Mike Tee

We don’t burn much coal as our main stove is diesel, so I don’t mind buying from the more expensive end - Taybrite or Phurnacite are my favourites. I just wish, as I’ve been a pensioner for a good while, that they did it in 10kg bags!

Get talking to your neighbours and tell them you are struggling with your fire - I’m sure one of them will help out with advice and you might get lucky and find one with the same type of fire who can show you what is needed.

Stop adding salt to your food - within a month you will have forgotten all about it, and its not necessary anyway. I quit over 30 years ago and am still going strong.

When you turn the engine ignition on , is the light green before you start it? Normally this would then go out after starting which indicates the alternator is working correctly. eta - more clearly described by booke23!

Depending on your setup if there is insufficient head on the diesel tank there may be a 12 volt inline pump supplying the diesel stove. Can’t remember what they are called but it just pulses occasionally and uses very little power - I think they were used on old cars, somebody will be along who knows of these. If this is defective or blocked, insufficient fuel will be getting through causing difficulties with lighting plus not enough diesel getting through to burn properly which will cause smoke. As you move around the boat this could cause enough ‘wobble’ to allow small amounts of diesel through. I love our diesel stove and when it is working right its great. But when it goes wrong it can be difficult to identify the problem. If you want a quick efficient fix, get the Lockgate engineer to come and service it.

We have 13kg calor on one boat and 6kg on the other - I know one is comparatively more expensive than the other but I know which one I prefer lumping about! I do plan, maybe next year, changing the 13kg for 6kg as I admit they are getting a bit much for me. Also, another thumbs up for the trolley - it is about 300 yards from our boat to the car / office / Elsan point so our trolley (4 wheel proper job) gets used a lot.

These stoves are designed for sea-going boats so I don’t think a list on a narrow boat would affect it unless it was grounded at a sharp angle

That's taking home delivery a step too far - we had the same thing at the top of Audlem, opened the back doors first thing in the morning and there was a cow stood by the rudder looking at me. Didn't know what to do as had no way of contacting any farmers in the area, but just then a bloke walks past, looks at the cow and says 'I'm a vet, can I be of any help?' Lent him a rope and he sorted it all out! What's the odds of that? I will always regret not getting a picture.

Ah, so that’s what a UFO is

^^^ I was just about to write all that! The last thing you need to do is rip up the tanked floor because the auto pump has failed.

That looks like Buckden, photo taken just after the other one you posted? Or is that just wishful thinking!

I know, but just couldn't resist!

But I'm sure somebody on this forum, who shall remain nameless, said oil fired heating was the work of the devil......😁 Or even more fun turning it off

The speed he's going, he won't need to - he'll take them with him.

Looks like Little Venice - no problems mooring along there then, apart from the hooligan!

If it were me, I’d find a way of temporary heating until February and get Lockgate to do it. If you really can’t wait, then search YouTube for installers - I know I have seen a few showing their abilities on there but can’t remember any names.

How naive are you? Where do you think the money comes from to pay for all this? Oh, you think it comes from the government or local council - I wonder where they get it from........

I'll be up front here - I live on a boat in a marina. I appreciate all the comments about high cost of living, low wages and housing shortages, and they all contribute to the ever increasing numbers of those moving onto the canal system However, what royally pisses me off are those that move onto a boat and then milk the system of education (if they have kids of school age), use the NHS service (such as it is), claim as much as possible from the government in the way of benefits, then live on their boat in an area without really moving (don't care what the 'rules' say, bridge hopping is not cruising) and then contribute absolutely nothing to the country, local council or community in which they live. Parasites. And their way of life actually helps the decline that pushed them onto the canals, because somewhere somehow it all has to be paid for. I can't measure how many are living like this as the information is not out there, but I suspect more than a few. Actually, I'll amend that, I know of quite a few in my immediate area.

I think they need to involve the SBS

Are you near Debdale ( Foxton area) - they have superb indoor facilities, but not diy (at least I don’t think they have diy indoors)

Ask the boat transporter - they are normally well clued up on unloading locations.

By the time the boat is near the top of the gate the buffeting and surging has stopped so boat can be reversed / pulled back from the gate

U they need one of these, reduce the fan to fit the tunnel profile and it doesn’t matter if the tunnel fan fails

I think it might be - they both have that cross pole at the back for presumably a pram cover, plus the big hatch in the front where the pump hoses go in, plus the front fender is the same.

A gallon of IPA apparently- Phipps best used to do the job nicely