Clifford

"Boat Sitting" is usually on these forums a euphemism for renting (with lots of "plausible-deniability" winking smileys). Done to death, recently, I think? Unless the payment going the OTHER way makes it legit?

Martin (Doghouse) It's true that I've not done much boating up here, but I'm not exactly a stranger to the Northern canals. As a child, I knew the lower Peak forest between Marple and Ashton before the Cheshire Ring was open, and lived along some of the "less pretty" bits. I've walked along the Sheffield and Tinsley for the last thirty years. And know lots of other Northern canals in a gongoozly way by getting out and exploring whenever a car trip took me near one. I remember the Anderton Lift's long closed years. I've steered a boat from Runcorn to Newark and back, and Stretford and back. From Todmorden to Huddersfield, Selby and Leeds. My first rented boat was on the Lancaster. Oh, and I've been on the trip boat from Sprotbrough when they used to do Pie and Peas disco trips! So still plenty to do up here, S&SY, lower Aire, Ouse (and Ripon Canal), three Pennine crossings, and lower Trent. We're keeping the boat in Staffordshire for a little while longer, not because we're chocolate box junkies (Burton on Trent? Nuneaton?) but because once we HAVE moved the boat up here, it will probably be a long time before we get the chance to go back to see the parts of the Midlands we don't see in the next year. I'm familiar with changing manners in different parts of the country (I've lived in Luton and London) and on different canals. Never quite decided where the magic point is South of Braunston where lock crews suddenly change to hanging on glumly to their boat lines until the boat in front is in the lock, rather than heading off to the lock asap to help others through and have a natter. Banbury, perhaps, and Milton Keynes?

Thank you, Alan. I have worked out which links I need to click, now. I see the 2005 version IS the last full version.

Northernboater, Perhaps you thought I was havng a dig at Sheffield. I wasn't, honest. I love the city, and I wish we got more boats visiting. I read lots of boat blogs, and just occasionally you see that a well known blogger has been here. They are usually amazed at how beautiful the Don is, and how truly canal-ly Sheffied Basin / Victoria Quays is. And aree so surprised that no-one hasd told them about it. My 1% comment was just a bit of a joke (backfired, obviously) pointing out how if someone read about sinkings in ℅ terms, they would get a ridiculously exaggerated idea of how dangerous Sheffield is! I can't back up 1% scientifically, it WAS just a guess. But I really don't think it was far off. In fact I doubt we get even 100 visiting boats a year, from beyond, say, Rotherham anyway. And it's a real pity. Sheffield is a great place to visit, and the canal is the best way to come. In another post, I said I'd never been on the canal here. But that's not quite true. I meant that I'd never steered a boat here. I was actually on the Sheffield and Tinsley in the 80's, when there used to be a Sheffield Waterbus from the quays to Tinsley Locks. There used tobe a Doncaster Waterbus as well. Our boat is at Barton Marina at the moment (we bought it in that area). We are looking forward to moving the boat up here, after we've explored a few more of the canals down there. That's why I was asking for people who boat up here to let me know about facilities up here. Over thge years, I've picked up on the kind of things we have here, but services fall out of use (I knew we'd lost one of the boatyards at Thorne), and being able to ask real boaters about real services was too good an opportunity to pass up, when my partner and I were discussing a timetable for the move. Hope we can help each other with local info in the future, but it will be a bit of a oneway street until our boat is up here. And let's do what we can to persuade others to visit.

Phil, Ours is a semitrad, but only has a seat/locker on one side. Quite a nice compromise, actually. But I'd seriously think about moving the batteries 'upstairs' to make them accessible. But it wouldn't be so pressing if there was as much headroom over them as there is above the batts in the picture.

Northernboater, I didn't mean to upset you in any way, but you are being a bit rough on me. Can we be friends ? I don't want to fall out with anyone, and with you in particular as it sounds as you may be one of the members closest to me.

The cork looks enormous, my fill holes are tiny. For my batteries, how about the cork (or some other device) resting on top of the fill hole and the tubing projecting through the cork to the right depth?

Thank you all very much for this. That last point about permanent inverter-output NE bonding being no problem when switched to shorepower was illuminating. I knew that combis had NE bonding internally-switchable, so I was confused for a bit.... I see the difference now!

Looks like it's a radio as well.

There's lots of lovely space between the top of the batteries and the deck. Are those batteries particularly low-profile? On my boat, checking fluid levels and tightening terminals is contortionist work, there is so little space over the batteries.

Are there current test standards available online ? The BSS website just has part 1, and the most recent document I can find elsewhere is from 2005 or something.

If your charts show the river going UP from Newark to Torksey, get some new ones!

Guess: Hardest pull on tiller to maintain tightest turn = 20lb Say 10kgf , say 100N. Length of tiller (mid handle to over rudder stock), =2ft Say 60cm, say .6m Torque on rudder stock = 100*.6 =60Nm That ballpark, surely?

ARE narrowboat (ed) floors level front to back, or do they pitch nose-up like most narrowboat hulls do? Some quite considerably. I mean by design, not just when low on water or with a full poo tank. ie is the bilge space meant to the same depth all thge way along? Or does it get deeper at the back. Not on boat now, can't roll a marble to find out.

