David Schweizer
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Posts posted by David Schweizer
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This is a long story which goes back to the early 1960's. At the time I was about eighteen and was Chairman of our Church Youth Club Members Committee. We were invited to become involved in a Narrowboat which the Local Youth Service had just aquired from BW for use as a Camping Boat, and two members were duly appointed to represent the Club. it was then proposed that I as chairman should also go as a matter of courtesy (those were the days !) Now I did not like boats and liked water even less, but the Committee decided that I should go and that was that. The boat turned out to be a 72ft ex GUCC Northwich Star called Pisces, which had recently been released by BW who had been operating her as a Water Bus under the name Water Sprite. She had a plywood roof and roll down canvas sides and that was the conversion !! I spent the evening on the boat and was hooked, the rest as they say is history. I became actively involved with Pisces for the next seven years, becoming a member of the permanent Voluntary Crew, until 1971 when I moved to Birmingham to take up full time education. Since then my involvement has waxed and waned but it never disapeared. Eight years ago I was made redundant and elected for early retirement, I spent most of my Redundancy pay plus a bit from savings to purchase my own boat, which occupies much of my time these days.
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It won't be long before some bright spark asks where your bell and blue flashing light are.
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This is not really helpful but my boat only has two inches between the bottom plate and the timber floor, and whilst I haven't had all the floor up, I have yet to find any ballast in it at all. I added some cast steel lift weights (under the galley units) a few years ago to compensate for some heavy bulkheads and fixed furniture that was removed during a re fit, and there are quite a few 56lb weights inside the rear counter plus a few more in the front well sump, but that's about it. At most there could only be one layer of slabs in the bottom of the boat, but the strange thing is that I have a draft of over 2ft 6ins, so it must just be a very heavy boat.
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I am not certain that anyone actually knows where the origins of the decorative patterns on the rear hatch slides came from, but they were certainly commonplace on working boats. It is gererally believed that, along with the plain filled circle, all four card suits were popular, however the Spade was not particularly popular and was actualy considered unlucky by many boatmen. Ron Hough who painted the decoration on my boat told me that he only paints them reluctantly and would never have one on any boat he owned. I do not know the origin of this view, but it is probobly due to some misfortune experienced by a boatman following the decoration of a slide with a spade emblem. Another intersesting observation is that the Club emblem is nearly always painted in red rather than it's correct colour of black. One feature which often goes un-noticed by modern painters is the facing direction of the Heart emblem. Many boatmen considered it to be inapropriate to have symbol of love facing backwards towards themselves, and insisted that it be painted pointing forwards
Whilst most larger carriers had their own individual style of "Mouse Ears" on the back of the cabin, there was no particular allegience of style or pattern for the rear hatch slide, which was usually down to the preference of the boatman at the time, or what the painter felt like using. The origins of the "Mouse Ears" pattern is also unknown but it is very similar to the patterns used on the back of many 19th century horse drawn carts, so may have just been copied by the early painters
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Hi All
Upon lifting the carpet tiles we noticed there is dry rot... not just a little but quite a lot so much so it just crumbles in your hands.
We took up a fair bit of the floor to see what it was like underneath. a little messy but not too bad.
My first question is do we have to replace the whole of the boat floor. or can we treat the less severe parts to stop it spreading?
Secondly is there anything we can do to claim back from the man who did the survey?
Whilst it is possible to neutralize rot by treatment, the timbers will have suffered structural damage and will no longer have the load bearing properties of sound timber. Any rot should be cut out back to sound timber, the whole area should then be treated with a special solution to prevent re-infestation, and new timbers put in.
As far as compensation from the surveyor is concerned, it realy depends on what was written in the survey report. They usually tend to cover themselves with phrases such as "It was not possible to inpect the floor timbers, but they appeared to be sound" or "where it was possible to lift the carpet with out causing damage, the floor timbers appeared to be sound" If wording like that has been used you probobly have no case. The other device used by some surveyors is to put a clause into the introduction stating that all inspections were subject to being able to gain access for inspection. If however the surveyor has given an unqualified observation that the floor was sound, or has not mentioned it at all, you may have a case.
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Hi All
Does anyone know what colour the gray paint is on a Gardner engine.
