Karen Lea Rainey

Have just had survey as required by GJW as my 48 ft boat is also 30 years old this year. Their instructions were 'a full out of water survey' and 'valuation'. It took a little under 2 days for a marine surveyor to carry out, I cant believe how thorough it was even down to serial nos for engine, whether every electrical socket works, what cabling is used etc and then any failings or repairs necessary. 20 page pdf. But I feel I know my boat inside out now after reading it. Ultrasonic readings taken every metre, 3 x on the sides, then again every metre on the base plate. Thankfully my boat is in very sound condition all over. Started out as 8- 6 - 4, Base plate at worse point was 7.2 mm but mostly 7.6 or7.7. Sides were mostly 5.9 still, worst point was 5.6. Thankfully no welding repairs to do, just a little routine maintenance Revised valuation now plus 11k on previous insured price. I really should be pleased about the report, but cant help thinking I should now sell it Forgot to say survey cost £650, plus docking, new anodes and blacking another £1200.

Walked along the Coventry this afternoon, (Tamworth) only saw 1 boat moving in just under 2 hours. I'm going out Friday, hope it stays that peaceful next week.

I reckon between 2 and 3 days before you wouldn't have enough power to operate say a small microwave, small low wattage TV etc. Your lights will be the last things to go, but your batteries will quickly get to a point whereby you need to charge them for longer than the usage rate via your inverter

Sounds like you done loads of work, but BMC 1.5s coke up regularly between the glow plugs and combustion chamber. So the heat generated by the glow plugs doesn't actually reach the combustion chamber. Almost certainly you need to remove the glow plugs and use a long 4mm drill bit to push into the glow plug hole and break up the carbon crusted build up behind them. I have done this on 2 of my boats now, both were BMC 1.5s. You can search on my threads under " boat not started properly for many years" previous owner always used easy start to get it going. It will take a couple of hours to do but it's fairly simple and become routine now

It's less than £15k, look on apollo duck, Ebay etc, I dont think you'll do better for your money. It's pretty tidy inside, it's obviously been somebody's pride and joy with reasonable care taken. This boat will be snapped up within a few days for sure. What steel narrowboat can you find for less than 15k, there ain't a lotta choice out there you know!

Get a hull survey at the least, this will cost you around £650 - £750 at gt Haywood facility. It's a good starter boat, you should be able to get at least the cost of the survey off the price Or if you wanted to take a risk, offer around £12500 to buy now no comebacks At the end of the day if the hull survey says it's in "fair condition" then you will get all of your money back £15k in a couple of years anyway. The survey will all but gaurantee that for you. Also bear in mind all surveyor will say in their reports that's something needs looking at, and this is a bit of further leverage on the price. You can always make small improvements to the toilet / bathroom over the next few months or years. Go for it, its tidy, clean , dry and very usable.

It's great to be back on our boats, let's hope we can all use them fully fairly soon. In my experience when the air temperature is like today at 20c +, you will be able to start any diesel engine fairly easily, even without wiring up your glow plugs heater wire. Basically the act of compression to the air in the cylinder gets hot enough to fire the engine up in seconds in warm weather. When the air is colder in winter at say between 0c and 10c the air can, (no will take longer to heat up in your cylinders. If it doesn't start in this weather without any hesitance, then it is not your glow plugs and you need to look elsewhere. By the way your compression figures are pretty good for an old engine. It's far from clapped out or other description for that matter. I can only say again, check your glow plugs housing 1 by 1 , remove them completely and use a LONG 4mm drill bit to tap into the carbon beyond the length of the glow plug. TAP THE DRILL BIT INTO THE GLOW PLUG CHAMBER WITH A SMALL HAMMER TO CLEAR THE CARBON.Then replace your glow plugs. It's an easy job to do and takes about an hour. BMC diesels are renowned for carbon build up with lots of smaller journeys being the culprit.

Ah, I understand now, I've got it the maths that is, not the ###### thank you for educating me .

I wasnt aware of the maths at the R rate of 1 being the same rate of infections after 1 month. My maths tells me 8,000 infect another 8,000 ( infecting a total of 16,000), which next month becomes 32,000. Perhaps your maths was right, I may be wrong!!!! Pray correct me please !

I think Peer pressure from other MPs are beginning to demand an action plan to recover economically as a country. I agree that it will obviously come down to Boris, in the last 3 weeks we seem to have everybody connected with the cobra meetings, presenting the same information on a daily basis. The only one with any clout is Rishi Sunak. Viewing other countries plans is making everyone restless, give Boris a week and he will be singing the same hymn. Unfortunately, there will be a small proportion of patients that will be considered as being a sad loss, but can be contained within the expected loss of deaths from this horrendous disease. I still think, Businesses all open by 11th May, with the exception of restaurants, pubs, etc, oh and no social gatherings, house parties, which includes sporting events, football, rugby, cricket, racing, concerts, even aeroplanes etc until August at the earliest.

The natives are beginning to get restless in local Midlands towns, hardware stores reopening fully, takeaways all reopening, pubs doing meal takeaways. When I've been to our local food shops, everyone has kept distance very well and its felt a more comfortable experience. If you asked me, the country will all be going back to work, building, engineering and shops will all be back after VE day (8thMay) with restrictions in stores on space. Holidays will start at the end of the may. But the catering trade, pubs, cafes, b+b breakfasts/ meals will not be allowed due to time exposure sitting down together. Pubs/ cafes in my book will be Start of July.

It doesn't matter how you turn the engine off, by fuel shut off valve or the key.....its the jet/ needle that the fuel flows through that gets a bit clogged up over the time with fuel sediment in the tank. Gravity feeds your carbs from your fuel tank, almost certainly a blocked fuel needle.

I had the same problem a few years ago, apparently it's fairly common when bikes aren't used for a few months at a time, you have enough fuel in the carb to run it for about 30 seconds.......... the needle float which pumps / goes up and down gets sticky with fuel when not used. It basically let's a very small amount of fuel through after you turn it off, then if you go back to it in say 6 hours,....... it will start again but cut out again after another 30 seconds. Take your carb off give it a clean and reassemble. It worked for me.

I once purchased a BMC 1.5 that had the same symptoms for over 8 years, I used a long 4mm drill bit and tapped it through the carbon build up , the problem was the glow plugs worked but they couldn't reach the firing point because of carbon build up. When a BMC is turned over enough the heat in the cylinder will eventually reach enough to make it start. I bet once the engine is warm it starts perfectly every time. Check the carbon build up around the tip of the glow plug with a LONG 4mm drill bit and tap it through the carbon, dont be shy about tapping through the build up.you will need to remove/ loosen 2 or 3 fuel injector pipes to do it properly. If I could do it I'm sure you can, I did do a post on the subject a few years ago. Might be worth reading it!

Sales will slow down a little now the cruising season is coming to an end, poor weather, darker evenings and stoppages on infrastructure means you may be able to a good deal on the purchase price.

Looked like brum to me !

One of those programmes that are so bad that they become unmissable fun to watch rubbish. Cant wait for next weeks 1/2 hour slot now. Its lightened my evening.