Grassman

We were in York this time last year with our 62' NB. Finding moorings by the Museum Gardens was okay provided it was before about 3pm Monday to Thursday. But on the Friday and weekends spaces were filling up fast by late morning. If you have the time I recommend mooring overnight at Naburn (a lovely location) then the next morning you just have the short cruise into York before the moorings begin to fill up. Alternatively stay at Naburn and catch the bus into York. I think there's a 48 hour max stay at Naburn so be aware of that if you want to stay more than one night there.

I've just lifted up the matting from the cratch floor for its periodic clean and have noticed that it is badly in need of remedial work. There are quite a few patches of rust. In some places the rust has lifted/bubbled up but appears to be being held together by a resin or rubbery looking deck paint that the previous owner must have applied. When I 'puncture' one of these with a screwdriver a few prods each side and it just lifts away, turning a small patch into a much larger one. I have chipped away at each one and used the wire brush electric drill attachment to remove loose rust until I've reached a solid part again. Ideally I'd like to strip the lot off back to bare metal but I have neither the equipment nor the time or will to do this, besides which, 80% of the floor is in good nick. So I know it isn't going to be a perfect job, I just want to arrest the rusting and protect it for a few years at least. Obviously my first job is to treat the rust which I plan to do with Vactan. If I then apply a primer and then top coat (I use Damboline) will that be okay or should I look to use a thicker resin type paint which would help fill in the pitted areas that I've removed the rust from and therefore make it an even surface all over? The stuff that's down seems to have a kind of rubbery substance in it. The floor is generally protected from the elements because of the cratch cover but it does get wet sometimes and I'm a bit concerned that if I just paint over these patches rather than fill them, water will get trapped in there and speed up the erosion of those parts. I'd be grateful for any advice please.

When we had a 12th share of a boat we were the first owners to use it following a full re-paint job. I was a nervous as hell for the whole 2 weeks as I didn't want to be the first owner to put any scratches on it. Now owning our own boat we will be needing a re-paint in the near future and it'll probably be as nervy, and it's one of the reasons we're not in too much of a hurry to have it done.

I wouldn't be without mine. As a live aboard I've managed to avoid using it as storage space except for a few small items. I call it my conservatory. It's my space, my sanctuary. At all times of year I regularly sit in there reading a book or sat with my laptop, often with headphones on listening to my music while the misses watches all those tiresome TV lifestyle or reality programmes or soaps inside the boat. I can sit and observe the wildlife and other nature around me, occasionally a kingfisher has perched on the headlight less than 2 feet away from me, the ducks and swans often come up to me for a chat. If out on the 'cut' I can watch other boats and boaters either on the move or moored nearby, or the occasional fit young 'filly' jogging by on the towpath . Whether moored or on the move if it's a hot and sunny day I can unzip and roll up the sides. It is possible to completely remove it but we've never found the need. We get on and off the boat at the other end so I suppose that makes a difference as I can appreciate it may be a inconvenience to those who use the bow end.

No they didn't strip the engine down to check the waterways in the head. Like you Tony, they thought it unlikely that this was the cause and bearing in mind I was having to pay someone else to do it, it was decided it wasn't worth the expense. They did thoroughly flush it in both directions. The gearbox oil cooler was check and found to be okay. I've left there now and have cruised for 2 days on canals back to my home marina and can report that while I don't think the work I've had done has fully cured the problem, it is much better than it was. The real test I think will be when I get the chance to try it on a river which will hopefully be next in a few weeks time. I think the best solution longer term is to have an external skin tank fitted over my existing one the same as Alan Fincher had done to his previous boat a number of years ago. I think his was the same engine and hull and it completely solved the problem for him. So I plan to have this carried next Spring when the boat is coming out of the water for blacking. Thanks to you all for your very helpful suggestions. Anything mechanical I really struggle with and I'm in awe of the extensive knowledge/technical know how of you guys and grateful for you taking the time to try and help me.

Thanks for your continuing help boys. A calorifier pipe was clamped using mole grips. It did help a bit but my mechanic decided it wasn't sufficient enough to do permanently yet but it's an option to try next if these other things don't work. The engine was removed and thoroughly checked and the water channels weren't blocked. It was established that the engine is in very good condition. He also checked that the water pump was adequately pumping the water by inserting a temporary open topped tank so he could see the water flowing into it. Following all this work I'm today going out on the cut for a couple of days to try it out. Unfortunately I'm 4 days away from a river and haven't the time at the moment to go that far, but hopefully even on a canal I may be able to see if there has been an improvement. I hope to be able to get to a river next month because it's on the rivers where the problem really occurs. I've ran it for an hour tied up and in gear using the same revs I would be if traveling along and it does seem to be better. Even though stationary there was some flow of water past the skin tank as the water hit the armco behind the stern and flowed down the side of the boat. I'll report back in a few days. Thanks again.