And please dont say Gardner gray.
I need some to paint the engine room and to get it from Gardner it is £60 for a tin.
Richard
I have just unearthed a Masons paint colur chart which has over 300 BS and RAL numbered paints listed. The sample samples are quite small but they may be of some use, there are quite a few greys. I have no need for this chart but hung onto it just in case it ever came in useful. If you think it might be helpful, I would happily send it to you if you email me your address
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David.
Just out of interest, are you talking about the gauze breather on the rocker box or another.
No John, I am talking about the oil breather pipe on the forward tappet cover which does have a gauze filter inside it. There is a short hose from the tappet cover connecting it to the side of the Fuel air filter, which also has a gauze element inside it. When the engine has been working hard a small amount of oil drips from this filter. As already mentioned this an elderly BMC 1.5 engine manufactured in 1981 and I am aware that more recent versions have the breather tube connected directly to the inlet manifold and have a more conventional paper element Air Filter.
As a matter of interest the rocker box does not have a breather on it, but from memory I think there may be a gauze filter inside the filler cap which would presumably serve the same purpose.
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There is no reason why any engine should leak more than a spoonful of oil in a year.........
Oh yes there is. - Answer: If it's in my boat, certainly more than a spoonful a year.
Despite all my attempts I cannot totally eliminate the oil spillage from my elderly BMC 1.5. It is nothing to do with leakage through fauly gaskets, but from the oil crankcase breather which is helpfully routed through the oil soaked gauze air filter. I have been told that if I block it off I could cause a build up of pressure in the engine with disasterous results. Like you John, I also hate any sort of liquid sloshing around in the engine tray (or bilges) so I always have a wad of absorbant tissue in the back of the tray to soak it up, and dispose of it responsibly every few weeks. The other problem is a leaking oil seal in the back of the Gearkox which drops about a spoonfull a month, but as the box is otherwise ok, a replacement will have to wait until the box needs to be taken off for repair/maintenance.
Back to the original point, I think you should try and find an solution to disposing of your oily water Ben. As far as I understand it you could be prosecuted if the oil is deemed to be causing polution. On the K&A there have been quite a few cases of oil polution in the Bath to Bradford on Avon area and the Environment Agency take a serious view of deliberate or avoidable spillage. I know that one boat owner was threatened with prosecution, although in fairness what he pumped out was a mixture of almost neat Diesel and oil with hardly any water. The EA had to put a boom of absorbant material round his boat to stop it spreading.
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It is not necessarily the lack of moorings that is the problem, but a lack of moorings where people want them to be. My boat is currently on a BW Winter mooring in a quite delightful spot and, apart from the occassional short term visitor, is sitting all on it's own. The mooring is quite cheap (as these things go), there is a decent pub nearby, car parking, and a good bus service. I geuss that the reason no one else want's to moor there is because nearest water point is about a mile away through eight locks in one direction, or two miles the other way through three locks, and the nearest town of any consequence is about twelve miles away.
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Whatever you think about the recent action of some groups of gypsies, they do actually have some right which are being flagrantly ignored by most Local Authorities. I suspect this is why, they are resorting to breaches of the Planning Regulations to force the local authorityies into action. If they were not granted planning Consent they could probobly prosecute the local authority for failing to establish recgnised sites as required under the 1968 (?) Act.
During the 1970's I lived in Birmingham and was a member of the local Gypsy Liason Committee, the biggest item under discussion then was the establishment of recognised sites - not much has changed in 30 years.
Doesen't help boaters much but I thought we should look at things in perspective.
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More to the point is that it will get worn away, in canals at least, quite quickly.
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How Quickly ??? When my boat had it's last full hull survey done, the average thickness of the bottom plate was 9.8mm after 15 years and 18,000 hours of scraping it's 2ft 9ins draught around the canal system. Not too much to worry about there.
back to the question, the base plate is not normally blacked for the resaons alpready given, but the underside of the counter should be blacked as air gets sucked in at this point so there is quite a lot of oxygen mixed with the water , which will promote corrosion if left unprotected.
