Opener

OK - we've heard all the arguments and experience for and against. If you want to check for yourself, get yourself down to your local Aldi where they (may) have one on sale for £23.00. Not sure how long they have been on sale but my branch had 20+ left this am.

I like my ropes and my trousers tight!!!

Hmmm! I must have picked the wrong kind of Armco - I did it like this and as soon as I '..pulled tight..' the eye pulled towards the water, the whole thing pivoted at the top of the Armco and pulled the hook bit out. The whole shebang was still firmly tied to the boat but not to the bank. Puzzlement continues.....

OK, so we've had the boat for the best part of eight years and these came with it - in amongst the mooring pins, nappy hooks, ropes etc. I've always known that they were to moor with so on a recent trip I used one to moor to Armco. Fell out straight away. Don't laugh - what the Hell are they and how do you use them??? Diagrams/pictures welcome.... Doh!

Oh, I always warm with the doors shut (stove doors, that is - Villager Duo) - re-roped them as well and clean the glass regularly so that I can be hypnotised by the flames without the worry! Yup! and in a sensible place. Caught two firefighters skulking around the marina a while ago so dragged them on board and asked them where I should stick my CO alarm........they told me.

I should have realised straight away that this is a boating forum and that you would require a 'small tank' in which to store diesel and not a 'small tank' that runs on diesel. I was going to suggest you should post on the sister "I want to start and army" blog.

It still worries me slightly - as I understand it, the deleterious effects of CO are insidious. Both the wife and I are of a certain age and somewhat liable to 'drift off' at the least opportunity. What's to say that that unconsciousness is due to a hard days locking through or a, a liquid lunch and not the effects of CO building up in the more limited space (although it should be well ventilated!!) of our saloon?

I was just going to say what Tony / #22 says. I've spent many a happy hour with fuses and test meter trying to work out why the damn thing would not fire up before I realised that the room stat was turned down. Like wise, what David / #12 says. I have to remove a cupboard door and originally cut through a timber frame before I could undo the boiler unit screws. Well worth the effort, however. I removed loads of [email protected] from the bottom of the air intake and around the pilot and burner jets which improved lighting and burning no end.

I don't get to go boating as much as I would like so do a fair bit vicariously by watching the better know VLOGs on TooYoob. Now that the less hot weather is here. a number of contributors are showing their newly lit stoves. I'm surprised at the number who show how nice a fire looks with the stove door(s) open. Is that sensible/safe? Why do the doors have rope seals on - is that just for overnight when they are banked up - is it really safe to sit with the doors open on a lit fire? Genuine question - I always have the doors shut except when refuelling....

I'm with the 'whumpers' - the Alde gets lit before we emerge from the nice warm pit and I know its time to get up when it starts to 'cycle'. Listen carefully and you can hear a quiet 'click' as the thermocouple cuts off the gas to the main burner (presumably meaning the water locally is up to temperature). Once that cools a bit the main gas valve will open again and the gas will be relit by the pilot. Mine makes a whump rather than a bang so maybe you have a weedy pilot flame and the gas takes a while to spark its interest (see what I did there?).

Have a look back at post #3 and Alan includes an image of a socket available from the linked trader. See that there is a tab on the blue flap which protects the socket when not in use. Have a look at your bollard and it probably has this type of flat and a corresponding tab on the socket itself so that it can be secured shut with a small padlock. Sufficient to emphasise to the casual user that they do not have legitimate access to the socket. What I am looking for, and cannot find on line, is a made up lead which has a plug on the end which also has the padlock tab eg: This is just the plug and I would prefer a professionally wired lead.

Thanks for all the responses, guys. Just to clarify, this is a nb inland/canal mooring. The marina suggests locking the bollard flap shut when out cruising and also highlighted the use of a locking cable on the mains hookup (although I take the point about Elf and Safety/inability to disconnect in an emergency - when I get this sorted I will leave a key with the office). We always left shore mains connected at our last marina - no lock and never had any problems although it was one bollard/socket per berth. Following a marina move, there appear to be more boats than bollards/outlets and some boats are even connected to the bollard where they used to moor - all a bit confusing. I started off leaving shore power connected to our allocated outlet and kept coming back to a disconnected lead/neighbouring boat connected (non-residential moorings so little personal contact) . Not a major issue over the summer - I' not that precious over a few units - but I want to leave mains available over winter with a low power heater tube/thermostatic switch set up. I don't want someone disconnecting just before the next hard frost and I'm a full day journey away so cant't just pop in to check things out. Thanks for the link Alan #3 - that looks like just the plug. Whilst I'm happy to wire up such a plug myself (not!) I'd be happier with a full cable, even if it is quite short - the boat/boat input is close to the shore bollard. Cheers, guys

When the boat is moored in the marina and not on mains, there is a nifty little tab on the blue flap over the bollard socket which lines up with a tab on the socket. The marina advocates that the flap be locked shut with a little padlock to avoid accidental use by someone who is not buying the amps. Fine... But when I leave the hookup lead actually plugged in, say over winter to power a backup heater, there is nothing to stop someone accidentally swapping their lead for mine. However, I have seen a cable which has a tab on the plug end which matches up to the bollard tab when the cable is plugged in (but mine does not have one!!) which will take a mini-padlock and stop 'accidental' unplugging. I've looked through Amazing and Fleapay but can't see one - can anyone point me in the direction of an on-line supplier?? cheers, folks.

I saw a good/neat idea on our marina on a liveaboard wide beam. Square (optional) metal plate slightly bigger than the coolie hat with a circular hole in the centre so that it slides down over the chimney (and probably over the roof collar too) with a small lip around the hole. Small lip around the outside as well so you basically have a flat tray fitting around the base of the chimney. Now cut a hole in the outer lip and attach a piece of rigid small bore tubing long enough to clear the side of the boat, large enough bore to take any tarry deposits without blocking and with a slight downward slope to encourage drainage. Any gunge from the chimbly drops on the tray and, with a slight cant on the tray, will run overboard, missing the boat. The design has the added advantage (I guess) that rain will also fall on the plate and rinse it periodically. You remember rain, dont you? Stuff used to fall from the sky and fill the canal!

Have a look at a previous thread "Sofa bed" started by ajs1001 in Feb. My post is #3. The Texas still seems to be available and comes in a box which is just over 4ft wide (how small IS your door?) and maybe a foot thick (6ft long) Mine still looks immaculate after a few years of admittedly limited use (fair weather boater), but remains very popular with the crew!!