The temperature has been checked using an infra red thermometer as well as a probe type device. I take your points about the infra red type ones possibly being inaccurate especially the cheaper ones, but the guy who used his to check mine it uses it for checking temperatures of engines (generators) for a 'blue chip' company so I can't imagine it's a cheap one. Both methods indicated that the boat's temperature gauge was accurate. Yes the boat does have a calorifier. The configuration of the pipework has been checked both relating to the calorifier and the skin tank. One suggestion has been to insert a valve near to the calorifier in order to restrict the flow. Re Tony Brook's comment about the correct matching of the temperature gauge and the sender, I ordered both from ASAP supplies so I presume they would have provided me with the proper match?

100c (as I mentioned in both my posts )

Thanks all of you for your advice. The temperature gauge and thermostat have recently been replaced together with the sender units. The temperature has been checked and it matches what the gauge is reading. I've had the boat 3 years and it's now 20 years old. I didn't really notice the high temperatures until last June when I went on the Trent and Ouse rivers. Before that I'd just done canals and therefore worked the engine much less. Since then it seems to be worse but I can't be certain of this. Here's what else has been done; Checked water pump is working okay. Had gearbox checked and reconditioned. Fitted a header tank 1 metre above the engine (inside the cabin). Measured skin tank and confirmed it's large enough. I can't remember the size (7ft x 20 inches???) but it satisfied the equation for the hp. Cut large section out of skin tank out which revealed 4 baffles which were vertical (unusual???) with a half inch gap top and bottom of each one. More sludge found to be lying in the bottom of the tank. The vertical baffles were removed and replaced with 2 horizontal baffles on the basis that vertical ones might be resisting the flow of water a bit. Increased the size of the pipes and in an out fittings from half inch to 1 inch. Bench tested the engine including pressure test and confirmed that water was flowing around it well, the head and head gasket were fine and generally that the engine was in very good condition. Temporarily restricted the flow of water to the califorier to see if that helped. I think that's everything! I've only just had much of this work done so have yet to test it out on the open water, but running it under load but tied up it does seem to have improved it slightly but only in that it now takes longer to reach 100c (about half an hour after engine has warmed up rather than 5 minutes after like it used to be), and seems to stay at around that temperature for longer rather than wanting to go above it. I didn't want to risk running it any longer than that but now I know that I can run it up to 105c (as a one off rather than regularly) without damaging the engine, then I'm going to try it for longer to see if it will want to go above the 100c or stays there. Hope all this makes sense as I'm not a mechanically minded person and struggle understanding it all at times.

I have a BMC 1.8 engine and when cruising on rivers or the rare prolonged spells at 4mph on a canal the temperature regularly gets up to 100 degrees C which I was told was the maximum you can safely run a BMC up to without damaging it. It's never been an issue really and at that temperature the engine doesn't seem overly hot (no steam, smell etc). However there may be times on fast flowing rivers where I'd like to give it more power but I haven't wanted to risk the temperature going any higher. Another boater I met recently says that with the correct pressure cap (4lbs according to Calcutt Marine) and a coolant split of 50/50 you can safely run a BMC 1.8 up to 105c before it starts boiling over. He has a chart which gives the maximum temperatures that each strength of pressure cap allows the temperature to go up to and it says a 4lb one is 105c. Any thoughts on this?

Thanks for your answers. I've applied the Vactan even onto areas of very little or no rust, and the bilge paint (Damboline) seems to have adhered to it okay. Today I'll be applying another coat of bilge paint.

I've been looking at some old threads and, based on what people have said I've bought some Vactan to treat the areas of rust in my bilges. I have my engine out at the moment so it's an ideal opportunity to get stuck in to to through remedial work. I've read that the Vactan needs rust to be most effective but I'm not clear about whether it's okay to apply to the areas where there is no rust. I can see that you can apply bilge paint straight on top of it thus removing the need for undercoat or primer so I just want to cover all areas with it and then apply the bilge paint straight on top of it. Would this be okay or should I just use it for the rusty areas?

Is the Humber Princess still running the route or has this one replaced it? Presumably it's similar size to the Humber Princess?

When we were on there last year I noticed that many of the 'deer ramps' (basically just stones piled up at the edge of the water every so often) had slipped below the water surface so unless the deer can read the signs or happen to come across them, they wouldn't know they were there because they wouldn't see them. Totally inadequate and a complete waste of time IMO.

Most of our local supermarkets used to do that returnable £1 slot arrangement but all have now stopped doing it for some reason. Not that it made much difference anyway. I wonder if there would be something they could do around the perimeters wherby they had a 'band' of surface which would be difficult to push/pull a trolley with it's small wheels over it. A surface that would be okay for cars and pedestrians but not for the trolleys? I suppost that might cause a problem with some pushchairs though but wheelchairs would I think be okay.