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Anyone currently fitting out a boat might be interested to learn that my local Wickes branch, at Trowbridge, is selling off two brand new Solar-Vents at £15 each. They have a plastic body and look just like the UFO vents fitted to many boats but with a mini solar panel in the top. The Ventilation tube at the bottom is 410mm diameter which is slightly bigger than most boat ventilators. Apparently they are not an normal stock item and were ordered for a customer who never came back for them. The store is about five minutes walk from the K&A at Hilperton.
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I have just checked the specification drawings of my boat and the bow and stern dimensions are almost identical to Richard's (and I think also John's, although I am not sure whether his bow figure includes or excludes a front well) The dimension of my boat are Foredeck 5ft 6ins, Front well 5ft, Rear counter deck 3ft 6ins. total 14ft. I agree with John that to produce a nice looking boat you should not scrimp on the bow fore deck, and the space is not wasted, it provides you with a nice big front locker in which you can store all those untidy bits that some people have to store on the roof, like winter ropes, tyres for holding you off shallow edges etc etc
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I think you could be starting from the wrong end Maffi. I would suggest getting a few genuine hull specs from builders and work from there. If you start from the other end you could find that your planned interior won't fit into the length of boat you plan to buy.
As far as equipment for boats is concerned, Acorn Engineering of Manchester produce a comprehensive on line catalogue are at
This site gives dimensions etc for most of the equipment you will need to purchase. The only downside about Acorn is that they are a bit more expensive than some other on line chandlers.
If you do sell your house I doubt whether you will a have sufficient time to commission a hull let alone fit it out before the sale is completed. have you thought of buying a second hand boat, you could end up with a better spec for less money and much less hassle. There are lots of brokers websites for you to browse through, and even if you do decide on a new build you will get a lot of ideas from other people's boats.
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I've heard all the stories but have to admit that I have experienced very few incidents, none of which were particularly threatening to either myself or my family. I have had stone thrown once (but they ran away when i jumped off the boat at bridge) I had a pole stolen but found it later in a hedge, and I have had the window smashed and food stolen once, but that was the notious Finch on tghe Oxford - he never comes on the K&A and never breaksinto occupied boats.
There have been a few occassions of excessive use of foul language at locks by groups of lads but I usually find that a bit of banter with them improves the situation almst immediately - they are only seeking attention so I try and make it positive rather than negative - it has worked up to now. The most abusive and threatening behavior has come from fishermen and other boaters but they are usually all noise and steam rather than any real threat. I usually ignore them or become extreemly polirte and pleasant, that usually confuses them.
I live very close to the K&A between Bath and Bradford on Avon, and can assure you that it should be fine, there are lots of people about on the towpath most of the time so there is very little opportunity for anyone to misbehave without being seen by someone.
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All this talk about rules and redgulations is fine, but the reality is that (some at least) Navigation Authorities do not demand strict adherence to the regulations, for transitory visitors, particularly if the circumstances that demand those regulations do not exist at the time. ie: If it is in the middle of the day and visiblity is good, there is no navigational need for lights, so the officials permit excemption of the rule. On the Thames a vessel is supposed to display it's name on the stern and bow, but no one bothers with narrowboats who have the name on the sides. Similarly an excemption is normally applied to boats switching off their engine in locks when the crew holds the boat from the lockside and there is little traffic, because the reason for the rule is to allow crews controlling their boats whilst still aboard to be able to hear verbal instructions from the lock keeper.
The reality is that on some rivers the revenue genereated by visiting craft is such a large proportion of the Navigation Autrhority's income, that they cannot afford to get pedantic about the uneccessary application of rules that only need to be adhered to under certain circumstances.
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Worst thing ever found round the prop? Get ready with the sick bag.
Back in the 1960's we caught a dead King Charles Spaniel in a sack round the 27" prop on our Northwich Star Class Working boat. Those were the days when there were no such things as weed hatches so it was a case of Alan and Graham getting into the water and removing it physically I made myself busy in the engine room replacing the Prop Shaft shear pin ( boats don't seem to have those these days)
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Navigation lights should be put into the same category as red and white spotted neckerchiefs and sextants.
HEAR HEAR - along with Bowler hats and windlass belts.
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This should answer that one.
