IanD
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Posts posted by IanD
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Show us the numbers. Nobody including Toyota and Tesla is using superconducting motors, they're not practical yet and far too expensive for cars. The reason for using them anyway wouldn't be the extra few % efficiency (and range), it would be that the lack of heat dissipation means you could use a much smaller and lighter motor for the same power because it doesn't need cooling.
Saying that the losses in the motor are 10x (or whatever) lower doesn't mean the range is 10x bigger, it means 0.5% loss instead of 5% so 4.5% more range.
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However many letters they have after their names, they're talking rubbish -- 5% more efficiency gives 5% more range, it's not a perpetual motion machine :-)
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Nicholson's only has "official" winding holes, Pearson's has usable ones too (with maximum boat length marked) which are a lot more frequent. If you want to turn round without going a lot further than necessary, this is a big advantage.
Pearson's is a much better read with more unofficial local information. Nicholson's is more up-to-date with more information overall, especially what's near the canal.
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Normal electric motors are up to 95% efficient (for good ones!), superconducting ones would be 100% -- not really a big improvement in efficiency, they could be a lot smaller and lighter (no heat loss) but this is irrelevant for narrowboats.
Fuel cells are all fine for local pollution but where does the fuel come from? If the answer is fossil fuels, the overall efficiency is a lot lower than battery/electic power and probably lower than diesel, so running costs are higher. If the answer if renewables, this energy is in short supply and expensive so low efficiency is still a killer.
You have to look at the whole system including energy source, not just the last bit in the chain :-)
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You could moor at Dukinfield and easily get to Castlefield in a day.
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For beer we usually do the following
Middlewich, the kings lock, also decent food
Wheelock or thurlwood (royal oak)
Kidsgrove, the blue bell
Congleton, the queens near the station
Macclesfield, the wharf
Marple if you like robinsons
Bugsworth, the navigation
Manchester there are loads
Dunham, the old number three
Lymm, the saddlers or the brewers
Same at Middlewich and Kidsgrove -- Blue Bell is a fantastic pub but no food.
The Vale at Bollington, excellent for both
Ditto the Navigation at Bugsworth
Holt's boozer with cheap beer, the Chapel House at Dukinfield
Knott Bar in Manchester (Castlefield)
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When we did the CR (and Peak Forest) 3 years ago the trip was carefully planned around pubs/beer/food, we didn't have any problems mooring any evening even at 6pm or later.
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Pearsons is much more amusing and less dry and has some useful information that Nicholson's doesn't -- crucially for our last trip on the L&L, places you can turn a boat other than the (few!) winding holes shown on Nicholson's. Nicholson's is better for things near the canal (as opposed to on it) and I find it easier to read when travelling as it's map-like, and is reprinted more often so is more up-to-date. Nicholson's has more dry factual information (e.g. lists of things), Pearson's is better at telling you which are actually worth a visit.
In other words I agree with Phil, they're both good in different ways. Get both :-)
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Whoops - my bad; now corrected -
thanks
You corrected the text, but the hyperlink it refers to still has one "l"...
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Marine Boilers and locomotive boilers are of different design and the exhaust blast is not used to create draught for the fire hence no chuff.
Compounding does make some difference but if an engine is working hard it is not that noticeable to the ear. Non-compunding (single cylinder) engines usually work at lower pressure so the exhaust blast pressure is not that disimilar to a compound that will run at a higher pressure to facilitate the benefits of compounding.
It is the venturi effect of the exhaust being routed through the chimney that creates the draught and the sound created is the chuff.
Its very nice to see such enthusiasm for steam on canals again after it seemed to have wained a few years ago. I sold my boat and bought a steam roller and now own a traction engine onced owned by G. Garside of Leighton Buzzard who also had their own fleet of boats. The engine was used to take sand from the pits down to the railway and to the wharf for onward shipment. I think it is the only engine left with a direct canal connection.
FMC did own a number of Foden Steam Waggons but I think none survived.
Sorry for going a bit off topic.
John
I don't think the steam enthusiasm ever went away, just the boats. It's a great shame that Keith Jones's "Firefly" isn't still around and available for hire, I'm sure it would be booked solid by people who'd like a steam-powered narrowboat holiday. We had a fortnight on it back it the eighties and it was brilliant -- sneaking up on fisherman, gliding along with just the gentle rumble from the (gas) boiler and a tiny bit of engine noise, steering in cold wind and rain snug inside the back doors next to a half-million BTU boiler and watching the poor sods shivering on other boats, blowing the whistle at blind bends and watching the reactions of passersby. OK it had the acceleration (and stopping power) of a 3HP 20 ton slug and burned gas like it was going out of fashion, but I'd go on it again in a flash given the chance...
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Chris is all right really....
But yes, as well as both being 2cyl compounds, both boats also condense, as does EmilyAnne, which is the reason there is no exhaust note.
Hasty is about 3ft4 depth with a 28x42 prop, Adamant is with I think 3ft with a 24x34 prop. EmilyAnne being 2ft8 with a 26x32 prop.
Daniel
Blimey, 28x48 (not 42, according to various sources) is a *monster* prop, no wonder Hasty shifted a lot of water...
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Interesting that Hasty looks to be making far more wash than Adamant but without much advantage -- is Adamant deeper in the water with a bigger prop?
If both boats are condensing that'll explain the lack of chuff -- non-condensing would use an awful lot of water.
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On the L&L a couple of weeks ago the only volockies we encountered didn't try and take over doing the locks were were going through, but they did things that actually helped like setting the next lock so it was full ready for us since they knew there were no boats coming up.
