Mark & Michelle

I'll have a look at those, thanks

Can anyone recommend a good insurance company for insuring narrowboats and what costs should I be looking for, for a 50' ? Thank you

So smart it packed up after 6 weeks. All part of the cost of boating I expect. Stove all sorted and managed to get a few embers still hot by 7 the next morning so a little improvement will sort out the winter problems. New sofa all in now no thanks to delivery guys dumping it next to the boat and telling me they have to get off to Newcastle as they are late. A few helpfull bodies managed to get it through the front door with an inch to spare all round. New replaicement charger being installed tomorrow so the next job is an engine service and need to understand this "diese bug" issue.

Would buy the best vintage trad stern I could get my hands on, refurb all the original and traditional parts / hull to A1 condition then get the living areas refitted out with best materials to traditional finishes but include 12V technology (LED lights etc) . give up work and spend time sign writing it to the best designs I could come up with. Replace the 150 foot hose and box that leads to my filling tap and buy a new wheelbarrow. Wouldn't bother with going abroad, no need. Also might buy a bottle of wine and a pint or two.

Having bought the 50' cruiser stern "Green Knight" in mid August, after replacing 4 previously neglected batteries and installing a smart charger we are now 4 days into being bona fide live aboards. Lighting the stove has just about been mastered but the real trick now, largely due to the looming freezing nights is to get the thing to stay lit all night long until the morning. The view from the boat is very different from the view from our old first floor house window across a sprawling housing development and the lifestyle we now have is far richer in terms of freedom of space despite all our contents being condensed into micro storage of needs instead of wants. Best boat buy so far...Memory foam mattress. Busiest task... Collecting a winters worth of fire wood

Thanks. will have a look. yes as far as I know it's a conventional set up. will give a couple of turns on the greaser. What grease do you recommend for re filling the tube?

At the end, but in this case we moved it first thing this morning and had the engine running for no more than 15 mins. I had a check in the compartment and saw water for the first time. the nieghbour popped aboard, had a look and then said about the diesel.

Having bought our first boat 2 months ago and spending time with internal cabin work we moved it for loading purposes and then back to our mooring. A neighbour popped aboard and looked in the engine compartment and said he suspects we have a diesel leak as there was a strong smell of it. As we've not done any cruising as yet we are not certain of the levels of smell as to what is normal and what is a problem. Does anyone else's engine compartment smell of diesel after cruising or should I look more in depth at a potenetial problem. Also, a quarter of an inch of water under the stern gland, one again, is this an issue or does it need re packing in other boaters opinion? Thank you

Maybe it was the Kraken?

Will get a thickness test done when I haul it out to get the hull blackened. Thanks for your opinion.

Thanks for the replies so far. Seems that it's the exposed steel around a hot water outlet that's affected by condensation (also going by replies on other sites) according to most Advice I've been given is scrape rust off, treat it with rust remover chemical, prime it and fill hole with expanding foam Cheers

Due to the helpful nature of CW members I would like to ask another question of anyone with experience of the following Our NB is 10 years old and today we removed a washing machine which revealed a 4" hole through the paneling where the waste water tube was centred. The area around it was exposed down to the steel hull and we saw the steel was very rusty made up of rust flakes with a collection of rust dust and flakes collected in a pile at the bottom of the hole sat on the insulation? Is this something to worry about or just a normal issue. We're concerned as there may be worse affected areas that we can't see behind the paneling and insulation elsewhere on the boat. Is there anything that can be done? Thank you

Thanks Dave. I'll give the pressure valve a turn first as recomended by G&F and then I'll have a look at the pump. Cheers

Thanks I'll have a go at that.

The area around the pump is dry but haven't disturbed any pipe work. Engine compartment appears dry and the bilge pump when switched on is not picking up any water so it's puzzling. I wondered if it's anything to do with the calorifier venting itself in a similar way a water heater releases pressure (and water) through a veneted tap, thus causing the water pump to replace the vented water?

We've noticed our water pump kicking in for a second or so at various intervals even though we are not running any taps / shower. An engineer on site mentioned we may have a leak bit we can't see any obvious water leakage so wonder if there would be any other reason the water pump would activate for short bursts. We've only had this boat a few weeks and are still getting to know it as well as doing a few running repairs. So...leak or any other explanation? Thanks in anticipation.

Lots of good info there, thanks very much.

The narrowboat we have just bought has not got a fuel gauge and the last owner used to dip the tank. Does anyone know if a fuel gauge can be easily fitted and what the costs would be? At present we are at a residential mooring but once we get traveling we need a bit more accurancy. Thanks.