Guidance & Regulations / Inland Waterways / Navigation Lights Shapes and Sound Signals
17 NAVIGATION LIGHTS, SHAPES AND SOUND SIGNALS
17.1 Vessels should comply with the requirements of the Merchant Shipping (Distress Signals and Prevention of Collisions) Regulations 1996, SI 1996 No.75. In some areas these will be modified by local bylaws, which will be published by the navigation or other local authority – e.g. British Waterways, General Canal Byelaws 1965, Thames Navigation Licensing and general bylaws.
17.2 A vessel which operates only between sunrise and sunset is not required by the international regulations to carry navigation lights. However, in areas where there is a risk of collision in poor visibility, it is advisable to use navigation lights. The local Navigation Authority should be consulted if in doubt.
17.3 Vessels operating through tunnels should also carry a white spotlight or headlight.
17.4 Sound signalling equipment should comply with the Regulations. A vessel of less than 12 metres in length is not obliged, unless required by local byelaws, to carry the sound signaling equipment required by the Regulations on the condition that some other means of making an efficient sound signal is provided.
Yes Maffi thats all very well, but what you have onmmited are the by-law excemptions and regulations for Transitory Visitors. I regulary spend several days at a time on the Thames either between Brentford and Reading or Reading and Oxford, and have never been questioned about my boat's lack of navigation lights. As suggested elsewhere, contact the appropriate navigation Authority and seek advice.
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I'm told that 10,000 hours is not unreasonable. Can't say the same for gearboxes though.
10,000 hours - barely run in! My BMC 1.5 has done over 20,000 hours the only significant maintenance has been a service replacement head at about 17,000 hours. The Newage PRM 160D (now called a 260D) gearbox is still the original and as far as I am aware has had no maintenance apart from a replacement drive plate. However it is a much larger (and more expensive) box than those fitted by most modern builders, so it should last longer.
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I have just realised that the address I have given is for The Classic Car Resource website, but the information on this page for Ellis Restorations is correct . Sorry about the confusion
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This sounds like an Ellis Heatmaster, I have one in my boat which is 23 years old and still works perfectly. Whilst they are simpler in specification, they were far more robust than the alde boiler and as far as I know spares can still be obtained from Ellis Restorations in Northampton.
The guy who used to market them set up a car restoration company and was very helpful when I needed some information, he sent me a copy of the installation and operation instructions. They have a website at
http://www.tccr.net/Suppliers/ellis_restorations.htm
If you do not have any luck, contact me and I can arrange to photocopy the instructions and send them to you.
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Where has all this nonsense come from, every day all of us drink water that has been stored in tanks and pipes that have been treated with Bitumastic paint, how many of you can see a steel, iron or concrete water tower from where you are sitting now.
A properly painted water tank is a perfectly good method of storing water which has stood the test of time.
Of course the paint manufacturers cover their backs, that is the age we live in.
You are quite correct John, but the bitumin paint has to comply with the BS standards of suitability for drining water. There are several catagories within the regulations and whilst I cannot remember all of them, I recall that the standard for Public water supply is far higher than for private domestic use. The one I used for my tank was called Bituros and was suitable for private use.
Back to the original question, I did the job a couple of years ago on my boat, It was probobly the worst job I have ever had to do. My tank is only about 15" high so the whole job had to be done lying down. I found it necessary to completely cover myself with protective clothing and also used a good quality mask as the fumes are quite overpowering. The Bituros is of a much thinner consistency than normal bitumin so it flows very easily, and that includes drips, on the plus side it dries quite quickly and a second coat can be applies after 24 hours. Try and do the job during a cool dry (but not cold) spell in the weather, it can get very warm inside the tank whilst you are working, I also found it necessary to take a break every 15 muinutes or so to get some fresh air and to cool off. After you have done the job it is recomended that you air the tank for 14 days and then flush it out three times before using the tank to store drinking water
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Back to the original question. As I understand it the tradition on the canals is that if you are going to change the name of a boat it must be out of the water at the time. The name of my boat has been changed twice, and whilst I cannot account for the first change, I observed the tradition when i changed it ( just to be on the safe side)
Visiter mooring for London
in General Boating
Posted
Try the St Pancras Cruising Club, very friendly people, I am not sure if they can accomodate 57ft but I am sure they would be able to make some suggestions. The last contact I had was Linda Adkins (harbourmaster) on 0207 285 2708