droshky

Not quite. The grand canal is about 1/2 mile south of the brewery, it’s the Liffey that is adjacent. And while the water does come from the Liffey basin, it’s pumped down from a cleaner source in the Wicklow mountains.

Haven’t seen this aspect mentioned, you probably all know this, but anyway… A few years ago we wintered on an offside farm mooring. After a month or two, we got a crt letter advising of water charges payable to them in addition to our rent to the farmer. In the end we accepted it and coughed up. So they must have active spotters off season on quiet stretches of the Middlewich Branch, unless of course we’d somehow told them and then forgotten! Or maybe the farmer….

Yes I had followed that. I expect results for a correctly functioning Lister would be similarly promising; we’ll see when they try it out in one. My concern is about the situation we’ve just had, where diesel was leaking into the oil, in our case from the injectors, if I understood it right. With the engine then being lubricated by oil mixed with fuel, wouldn’t using HVO have a risk of engine seizure in a case where, unknown to the owner, this was happening? Obviously if you have a problem you should fix it but I’m talking about idiots like me who only half understand what’s happening down there. Oil could be diluting for some time before you’re aware of it, and with HVO it would be becoming less and less viscous(?). Don’t get me wrong, I want this to work

So where are we on older engines? We’ve got a lister sr2

A Cautionary Tale Went for a walk with mrs D on Whixhall Moss a few years ago. Adders don’t like water and normally (we were later told) only populate higher drier parts of the area. But this one had got lost and was in a soggy part. It had warmed up nicely and had found a tussock where it was dry but shaded from the the hot sun. We had moored near the car park and were following a route round the Moss from a canal side handout. There had been some heavy rain so despite the warm sun, we had to tread carefully not to get soaked, and were hopping from one dry bit to another. When she said she’d been bitten, to my shame I first assumed it might have been a wasp sting, but I saw the culprit slither away. We called the ambulance but concluded by saying that she seemed ok. The bite was at first similar to a wasp sting, until we got back to the boat and she sat down, and put her leg up. Then gradually her throat and tongue began to hurt and swell. A tense period followed, where the ambulance which had fortunately continued towards us across country was unable to find us or get through on the phone. Mrs D, using her training as a speech therapist, was just looking for a pen to use to (a) mark the spot for me on her throat and (b) perform an emergency tracheotomy….. when the ambulance found the car Park. Simultaneously a chopper appeared above but by the time he found a place to land had used too much fuel to take us. Adrenaline was administered and the ambulance wobbled around the countryside like Noddy for a while till we made it to Shrewsbury General and the NHS performed at its best. Its unlucky that she had such an anaphylactic shock reaction, having only ever had mild allergies to wasps and shellfish before. But it can happen, and could have been extremely serious. At least now we know to always have an adrenaline epipen to hand. And to wear decent boots! Made the local papers and BBC radio website!

We got on well there, friendly boaters, useful staff there for the odd job

Ah, Qingdao. Hard weather. A decent sports history, big lads who provide many of China’s basketball players and a few soccer stars. More importantly, due to the imperialist era German concession, the home of perhaps the (eponymous) actual best lager anywhere. Pretty readily available at your local specialist.

Another vote for the Boatman stove, multi fuel, compact. A one man craft industry in a shed in Manchester, but a beautifully simple and effective design. Just one thing, you need slightly smaller than average wood. Some suppliers provide this, some you’ll have to chop up yourself. Of course you can source your own wood as many do!

Ok I’ll keep schtum now, been told.

I’d never get to start my old Lister air cooled 2 cyl, never mind rev it!

Yes but you don’t know till you get there! As you’re probably aware, CC spaces are in great shortage all over London. If you do find a space it’ll probably be double or even treble banked. there may be the odd space in st Pancras, wenlock, kingsland or other basins and marinas as permanent tenants go off cruising. But these are snapped up in no time. I think there are 24??hr spaces in Goods way kings cross, which may be chargeable, there certainly are in Paddington but priceeee! So there’s a start!

Very good. I think a further question or two (how does it go? Any recommendations?) was kind of implied. If I had a sabre-toothed tiger or a crocodile I could take him there but it might not be advisable without taking further measures

We are ccers who don’t live on board. Our cat isn’t happy, I’m told, being left at home every fortnight tended by a fleet of assiduous carers. Can you introduce an adult cat to life on board?

Furness Vale came up trumps for us a few years ago. When regulars go out cruising they arrange to rent out their space. Because you’re going to have to clear off in September or whenever they get back, it’s usually a bit cheaper. Worth a try

Volockies were there when we went up through last week, I guess it would depend what time of day you got there

Yes, we’ve got that. Water collects against the back wall and eventually drips down it. We now put washing up on a plastic tray sitting on the draining board, and have a number of routine procedures to minimise rotting of the wood but so unnecessary!

That sounds good. We’re not going to get there for a few weeks, but I’m quite optimistic now

Alternatively...our ancient ex hire boat has a deep pan, pretty much a hip bath. And the gulper switch is spring loaded to off, so you have to keep your finger on it. So you can’t really use the shower and gulper at the same time, shower first, then empty.

No running No bombing No petting

Thanks for that Tony. Tbh, I think time spent on the existing unit is unlikely to be well spent. Even when cold and not under pressure, there’s a steady trickle of fluid out of the joint. I suppose I could siphon out the expansion tank, and wait for what’s in the pipe work to trickle out, but that might take days, and the fluid would still be lapping against the leak, making it difficult for repair material to set. I suppose there’s a drain plug or tap, but even then any repairs would be hit and miss, and subject to heat and pressure when the system fires up again. Given David’s kind offer, and that we don’t live on board or nearby, I think my efforts are better spent getting the replacement installed...and hoping for the best! but thanks again for all your tips

We’re in a different position from most of you in having an air cooled Lister, so needing a hot water source. We normally minimise the heating to a quick blast to take the chill off when we arrive, turning rads off and using SF afterwards. Recently the glass window cracked on our little Boatman stove, so pending getting a new glass we temporarily used the Alde for heating rather more, which may have shortened its useful life. So normally once we’ve arrived, it’s just to heat up the water for showers and maybe washing up as well. Not living aboard, it’s worked quite well. Not economic for most liveaboards of course.

Great thanks David, have sent you a pm

Yes that seems sensible, thanks. I do pretty much get continuous spam anyway presumably for earlier sins! Apple photos later than 6s are too big. The official apple way is to download their app ( there’s a few million bytes straight off!) and shrink them using it. emailing to myself was a fix to shrink them myself, but you then can’t save them from email attachment to a location that canalworld can recognise and open...or something! Thanks again Tony, David and all. Does your 2928, David, look tall and thin like ours? We’ve got some shelving and such around it which we’d really like to keep if possible. I gather we’d need a new chimney arrangement (bigger hole? New pipe?). If it’s alright with you Tony, another photo coming for retransmission at your convenience... or from the kitchen if you prefer!

Yes that seems sensible, thanks. I do pretty much get continuous spam anyway presumably for earlier sins! Apple photos later than 6s are too big. The official apple way is to download their app ( there’s a few million bytes straight off!) and shrink them using it. emailing to myself was a fix to shrink them myself, but you then can’t save them from email attachment to a location that canalworld can recognise and open...or something! best download the app next time I’m on wifi

Computer...well smartphone incompetence! If for example david would like to see the photos (and can’t already), I’ve emailed them to myself to reduce the bytes, but now can’t attach them! Homer Simpson