Stedman II

Can anyone advise how to ensure a tight fit between this sort of tiller hinge and the tiller itself? It looks like it should be a push-fit, but there's not enough friction to stop the hinge rotating.

It's the second lock down that's faulty. We came through this morning at about 11, they closed it soon after. Offside gate paddle is leaking badly - the problem this morning was not the time it took to empty, but the time it took to fill! The pound above was very low. The plan was to get someone into the water to look at it - maybe a quick fix once they really know what is wrong.

Have a look at 3. They have free PAYG Sims for data. They also seem to have good coverage on the canal network too. Edit: Lily Rose beat me to it!

We went through in our share boat a few years ago. Travelling from Diggle to Marsden, the boat in front of us damaged the front above gunwale height. We were unscathed. But on the return, I was horrified to find two large scratches through the name panel when we emerged at the Diggle end. Expect some damage. We're not planning to take Stedman II through for a year or two!

Perhaps I should not have said 'leave the tiller alone'. What I meant was 'keep hold of the tiller, but don't move it'. The tiller remains dead centre, the prop is not turning, but the boat veers to starboard. The sailing analogy is useful - I think it must be the list that causes the problem.

When under power, our boat goes in a straight line when the tiller/rudder is also straight. When we take the power off (i.e in neutral) and leave the tiller alone, the boat heads off to starboard. It did this twice yesterday in long bridgeholes, with the danger of scraping the handrails. The boat lists slightly to port. Is the veer to starboard a likely consequence of the list?

There used to be thread on this subject, but since the revamp, I can't find it! I need a hose too... edited to add: I found the thread - just searched for Xhose. Duh!

Not to be confused with Meadow Hell, which is a similar enterprise near the canal in Sheffield.

We've been hiring for years, and had a share for the last 8. We did the Helmsman's course a couple of weeks ago ahead of getting our own boat, and it was well worth it. We learned quite a few things even though we've been boating for over 30 years. It was particularly useful to spend an hour reversing under supervision! And we are told there is a discount to be had on insurance if you've got your 'ticket' (not put this to the test yet).

Done

Add Perrry Bar top lock.

Very happy with my J3 so far - had it about 6 weeks. But I'm comparing with a Galaxy mini - so no comparison really!

Our share boat used to have this arrangement on a Beta 43 - until one day all the pulleys fell off the drive shaft whilst ascending Meaford locks!

If you go down the Mont, there are a couple of places where there are 3 or 4 marker posts at 10m intervals to help you measure your speed.

Especially if arriving by boat!

Anti-clockwise is good, not only because you take the water down with you, but also because most of the wide locks are downhill too. I was going to recommend Bridge 61 over the Foxton Lock Inn at Foxton, but starting from Market Harborough, you will probably be beyond there on the first night.

I'm no engineer so I can't give you the science, but if I drive my car round town, I get 35-40 mpg. If I drive at 55-60mph on the motorway, I get 60+ mpg. I'm burning more fuel on the motorway, but the engine is more efficient when running faster/harder - for each litre of fuel I burn I go further when driving at 55mph than 35mph. So for cars we have crude measure of efficiency when we measure mpg. We don't tend to do this on boats, but same principal applies. There is a point at which the engine burns fuel more efficiently - you get more energy out of the fuel you burn - and it tends to be when the engine is under greater load than pottering along at 3mph. You only run the diesel when you need to charge the batteries, When they are full, you turn the diesel off, and run on electric.

But: earlier in the thread it was mentioned that for every hour you cruise running the diesel engine, you get an hour's cruising back from the batteries. So for the first hour the consumption is higher than in a conventional system, but for the second hour it is zero. The question is, is the consumption in the first hour double that on a conventional system? I doubt it, as the engine is working more efficiently. For every litre of fuel burnt, more is converted to usable energy in the hybrid system.

I asked the question about Lithium Ion batteries at Crick. At the moment they are too expensive to make the hybrid system viable,

Ditto. We did it from Stoke Golding, and went anticlockwise. We started one day at the top of Hatton, and met a private boat in the lock . I think they were a bit worried about sharing with a hire boat. My two daughters set off to set the next lock - we didn't see them again until the bottom, and every lock was ready for the boats. By the second lock down, the private boat worked out we'd done this sort of thing before. By the end of the day we'd done 42 wide locks! We would take it more leisurely now, but when you've only got a week, and you've spent your hard-earned cash to go boating, that's what we did.

My 1904 Bradshaw has the Cromford connecting with both the Erewash and the Nottingham, It also, in section 12 lists all the groups of connected waterways, and cites 28 groups. The final 'group' (of one canal) is the Shropshire (Coalport) Canal, with no connection to any other waterway. That is certainly one contender.

That's not how a parallel hybrid works. You can drive the prop straight from the engine, or you can drive it from batteries/electric motor. You choose. Engine just turning the prop is running inefficiently. Powering up the batteries at the same time makes it more efficient. Then once the batteries are full, turn off the engine, and run on batteries - especially if you are just about to do a lock flight,

If you can get a 58' boat through a 57' lock at an angle, can you not get a 6' bloke into a 5'11" bed at a slight angle?

Just so it doesn't come as a shock, if you start at Silsden and head for Saltaire, you will be going DOWN Bingley Locks, not up!

My guess is that this is in connection with the Wakefield Eastern Bypass, and could well be related to delivery of bridge sections for a new river crossing.