Captain Beaky

Hi again. To complete the story here's a pic of the connector that undid. On closer inspection a bulkhead pipe clip has snapped, allowing the elbow movement to rub against the bulkhead. The paint behind it is rubbed clean. Funny how when it rubs it only manages to loosen and not tighten! By the way they are branded Hepworth. Cheers

Thanks both for helpful comments. Yes I did top up, ran the engine without pressure cap for 10 minutes, then cap on, up to temperature again. All ok. I'm hoping to go back this weekend, and will take a photo or two. I will also check there are no steel ( or plastic ? ) compression parts left on the bilge floor ! Cheers Mike

Hello Folks. BMC 1800. Last weekend one of the connectors in the engine-to-calorifier circuit came apart resulting in a few litres of antifreeze to mop up in the bilge. Sorry no pictures at the mo. There is an initial hose from the engine and then jointed to hard pvc plastic plumbing. The connectors are plastic compression type, about 15mm, an outer screw-on ring connecting with an inner threaded pipe with the compression part and O ring. Checking out pictures on here seems these are used quite a lot on the circuit to the heating coil in the calorifier. When it parted the outer ring and O ring remained on the loose pipe, that is the screw thread appeared to have come undone. So my question is ( at last ) is, if the pipe had blown out I would expect the pipe section alone to blow out, leaving the screwed cap done up tight and still in place. Can anyone tell me if excess pressure could be the cause of a screw thread undoing, or is it maybe just a badly done-up connector being vibrated loose? The connector is just positioned in contact with the engine bulkhead, at the end of the hose from the engine, top connection. Any thoughts please? Thank you !

Thank you both. Tony, your Marine Diesel Maintenance Engine & Boat Maintenance APBrooks 2007 is still my bedside reading ! Cheers

Hello Please can any of you technical types give an opinion on these? A boat we are looking at has a 3.5kW Travel power system with a generator mounted on the BMC/ CB Marine engine. The boat we are interested in buying has significant pitting on the baseplate ( considerable number of 3mm pits on a 10 mm baseplate). Less so on the sides. The boat is about 22 years old. Is this independent domestic 230v circuit and any earthing a possible suspect do you think? The boat has also only just has a galvanic isolator installed which may be more of a solution. Any ideas?

Hi Folks. We've viewed a trad that was built / fitted out by RS Narrowboats in 1992. I cannot find anything about them on t'internet. The boat is 'Rattler' at Saul Junction. CRT reg is 52156. May well have been 'Bethany Bear' in an earlier life. Does anyone have any info on the builder or the boat please? Oh boy is it a sellers market ! Phew !

Could someone please evaluate how good this beer might be for hand sanitisation? If effective, going to get some would then qualify as an essential journey. ?

Just spotted this thread, and no I am not the same Captain Beaky referred to by Bruce Insanity, which means sadly I have never owned a Steve Hudson boat.

Happy Ending, just arriving at Marple we found the owner's boat and was able to return said hat to his neighbour(s). First proper sun today so I hope he hasn't already bought a replacement. Probably not, being they ain't cheap!

Hi, thanks for the replies. we are heading 'up' the Caldon now, but plan is to eventually return back up the Macc and onto the peak forest to bugsworth basin. The name had been written on the label but the ink was not able to withstand purity of the T&M water quality.

Saturday 15th June, just gone through Harecastle southwards. While waiting at the north portal the first boater out at about 11 am said he had lost his Tilley Hat. well good news friend, we have retrieved it ! We know your boat said Romiley but can't remember anything else. If you can describe which type of Tilley hat and maybe size, we can start to get it back to you. The southern tunnel keeper wasn't very helpful really and was dealing with four boats to be fair. We are on NB Silkwood. cheers

Yes well for my part we have now decided not to proceed with this boat although this is not just the builders plate issue more to do with the heating system. There were other issues that mean we are now back to hunting mode. Your opinions have been very helpful though and something to clarify when boat hunting. Thanks everyone.

Well folks I have spoken to three marine insurers for their opinion on this and none have said it is an issue when asked directly. One insurer was incredulous that a 50' NB would be plated as 4 max. And so not likely to be a problem if used within the restrictions of the written policy. So they all agree with the boatyard. I am going to commission a survey anyway so will be gathering more info that way. Thanks for all your opinions so far. Quite interesting eh?

Thanks for replies so far. So now I have a reasonable element of doubt the insurance may or may not be okay ! I agree with Alan de Enfield on this. I'll phone around this am and see what a couple of mainstream ( sorry) insurers say. Although the risk is low, I would hate to discover an event is uninsured, especially if it involved family or friends on board.

Hi folks, been a while. I've read a few threads but need some help. Wife and me very interested in a used 2003 50' NB cruiser. But builder's plate says max. 4 persons underway. Is that to be taken as absolute limit as more on board would invalidate insurance? I was told by the boat broker it isn't important, but I think it may be ! And it is such a nice boat....