BWM
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Posts posted by BWM
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On 17/02/2022 at 11:09, Ray T said:
"In the lay-by the boats are waiting."
Waterways World Sept 1990
Do you know where i could get a copy of this magazine?
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Excel seems fairly consistent but i do wonder if it, along with others varies by suppliers - made under licence by the unscrupulous?
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1 hour ago, Jim Batty said:
Expost looks interesting. My only hesitation would be their Handling Charges: Letter: 70p; Large letter: £1.10; Parcel (up to 20Kg): £3.50. This could add up pretty quickly.
We have a small mailbox at MBE. Similar prices to Expost, but without the Handling Charges. It's a franchise business, with offices all over the country ... and over good chunks of the world it seems. Our MBE is very friendly and trustworthy, are happy to check if a parcel or piece of mail has arrived if you query them by email (to save a wasted journey), will scan and send you stuff, forward to anywhere in the world, sign for packages (passports, Amazon, Special Delivery, etc.). We even have a key to enter their lobby to access our mailbox outside of office hours, as well as the mailbox key.
Our address looks like: Jane Smith, Flat 100 (or 'Suite 100' or 'Studio 100'), 44 Tupulo Honey Street, Big City, Postal Code.
We probably pick up post every month or two -- sometimes making a day trip of it by train to visit the 'Big City'.
A lot of applications for things these days are online, and that's great. Many algorithms prompt your address by first requesting a postal code -- to generate all the addresses for that code for you to select from. With our mailbox, it usually comes up with the MBE name and address. 97% of the time the algorithm allows you to simply override this and input your own proper address manually. No problem. There's been once or twice over the years where we couldn't input our own full address manually, so left it as the Mail Business address (which is the same as ours!) and post arrives normally. All banking, insurance, government, etc. is registered to our proper address and arrives without note.
We also use Mailbox, etc. and find they provide an excellent service. The DVLA needed proof of our boat licence before accepting the address but no issues with the bank, in fact the only problem i have experienced is with the type of sites that automatically fill in your address using only tour postcode but with a little persistence and ingenuity you can generally succeed!
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16 hours ago, RickS said:
Thanks for that. To be honest, I would be a little worried of making a shoddy job of it and ruining the cratch, but it's a nice clean solution
I fitted these in the way described into 3/4" ply and they are strong enough to stand on, just need to use a drill of the appropriate size for the tap and there is little to go wrong.
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Depending on the material/timber, you could drill and tap a thread into the wood then screw the thread in. I've done so before without any problems, some varnish applied inside the hole would help seal softer wood.
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I'd imagine CRT will be spending a lot of money repairing the arches damaged by unsuitable craft and those with ridiculous cabin shapes chopping lumps out of them over the next few years.
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4 hours ago, OllyOsborne said:
Whilst I’m not familiar with the specific model Im 99% sure this is manufactured by Donnie Forbes Ltd at their Larbert foundry. Looks to be 1930s and around 30” wide so yes a bit hefty for a back cabin but great in the main cabin if the boats been convertedFantastic, thanks. Would that be the same company which made the Larbert fitted in some GU motor boats?
We do have it fitted in the main cabin as our boat has been partially converted, it's a great stove and the castings are incredibly thin when compared to the Epping in the back.
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1 hour ago, OllyOsborne said:
Hi Gareth, I’d be very interested to see your stove if you still have it? I was contacted by a Thames sailing barge trust some time ago that was looking for an original stove fitted to the craft they were restoring that was allegedly made in Colchester!
No doubt badge engineered but interesting nonetheless
I wondered if you could give me any information about on this stove? A little large for a narrow boat back cabin but still designed as a portable range.
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22 hours ago, David Schweizer said:
Not at all. Whilst I accept that there are some stretches of canal where it will be possible to travel 20 miles in a longish day, it hardly justifies the generalized statement "I can't imagine why 20 odd miles would be daunting to anyone, as it is not difficult to cover such a distance in a day!" which your own response confirms.
I'm unsure which hair you are trying to split but my response confirms nothing of the sort, how did you reach this conclusion?
The last long trip we made was from Cowley (Middlesex) to Knowle which took 5 days, in March with shorter days, this journey is quite diverse in frequency of locks, etc., so i would say fairly representative of most conditions.
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6 hours ago, David Schweizer said:
I would be interested to learn on whch canal you have been able to travel 20 miles in one day. On most canals, this would entail cruising for something like seven continuous hours without slowing down for moored boats, working any lock,s or taking any rest breaks. When estimating how long a journey will take, I much prefer to use lock/miles as an indicator, with three per hour being a reasonable average without hold ups. I still have all my cruising logs, which I have just checked, and I rarely acheved 20 miles in one eight hour day, except on the Thames, and I don't hang about!
