Captain Fizz

Must get some coal but hoping to still get a couple of weeks of fine weather cruising before winter really sets in! Boat out for blacking this coming week and then time for a little trip.

Replace them, if they have been left flat for any significant time, they be buggered!

It's round about the right sort of money, especially as it has the wheelchair access that you require. Re blacking around £10 per foot and a re paint depends very much on what you want done. How much lower was your offer?

The lack of maintenance is already causing problems and I can only see it getting worse. I would be quite happy to spend time tree trimming and cutting back towpath growth if CaRT would provide the means of removing the slash.

Luckily I am still fit enough to dangle upside down in the engine space and fix stuff myself. We tend to carry all the usual spares such as cables/belts/filters so are fairly self sufficient. Friends of ours swear by their silver over though, horses for courses.

When I was looking to buy a boat recently, I binned every boat with a dirty unloved engine bay. It speaks volumes about the standard of upkeep in my opinion. Water ingress is one of the reasons I dislike cruiser sterns. Why do virtually all engine manufacturers put the oil filter on it's side so that it loses oil every time that you need to change it?

It is, as ever, one or two people ruining it for the majority. To leave any facility in such a state without even trying to clean up is just disgusting.

Generally , I find them ok. I always ease down as I pass and give them a wave if they are looking.

Went past on Friday.

I dropped mine off a scaffold tower, it rattles if you shake it but still works ok.........so I don't shake it!

Don't feel embarrassed, well explained by Bizzard. Many drive plates incorporate a shock absorber/Cush drive to help take the "thump" out of engaging the drive.

Note to self, must make up a proper inspection mirror on a stick! Thanks Richard, I have cleaned the bilge whilst the gearbox is out so will now have a better idea should the leak re-occur.

It is definitely into the bilge, not the oil cooler. I shall fit new seals throughout. As usual, it is almost impossible to see around the box in situ. Thanks for the ideas all.

Whilst out the other day, I started to get intermittent drive and on checking gearbox oil level, found that it required over a litre to bring it up to level. This cured the drive problem but, after only 30 minutes of use the following day, the problem returned. I have removed the gearbox, but it is not obvious which of the seals are leaking. There is no oil in the drive plate/bell housing area and nothing obvious around either output or input shafts.

Is there a recognised protocol for the indirect pipe work ? My boat is plumbed with the engine feeding the upper coil and the boiler to the lower. This seems counter intuitive as I would have thought it better to use the coils the other way around so as to heat the entire cylinder when the engine is running. What do the panel think?

Exactly!

As referred to up thread, most hire companies do have age limits. The problem occurs when the hire is taken out by someone who has no intention of going along on the trip. I certainly don't wish to discourage younger people from boating, but had they hit another boat rather than the bank, it would have caused substantial damage. On another trip up the Buckby flight about a fortnight ago, we shared the locks with a boat full of youngsters who insisted that my wife stayed on board and they worked the flight. It was great.

Wren hire

I saw Beresford going up the Buckby flight this morning, had a for sale sign in the porthole.

An interesting encounter yesterday on the G U I was heading north and approaching bridge 22 when I saw a boat coming towards me at some speed. I stopped my boat before the bridge, but the oncoming boat hit his right hand bank at speed just before the bridge. He then steered through the bridge hole and ended up with his bow between my vessel and a moored craft that I was alongside. There were about six young girls on the forward roof area ( probably 18/20 years ) and the vessel was being aimed/steered by a couple of lads. They were all dressed as pirates and all pissed out of their faces. They were extremely apologetic , but I do wonder at the wisdom of hiring to such young groups.

Nothing wrong with checking the bilge every morning Dave, much better than wet slippers! As for locks, we met a family on a hire boat last week. The dad was pretty much having to do it all and was about to turn round rather than negotiate a lock. We just gave him a hand with a couple and he carried on without a hitch. There is always help out there and we were all new once!

I must admit, as a potential buyer, I quite liked being left alone to look over a boat. But I did have a good idea what I was looking at, it would not be of much use to someone with little experience of boats. Not sure that I would be quite so keen if I were the current owner.

Then I stand corrected. However, I would like to see the evidence to support the CRT stance.

I didn't suggest leaving the boat whilst it is running - did I ?

Are you living aboard or is your boat left unattended? If unattended, is there any electrical load? Charge your batteries by cruising with the boat or at the very least, with the engine under some load (in gear) Diesels are not improved by being left on tickover for long periods.