David Schweizer
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Posts posted by David Schweizer
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1 hour ago, Tonka said:
Is it a certified replica? According to R W Davies, Northwich Traders are replica's. Are they now allowed
Which Northwich are they claiming to replicate. Nice though they are, I have never seen an original Yarwoods narrowboat that bears more than a passing resemblence to the R.W.Davis Northwich Traders.
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Marking an item which you subsequently loose, is unlikely to help you to recover it. Marking an item is really only a deterrent to someone stealing it.
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Unfortunately not us this year, currently recovering from a hospitalised bout of pneunomia.
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9 minutes ago, ditchcrawler said:
I like the way people want to know what is said on Facebook but they don't want to join because they are not interested on what is said on Facebook.
I am really not the least bit intrested in Facecbook, and could not care what is posted on lt.
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11 hours ago, howardang said:
One other thing I forgot to mention is Squat which is the increase in aft draught when speed is increased and this increase in draught can mean the difference in touching the bottom or not. Squat effect is more noticeable in shallow water and that is why you may need to reduce speed in such condition.
Howard
I have never heard it called "squat", but I recognise the effect. On the Southern Oxford, in Autumn, the leaves used to gather under the narrow bridges, attracting other debris as well. I used to adopt a practice employed by working boatmen to stop me running aground under these bridges, simply knock the revs back to tick over as the stern goes under the bridge, and watch it lift several inches. As soon as the boat was through, the revs could be brought up again, without collecting half a forest on the prop.
1 hour ago, Lily Rose said:It's a "damned if you do, damned if you don"t" situation.
We go through Newbold tunnel each way pretty much every year and my approach now is to wait if they're not far from my end but go straight in otherwise. I've not yet had any complaints but the potential for someone to have a moan is always there whichever way you choose to do it. If you always wait then there's a good chance that by the time the boat you waited for has come out at your end another one has just gone in at the other end.
It's a dead easy straight two-way working tunnel with good visibility so I don't see why anyone should have a problem meeting someone half way. It''d rather meet someone there than in Braunston tunnel!
Talking of Braunston Tunnel, I once met a working boat, not displaying any lights. coming towards me in Braunston Tunnel. I could hear it but could not see it until we were quite close (just a simple 45w tunnel light pointing at the roof) We managed to pass each other quite easily without hitting the sides, or each other. We both chose to proceed at a modest pace, and as we passed, the captain apoligised as his electrics had failed after he entered the tunnel.
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10 minutes ago, Stroudwater1 said:
It is a good point. I hadn’t really considered it. However I’m glad ours is deep draughted as it seems more stable in wind and turns very promptly.
We’ve not got too stuck yet, just once passing a boat in Nuneaton and once letting a boat past. Reversing got us out without the long shaft thankfully.
I have hardly ever ever worked a shallow draught boat, and deep boats certainly seem to handle better, especially if they have long swims and a big rudder. Helvetia was 52ft long and had 15ft swims, which meant that underwater less than 20ft of the hull was parallel, making it very responsive to the rudder, reversing in a staight line was a doddle. The problem these days is that many builders want to maximise internal space, which creates short swims and compromises handling.
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8 minutes ago, MrsM said:
We are not regularly running aground but have witnessed several deeper draughted boats that have. We have however been scraping the bottom when having to come out of the channel. I know you are all far too skilled and clever which was why this post was aimed not at yourselves but at newbies who are looking for their first boat and might not consider draught, not experienced boaters such as the commenters here.
David Mack's point is a good one. Having quite a deep draught we always stayed in the middle, until comparatively close to an appproaching boat, when we slowed a bit and moved about 4ft the right, assuming that the approaching boat would do the same. If they chose to move over more than 4ft, that was their decision, but unneccessary. People manage it easily in tunnels, so why not on an open canal?
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If you are regularly runing aground with a 2ft draught boat, your boat is either deeper than you think, or you are cruising too close too the edge. Helvetia had a draught of 32" under way and, yes, we did run aground sometimes, but not that frequently. Experience is the best tutor for handling your own boat and, perhaps, a few more seasons and you will wonder what the problem was. Of course, I had the benefit of helping to work a Small Northwich for five years in the 1960's, after that 32" seemed like floating on the top.
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Several people have hit the nail on the head, It is really just a big trade show, with little to attract experienced boaters who already have a boat. We already had our boat by the time that we went, and had ready access to all the materials etc. that I needed for a re-fit, so Crick was of little interest to us. Braunston, however, always has something different and the chance to meet up with old friends.
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I only attended Crick Show once when most of the display tents were standing in two inches of water. I was helping to staff the NABO stand, but the only display which I found interesting was the Craftmaster stand, where I had an "informative" chat with Phil Speight. I never found the urge to go again, switching my loyalty to the Braunston Historic Boat Rally.
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12 hours ago, David Mack said:
This is you?
Yes, that is me, and the boat the actors are pulling is Pisces, because Flower of Gloster had broken down. Needless to say the "pulling" was being aided by some of our crew, who were out of shot.
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I actually appeared in "Flower of Gloster" for about five seconds. When you get to the section where they were broken down in Stoke Bruerne, I am the scruffy bloke in denims walking along the towpath. I never did get payed for my cameo part!!
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1 hour ago, Ray T said:
??
I
thinkhope he forgot the "tongue in cheek" emoji !! -
1 hour ago, magnetman said:
Eyes, ears and nose.
Temperature gauge is useful but one can generally get an idea of overheating from the antifreeze smell.
