IanD

Not to mention both the practical impossibility and costs of trying to charge millions of visitors to the canals anything... 😞 The last two lines sum up the real reason for the license fee increase, and the consultation explains why CART chose the changes they did. All boaters will pay more as a result, but the increase will be bigger for some -- the ones who have been historically underpaying for what they get -- than others.

If there's a thermostatic mixer on the calorifier (there usually is) it's normally set to something like 50C to prevent scalding from taps, the calorifier can run a lot hotter than that (e.g. 85C) especially if being used to store excess solar power. This is still too hot for a shower for most people, an adjustable thermostatic mixer on that is normally set to no more than 40C. It also helps prevent the anguished "Aargh!" when somebody turns a hot or cold tap on elsewhere in the boat while you're showering... 😉 The shower on my boat is a standard domestic Mira one with a thermostatic mixer, which works very well.

Both water-cooled -- the motor uses a small pump (which IIRC only comes on above 10kW), the controller is bolted down to the hull (on the uxter plate IIRC). The motor is also flexibly mounted and enclosed (by Finesse) in panels lined with sound insulation, like the cocooned (Kohler) generator. Which is also mounted on a 200kg inertia frame on flexible feet to further reduce vibration and noise, and uses two silencers to reduce exhaust noise, and has extra soundproofing under the hatches and on the bulkhead. Yes I was paranoid about getting everything as quiet and vibration-free as possible -- which is the whole point, surely? 😉

A somewhat longer boat in the 57'-60' range won't cost much more since it still needs all the same equipment (just a bit more steel and fitout), will still be "go-anywhere", will have considerably more space inside (up to 50% extra), and will be much easier to resell if that ever becomes necessary. All the same applies even more to a full length boat (70'-72') except the "go-anywhere" (and maybe easier to resell?) bit... 😉

Vetus are using the inkjet printer business model then... 😉

I'm not digging at anyone -- if someone would rather not have solar panels because of how they look (big flat panels are pretty ugly...) that's entirely their decision, I'm not criticising them. It's not what matters to me, but then it's not my boat, it's yours... 🙂 Semi-flexible ones like I've got are much less visually obtrusive but also several times more expensive and need expert fitting, so I can't see most boaters installing these on existing boats -- on a new build they might add one percent or so to the total cost which is lost in the noise...

I didn't say most had them -- though round here I'm pretty sure the majority do, even the scruffy ones -- but just that I was surprised they didn't. I meant either boats like President or other trad boats or modern replicas where the boater doesn't want solar panels spoiling the traditional look -- which is perfectly understandable if that's what matters to you 🙂

Vetus engines are not exactly a favourite on here due to high prices, especially spares -- Beta Marine is the mostly common recommendation, and they will supply custom bearers to make it a drop-in replacement. But maybe this will cost more, especially if Vetus offer a big trade-in discount to stop them losing a customer...

I hope so too, but like any canal pub in the countryside getting enough custom to stay solvent is not going to be easy, especially paying rent to a greedy pubco... 😞 And somewhere like the Anchor is unlikely to have enough support to be bought and run as a community pub like the Gardener's in Sheffield, or being proposed for the Royal in Dungworth -- the odds of enough boaters coughing up enough to do this must be close to zero... 😉

I'd be very surprised if anyone boats for several hours a day every day they're on the boat for long periods; without solar, if you stop for more than a day or so (or even one day, depending on battery size and power use) you'll have to run a generator or the engine for some time, especially with LA batteries. Solar panels and MPPT controllers are so cheap nowadays I'm surprised there are still boats without them -- unless looking "traditional" is of overriding importance...

Hurrah! When did that happen?

Wow... 😞