Pentargon

I've now owned Pentargon for nigh on three years and believe her BW number 60906 may have been issued in 1976 but have not [yet] been able to confirm it. The boat itself was built in Sam Springers Market Harborough base during 1973. Along the way, I was told that in the five digit series, the initial digit indicated the particular BW office where a boat was registered. I understand there were offices at Brentford and Watford and other such places. Having seen scores of Springers and noted numbers against alleged age, I'm inclined to buy into that until I get something better to hang my hat on.

As a "continuous cruiser" I welcome being 'clocked' as it should show cause but have only knowingly been checked twice in 18 months, once in Hillmorton and once on the Lea near Stonebridge. I have seen considerable numbers of boats on my travels with no visible evidence of name or number and wonder how they are clocked?

Alongside Wapping River Police station there is a fuelling depot

Wow! If you win the lottery tell me AT ONCE and I'll be your skipper, navigator, cook, teacher whatever it takes. For FREE. Meanwhile back at reality, stay away from plastic boats (affectionately known as "Tupperware") and aluminium. Listen to Mr. Bizzard and look at Springers. Make sure you look ONLY at ones with no air-intakes on the outside of the hull and preferably with an air-cooled engine.

If I can add something to what Arthur Brown says, it is not a good idea to take a 'typical' narrowboat to 'sea' unless you are experienced at the ways of the sea. I'm intimately familiar with the Thames and own a suitable narrow-boat, but I will think twice before bringing it below about Erith. (I have yachtmaster and all the sea qualifications including 55yrs recreational sailing under canvas and power) Maybe you know the ways of the sea but if you did you'd be asking different questions. However, if you get a narrowboat for the inland waterways you will have an unbelievable experience. The boat you NEED will be much smaller than you think. I see couples on t'cut in 23' [steel] boats and loads of space. It is not like camping, campers, caravans. A boat seems to have so much space. Pentargon is 36' for a reason and the name is googlable. Best of luck with the quest. I'm just finishing 12mts continuous cruising and intend to spend most of 2013 in t'cut where I look forward to meeting you some day with a HUGE smile on your face. PS Mr Bizzard has beaten me to it so I can now admit Pentargon is in fact a Springer bought partly for the reasons he states

Nice one Billy and I'm totally on the same frequency. Good news for the Braunston area is that BARBY which was getting terrible criticism and bad will early this year looks like it is pulling through. And they are to be complimented. ONLEY is ready for go, just some i's to dot and t's to cross. AND there is rumour of a FURTHER marina On the North Oxford. I understand COPREDY, to the south, is either building a new marina or extending an existing one. No wonder certain vested interests in Braunston are foaming at the mouth as it were. Looks like the gravy train may be planning to by-pass their vastly over-rated and over-expensive 'facilities.' And maybe it will not be before time.

Being aware that the OP was about "keeping a Stovax Stockton 3 multifuel stove" going all night, it's not necessarily the stove or the fuel or the settings. It's about having the instinctive know-how and the savvy to have started experimenting and learning before the real cold set in. I lived on board for some weeks last February with no heat at all. I bought a Hampshire Heater and got it working on board after a fashion within days but it has taken me months of experimentation to get a system that keeps it going ALL night. For a conventional narrowboat stove, the best all-night fuel is the Irish Peat Briquette Bale. Almost impossible to get in England. But I used them in Ireland for years on nopen fires and they never failed me. I understand that a company called Liverpool Woood Pellets claim to stock them. Link: http://www.bordnamonafuels.ie/our-fuels/peat-briquettes-coal/smokeless-peat-briquettes