A warning lamp for low oil pressure and one for high coolant temperature are useful.
Those round things with needles or digital readouts are just worry gauges.
Yars ago they used to put a special paint on parts of the engine which would begin to melt if it started getting too hot. Thus alerting the engineer via his sense of smell before damage occured.
You are clearly too young to remember when all quality cars had a dashboard full of meters, and most drivers knew how to use them and interpret the readings. I had several Riley RM's and they all had a walnut dash with gold faced Jaeger instruments.
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I had an ammeter, one voltmeter , which could be switched between batteries, plus engine temperature, oil pressure and hourmeter on Helvetia, but decent quality ones. I did try Durite but they were more cosmetic than useful, and were swiftly replaced.
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5 minutes ago, MtB said:
It would make better structural sense if the whole extension were rotated through 90 degrees and the two long lengths of timber fixed to the top and bottom of the old balance beam stump, rather than to the sides as in the photo.
I was going to suggest that, but you beat me to it. To make it even stronger, and avoid the planks moving laterally, would be to add a top and bottom plank to the existinhg vertical boards.
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12 minutes ago, Peugeot 106 said:
Danboline is excellent for bilges. If you ring International Paints for advice their Technical man used to be excellent with a lot of practical experience. I have asked his advice on several occasions and he was always knowledgable and helpful. You don’t just get the feeling he is reading the Technical Data Sheet back to you. Good luck it’s not a nice job!
I had the same experience when I phoned Finnigand(Hammerite) for advice about the resistance of Smootrite to heat and oil.
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When I had the engine on Helvetia removed for re-building, I de-reased the engine bilge very thoroughly, sanded it, and painted it with two generous coats of Finnigans Smoothright, which has been re-branded as Hammerite Smooth. The result was excellent, easy to clean, and with no rust after ten years.
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1 hour ago, magnetman said:
There are significant problems in this country but I still don't think it is the job of the navigation authority to be dealing with people's housing issues.
The CRT should definitely make more residential moorings available and yes you can get mooring fees paid for if you have recourse to public funds. This is a fact not just an assumption.
>snip
An interesting observation, and one which the then BW attempted some years ago, close to Avoncliffe not very far from where George Ward moored his boats. As you probably know, residential moorings require Planning Consent, and an application was submitted, but rejected by the Council after receiving a significant amount of objection from local residents. Despite discussions between BW and the Planning Authority, the application came to nothing.
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The Tesco's warm white LED bulbs that I fitted are neither "gloomy" or "brown". They seem to replicate the old traditiomal Tungsten bulbs, and are fine for working or reading, just a bit brighter.
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40 minutes ago, alan_fincher said:
This doesn't seem to be supported once you start to search for the facts. A quick Google will show that LEDs consistently draw far less power than their CFL equivalent..
We swapped all our CFL bulbs to LED a year or so back, and by turning off everything except lights were easily able to show using the smart meter that the consumption was halved.
Some information here...
We do not have a smart meter, but I did a similar test using the standard meter readings, which I realise is a less conclusive method. Like you, I observed that power consumption was reduced by something approachinhg 50%. Of course some of that improvement was a consequence of replacing all the 60w CFL bulbs with 40W LED bulbs and the 75w CFL's with 60w LED's, with no noticeable reduction in the lamp brightness.
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16 hours ago, blackrose said:
Yes that's what I'm talking about.
Bulb brightness is given in units of lumens, so I don't really understand how equivalent lumen bulbs can be brighter? That doesn't make any sense to me.
Anyway according to the bulbs I've just looked at an old energy efficient 806 lumen bulb is rated at 9w while the led equivalent is 7w so while there's definitely an energy saving it's not as much as I was expecting.
I ended up buying a couple of 470 lumen led bulbs anyway as they were cheap and only rated at 3.4w. I think that's only about 280 milliamps on 12v and will give me a bit of lower height background light from my lamps.
I am aware that brightness is measured in lumens, but as most light bulbs have been traditionally sold by wattage, that is often the only straightforward comparison that can be made between CFL and LED bulbs. Wattage is also the rating which can easily be used to calculate power consumption, which is what I thought you were trying to measure. When I decided to change all the bulbs in our house, I undertook a bit of research, and was surprised to discover that different manufacturers claim different comsumption for the same lumen ratating, consequently, comparing lumens is not really a very effective way of calculating power consumption.
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I assume you are talking about standard 22mm bayonet cap bulbs, known as B22d cap bulbs, these are readily available in supermarkets. I replaced all my CFL bulbs with LED's a few months ago, not only do they really use less power, they are also much brighter, and I managed to reduce the rating rating on most of them.
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1 hour ago, Rob-M said:
May help contacting the owner, http://www.steamershistorical.co.uk/steamers_adamant.htm.
I can't remember his name, I steered Adamant around the Braunston parade a few year's ago.
I have just looked at that website, and interestingly it states that the hull of Adamant was built from the stern ends of two Birmingham Joey boats. I always thought that both ends of Joey boats were the same allowing the rudder to be hung on either end therefore eliminating the need to turn round. Certainly the former T&S Elements wooden Joey which a friend of mine owned had two back ends. Adamant's hull is iron so was it only Wooden Joeys that had two back ends?
Magnet set
in Boat Equipment
Posted
The easiest way to avoid a sea searcher attaching itself to the side of the boat is to slip a thin plank of wood down the side of the hull before lowering the magnet into the water.