Col_T

Ah, okay. So dodgy maintenance - over-tightened belts and / or stern gland - is irrelevant as they will have already pulled down revs. But what about underwater hull shape - the fabled skip vs a boat with long swims fire and aft?

A genuine question, or two - How much influence does underwater shape have? How much influence does standard of maintenance have e.g. over-tightened alternator belt(s) and/or stern gland??

Undoubtedly true, but how much more expensive is a proper boat installed water cooled generator compared to the solar set-up the OP listed?? Genuine question

So you need 2 barometers / altimeters??

Thanks to all for replies. I was idly thinking of cobbling together an Arduino based thing, as something to do on a rainy day. As you all suspected, I have no real need of it, and have no idea of what I'd do with the info, so all a bit pointless really. Mind you, that may not stop me having a play, even if only to prove that I can do it!!

We have a bank of 5 off 110Ah sealed lead acid batteries on our narrowboat, and I am idly wondering about installing a gizmo or two to monitor temperature on the batteries. To do it properly would need a sensor fixed (taped?) to the end of each battery - a sensor per battery - but does that give any real advantages over a sensor between each battery - it only saves one sensor after all! I guess what I might be trying to ask is is it even worth monitoring battery temps?

Beautiful ship, and excellent info - many thanks to all.

@Graham Davis - excellent stuff in those attachments. I've only skimmed them, but is VHF mandatory on the G & S? @ditchcrawler - I hadn't quite grasped the scale of the G & S when I typed the original question - a little more research, and a lot more thought, might have been required!! thanks for the info, gents.

We're thinking of taking our 57' narrowboat down to Gloucester, and wonder whether it is possible to go on down to Sharpness and what facilities are there if we do - thinking specifically about winding points, Elsan, rubbish, mooring, etc. We have a Beta 38 (BV1505) engine, if that is relevant.

You may find that a 3/8 BSP bolt is a very loose fit in a 5/8 UNF nut, regardless of them both being 18 tpi!

The one peeping from behind the fallen tree? I guess there's a chance it may be near bridge 24 on the Rochdale canal?

Just for clarity, deionised water is not the same thing as distilled water.