PhilR

Does this mean you only charge the batteries at the weekend?

A rudder fixed to the leg of an outboard/outdrive makes a massive difference and it makes it possible to retain a bit of steerage when going forward in neutral.

And I hope and trust that you use proper windlasses that don't have rollers?............

A man after my own heart :-) .......... low tech boating is more fun and much cheaper ;-) ........... and you don't annoy neighbours by constantly running engines/generators :-) That pilot light on your Poloma probably consumes more gas than your fridge does on the max setting. Have you tried turning off the pilot light when it isn't in use? - I reckon you might get over 50 days out of a gas bottle if you did. My Morco water heater has a really fierce pilot light.

Nor me. BUT, maybe we should read this in the context of it being a typical report from BW office staff? They probably meant TOP CILLS when APPROACED from the BOTTOM gates (i.e travelling uphill).

Personally, I would think of solar power as solely a means of keeping you batteries topped up when you are not on board. (typo)

To be honest Ross, I do think it is a daft post ;-)) You can cook anything you can at home with your cooker - is it a Flavel? I still use one now. Boaters and caravanners have been using them for donkey's years (and still do). Until recently they were standard kit on most boats. As Carl suggested, why not enjoy a few pub meals? Full English breakfast will be great and easy to do on your cooker - and you will have the pleasure of seeing envious looks down the towpath as the aroma drifts down the canal. Soup and toast is always a good idea to fill a gap till you get to the pub ......................... Use the fridge for soft drinks, ice and beer ..............;-))

James I don't want to sound negative, but if your budget is really tight and you anticipate completion many years down the line, I would suggest that you get all the exterior steelwork painted to top coat stage before you start on the interior fit out. There are hundreds of partly finished sail-aways on the canals. Many of these have very rusty steelwork after several years on the water with just a coat of primer. All the fancy signwriting etc can be left to a later stage, but in the meantime if you can do a reasonable quality paint job with proper preparation it will protect your investment whilst you are fitting out. Good luck Phil

You are thinking of coming up the Macc? - I'm sure you won't regret it. It is a lovely canal but bring a landing plank in case you want/need to moor in a rural location. Phil

There is a lot of misconception about the Macc. There is a good deep channel along the whole length, but the sides are very shallow. It was built that way. A lot of people don't realise how narrow the deep channel is.

The first measurement is the diameter ( in inches). It is the 2nd measurement which is clouded in black magic ;-) The 2nd measurement (the pitch) is the theoretical distance that the prop will screw itself through the water on one revolution. The magic art is in calculating the efficiency, blade area etc - a task best left to propellor experts IMHO.

I thought the same, but decided not to be judgemental at this stage ;-) It did cross my mind that kev4 might have been chatting to a few CCers or CMers

28 X 24 prop - are you sure of that? That sounds way overpropped.

See http://www.waterscape.com/things-to-do/boating and follow the links for licensing and any other questions you might have about charges/permits etc.

Alan There really is no advantage doing the ring in one direction or the other. All the locks are *user friendly* in both directions - even for single-handers. Harecastle tunnel is easy and the headroom will be no problem. The myths about headroom stem from the days when there was a towpath in the tunnel. Immediately north of Harecastle is probably not a good place to moor overnight, but within a few minutes you will be at Hardingswood and the Bluebell (real ale pub). If you can't moor immediately before the junction go down 2 locks (or even just one lock) for a safe overnight mooring near the Red Bull.

Some balanced rudders will swing fully over to port or starboard when in forward gear. Tiller restraints can be very handy when single-handing locks with a rudder like mine.

The difference between a 17 x 12 and a 17 x 11 should not really make a significant difference? With such a small change in pitch I would think blade area would be more significant. Why are you changing the prop?

If the weld joins two plates along a flat surface it is worth checking first that both plates are perfectly lined up. Once the weld has been ground off any slight miss-alignment will be more noticeable and might need surface filling if you want a smooth paint job.

It would be interesting to hear from anyone who has needed to deploy an anchor in an emergency situation on a narrowboat.

Hi Iain That makes perfect sense, although it wouldn't be so easy to have your left hand (operating the decompressors) crossed over the top of your cranking hand :-) I once borrowed a friends boat with a Saab twin. The starting handle turned anti - clockwise but was well positioned for the left hand. Starting an engine anti-clockwise with your right hand is asking for a broken wrist if it kicks back, which might explain why LH propped engines had front handles and RH propped engines had raised hand starting.......... just guessing! The SR's were fitted to loads of hire boats in the 60/70's and I assume they canibalised bits from spare engines to keep them running. I read somewhere that the QE2 had SR2's in all the lifeboats until shortly before it was taken out of service (ISTR that they fitted Alphas for the last few years). Cheers (and best wishes to Ann) Phil

One key away from a caravan - and sire is one key away from site........ we've all been there ;-)

That is a very good suggestion for an overnight mooring. I must remember that. But I think TheWilk is probably looking for something to be kept permanently in situ at his home mooring?

Would you be allowed to put in a landing stage? Or alternatively a couple of large plastic floats with fendering attached? Probably the cheapest option would be three large diameter wheels from the breakers yard complete with tyres. Fix these to the bank so they float horizontally. Phil

The SR engines had either a manual reverse gear OR the LH150 hydraulic gearbox. The LH150 box was more common in canal boats. Both usually had separate reduction boxes on the back. I assume that most (if not all) SR's WITHOUT the raised hand starting option, would have left hand props. I hope the following makes sense: Standing at the front of the engine and looking towards the stern, the starting handle fits on the front of the camshaft which rotates clockwise. The camshaft is gear driven from the crankshaft, so the crankshaft turns anti-clockwise. The reduction gearbox is basically just 2 gears, so the rotation is changed to clockwise (again viewed from the front). HTH, I have just had a nightcap so the brain cells might be greyer than usual. Phil