You seem to be conflating being able to cover that distance with the ability to do so every day. Camden to Cowley is a few hours cruising, likewise Hatton towards Birmingham is another. With Crt including 'lock miles', even lock heavy stretches make it a possibility.
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I can't imagine why 20 odd miles would be daunting to anyone, as it is not difficult to cover such a distance in a day!
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8 hours ago, tree monkey said:
It's almost time to get down and dirty, if you look really hard you will see the candle light and hear the wine corks being pulled.
I am being a tad silly but I suspect its something to do with spawning.
Roach don't usually spawn 'til march/April but mild temperatures might have seen them grouping up early. Have often seen smaller fish herded into bays by groups of pike at this time of year, they have a feed up before spawning next month.
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2 hours ago, Alan de Enfield said:
Lunacy - talk about putting words into C&RTs mouth.
We welcome this confirmation from the Canal & River Trust that it is the barge that is responsible for the fish deaths. Local anglers and the Angling Trust have been saying so for over a year, and we were right.
I wonder, are the fish deaths along the whole length where the commercial barge(s) operate, or is it just a short 'local' stretch ?
Could it be something in the mud ?
I cannot imagine that the barge(s) creeps up on the fish without giving them chance to escape the ‘fish mincing barge', it is, after all not a narrow very shallow canal, it is a commercial waterway - surely, plenty of room for the fish to escape the 'mincer'.
I have seen a couple of articles about this and got the impression that a relatively short, narrower stretch was the problem area and suspect this in combination with hull size/shape, tubed prop? is responsible. A short video accompanying an article showed a smaller craft travelling with the barge containing multiple netsmen picking up the chopped fish around the barge, quite an absurd sight.
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Not familiar with the engine/gearbox but normally an adjustment to the latter will cure the problem.
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2 hours ago, Graham_Robinson said:
The picture is dated as 1940's and I'm sure the colour scheme for the cans is wartime red blue and cream and this is as stated Bulls Bridge paint shop in it's Grand Union days.............
Interestingly another well known manufacturers of cans, Bococks were better known for their range of brass masthead lamps and other sea going equipment............................
I have an old forged windlass with Bocock stamped into it.
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14 hours ago, Slow and Steady said:
Great minds think alike... or something... that process is exactly how I see it going - 2 boards off fix the first, remove the third, fix the second and onwards. Damn shame the boards are so big, if they were 4ft the job would be so much more containable! Really - zero storage, I'm 200 miles away from anyone I know from my past that lives in a house... and I have no transport so not worth renting storage - can't drive to a medical condition or I'd buy a temporary van which I could fetch and store materials in.
Probably my best option, if I were a barsteward, would be clean up and paint over the mould, sell it and buy a good one. It's worth considering.
Or.. buy a small one to live in while we work and sell it on after, the prices are only going up...
Depending on the area you are based in there may be a boatyard or marina that is geared up for repairs and fit outs by owners, Debdale on the Leicester arm which have hardstanding and possibly storage is one example but there are others.
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Thinsulate is excellent stuff, we used one that is only around 5mm thick with membrane and foil and it is up to the job, with no condensation and good insulation summer and winter.
I'd definitely re use the ply as it hasn't got any better over the years.
It might be worth asking around if anyone had a boat you could let during the summer whilst doing the work as the steelwork would dry out much better if it was stripped and exposed in one go - and the job would be much more straightforward and quick against working around people and contents!
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The ideal is probably 10 metres longer than your boat for most circumstances.
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One thing that will make using a boat hook easier is to find a lower section of towpath as the angle is much more user friendly, a set of chest waders may be useful for the odd occasion you need to take a dip in all but the deepest water.
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I'm fairly certain that the small Woolwich/Northwich motors had a solid bulkhead between back cabin and engine room too.
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On 27/12/2021 at 12:09, roland elsdon said:
Not surprised. We deliberately didn’t moor near it earlier on this year. That generator was echoing off the walls the whole time. Mess everywhere. ( it’s where it was then in sept). We were forced into banbury last week to the bank and could hear the generator as we walked in to town.
Looking at all the leaves on the path next to the boat it appears to be one of those that puts all their junk alongside the boat, as the rest of the towpath is nice and clean.
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Here's the link, there are also manuals available if you want to take the repair route.
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"Knocking down the banks and stirring up the mud, that's all they're good for"
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There is an eBay seller who does exchange units for around £100 last time i looked, and with so many issues it may be cost effective to buy one.
2022 insurance and survey requirements for older boats - help/thoughts please
in New to Boating?
Posted
We're insured by Gjw and they require a survey every 7 years, which is better than the 5 years most insist on. I've recently booked a surveyor and he said that many insurers are now asking for a survey for third party. Boat is over 80 years old.