IanD

I think we can now all see why The Great British Sewing Bee is so popular... 🙂

It does indeed (see my photo), and still occasionally the bearing can go noisy/squealy and you have to run some water forcibly though the tube. DAMHIK... 😞

Looking at the Beta soundproof boxes (I did this in detail when I was considering getting a diesel boat built) I don't think space is the problem, getting reliable drive to big alternators is unless the engine already has a multigroove pulley (or even two) on the splined crank -- can't remember when they brought this in (to stop pulleys coming loose and b*ggering the crank up) but IIRC it was around the year 2000. The current Beta 43 can have up to two large domestic alternators (or one plus a Travelpower) fitted if it has the right crankshaft pulleys fitted (a multivee for each) on the splined crank extension -- it should be possible to retrofit these if the extension is there (see picture), and AFAIK these will fit inside the enclosure -- Beta should be able to advise on this.

What crank pulleys does it have fitted -- how many, V-groove or multigroove? Are they fitted on a splined crankshaft extension (good) or bolted on (not so good)? The answers will determine how big an alternator (or more than one) can be fitted. Also, how much money do you want to spend? A big alternator with an external controller (e.g. Wakespeed or Arco) is the best solution for charging LFP batteries, but will cost a four-digit sum... 😉 (a DC-DC converter like the 50A Victron Orion XS is cheaper, but you need to parallel them up for higher currents which again bumps the cost up).

With the engine off and gearbox in neutral, how easy is it to turn the prop shaft by hand by grabbing the flexible coupling? This should be quite easy to do with one hand, if not that suggests the stern bearing is binding and that could be causing the noise. What do you mean by "more modern greased one" -- does it look like this? If it does then you need to inject silicone grease (every 100 hours running?) through the brass nut, otherwise it can squeal horribly. DAMHIK... 😉

I wonder what the numbers actually are, how many CCers in London join and leave the "boating community" each year? I suspect it's not as many as you think given the much higher cost of alternative places to live, which is why the net number of CCers goes up every year -- few leavers, more joiners...

Not necessarily -- there are getting on for 9000 CCers on the whole system so the ones in London can just do swapsies with those oop North (and in t'Midlands, obvs!), leaving the Regent's Canal just as rammed with them as today... 😉 And if they did that they'd then be genuine "Bargee Travellers", wouldn't they? 🙂

I don't think there's any malicious intent to plug NBTA views here, but having friends who have moved aboard for economic purposes is likely to colour her judgment. The simple fact is that the vast majority of "liveaboard boaters" today (vociferously backed by the NBTA) are not in any way "traditional" in lifestyle or motivation, they're entirely a modern creation driven by seeing the canals as cheap housing -- and the Regent's Canal is absolutely crammed with them. This lifestyle was pretty much unknown in "the good old days", certainly before the 1995 Act which introduced "continuous cruising" for the handful of boaters who genuinely did this -- the "working boaters" had no need to moor mainly in one place because their entire life was based on moving goods around the system. I doubt that any sensible definition of "traditional" would include something which has only happened within the last 30 years, and mostly in the last 15 years since housing costs spiralled out of control -- for example in 2012 there were 640 CCers in London, by 2017 this had increased to 1880, and is now rather more than 3000 (can't find an exact figure -- anyone?). Which means that the majority have been CCers for 10 years or less... On that basis, this lifestyle is about as "traditional" as the PlayStation, Amazon and Google... 😉

None because I don’t have sails, so it's only used as a motor. But if the boat was being towed the controller could use it as an alternator to generate power and charge the 48V propulsion/domestic batteries. Exactly like an EV working either as a motor or regenerative brake. All "alternators" (without diode packs to covert to DC) can be used as AC motors, and all AC motors can be used as alternators, because they're one and the same thing -- usually 3-phase but not always. The only difference is whether they're used to generate power (alternator/generator) or consume it (motor). Some have field coils (alternator/generator) to control output, others have a switch mode controller (e.g. PMAC motors). So I've got three "alternators/AC motors"; a small one on the generator to charge the 12V starter battery, a big one (9kW 230VAC 1500rpm single-phase) in the generator, and a massive one (14kW 1080rpm 3-phase PMAC) attached to the prop and connected to the 48V battery via the (bidirectional) motor controller which converts AC to DC (or vice versa). Got it now? 🙂

Especially if told in that sultry Lady P posh voice with the Cockney replies... 😉