WhiteSuit

remove the grime with pink stuff on a washing up scourer pad (nylon). once tarnish removed polish with Brasso. pink stuff will also remove old incralac.

I have an immersion fitted so no blanking plug. The hot water take off is however higher than the immersion so surely air will be bled from there. Or am I missing something stupid?

Thank you both for quick replies, now I can find something really important to worry about!

Apologies but I have searched the forum for existing answers to no avail. I have a horizontal calorifier under the bed fed from a variable speed water pump, no accumulator and no expansion vessel on the hot side. I know that's wrong (NRV in cold inlet). The system has worked fine for the five years we have had the boat. Having moved to a marina with no electric hook up this winter I decided to drain the calorifier to prevent freezing, not an easy task and I rigged up a system to pump air into the top connection to expel the water through the opened PRV to the cut. Now regretting my decision with the benefit of hindsight over forecast. Have just changed the PRV, as the old one was beginning to weep last summer, and refilled the system. Took a long while to fill the calorifier expelling air through the hot taps. Now the cold system works normally but the hot obviously now has an airlock. When you open the hot tap you get a normal flow of water but it takes several seconds before the pump cuts in and the flow remains fairly constant. Shut the tap and the pump runs on for several seconds. My assumption is the calorifier with an air 'bubble' in the top has now taken on the role of an accumulator/expansion vessel. While not a problem on water flow I assume this will cut down the amount of hot water available and the length of time that water will remain hot. How do I get rid of the airlock? The only thing I could come up with is to haul the boat out on a slope and rebleed whilst the connection end of the calorifier is higher. As I don't need the blacking done for another year this would be an expensive option.

I use a Danon folding bike for shopping trips etc which takes up little space in the engine room of our modern trad. Is a bit of a pain as I have to remove it for engine checks etc. My road bike is on a high mount car carrier hanging over the stern with padlock and heat reflective cover from Aldi. Agree totally with Jess regard it getting in the way on lock walls, especially on the Avon, and ended up removing wheels to narrow it down. Also some careless people who use your boat as a stopping buffer can damage it if they have a high bow. Advantage over storing on the roof was no heat damage to the tyres despite last summer.

Went through Hockley Heath twice this summer, Wedgies was so good for bread and cold meats/pies we used it twice. Other good stop on the Avon ring is Upton on Severn. Only a short pontoon but you can use the inside as well and best up. Agree with Richard T about Pershore and Tewkesbury, also Worcester was full of history. We spent about 4 days there waiting for batteries and weren't bored at all.

Cox's have just serviced my travel Power per their recommendation after 2 years use. Cost 132 quid inc vat dropped it off in the morning and collected the following afternoon. Moored close by and took the alternator and silver box to them . If you strain them with insufficient revs the various diodes and boards in the box burn out which then becomes expensive. Another tip I learnt is if charging phones etc through mains chargers is to plug them into an overload extension lead as they can cause current spikes which the boxes circuits do not like. We only use ours for the washing machine whilst cruising and need at least 1100 revs for it to work so plan our washing around where we are cruising. Our regular wash only takes about an hour anyway. The only period of the cycle where you need all the power is the heat cycle. Don't forget that whether you are using it or not it is always spinning.

Thank you MHS, fantastic map that even I can read.

Is there any good dog walking near the centre?

Thanks everyone, Roland I assume from your half century engine that you are quite deep draft. We went up lapworth at the end June and it was down then, we struggled to get onto the bank a few times and heard tales of boats getting stuck in bridge holes. Spoke to Anglo Welsh at Wooten Wawen whose hirers have not had problems. No notifications to them by CRT, or none revealed. I would rather not come back to the boat to find it beached.

Hi looking for somewhere safe to moor up as above so we can get back home for my daughter's birthday in early August. Any of you good fountains of knowledge have any suggestions? I can't remember what the towpath is like there. I have also been hearing lots of rumors about the Stratford being short of water and facing imminent restrictions. Anyone on there at the moment with non fake news? thank you in anticipation Mark

Honestly don't know it was with the boat when we bought it. I liked it but the wiggle got increasingly annoying then I started rapping my knuckles on he cabin top. Found a non folding one buried under the bed and swapped over about 3 years ago. I have just tried my repair so although it now feels tight it's not been used in anger yet.

Yes I have just taken two lump hammers to mine to reshape. I don't think it will last to long but feels tighter now. It also sags a bit and the threads for the screw have gone. Brass is a soft metal.

Typo error on my posts the newly installed radio in both cases is a Pioneer not a Panasonic. I only discovered text in the brochures of the Sony and new Pioneer when working out how to connect the new one as the Sony has both memory and main feed coming from the one positive. The Pioneer book specifically says that the main feed has to be on the ignition switch. I have never done a power audit on the radio but a car battery will be drained very quickly with radio on and engine/alternator not running. My current car doesn't have an ignition position to make the radio live without engine electrics live. Couldn't afford an Alpine , Pioneer the next best sound quality per buck.

The radio was the only thing that changed. Fitted the switch, charged the batteries and everything was hunky dory after. We went out for our first cruise after and the marina owner lent us a couple of new batteries to sit on the swim in case we needed them whilst out, we were in the fens. Everything else worked for another 5 years with no problem after that. The Panasonic is Designed with a low current memory feed and the radio is live all the time the ignition feed is on whether the radio is switched on or not according to the brochure that came with the new one. It's never a problem in a vehicle situation.