DomX

Sounds like a very nasty experience and one I hope you never have to go through again. As has been said, get the photos to the police asap and make a statement detailing what happened. They will likely engage with the local fishing fraternity PDQ and find out who this jerk is. Reminds me of an incident I was part of many years ago. I have an 'interesting' military background and was taking part in an exercise using RIB's in the south west. On returning to our RIB at the end-ex, we found some likely lads who'd decided to have a party on the boat and were in the process of trying to nick it. One of the DS politely suggested they leave, but they chose not to and ended up facing 6 heavily armed soldiers who were in no mood for anything that stood between us and some kip. They were 'moved on' and ended up going home very wet and with none of the tools they bought with them for their day out on the beach :-) Dom.

Thanks David... that's very kind of you. I'll measure up when I'm down at the boat today and, hopefully, we'll have a match. Dom.

I've managed to break one of the glass light lenses in the low voltage lights on our boat. It's a 2006 Liverpool Boat. Here's a photo in case it helps. http://www.flickr.com/photos/12090646@N04/8729939578/ If anyone can point me towards a supplier of these lights or a good source for the opaque lenses, I'd be grateful. Thanks, Dom.

Hi All, With a recent spate of narrowboat burglaries on the K&A, we're getting a little concerned ahead of a week away on the canal at the end of the month. Our boat has, as most do, nothing more than a relatively small padlock to secure the hatch and doors at the stern. I'm conscious that anyone with bolt cutters could remove it pretty quickly, so we need to do something pronto! The hole in the hatch cover that the padlock goes through is quite small, so we can't simply put a beefier padlock on the boat. I'd welcome advice from those of you with more experience on what could be done to make it harder for thieves to break into our pride and joy. One idea I had was to put some sort of movement alarm over the padlock. We have a stern cover, so anyone who wanted to break in would have to open that up first and therefore some sort of alarm attached to the padlock might be a good idea. Thanks in advance, Dom.

Thanks everyone for your help. Turns out that Collingwood Boats have the paperwork relating to the build of our boat, so they're going to get back to me this week with the colour All bets are on Mauritius Blue Dom.

Thanks Jenlyn... I'll give him a try. Dom.

Hi Dave, We're after touching up areas where the paint's been scuffed and rust has started. I've found a pretty good product from 3M that's doing a good job of restoring the paint to a nice new'ish condition, so I'm after the original paint if I can find it. Dom. Good thinking Martin. I'll try and take some tomorrow. Dom.

Hi All, We recently bought our first narrowboat, a 2006 56' Liverpool Boat Company boat. She's painted green and blue with cream lines around the edge. She came with a half used tin of the green paint (International Toplac 077), so I know what colour the green is, but can anyone suggest a way of finding out what the blue is? Thanks in advance, Dom.

Thanks Richard... I'll check next time I'm on the boat. Dom.

Hi Frank, I'm not sure how to check this and I won't be at the boat again for a few days, but the broker who we bought the boat from seemed to think that the Webasto unit was one that heated the water as well as the rads, and that the switch in the photo is an immersion heater that provides hot water when connected to a shoreline. Dom. Hi Richard, The broker who we bought the boat from is pretty sure that the switch is an immersion heater switch, but you make a good point... I'll check when I'm next down at the boat. The Webasto did come with a manual and I also have the LB's 'user guide' that refers to it. Both suggest that the model of Webasto fitted to that length of boat should provide both hot water and radiator heating. I'm not sure about the storage facility... can you guess that I'm new to all this Dom.

Hi All, We've just bought our first narrowboat (2006 56' Liverpool Boat) and seem to have an issue with hot water. If we run the engine, the water heats up really quickly and works just fine. If I run the Webasto, the radiators get nice and hot, but the hot water remains cold. I only left it running for about 30 mins, so maybe I need to wait longer. Lastly, there's a black switch on a brass plate at the stern next to the cupboard where the hot water tank lives, which I though was an immersion heater (see this pic: ). We're hooked up to the shoreline and everything seems to be working fine. I switched this switch on yesterday afternoon and left it on overnight, but the hot water was stone cold this morning, so I suspect we either have an issue or the switch operates something else. Any thoughts as to what I should check? Thanks in advance, Dom.

Thanks a lot Rojo... much appreciated Dom.

As the title suggests, the bolt lock on the inside of my hatch cover has broken. Does anyone know where I might be able to buy a replacement? Pic here: Thanks, Dom.

Thanks for the quick feedback all. It's a brand new latest model LG HD TV, so I guess it has Freeview, but will bring it home to check the auto setup here. Assuming I decide to go for the Freesat option, can anyone recommend a gook package that provides the arial, freesat box, stand and other associated bits? Thanks, Dom.

Thanks... I'll get one ordered up and test it. Dom. Ah... that eBay link doesn't seem to work for me. Can you please put the name of the tester on here and I'll look it up. Thanks, Dom.

Apologies for the slow reply all... I've been abroad on business. Thanks for all the input and comments. As it happens, lil' ol' me managed to fix the problem (with the help of an expert on the phone!). Turns out it was a problem with the inverter and I needed to remove the panel, change the position of a dip switch and remove 2 loop wires that had been put between the earth and neutral. Not sure I fully understand why this was the way it was in the first place, but it seems to be working just fine now Thanks again for all the input though... Dom.

