X Alan W

This type of fender seemed more common in the days of cross ply & fabric carcase tyres, my boating was done in days when this type of tyre was still available from the scrap pile ( more than likely you could find a usable one in the towpath hedge) as the disposal of tyres was much less strict than present day, these could be worked much easier than the wire braced jobs, they could be rolled tighter & were less of a struggle + in those days there were more people still around that knew the way/s of doing it ( ex & working boaters, like a lot of other trades/crafts that have at best almost disappeared )

If it"s still missig that could possibly be a contributer to the (oil puddle under the engine)

Slightly off SPRING topic, but in the photo of your engine Mr F you appear to be a bolt short ( bottom right corner) on the side cover plate maybe it"s been replaced by now

Emerald"s wooden bottom & lower strakes were replaced in steel in 1988 at Langley Mill, owner at the time was Colin Pailin, seem to remember it seemed to roll more than other ex working boats may be because of the hull shape.

You would require a 1/4 UNF helicoil kit this will enable you to fit the Helicoil & then fit your original stud/bolt providing the stud threads are good failing to obtain 1/4 UNF kit, a 6MMkit would do the job, but you would have to replace the studs as the thead diameter size & thread pitch are different, would be best to try to keep the stud size & thread the original size. If 2 studs are oversize be aware that the original 1/4 bolts would be larger than 6mm so you may have a problem you may have to go larger to 8mm

I seem to remember that gates on 3 locks at Tyrley were replaced in 1963 as i transported 2 sets from Norbury as the maintainace boat at Norbury had a problem, It was fixed to enable them to take the remaining set. these were/are steel plate as oposed to the much older cast ones. Not liked by the boaters when first installed as If they got bashed[ heaven forbid] they tended to bend/dent unlike the wooden ones that usually flexed & returned to their original shape.

Is this if it sinks it cannot be restored/repaired a new CRT thing, over the period of canal carrying the number of sunken/raised & repaired if required boats must run in to several hundreds, when I worked on the Brum gas line contract, Joey"s sank & were raised on an almost daily/ weekly basis The usual shoulder shug, drop in the pump/s & check for the cause of the sinking. wooden plugs clay puddle & fire ash to rack the hole if there was one or more. I know of one boat that sank on the second day & went through the complete contract with a two layer of roofing felt stuck on with pitch patch, & it caused no more trouble & was loaded with the metal pipes used for the gas lines so pump Kepple out, lift on the bank & when cash is available repair it. it has been done many times before, surely it can be done again to this boat, so long as the quango can come to an agreement

I don`t think they are made any more, but if on the tyre mountain you can find a Crossply or textile belted tyre, instead of the current steel braced radial, it will be easier to work & lay a lot nicer on the fender. I would imagine they are very thin on the ground or may be unobtainium IMO if you can find one it makes a neater job.

That is what I found when thinking of starting up in Hotel boating Micheal Street, Peter Froud, Peter& Joyce Fox,all in the same business were most helpful even going to the effort if they were fully booked, or not in that area at that time, passing on the enquires to us, We returned the favors after we got more established, I never found any anti us feelings or had any problems from other companys doing the same type holidays, & we did the same.

Years ago whe I ran my hotel boats( be no good quoting cost as it was back in the late 60"s early 70"s) there was a company called Hostel Craft sort of youth hostel on water, not the plush set up of others, but maybe worth a look into if you are not inclined to go the whole hog. Half way between camping boats & the full care set up.

Look into companys dealing in solar kit for motor home/camping cars, a copy of a MH magazine will probably come up with some outlets, or the ever faithful google some thing in the line solar panels for MH"s.

If my brainfade is not to severe I have a feeling it was a special souvenier edition of the local paper. Maybe worth a try to ask if it"s still being printed IIRC it was handed out to the boats attending, I remember having a copy but gave all my canal related items away when I left the UK

In the early 1960"s in the general collection of boat bits at Charity Dock .a pair of pretty tired cabin doors the painting on them although care worn was not Jess Owens work I asked about them & was told they had belonged to NB Dorothy, although no one seemed to know what happened to the rest of the boat, the answer being Jack( Gilbert ) might know by the time I next saw him I forgot to ask. Have no idea if this is the boat in question

You will have to do something about that obvious problem you have with your Lister Mr Fincher, by the looks of the colour of that smoke it"s pretty terminal

Fade to Scarlets Willow, the previous owner my cousin Simon used to repair/restore harmonium"s, he had at least 1 on board most times, the boat at one time was sign written The Harmonium Emporium.

