dylanwinter

while we are on the subject and the same music as the second film this is the trent - using the current and sail power to keep me more or less in the middle of the channel the way the vikings and romans used to do it and before anyone tells me it is dangerous letting the current make me cut the corners on the wrong side I can hear anything coming the other way long before it arrives

I must admit.... it does look pretty good and a winter sailing on the broads would be a marvelous thing D

does it fall over when the tide goes out? how much is it worth? what engine does it have? D

tuning a centaur... very witty

aha - I see what you mean now better really to just pay to drop the mast on a good boat £45 - and then pay to get it put up again at the other end - £45 just fitting a new mast is going to take a rigger a whole day and a lot of jiggery fidulation involved D

you make an excellent point and that is true for the Canal part of the adventure. However, I aim to spend four years sailing the outer hebs and the outside of Ireland and then I will hope that the mast stays up it came down with one heck of a boing apparently. The foot sprung up into the air and it bounced down again. There were some strong forces involved and aluminium can and does develop hair line stress factures that are hard to see other than under frourescent light which is hard to do inside the mast a replacement mast is around 3K - and replacing a mast on a 4K wehere the engine is worth 2K boat becomes a bit of a nonsense I am not that keen on bashing around scotland with a mast that has been structurally compromised. I have been running a bit of pole with the small boat sailing men (MOB's) who kindly pay for the films and they say that they would rather that I made films about winter sailing than about fixing up old boats in windswept Humber boatyards so .... I am now looking for a Centaur that is ready to roll. More money involved but the blokes seem willing to hit the paypal button to influence the sort of films I make $3 for buying a cruddy boat and fixing it £186 in favour of buying a ready to roll boat and just make sailing films so that is the direction I am now heading. It is funny how quickly plans can chnage D

3000 Centaurs 30 on the market at any one time lots of spare sails don't fall over when the tide goes out cheap as chips

I hate loose ends - so just to let you know the boat I was going to buy on the Humber http://www.keepturningleft.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/Sequence-03006-300x169.jpg to take through the canals to the Ribble and up to the top of Scotland was involved in a bit of an accident and the mast came down as the yard was getting it ready to crane in fortunately no-one was injured and I was not due to own the boat for another two weeks or so. Bit a phew! moment. I am back looking for elderly Centaurs so I have no idea which side of the country I will find one I would just like to thank you chaps for all your help it would have been an interesting adventure for three old blokes, a bike, an outboard and a fender festooned plastic boat. you seem like very nice people my son and his girlfriend are hard working mid twenties and living off grid on a CC - you know how much moving that entails full of admiration for you long term aboards easy in the summer - tough in the winter D https://onkudu.files.wordpress.com/2008/09/sailing-kudu-1-214.jpg

thank you for that

and the google render of the trip the last one failed to upload properly https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J5pXnkJksyE D PS - I have heard that the Rufford branch is heading for winter closures.... planning on doing this trip in mid April.... do they often overrun with the closures?

I ran it through google earth looks perfect thanks the biscuits - whover you are http://www.keepturningleft.co.uk/blogs/through-the-middle/

Bingo that looks like a marvelous one just rendering the journey in google earth I will stick it on you tube thanks very much

good thought anyone else think this is a good suggestion I am keen to do the jaunt - there is a growing list of old blokes keen to volunteer for the trip in April ad lib home brewed beer(excellent) and wine (not so excellent) What I want is the route that will involve the fewest number of groundings I can manage D some of you may remember the radio series where I got my horse to tow a laden engineless butty from Liverpool to London

I would guess the rudder is a tad more than 2 feet I would hope that if the keels get through then the rudder should be fine I ground all the time in my boats - gets me a stable platform for filming the birds working the tidal flats not that worried that the rudder will get damaged. the inhouse bofs at KTL enterprises will come to our rescue - the trouble is that they take ages to come up with an idea and can only work after half a bottle of Laphroig

the keel bolts will take a fair amount of abuse but if you got stuck at 22 inches then I am unlikely to be able to drag 36 inches through I assume D

iron keels so no probs with abrasion of damage if it soft enough I can probably push on through maybe use the big engine and the outboard excellent

grounding at 24 inches on the wide canals! Aaaagh!

what does grounding amount to? is that stuck for ages how do you get off? is there a longer less risky route for 8 ft 5 beam 3 foot draft boat getting stuck would be a bit of a snag the boat has or had a certificate - but I am not that keen on gas anyway so that might bite the dust

Just a quicky chaps.... will one license work for the whole trip? can I just do a one month for this? does she need certificates for gas safety or should I just remove the gas rings and replace it with an Origo? still not sure which route to use grounding is my big worry - is it soft enough goo to push or tow on through it? lightening the load might be a challenge D

I do sail on the canals when I am in the little yacht but at 4 tonnes a centaur is a bit lumpen for making her go using the topper rig Dylan now you are making think packing the topper sail might be a bit of a laugh D I used to laugh at them as floating caravans - but then I was a testosterone fuelled racing man now everything is heading south I realise that they offer great accommodation for the size still tiny compared to the space you blokes have but I have realised that I need a table for eating and for work and also a separate place for sleeping is a wonderful thing to have

thanks, that is very good of you to say so I reckon three blokes and a bike might help is through with some alacrity the bow is pretty shallow so might be able to just swing the bow into the bank for disembarkation D

righto well it is outboard all the way then at sea my biggest fear is these bloomin things https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qA0R3MQaXSg on the upside we do get these https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VlcSVh7DczU

steel keels so as long as I don't get stuck - no probs thanks boys you are a very helpful lot

mast is about 30 foot long air draft at a guess is 5 foot

thanks A the boat will be ashore until early april when they open the Brigg canal - then up the Ouse and off west I think I might still use the Tohatsu I can lift that out to clear the prop D