I agree about the Lion Quays, it's not quite sure what it is. Handy for meeting friends with cars, nice patioo in the sun, fun mooring on the pontoons free overnight, and you can get edible food and proper beer. But a bit touristy/family-y/something-y. Doesn't quite gel. Wasn't there a mention on here of restricted moorings near the Moss, now. Even though there are footpaths across it? Forgot to say earlier that mooring by the Meres near Ellesmere is magical on a sunny evening. Just a little strip of towpath between the canal and the tree-lined lake. Ed to correct Officer Crabtreeisms

I need a new horn. That mnay have spoiled me for a single tone one. Did you see the video on the same page of a sailing ship electrocuting itself as it went through a lift bridge in Holland?

Jack Mytton is a very good stop. Their food is exceptional for a pub, without being imitation Michelin. Lovely spot, in the sun, and nice bar and dining room when wet. Very good beer. At Wrenbury, the Dusty Miller steals the show a bit from the Coton Arms. But the Coton is very well worth a visit for a bit of a more pubby feel. Not knocking the Dusty Miller, though. For Chirk, moor as soon as you can after the tunnel, it's easy to go a bit too far looking for the'best' spot. Don't let the waterside Tesco stop you from going into Ellesmere. The town is very close, and quite pretty : the star of the place is the fantastic deli/butchers/bakers. Whitchurch is worth the walk, and it's not ALL that far. The Old Town Hall Vaults is a truly exceptional pub, for both character and beer. The Lion Quays is perhaps a bit more gongoozlery than canally. But a pleasant stop, the terrace overlooking the canal is irresistible on a nice day. They have nice looking pontoons, to moor at for free, but the ones at the Llangollen end are very silted up. The narrow bit of canal near Llangollen sounds troublesome in people's blogs, but isn't really, unless there are TOO many selfish people about. There are passing places, marked by white sticks, and you can usually see the next passing place from the one you are in. Go ahead when there is no-one between the next passing place and you. When you get to Llangollen, ask boaters coming the other way what the moorings are like. If they are tight, grab the first one. If there is room at the basin, it's a nice spot. If you decide you have passed a towpath mooring you would have liked, beware of going on and turning round at the basin to come back. Someone else may have nicked the spot, leaving you facing the wrong way on a narrow stretch with no turning round and no moorings ahead for a long way. If you miss a spot, better to reverse the short distance immediately. If the canal is busy, Grindley Brook staircase gets very congested, and can cause very long delays. Better to plan to arrive there in the evening, if there are a lot of boats about. Then you can either go through while people are moored up for the evening, or be in a good spot for the morning. Handy litle shop at the lock. Same thing applies to Chirk Aqueduct/Tunnel. If Plank Lane pub is still shown in your guide, don't count on it. It burnt down years ago (glad to hear from anyone saying it's reopened!). Near there, look out for the canalside farm selling fruit and veg. I'm not usually one who argues for getting a move on, but because of the risk of delays on the way back, I'd say do fairly long days on the way out, looking for nice places to stop on a leisurely return trip. Enjoy. The Llangollen is a bit of a cliche really, because everyone recommends it as such a lovely and interesting canal. But it simply IS lovely and interesting. Enjoy, enjoy, enjoy.

When following the Intracostal Waterway, you use markers based not based on upstream/downstream, but on whether you are going Clockwise (New Jersey to Texas) or Anticlockwise. Going Clockwise, you keep Yellow Triangles to the Right and Yellow Squares to the Left. Confusingly, these symbols will appear on markers coloured red and green, where the colours ARE for the conventional use (US convention, of course) of boats going in and out. But because of the different directions of travel of in/out boats and Intracostal boats, there is no correlation between the green/red marks and the square/triangle marks. A yellow square cxan appear on either a green or a red marker, and so can a yellow triangle. OK, I looked it up. But I knew there was some quirk about the Intracostal, probably from reading Terry Darlington's book.

Paul, I was replying to yours. I was thinking that if an IT was off the boat completely, then it was something the mooring owner could provide. But that then we'd only be told to replicate its function ourselves anyway. Was it as wind-up?

Thought it wouldn't be long before the clan started gathering! Who do these Kiwis think they are coming over here with smiley faces, and positive attitudes. Canals are for miserable gits who think it's all going to the dogs. That's why we have RAIN!

Nearly 500W for £500 all in. Incredible! For someone who started off a bit uncertain about electrics, BigCol, you are geting on with it all brilliantly. To be honest, you've been a bit of an inspiration to me to get cracking with some of the stuff I haven't had much of clue about before. Shows up the forum at its best, I reckon.

Yes, but then all the books would say, "provide your own, because you cant trust marinas to wire theirs up correctly". Just like we need RCD protection because we are told not to trust the bollard's.

Strictly, wasn't 'Windlass' a slightly dodgy word originally (though I think we can claim to have given the word a good enough run for its money to make it corect by now). Windlass is really the name for the whole winding mechanism of, say, a well. So really, what wee call a windlass was originally just the windlass HANDLE. I suppose after a few years of saying, "pass the windlass handle, love", it was natural for the name to shorten. I've often wondered, and never bothered asking, whether the handle was originally removable on early locks.

Exciting! Enjoy the trip.

Gibbo gives some reasons for earthing the case to the hull, NOT the shoreline earth, in the link I gave earlier. Ed to say: But I suppose it depends on what the manufacturer has done already. If they have already wired the input earth to the case, then by earthing the case to the boat you would bypass the IT earth break! But if there is no internal Earth then you are free to choose (?).