magnetman

This topic is moving towards discussion of paddle windows. I don't think the new composite type of paddle can tolerate a window but some locks had them in wooden paddles as a way to handle the problem of having a river crossing above the lock. Stockers lock and Aynho weir lock are two examples. There will be others. Square four inch holes in the paddles one each end. Regular reliable water feed to the next pound without worrying about the varying level above associated with the river. Nice bit of problem solving.

I am attempting to help others save a bit of money which they may otherwise have spent on a dodgy hole under the water and expensive electrical equipment which is unreliable and also not needed.

Yes. In this particular circumstance I actually am right. It is easy to steer a leisure vessel throughout the inland waterways of our wonderful country without ever using a bow thruster.. That is not a made up position it is one based on fact.

I don't hate new things at all. I do know from experience of steering various different leisure vessels including a 57ft barge 12 feet wide and a 72ft narrow that there are in fact very few circumstances where a bow thruster is beneficial. The point is one of psychology. You will find that if a bow thruster is present in a lot of cases it installs the idea into the brain of the person steering that they do not need to understand how to steer the Boat. This is bad news. Yes the bow thruster can be a useful aid but I have seen people who blatantly don't know how to control their vessels using bowthrusters for steering. Adding these contraptions to leisure vessels on canals degrades the capability of the people steering and is likely to lead to problems when they rely on something which turns out to be unreliable. BANG. For commercial vessels definitely use thrusters but for leisure use vessels on uk canals they are worthless trash which should be be binned.

It is unlikely to be a problem as bowthrusters are entirely worthless and of no use on an English leisure canal Boat. Most people worked this out ages ago. So yeah. Weld a 5mm steel plate over the holes and bin or eBay the other bits for someone who still does not understand. Vetus seems to be a brand aimed at people with too much money. Stops working buy another one.

This part is inside the fire. I would have thought any lubricant is going to be burnt off fast once the fire is going. I have had a puffin stove for a couple of winters before. That latch is basically a design flaw.

That's interesting. I was told by a BWB maintenance man that the verticsl guard irons on the edge of the mitres are called breast irons. So it makes sense for the breast irons to protect the breast post. This presumably referring to the fact that gates were commonly breasted open when steam engines began to replace horses. To gain time one could breast a gate open against several inches of water provided a good power plant. Obviously this would be against canal company terms but if nobody is watching... Actually I wonder if horse drawn barges were able to breast the gates open. I tend to think of it as being screw vessels doing this but given a bit of momentum and haulage anyone can do it. Risk to the animal perhaps making it less attractive.

I think if it were missing the gate would fail you close because of hitting the cill. This timber works as a gap filler. Sealing plank or something. Maybe just the seal.

It's interesting. There must be a term for it. It's a bit like a vertical component of the cill but it would have a separate name. Would be nice to find out.

Do it in stainless steel if it is a DIY thing. These elbows do tend to go usually related to salty water from previous use. Even if it is now on fresh water it seems sensible to get it done in stainless steel preferably 316.

Not sure really. I suppose age limits could help. It's more about the parents really. I remember my mother having a telephone conversation with a parent of the girl I saved. She told her parents she had a life jacket but this was not true. My mum just said 'yes' when the parent said it was lucky everyone had lifejackets. We never wore lifejackets. Not bothered and none of the friends had them either. I just assumed everyone could swim. Tricky one to sort out really in terms of prevention of future deaths. Regulations don't always help.