They are campsites owned by the towns/villages etc. the campervan sites are Aire"s de Service, which range from just water tap & elsan disposal, to the full monty including electric, washing machine"s, dish washer, Etc, & range from free to approx €16 per 24 hrs in the SE of France( Nice, St Tropez, area)Some you can stay on as long as you like, ranging down to 24hrs. The majority of paid ones are free in winter, if they stay open, If closed some will let you stay if you don"t require water etc.if you visit the (Marie"s/ Mayor"s office& ask) I would not recomend using the Aires de Repose as they are mainly in truck stops on the paid motorways & apart from the noise, there have also been robberies.The (bible) listing them runs to something in the 6000 in number

The Seffle I had in my narrowboat had a glowplug, blank plug in the uncooled part of the head to heat with blowlamp, + compression bleed off /air type starting, as well as the spring loaded pin in the flywheel to kick start. The lube system worked if the engine was running in the wrong direction, but as stated the gear box did not like it .

Looking again could the T handle be part of a cartridge start? remove insert cartridge wind in T handle & bang cartridge fires & starts engine when up to temperature I seem to remember some Field Marshall tractors could be had with a cartridge start optional extra

If the set up is similar to the Seffle engine Injector/sprayer, the lever adjusts the spray pattern the injector delivers acording to the load on the engine: the greater the load the more open the lever. You may find some marks to indicate TDC,or a position you can set to enable you to kick against TDC in the oposite direction to the way it runs, 2 stroke semi"s will run in both directions, usually better in the correct direction ( if it has a gearbox it"s iffy if it"s going the wrong way) Looking again at the photo, the lever with the ball knob on the fuel pump is possibly the fuel primer priming the injector On the Seffle I had, it required 6 shots on the primer while waiting for the glow plug to heat up,another 2 shots with engine up to temp & the fly wheel would rock to & fro the engine would then usually start. The different brands require slightly different methods to start but mostly similar in the start set up.

In my pair boating days both boats were fitted with tiller strings. depended on the lock as to, if or not the tiller bar /ellum was removed

I`ve looked through the old photo`s that I kept & can not come up with a clear picture The one I had, I aquired from Charity dock in around 1960/1 exchanged for a driving job, while the boat was on the dock. I had to burn the broken shaft out & fit a replacement, i understood it was ex BW,the tines in line with the handle were slightly flattened & the bent over portion were flattened to be almost oblong The guys at the power station that was just along from Hawksbury/suttons stoplock used them all the time to fish spilled coal at the unloading bays, to enable the loaded boats to get in to the side, They fitted chicken wire over the tines to get a better haul each time There was often one on the stop planks holder, curved brackets fitted to the side of the structure, the lock keepers/lengthsmen often had one or more on lock flights.IIRC Atherstone had around 6 or so spaced in lock flight,Often used for windlass fishing in locks, before most folk got magnets. Another useful tool was a railway shunters pole [the one with the pigs tail on the end, used for coupling/uncoupling the 3 link chain couplings] sharpened to an edge on the inside of the curl it made a useful prop unfouling tool [ no weed hatches at that time] if you couldn`t clear it it meant either getting wet [going under the counter, or if near a lock dropping the stern end on the cill ,regulating the water level getting down on the cill to clear it. Another bit of kit that seems to have become difficult to obtain is the long boat shaft at least 16 feet long with a nice turned wooden knob on the one end & either with or without a spike/hook on the other end. things have moved on some things better some not so good.

That seems to be one of the more modern round tine kebs, maybe even a manure drag. The older style kebs had flatter/ wider tines.

Please forgive me if I have got this wrong but am I correct in the fact that the crankshaft pulley replacement is smaller than the original? if this is so would it not mean your pump/alternator was running slower ( usually bigger pulley on crank to spin alternator faster,) so smaller pulley =reduced speed ( getting nearer to 1 to 1 ratio ) maybe I have this figured out all wrong

I would presume that the modern Vetus stern gear for canal use differs from the type fitted in the early 60`s in offshore setup`s, as the bronze outer boss on the outside of the hull had 2 small forward facing scoops cast in the boss [ would almost be certain to get filled with mud/debris on a canal installation] but I was lead to understand this supplied lubrication to the bearings & the small dia tube/pipe at the forward end of the stern tube was indeed a vent But have no knowledge of present day canal set up`s

If you are right in your thinking as to this piece of cut being where the problem for MP occurred, the place you mention has been an off & on trouble spot since the late 60`s, we had problems with the local yoof in IIRC 69 when trying to off load sheet piling in that area,also one of their favorite tricks of that time was to drop empty metal milk bottle crates from the bridges in that area. There must have been a dairy close by as they seemed to have an unlimited amount of Ammo, if they missed on the way out you where sure to run aground on them the next time you passed that way loaded. If there were not to many the weight of the boat would sometimes flatten them..Railway ballast, bricks, parts of metal fencing, seemed to be the favored boat & steerer damaging kit, sheets of corrugated iron were also well liked As at that time there were far fewer boats you were more likely to be a target, would not be allowed now days I guess, but I found a catapult & hazel nuts for ammo were a good deterrent [ Ah the good old days]