The only unhelpful encounter we had was with a CART employee doing some maintenance work, who told us with great authority that we should have everybody out on deck in all locks in case the boat sank -- and then proceeded to try and help this prediction come true by advising a less experienced crew member to take two turns round a bollard on the centre line not one because it "gave better control of the boat". Consequence was that it locked as the boat rose above lock level and was in danger of causing a capsize -- yes these were the paddles that you can't drop quickly in an emergency -- and the only thing that stopped this was cutting the line. Could have been nasty, as it was we only (!!!) lost a bottle of gin and one of chilli sauce, that made a really nice mess to clean up...
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Mackerel
If you've got mackerel swimming inside your boat you might want to track down the leak and fix it...
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Just pointing out the thread is nearly 2 years old. That's all.
Phil
Started 29 Dec 2014 (before booking holiday), posted again 3 Sept 2015 (after returning from holiday), I make that 8 months and 5 days -- and it's difficult to see how I could have added anything useful any earlier... ;-)
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Zombie thread alert.
Phil
Always nice to see friendly helpful comments from people on the forum. There I was, thinking that anyone looking to hire a quiet boat in future might be interested in some feedback, but I was obviously wrong...
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Turned out to be a good choice, Somerset was probably the quietest and most vibration-free boat we've hired -- could still have been better though with a bigger silencer and some sound insulation under the (heavy metal) deck "boards" :-)
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Indeed, some people like smart gastropubs, others (including me) like a bit scruffier boozers with more local feel to them. So long as they're friendly and the beer is good (and food if I'm eating there) I don't really care either way...
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Reporting back...
Bollywood Cottage at Gargrave excellent -- praise indeed speaking as someone who lives a mile north of Southall! -- and Masons Arms fine as a friendly boozer.
Narrow Boat in Skipton very good for beer/cider/perry (didn't eat there), Stanforth's pies as good as predicted (and cheap) but the chilli pork pie has a skull and crossbones on for a good reason.
Slater's Arms at Bradley worth the (short!) walk, very good beer and food, need to book (full otherwise).
Nowhere decent to stop in Bingley, moored at Dowley Gap on Barry's suggestion but the pub (Fisherman's Arms) was closed -- luckily had plenty of beer on the boat.
Turned at Newlay (just above the locks), had a couple of excellent pints at the Abbey, ate at the Ephesus (Turkish, very good) in Rodley, ended up at the Rodley Barge (also recommended)
Fisherman's now open at Dowley Gap having just changed hands (only opened the previous day), friendly with OK beer, no food since kitchen floor relaid that day, big TV screen (sound off) and noisy parrot. Doesn't look like it's going to be classy but at least OK, and much better than the horrible visitor moorings in Bingley.
Back to Skipton, decent fish and chips (and slow distracted service, but we wanted a sit down) at Bizzie Lizzie's, more great beer/cider/perry at the Narrow Boat.
Finished at the Anchor at Salterforth, decent pub grub and beer.
For anyone considering hiring, boat was Somerset from Shire Cruisers -- very smooth and quiet, nice to handle, well thought out and fitted, very good shower but quite greedy on water, with six of us on board we ran out once after missing a fill-up...
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Passes a boat on the L&L last week with what looked like a stainless steel hull (unpainted) but with painted cabin -- can't remember the name, did have something on it saying which engineering firm made it but can't remember that either...
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Using electricity from the grid to charge batteries is the lowest CO2 method of powering a boat (or car) even if the electricity comes from fossil fuel, because the big power stations are considerably more efficient than even a diesel engine -- the term you're looking for is well-to-wheel efficiency. If the electricity comes from renewables (unlikely in the UK for a very long time) than the high efficiency is still an advantage.
Hydrogen "power" (actually energy storage) is far less efficient no matter what process is used for generating the hydrogen, even if fuel cells are used -- if the hydrogen is burnt in an IC engine it's much worse still, in fact the resulting CO2 emissions are then a lot bigger than a diesel engine. Anyone not convinced, go and read "Sustainable Energy -- Without the Hot Air" (free online or pdf download) to see the actual numbers.
A narrowboat is certainly one case where electric/battery power could make sense (maybe even more so than cars) *if* high-current charging stations were positioned near water points where boats have to stop regularly for half an hour or so anyway (like on the Mon & Brec?), unlike cars wanting to fill up in a few minutes (and generally needing more charge anyway) -- battery size and weight is much less of an issue than with cars since boats need ballast anyway.
Of course somebody would have to pay for the charging stations, it would be a long time before battery displaced a significant part of the diesel fleet, and the total energy consumption of all the boats on the canals is only a fraction of a percent of that used by cars so even if the CO2 saving looked good from the canal point of view it would be negligible compared to road transport.
So you could say, in this case why not use hydrogen and fuel cells for boats? Apart from the explosive risks, the answer is that the infrastructure to generate and transport hydrogen is expensive, and would never happen for boats unless cars also used it -- which they won't for all the above reasons...
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But in France the signage is around the corner you should have taken, but didn't because the sign was around the corner so you you missed it!
Road signs should always be erected by someone who does not know the route - French signs are mostly just confirmation that you are going the right way for those who know the way already.
Tam
After getting lost in Tours many years ago -- long before satnav -- we crossed a river bridge (still on a main road) and had to turn either left or right due to the presence of a big stone wall, Apart from a couple of tiny local villages, the only signs were "Toutes directions" (left) and "Autres directions" (right)... ;-)
(we went left, obviously)
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All are worth watching, highly recommended for anyone with an interest in the history of canals.
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Very good series with a lot of interesting background information about the influence of the canals -- well worth watching.
No Wonder Some "London Wanabees" Buy A Boat
in Living Afloat
Posted
*All* together now...
One panino, two panini, three panini, four
Five panini, six panini, seven panini, more...