Hi All, Apologies in advance as I see there are a few satellite dish threads on here, but I have a specific question. We've only just got our first boat and it has a round white arial on the roof with a pull out radio antenna on it. The boat was built in 2006, so I'm not sure how modern it is, but it doesn't seem to work. I've just bought a new LG 22" TV which I took down to the boat today. I plugged in the arial and switched on the booster box in the cupboard before running the autotune feature on the telly. Needless to say, it didn't find a single channel or radio station! Anyway, a bit of tinkering didn't seem to fix the problem, so I gave up and came home. Can anyone think of what might be wrong? I don't think the TV has a built in 'free view box', but I don't think this should be necessary if I just want the mainstream 'terrestrial' channels, or is it? I'm guessing there might be a fault with the arial, so I'm thinking of getting a satellite dish with a freeview box that I can just setup, plug into the TV and start watching. Can anyone recommend an easy to use complete kit that will fit the bill? Thanks in advance, Dom.

Hi All, We recently bought our first narrowboat (2006 56' Liverpool Boat) and are on a steep learning curve! I'm getting there with most things, but seem to have an electrical issue that I can't understand. Basically, whenever I hook up to the shoreline in the marina and flick on the RCD trip switch on the boat, the trip switch on the shoreline trips! I've checked both connection points for any debris that might be shorting out the connection, but both seem clean and clear of any muck. I've not got any further with checking inside the boat as there seems little point. There's a panel in the boat with on/off switches for everything (sockets, lights, fridge, horn, etc) and I've made sure that they're all switched off before trying to make the connection. The inverter was switched on when I tried to connect everything so I'm not sure whether that has anything to do with the issue. That said, from what I can gather, the inverter needs to be switched on when the shoreline's connected in order to manage the charging of the batteries. Any thoughts? Confused of Wiltshire (aka Dom)

Thanks everyone... really helpful Dom.

Hi All, We picked up our new boat yesterday and are full of the joys of spring! Whilst Mrs D adds her touches to the boat, I've been trying to work out what all the kit does and how it works. There's a Mastervolt Mass Combi inverter/charger fitted to her with a remote panel called the "APC panel". I think I've got my head round what the inverter/charger does, but I'm not entirely sure when to have it switched on, switched off or on charge??? Can someone please tell me what it should be switched to when: - Crusing - Tinkering on the boat in the marina with the engine off but hooked up to the shoreline and with stuff switched on (lights, fridge, TV, etc) - Locked up and left with everything switched off and not connected to the shoreline - Locked up and left with everything switched off, but connected to the shoreline Thanks in advance, Dom.

Having told our friends and family that we're buying a narrowboat, we've had 3 requests to 'rent' it already! I'm sure this isn't uncommon, but it did get us thinking about the pros and cons of doing this. Firstly, we're buying the boat because we love the whole canal life and have enjoyed renting in the past. It is first and foremost our toy, so to speak and we're not looking to get into the rental business. That said, I'm not averse to the idea of letting a close friend or trusted family member spend a week on the boat in return for a contribution towards the running costs. Is this something that people do? Are there any specific insurance requirements? What are the pitfalls in doing this? Thanks, Dom.

Thanks for the advice all. As PhilR suggested, I might hold off for a while as they're not rotten... just a bit 'soft' round the edges. In time, I really like the idea of some sort of traditional teak decking as offered by Robbins here: http://www.robbins.co.uk/marine/cabin_cockpit.asp It might be overkill, but looks nice The recycled plastic sheets look perfect for a few other applications such as locker covers on the bow that will also need replacing in time. Thanks again, Dom.

We're about to buy our first NB and have noticed that the engine cover board that you lift for access is a bit 'soggy' and I suspect the damp has got far enough into the wood to require replacement. I'm no genius carpenter, but I should be able to make a replacement. What wood would you recommend I use for this? Alternatively, is there some great new artificial material that's a better long term bet? Thanks, Dom.

Thanks for the quick replies all. I do get the fact that the boat remains 'available' until I put down a deposit so there's the risk that someone else might come and buy it. I'm paying for the lifting and survey, so they can't argue that the deposit is to cover this. They've also been quite difficult about letting me get access to the boat to start the engine, test the heater and test the electrics. I know they're busy, but the excuse given to me was around insurance not covering this. I checked the sellers agreement terms last night and it clearly states, "The Owner confirms that the Vessel is insured against usual marine perils and third party risks and will remain insured until completion of a sale and such insurance shall cover all viewing and sale arrangements, including trials and lifting / slipping / docking for survey. Further, unless otherwise specifically agreed the Owner shall also be responsible for all cleaning, maintenance, berthing, storage and security of the Vessel pending sale." We really like this boat and want to buy it but are being put off by the 'can't do' attitude of the marina. It almost feels like they want to put us off buying the boat which is totally the opposite attitude that we saw at other brokers where they would bend over backwards to help facilitate the sale. There's an argument that we won't have to deal with them again once we've bought the boat as we'll be moving it to a lovely new and friendly marina, but it still leaves a bad taste in the mouth.

As the title suggests, we're on the verge of buying our first boat and are being pushed VERY hard by the broker to pay a 10% deposit and sign a badly written agreement of sale before we can do a survey. Is this the norm? We're very keen to get the survey done asap, suspect it will be fine as the boat's relatively new, and just want to get on with the whole thing.... it just seems very odd to take this approach as we don't do it with houses or cars do we?? Any thoughts? Dom.