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laura hinks

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Posts posted by laura hinks

  1. Water in the bulge

    in New to Boating?

    Posted

    11 hours ago, Grassman said:

    Laura doesn't say what type of stern the boat has. We have a cruiser stern and like Maggie says it's virtually impossible to keep the engine bilge dry. With ours it's the rain that's the main culprit and the worn deck boards and raised gunnels don't help. 

    If all the other possibilities mentioned on here regarding leaks have been investigated and Laura is still getting a depth of water in there, provided the bilge pump is set to automatic I don't think she has anything to worry about. I've been told many times to just accept that some boats have wet engine bilges and to not to be too concerned. I have and inch or so permanently in mine. 

    The bilge is manual so i guess it will be a morning and evening job to press the button. 

  2. Water in the bulge

    in New to Boating?

    Posted

    2 hours ago, Mike the Boilerman said:

     

    I think they just mean its been there a long time!

    I thought that too but its a funny name 

    2 hours ago, ianali said:

    It maybe a battle to remove it..

     

    How much water? What type of boat?

    Ian.

    About 4 inches i guess. A narrow boat . Ledgard

  4. Water in the bulge

    in New to Boating?

    Posted

    Im not a mechanical person but i just wondered what the reasons would be for water being in the bottom of the engine bay. 

    If the boats sat idle over winter for a few months without someone on it regularly to usw th bulge pump would the water build up massivley?

     

    Is it something to worry about?

    Someones told me that its historical water. I dont even know what that means. Can any one shead any light please?

  5. Canal routes

    in General Boating

    Posted

    13 hours ago, alan_fincher said:

    Without doing a count, the Coventry canal route must be by a very large margin the least locks.  Any passage to the GU that involves passing through Birmingham in any way has a very large lock count, including the 21 wide locks at Hatton and a similar number again onwards to rejoin the far more obvious route at Braunston.

    In normal circumstances, I can't imagine why anybody has given you that advice.  However in stoppage season any trip that far will need very careful planning.

    I think the person who gave me that advise was given advice to avoid coventry but not the canal itself and maybe like chineese whispers the advise got twisted. 

    The reason i asked you guys is because after listening to that advise and looking at the map i thought the coventry route looked easier. But i just needed someone who had actually done it to tell me my suspicions were right or wrong. So thanks guys. I shall now prepare my route

  6. Canal routes

    in General Boating

    Posted

    1 hour ago, Keeping Up said:

    You'll have some possible problems. Aston Lock is closed until 20th Jan and Weston Lock is closed until 22nd Jan. You have a week's window to make sure you are through Meaford (before Aston & Weston) before it closes on 29th Jan. You must then ensure that you complete your trip through to Braunston by 5th Feb before closures on the Oxford Canal. It's doable but needs careful planning.

    9

    Thankyou everyone im going to do some careful planning now and hopefully i shall get her down without too much trouble if i time it right

  7. Canal routes

    in General Boating

    Posted

    15 minutes ago, Alan de Enfield said:

    When do you plan to undertake this trip ?

     

    In a weeks time weather permiting

    8 minutes ago, Graham Davis said:

    Did they tell you why?

    A agree with Allan above.

    They said there are more locks through the coventry route. But i had a breif look at the collins waterway map and it looks a lot less confusing the coventry way.

  8. Canal routes

    in General Boating

    Posted · Edited by laura hinks

    Im heading south onto he grand union from stoke on trent. Which is the best route to go? Ive been told to avoid coventry canal although that actually looks the best. Ive been told the staff and worcester through wolverhampton is better.looking at the map though im not sure if that is true

    . Can anyone shed some light on what actualy is the easiest route? Thanks 

  9. Ledgards boats and compost toilets

    in General Boating

    Posted

    4 hours ago, Boaty Jo said:

    Ledgard boats.

    Don't know about their narrowboats but friends of mine live on a 15m x 4m (approx) 'replica barge' in France, have done for more than 10 years. They like it but bought what they could afford at the time.

    As stated above they are medium quality and the barges are not the best looking. Probably a barge adaptation of a narrowboat, slab sided with a wheelhouse.

    My friends' boat is underpowered though and they have to pick and choose times for river cruising. (max about 6 kph). This may be just an undersized engine but equally likely, hull shape.

    Depends whether you're after a NB or barge type and where you want to cruise. Overall OK and no more I would suggest.

    This one looks more like a narrowboat. It doesnt have a wheel house. Its not underpowered either at 45hp. Thanks it seems they are kind of an average boat builder as long as they are not too bad.

  10. Ledgards boats and compost toilets

    in General Boating

    Posted

    37 minutes ago, alan_fincher said:

    Before you say "a composting loo will be fine" or "a composting loo will be a pain in the backside", isn't it important to understand what type is fitted?

    It's not a subject I have ever wanted to study in depth, but I distinctly get the impression that whilst many people are happy with the more modern types that separate the pee, the success rate with the old types that didn't do so were nothing like as good.

