steve7a3

Age of the boat isn't always a catalyst for wanting or needing to rewire a boat either. My boat is only 12 years old but the wiring is, at best, a birds nest and none of it labelled. Nor do I have a wiring diagram. There are cables that end suddenly in one of the wardrobes in the forward cabin and cables behind the panel that seem to go nowhere, in some cases attached to switches that clearly do nothing. Luckily I've done a lot of electrical work before so have more than a passing understanding (and respect!) for both AC and DC and know which way up to hold a multimeter so the job isn't too daunting for me. More a matter of time and cost. I too am planning on using trunking under the "step-back" as it will be hidden but still more easily accessible than having it behind panelling or timber strips. Unfortunately (or fortunately depending on your point of view) the lighting is all flush mounted LED downlight which means the wiring for them is all concealed within the ceiling. I'm hoping I can trace them back to the mess of wires running along the gunwale otherwise they will be impossible to access until I'm ready to re-skin the inside of the boat.

Have now bought two boats. First one I had a full survey done and was told by the surveyor that he felt guilty taking my money because "she's built like a brick shithouse". Solid, not a mark on her, no problems. The second one I just had a hull survey and thank goodness I did! She was badly pitted and had been filled to mask it. This was clearly "missed" by the pervious surveyor, who is now in the process of being sued by the previous owner. The upshot is that the vendor dropped the price by the cost of replating and I will have a newly replated boat for the same price. If I hadn't had the survey, I'd have bought a boat that could have sunk in a year or so. Always get a survey!

I currently use one of these babies: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Teltonika-RUT950-LTE-4G-Router/dp/B00TKFKLCI Takes 2 sim cards and can be set to fail over to the one with the best coverage. I have a 3 and and EE sim as these tend to provide the best coverage in most places. After that it function exactly like a home broadband router except that the wifi seems significantly faster than my existing Sky router in my soon to be vacated land based flat! It's not the cheapest device but is the most versatile I found. You can easily add an external, mag base or mast mounted antenna to give you better coverage. I get 3bars of 4G coverage on EE in Tattenhall Marina and hd no trouble getting online, wapping between sim, when travelling down from Dewsbury to here earlier last year. It's as fast as anything I've used before.

Oh good Lord!! Yes I did. How embarrassing! Have edited the original.

Not this little bloke!

Oh, believe me, we tried that! Tried pushing, tried reverse, was tempted to try paddling in the water to push. Eventually remembered the bow thruster and thought "Well, why not!?" and it worked.

I have a bow thruster and, when I first started out, I found it a great help however as I've gained experience and knowledge from other boaters have found it far more of a convenience than a necessity. Mind you, the on time it was invaluable was when I became hard aground on a sandbank just inside Tattenhall Marina (Warning: there is a sandbank just inside Tattenhall Marina. It's easy to find if you turn hard left as you come under the bridge! ). The bow thruster enable me to "twist" the boat around and unstick the stern. Without it I could well still be sitting there! If you can find the boat you want with one then get it but don't consider it a necessity in most situations.

I'd heartily recommend Ash Boats at Tattenhall marina, assuming you find the right boat there of course. Steve Harral couldn't have been more helpful during my latest purchase. I've always found him to be polite, honest and helpful. http://ashboats.co.uk

Thus be my problem. Have something sort of floor covering that appears fixed down so can't see any screws. I might have to look more closely under some cupboards perhaps.

All this talk about binging and bonging to find the bearers is well and good, but I'm not sure I trust my hearing that well. Has anyone tried using a stud finder of the sort used to check for wall studs in a house?

Lived in the Aussie bush for 10years and our only water supply was a big 25000l water tank that collected rainwater off the roof. When it rained, as it often did quite heavily in summer, we heard the green frogs croaking as they got flushed out of the down pipes. Once the rain had stopped it was common to find 4 or 5 big fat green frogs sitting on the mesh cover where the pipes all discharged into the tank. We never filtered or boiled the water before we used it (unless we were making tea of coffee of course!). Neither us or our two very young kids or their elderly grandmother got sick with anything. This isn't a recommendation to use unfiltered/unboiled rainwater but just anecdotal evidence that it probably won't kill you.

Thank you both for your quick and clear replies. I shall take some time to further investigate my boat's wiring. Clearly not as "simple" as a car!

I want to add two small, single LED, 12v spot/reading lights to the bedroom wall in my boat. I have an existing light switch close by from which I am planning on taking the positive feed, however I'm having issues finding a suitable negative return. The negative for the exiting ceiling lights is hidden away somewhere in the ceiling, well away from where I plan to put the new lights and I can't find anything resembling a dedicated negative return nearby. I want to avoid ripping out either the ceiling or wall panelling simply to add two little lights. I am quite used to car electrics, where pretty much anywhere on the car body is suitable for the negative side. So, assuming I don't find an existing link, would it be A.) Effective, B.) Safe to simply connect the negative return of the new lights to the hull (assuming I can achieve that in some way)?

After my first three weeks on a boat I believe this. You can get a lot of the experience by just walking along the towpath between locks with a windlass in your hand and a bunch of weird keys on a cork in your pocket! I've walked about twice as far as my boat has moved since I started! Not complaining though. It's been a great fitness program if nothing else, and all the ducks, geese, dogs (and occasionally their owners) and the views make up for all the effort.

Oh! I can vouch for that! I had a Deli in Aus. Was sitting in a line of traffic waiting to merge one day and some young lady in a sporty Mazda rammed the back of me. Her first comment was "I didn't see you!". Not sure if she thought that was my fault or not.

Thanks! Luckily I've already met Bob, the very helpful and friendly volunteer in Littleborough, who has already offered to help me through the apparently infamous locks 49 and 50. I'm sitting put here (with a brief trip back to Chester on the train) until Sunday when I may have a crew member, but she'll be even less experienced at this than I am, so I think we will be asking for some help through that lot!

Thanks, I am so far. Rather amusingly, I think you're moored just in front of me at the moment!

Oh! That's fine! Certainly won't be that long! Takes a while for most things to come from Hong Kong!

Thank you, Jim. I think I recall passing you earlier today. No strict time restrictions on those Littleborough rings? Or none I should worry too much about for a few days?

Hi folks. I'm Steve. Yes I'm new! Bought my boat (52ft Cruiser stern) two weeks ago and have been travelling from Dewsbury (where I collected her) since then (I did stop for a week near Pickford And Arnolds, I'm not quite that slow!). My intended destination is Tattenhall Marina and I'm travelling on the Rochdale which almost everyone I meet tells me is a real baptism of fire! After climbing to the summit, which I finally reached today, I can believe it! Still, going down seems easier. Intention is to live aboard. So far I haven't been put off although I'm working harder than I have for a long time!

Sitting at Chelbourne Wharf at the moment. Very quiet. Plenty of water. Is there anywhere in Littleborough I can moor for a few days. May need to scoot back to Chester to help out a sick friend.