*** do you know!" etc etc. my girlfriend took the boys windlass and told him to go back over with his mum. he was a big boy but obviously really shaken. the guy still didnt let it go and for the whole time the two boats were going down the last lock he was going on. I just wanted to name and shame this guy for picking on a disabled teenager! Someone out there must know him by the description: large beared chap who works for lockheart marine in milton keynes. (had there van outside too).

thats the one. big bolts on coupling all very well untill you go full astern! the one thats in there has a recess on the prop shaft, think it got a bit damaged when it came out. think i will put a second in. dont hurt. wondering if its a common problem.

my prop shaft decided it liked it better in the water, disengaged and shifted rearward. couldnt fully come out due to the rudder blocking it, which i hope is due to design not fluke. i managed to find the key, loosen the grub screw, opened the weed hatch and shifted the whole thing back from whenst it came. ive locktited the grub screw. only one though? have turned the shaft in both directions also tried pulling on the prop from the weed hatch, seems pretty solid, dont move. was wondering if its worth drilling another hole and tapping for another grub screw? is it standard to just have one?

what engine you got? does the black smoke clear once the engine is up to speed? do you run at idel much?

depends on the area your in. mines on a 10ft pole and to be honest i wouldnt want it any lower cos its a biggen! ive a feeling his is going to become a popular subject in the year to come before the digital switch over. if your in a good signal area then these leisure omnidirecional and nice little compact lightweight thing will be fine. if your not, like me then you have o go down the same route as the brick dwellers. wide band with a booster up a pole! even though ive got the larger dat75 as for setting up its pretty quick. all i do is bolt the rear fins back on, mount it back on the pole and lift it onto a mount i made for it on top of the boat. twist the whole thing round so it points the right direction. its pretty quick. but definatly go for the smaller dat45. could post a picture of the mount i made if anyone is interested. made 3 so far.

type of aerial you need depends on where you are or where u cruise. we get some funny looks when we go to good signal areas and whip out our big aerials. everyone else has little cheap jobbies and our monstrosities look out of place. but on the other hand i always puts a smile on your face when you catch a glimps of a screen of snow and someone trying to makeout eastenders in other areas.

ive not read the whole thread so dont know if anyone has said this before, but ive got a good tip for you. DONT LET KIDS WALK ALONG THE GUNWHALES!!!!!!! i dont let anyone walk on the gunwhales its a very dangerous place to be. esp when near other boats, the tow path, locks etc. 15/20 tonnes of steel looming down on you isnt a good place to be.

i thought id seen this topic before! glad you didnt buy the clarke, sold mine on ebay a couple of weeks ago. i think youll be fine with your genny and the 50A charger. we've got a 120A charger but i can limit the power it can have depending on size of genny or shore supply its connected to. currently i limit it to 6A off the genny which works out about 1400W, that gives us a max of 85A charge, so you'll be fine with a max of 50A i would think. might draw 4.5A off your genny just over 1000W. not actual calculations but approx values using readings taken from my current set up.