I realise this thread has run it's course but Blackrose's original question was "Can I power a laptop with a car's USB socket?" The nearest anyone came to giving clear guidence was Alan Fincher who said "No!". That is the correct answer to the question asked. In the bigger scheme of things, other comments skirted (and in some cases amost touched a central tenet of) modern electronics. All computers are DC devices, using internal components which only deal with a DC environment. The plug, lead and transformer are merely [extremely in-efficient] ways of getting DCV in to the machine while making loads of Wonga for Toshiba? That's why there is a warning on yours saying "Caution. This gets hot". Just put your hand on YOURS and tell me it is not at least warm? Transformers supply 15vdc to 19vdc to the computer depending on make and model, but from an AC input which can range from 100VAC to 240VAC 50-60hz. Inside computer is a DC+ rail running nominal VDC which is writ on the machine, typically 15 to 20 but can run +/- 25% in total safety. Many if not most if not ALL electronic components inside work in the range 3vdc to maybe 9vdc and are quite sensitive to their OWN supply voltage. So each component links across the supply rail to 'earth' (0VDC) through various "istors" and shunts and gizmos you don't want to know about. It's kinda like a symphony orchestra in there. You don't need to know what the conductor knows. Just trust him. Pentargon currently has USB ports wired directly into the onboard 12VDC lines so I can charge my Samsung Galaxies and GPSs etc. I bought some Maplin car plug-ins, smashed the casings with a hammer and extracted the bits I needed to give me USB capability. Combination of rocket science and knowing how to get the meat out of a crab. In the Spring I will be converting Pentargon to 24VDC so that I can tap into the boats system to run, inter alia, a computer. Pentargon does not have ANY VAC on board (smart-arses will say there's VAC inside your alternator. There is but that's it.) The fridge already has 12/24vdc switchover capability. Some new LED lights are going in because 24VDC gives better light. I'm keeping some of the flourescents but putting them in series pairs rather than parallel to avail of Ohms Laws and save wads of wonga. I know how to handle any and all electric situations using circuitry or step-downs using GCSE type physics. Basically Pentargon will have a 24VDC rail and anything that needs stepping down will be stepped as needed. The complete wiring of the boat at a stroke will have its in use amperage halved. That Ohm guy was the Maaaaan. Any 'challenges' will be sorted in a lorry or bus breakers for small wonga. Sorry I won't be able to do your boats. I retired fifteen years ago. PS: some day ALL dwellings and vehicles will be wired like this.

Pentargon 36'LOA 25' cabin has a door midships to insulate the aft living area from the forard sleeping quarters. The hampshire charcoal burner has been trialled sice Feb14th last and can now hold the 'bedroom' to a comfortable 16ºC overnight which I've found it very nice with a tog13 duvet. I dress fully on rising and before venturing aft. For me it would be very wasteful to heat the whole boat 'cause that's who I am. Today I was by co-incidence in a 55' boat with a solid fire on coal and the whole boat was very warm with OAT at +8. Owner told me he likes to sleep 'coolish' like me and banks and damps the fire at night to that end. Heat costs you money. How hot you want to be? LOL

Not the same device Alan. No temp sensor. Crap device from China. The one Bazza got (from Screwfix?) is the business. Reflected in the price which is perfectly reasonable. They are calibrateable if you are a REAL electronics buff. My one replaced a moving coil analogue one which served me from 1997. The old one still works in all functions except the temp function which was buggered by my son trying to measure the temperature of the cooker gas flame on Pentargon. I use temp. function to analyse exhaust temperature when I'm tuning engines and sometimes also to check OAT and even my my body temperature. Tell Bazza to test his meter by taking his OWN body temperature in ºC AND F.should be about 37 and 99 give or take. I do NOT intend to tell anyone how to calibrate this device so don't even ask.

I was denied a vote because on the day my boat was not registered in MY name and although i was in contact with the previous owner he told me he know NOTHING about even the structure of the then to be be ratified C&RT and no idea even HOW to vote. So don't assume boaters could not be bothered. As an aside (but a pertinent aside) in the recent national poll to elect police representatives or whatever they are called, I spoiled my vote unintentionally by opening it with a very sharp letter opener which sliced the top flap off the return envelope. I explained what had happened to the appropriate council officer who said it would be ok to cellotape the flap on? Upon hearing that bit of equine faeces I stuffed the lot through my trusty shredder. Boaters like any other 'group' will bother if there is reason to be bothered. et vice versa. Jenyln and Cotswold and Alan F and a number of other honest men represented MY interests at a recent very constructive MK meeting with C&RT about 2C or not 2C where 'technically they represented no-one but theirselves. They did a great job of representing ME. Council be damned. The council member who was at the same meeting and who was suppose to be representing boaters represented ONLY his self. How soon can we vote him into oblivioon or are we stuck with this stuffed shirt for a number of years?