It should be made compulsory for supermarkets to have their names branded onto their trollies, and for each one recovered from a canal they should recieve a heafty fine from the local council and costs of recovery awarded to CRT. Perhaps then the supermarkets would increase measures to help prevent them being taken off their premises. Unfortunately I can't see it happening, but it would go a long way to solving the problem.

They are trying to make as much as possible of the towpath usable by the public so as to garner more interest and therefore support hopefully. Much work has been done in the past 12 months to clear vegetation from the section between the Boat pub and the toll road aqueduct. This included many large trees removed from the canal bed and towpath. The work involved in re-building over the culvert was massive and now that has been completed the work is concentrating on making the aqueduct crossing accessible to walkers. I've just started doing some volunteering and like many similar schemes around the country they are crying out for help. I think this restoration when completed will be one of the most significant ones because as has been said in another thread, it would open up that whole part of the BCN network as not only a through route but it would also add several more cruising ring options.

We had a week at the beginning of May last year. Caley Cruisers were brilliant. Great boats, service, attention to detail etc. They give you an informative map and you'll be required to watch a half hour video before you depart. As has been said, moorings are only in designated places, but we went the same time of year as you and didn't have any difficulties. Like we did, you should see plenty of snow on the surrounding mountains which should really add to the beauty of the surroundings. It was an amazing experience cruising down the middle of the lochs with the mountains each side of you, something quite different to travelling by car or foot along the shore. And mooring near Fort William with Ben Nevis behind us was an experience never to be forgotten. Fort Augustus is a great place to stop overnight and there are plentiful moorings either side of the lock flight, probably more so on the Loch Ness side of them. The whole stretch from Inverness to Ft William can be easily achieved in a week, even allowing for some time to stop and explore a few places. I'm sure you're going to have a wonderful time Nick. I'm jealous !! We intend to do it again in the not too distant future. Edited to add - I was a little apprehensive beforehand about driving a cruiser but they really are a doddle and so maneuverable. Perhaps a bit too responsive at first after being used to a narrowboat, but you soon get used to it.

I go on parts of the BCN network every year and so far have never had problems or have felt intimidated, admittedly not single handed though but just me and the wife. If you take the usual urban cruising precautions as already mentioned, and engage with the locals rather than ignore them you should be fine. Last year we spent a week on the lesser used north eastern BCN and didn't see another boat on the move. The locals seemed to like seeing a boat on 'their cut' and people were even waving from their windows or gardens. A couple of times we retrieved lost footballs for the local kids which went down well with them. Many parts of the BCN are surprisingly green with much of it quite rural, and if you're on the 'Curly Wyrley' make sure you go down the short arm to Anglesey Basin and overnight below the reservoir. It's a great spot and we were lucky enough to see some deer when we were there.

We use one of those fake TV devices http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Dummy-Home-Security-Fake-TV-LED-Safety-Light-Simulator-Deter-Burglars-Theves-/221952403899?hash=item33ad64e9bb:g:tbkAAOSwoydWk3O4 You can either set it to come on straight away or for when it gets dark. They really do look from outside the boat as if somebody is inside watching the telly. Obviously no good when you're out in the daytime though, but if we're moored up for the night and go to a pub they're an excellent deterrent IMO.

Interesting that some of you have rescued squirrels from the water. Last year on the Chesterfield Canal we had one who deliberately jumped into the water in front of us and swam to the other side, managing quite easily to climb out onto the canalside. I suppose like us, some can swim and some can't.

We came across a deer who'd fallen into the Witham navigation between Torksey and Lincoln. It was frantically trying to climb out of the steep sides. It's obviously a re-occurring problem because there are some 'deer ramps' (piles of stones) periodically along the way, but unfortunately most have sunk below the surface and the deer obviously can't read the notices so are unable to find them. After a few attempts we abandoned trying to rescue it because it was merely stressing it and exhausting it more. Hoping that it would mange to get out we continued our journey to Lincoln. On our return 2 days later we were praying we wouldn't find it but unfortunately we came across the poor thing floating in the water. Very sad.

Some will have a better idea than me but as far as I recall there are a few moorings, room for at least 2 or 3 narrowboats each side of the lift bridge. It's a nice spot although the road is busy in rush hour.

We're due to go through Wood End Lock near Fradley on the T&M today but another boater said it was closed to navigation yesterday for emergency repairs and they didn't know for how long. The CRT website mentions the 2 paddles which are out of operation so it's down as a restriction rather than a closure. What are CRT like for updating their information? I've just looked and it's still down as a restriction.

We found this particularly useful on the Yorkshire Ouse when on our approach we contacted the lock keeper and he told us he had just let out a large grain/gravel? barge and for us to expect it coming around the bend. The same thing happened on the South Yorks navigations when we contacted him by VHF a lockie told us to look out for the huge Humber Princess tanker which would be imminently approaching. You can of course contact them by phone providing you can get signal, but IMO a VHF is a very useful tool if you intend to do rivers regularly. You can also suss the movements of other craft by listening in on your VHF and more easily get advice or help if you get into difficulties.