    You certainly can't say unconditionally "they always work without issues", because there are well documented cases of people scrapping off the expensive earlier types, and replacing with pumpout or cassette.

    Perhaps OP needs to specify exactly what is fitted to the boat in question, then really only take opinions from those who have lived with that type and are likely to have had similar usage patterns to what is planned?

    EDIT:

    Actually I'm thinking it is this one.  There can't be too many Ledgard narrow boats on the market at any one time with a composting loo, surely?


    35824.JPG
     

    Yes this is the one

    37 minutes ago, J R ALSOP said:

    Are you sure you don't mean Ledgend narrowboats, or as we used to call them "Leg end" as they were as straight as a leg. Built down the Southern Grand Union and most had Dutch Barge style windows. 

    No its not a legend narrowboat, Im very familiar with legend as i used to have one. Ledgard are/ were a company from yorkshire and they have ceased trading from what information i can gather

  11. Ledgards boats and compost toilets

    in General Boating

    Posted

    15 minutes ago, peterboat said:

    Ignore the comments about composting toilets I have had one for six years, I am refitting a broads cruiser and have ripped out the pump out to fit a composting toilet. They work full stop

    Well they are more economical and thats important to me ... i jyst dont no anyone on the cut with one 

  12. Ledgards boats and compost toilets

    in General Boating

    Posted

    Hi everyone. 

    2 questions really:

    Are ledgard boats any good? 

    Have they got any good points and bad points?

    Also, im looking to buy one so just wanted to know if the boat builder was on top of their game. 

    Also secondly, it has a compost toilet. Does anyone know more about these how they work. Has anyone on here got one? Is it recommended?

    Thanks

  13. Steelcraft

    in Boat Building & Maintenance

    Posted

    2 minutes ago, mrsmelly said:

    One thing worth mentioning. I bought my first narrowboat in 1989 it was from the sixties. When I was looking at that time I was told that Steel was better from the sixties etc etc. I have had another six steel boat and each time the blurb is " Steel was better from so and so time " In thirty years time people will be saying old boats from around 2021 are of much better steel. Just sayin like.

    I was told by a boat welder friend of mine that the steel now is not marine grade its cheap to buy and doesnt have the same minerals in it. Bit like everything these days built for a quick turn over and profit at as little initial outlay...so the steel quality was better then according to him. 

    Houses are the same now with their paper thin walls and small gardens. 

  14. Steelcraft

    in Boat Building & Maintenance

    Posted

    2 hours ago, Athy said:

    True - but many boaters (including Mrs. Athy and I) never use the water from the tank for drinking anyway.

    Oh i wood want to use the tank but if its not stainless i think it would probably have rust etc and the boats over 30 years old so its not good. The people who currently own it drink from it (so they tell me) but i wouldnt 

  16. Steelcraft

    in Boat Building & Maintenance

    Posted

    Wow thank you Kedian you really do know your stuff. I went to look at one yesterday with a view to buy and im glad to hear that the steel is good quaility. Its a 1986 and ive been told that steel was better quality then anyway. Another thing about the boat is that its water tank was built into the floor its self do you think this may be a problem as most are built out of stainless steel these days?

    Also there was water right under the floor. The man i may be buying it off is a plumber so id like to rule out a leaky pipe. He said its condensation and drys up in the summer...do you think it could be masking anything serious? Thanks very much in advance

  17. Steelcraft

    in Boat Building & Maintenance

    Posted

    Does anyone know anything about steelcraft narrow boats? Ive been told that they are formed on replicas of colecraft boat plans and the company was formed by former workers. I dont no if this is true. Does anybody know? 

    Also are they any good? Do they have known faults?

    Thanks

  21. Good boat builders

    in Build Blogs

    Posted

    17 minutes ago, Neil2 said:

    I've never heard of Arkwright and I suspect it's a mistake made by someone who isn't familiar with the company Arcrite Fabrications of Corby.  

    Bear in mind that the info on the boat listing is provided by owners/previous owners, most of them will have spelled the name "Arkwright" because that's how it sounds and Open All Hours was a very popular show.

    They are no longer in the business of boat building but were middle market builders in the 1980's/90's and a fair few hire boats were based on Arcrite shells.  My boat is an Arcrite shell from 1988 made for an owner fit out.  The company was formed by two ex-Harborough Marine employees, but unlike the "window smasher" Harboroughs, Arcrite boats are not so distinctive, above the water.  Down below it's a different story as the hulls were very "fine" with a sort of double chine arrangement and long swims.   

    Generally though, with an older boat it doesn't matter that much who built it, much more important how it's been maintained.

     

     

    Thank you youve been very helpful. 

  23. Good boat builders

    in Build Blogs

    Posted

    Hi everyone. Im looking at a few boats at the moment with an intention to buy.

    There are a couple of boats that look good but ive researched and cant find any information on whether the boat builders are exeprienced and any good at all. 

    Does anyone know anything about Arkwright fabrications?

    If so could you advise me if they are good at making boats or not?

    Also ken martin?

    Chappell and wright?

    Many thanks in advance

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