Blazeaway

Good point, but primary source surely should be the owners of the equipment, so where are crt providing the 'knowledge'

Just been reading horror stories about boat sinkings in locks and I am flabbergasted to discover CRT provides no guidance or safety advice on operation of locks, bridges etc. As a person relatively new to this world of narrow boating I am aware of a lack of prominence of info explaining or showing how to properly and safely take a boat through a lock. I accept that I should go on a helmsmanship course but that will only partially cover whats required. When I was working in big industry there were loads of safety videos on all sorts of eg fork lift trucks etc. Surely this is something CRT should provide as it is their infrastructure that is employed and it would appear that most of these sinkings are often operator error. Not surprising if no proper specific guidance is provided. Have I missed something somewhere or this a glaring big hole in CRT's info.

SHOCKED..... I can find no guidance/safety instructions for operating any CRT equipment eg locks, bridges.

Got me thinking.......As a person relatively new to this world of narrow boating I am aware of a lack of prominence of info explaining or showing how to properly and safely take a boat through a lock. I accept that I should go on a helmsmanship course but that will only partially cover whats required. When I was working in big industry there were loads of safety videos on all sorts of eg fork lift trucks etc. Surely this is something CRT should provide as it is their infrastructure that is employed and it would appear that most of these sinkings are often operator error. Not surprising if no proper specific guidance is provided. Does this stuff exist ? I've not seen it yet but I will now go and look for it.

Had to post this as I am quite impressed so far. Just purchased a GEM420 wifi/mifi unit along with a mimo aerial and then purchased a 1gb/month as a start with EE. Put it all together on the boat and found it fairly easy to setup up the EE internet access and am getting a whopping 33 mbps download. (At our house we get a paltry 1.4 mbps) Equipment bought from www.3grouterstore.co.uk Fullband MIMORAD 4G Antenna Outdoor MiMo Radome Antenna 6dBi Peak Gain with 2x5 metres of aerial cable £61.00 Proroute GEM420 M2M Dual SIM 4G Router £234.00 Unit also does wifi repeating (will set that up tomorrow) OK not cheap but very well built with lots of features. Once we've established how much data we eat a month we will probably upgrade the SIM contract to maybe 15GB per month for £20.

Dimwhit that I am I swapped over the wires as discussed but still no joy so swapped em back. Then whilst sitting there thinking about what next I noticed the trip switch on the front panel so flicked it from down to up tried again an RESULT. Finally job done.

The generator is now installed back in the engine'ole and with new diesel supply lines with shut off valves. All connected up and fired up today pumping out loads of electrickery. Magic.

I went to Crick yesterday for Waterways World magazine to photograph the preparations for the show. I've not watched a craning into the water before, quite fascinating to watch. Lots of care and attention needed by the guys from AB Tuckeys. Brilliant. https://canalrivertrust.org.uk/news-and-views/news/crick-preparations-gather-pace I wonder why posts keep getting double posted ?

Swallow Cruisers in hockley heat Website http://www.bridge27.co.uk 01564 783 442 Bridge 27 Stratford Canal Wharf Lane B94 5NR

Thank you, I will take a closer look at it. I dont recall seeing anything attached to the stop lever.....no wires..but I'll go see.

Occassionally when I press the main engine stop button the engine does not stop and repeated pushing eventually sometimes works. Sometimes not and i have to stop it using the engine lever. I will check and overhaul or replace the stop button but suspect that the stop solenoid is the problem. Engine is Isuzu 35 hp. Where is the stop solenoid on my engine ? Where would I buy a new one ? and.....what does it do to stop the engine ?

Update for all in case its useful. Primary root cause found and fixed. Gummed up decompression device. New liner and rings didn't cure it, although they both needed to be done so that's good for the future. Further head scratching and grey matter employed. Turned up a 'repair manual' online which mentioned if you have low compression then "...check the decompression device..." http://fischerpanda.com/marine-pdf/Farymann.pdf Duly found this device and it was in a very poor state all gummed up. Removed and cleaned and hey presto it lives. So its now all back together and awaiting collection and re-installation back in the boat. Thanks to Richard and Sue of Primrose Engineering in Kenilworth for persevering with it and getting the thing back to life.

Exactly....well said thank you. FWIW I like to watch the cricket on skysports and F1 too, my wife likes films of an evening. I like the options suggested re vu dome etc just concerned about air draft so one of the lay flat dishes might be good. EG Camos crank up flat twin lnb. But struggling to do research with crap internet connectio at moment.

Good one thanks, it is the kind of device we were thinking of but it looks rather tall and as it appears to be freestanding would it be at risk of being nicked or blown over in high winds ?

We have a full sky package and hd box so we can watch films sport etc. Currently have a full size house dish on a pole which is a pain to align and iffy when the wind blows. So we are investigating what to replace it with such that I dont need to get wet sorting it out in cold/bad weather. Lòks like lots on offer so what would you recommend ?

We went today, just got home, excellent day out, had fish and chips which were fabulous followed up with great pint of bitter and cider in the pub. Lots going on and would gladly recommend it.

Just an update on this. Took the lump over to Richard in Kenilworth and he confirmed that bore is excessively lipped at the top and thus we think its losing compression via this and maybe the rings. So new liner is being made and new head gasket and rings will be installed and we will see if that cures it.

Having dealt with all the essentials like new batteries, new diesel fuel pipe connections and improvements to various other systems we are now dealing with the 'nice to do' stuff on our boat. We are intending to bring our Sky HD+ box and now need a portable dish to mount on the boat. There seems to be a bewildering array of offerings from £20 to £3000. Who of you has a sensible working solution and what experience have you of its +ve's and -ve's.

Now that I have completed all the upgrades and maintenance work on my boat I want to cleanup the engine bay floor. There is some water/oil/diesel maybe a litre in all. I am thinking of chucking down some cat litter and letting that soak it all up then sweeping it or vacuuming it up. Is that sensible approach or is there a better way ?

Just been down to the lock and its all open, boats went through yesterday. They are still working on it though doing some concreting work on the surrounding area.

The l9ck they are working on is outside my back garden, I'll take a look in the morning.

Just an update......made progress but still not running. Had the head off today and did the diesel test, the inlet valve leaked through, not badly but still leaked, inlet seemed less of a problem. Anyway did a full de-coke on the head and re-seated valves and then re-assembled it. Re-tested and definitely a lot more compression, lots of white smoke but still it would not fire up. I think now I need to hand it over to someone as I just don't have the time to dig into looking at piston, rings and bore.

Good stuff Bee cheers....defo on the money with that. Thanks Richard might well take you up on that could you PM me your phone number please.