Thomas

Why hump when you can pump? Had the boat for seven years and from experience would now make a holding tank a must on any future boat I might own, but as mentioned earlier..... there is always the trusty Portapotti if capacity is reached unexpectedly!...But it has never happened yet! The current boat has a very large holding tank, which certainly helps when the children are onboard, and seem to make it their mission to fill it up as quickly as possible.....with a cassette loo I would be permanently looking for a disposal point! (or they would?.....no, probably not...it would be me) Several years ago I worked on a water authority sludge boat.....Now that was a very effective pump out!

Thanks Chris!

I'm Looking to get a Smartgauge advanced, and have seen that at some of the listed distributers they are priced at £235 but on Merlins site itself price is £312……The one on the Merlin site has a slight different front panel on the Smart gauge. Doe any one know if there is a reason for the difference in price? Is the spec different? Or is it just a mark up for new stock? Any one know? Tom

I have never run a Kelvin, and it may be that they positively adore lub oil as a treat added into their usual diet of supplied fuel…….…however I would strongly advise against adding it in any quantity to the diesel fuel tank and fuel system of any engine. Lub oil is not the same as fuel oil, and will not be beneficial to your engine if added into the combustion cycle. Adding it in quantity to the fuel may well be detrimental to performance, and reliability. It will also be likely to cause excessive smoke, gum up piston, rings, and valves as well as choke manifolds with sticky deposits. It will contribute significantly to combustion deposits around the injectors, and this may make the engine increasingly difficult to start as well as further impact on the efficiency of the atomisation of the fuel. It may also cause precipitation of sludge in the fuel tank, and issues at inline filters, particularly if subject to extreme low temperature . My advice, as frustrating as it may sound, is not to use the oil for anything other than a top up for the engine room oil can…at least it will be a while before you run out!

Hello everyone, My first post! The below might help explain why it is best practice to have a length of chain..... For an anchor to "hold" it requires a horizontal pull along the bottom of the waterway. Ideally you would have enough anchor "line" paid out to allow for roughly three times the depth of water. The third of the paid out line nearest the anchor needs to be laying on the bottom, to provide the horizontal pull at the anchor stock. Having chain in this section helps considerably, as it tends to lay on the river bed. The effectiveness of an anchor is dependant on this deployment. They are designed to dig in harder, the more horizontal pull is provided. A small anchor, correctly deployed on a correct length line, with a chain length to the anchor stock, will be many more times effective than a heavy anchor on a short line, or one that does not have a suitable amount of chain to ensure the pull at the anchor is along the sea or river bed. The above will also underline why its preferable to have a rope that has least tendency to float. Best to be clear on the above, as when you deploy this piece of equipment it is often to because things are not going well, and to find it doesn’t work will only add to the likely depression caused by what has already turned out to be a rather bad day! There may be times when you need to lift the anchor , or detach yourself from it, and if the boat has been riding hard against the cleat it can be extremely hard if not impossible to undo the rope. Practice on many rivers when this occurs is to tie a plastic can or float onto the line, with a suitable knot (check a knot book....it will show you the one to use!) and then cut the rope at the cleat, allowing the float to support the suspended rope. The rope will remain visible, tied to the float and it then enables the anchor to be recovered at a later date or when conditions permit, if this is practicable. And finally, a stern anchor needs to be used with EXTREAM caution, and can be very dangerous. If when you venture out on a tideway or river you feel releasing the anchor from forward is not going to be possible, then consider bringing the anchor aft to the steerers position , with the end still secured to the fwd cleat , so that it can be deployed aft, but will hold the craft from fwd. Remember to "pay" out an anchor. a bundled coil of rope and chain wrapped around an anchor wont work well...and as for "throwing" the anchor overboard......as one who rather shamefully admits to having followed it over the wall when attempting to deploy by this method, I would suggest that whatever the emergency that requires you to use the anchor, keep your cool, and deploy with caution. If you are going out on river, then practice using you anchor before you go...after all, you will ensure that all your other boat skills are up to scratch before you leave...Surprising how many people have a boat, but have no idea how they would use an anchor if they really needed one! Tha must enough on anchors...hello! hello!...... any one still awake...?