grunders

Just thought I would add to the "how much ice is too much" topic by pointing out the video I made last year when we were taking Beatty back up North from Brinklow - we were eventually stopped by ice in Stretford (30-35mm thick) having been moving very slowly for quite a distance. Video here: Or if you prefer, here: http://www.vimeo.com/3122642 As Mr Askin has already said, the blacking seems to be taken off the bows but not the sides of the boat. Cheers, Ben

Yes, I think so.

Chris, I don't think the slot in your diagram is a slot, I think there is just a 'bracket' or similar that the bell crank pivots on. I can't see any reason for it being a slot and think the centre pivot point of the bell crank has to be fixed for them to work (at least that's how I see it). Although unclear, I think this can just about be seen on the video - here is a 'capture': Ben

I shall ask my dad if he's interested in spare parts. Thanks for the heads-up. On the gear lever topic, the design is slightly different to some other push-pull levers I've seen. Hopefully the pictures help to explain what I mean but, essentially, we have a lever going starboard to port, attached at the starboard end to the cabin roof (so it pivots on that end) and attached to the rod which goes to the boatman's cabin about a third along its length from the starboard end - I figure this must give slightly more leverage. Apologies for the terrible pictures - I've never actually intentionally photographed the gear lever so these are both crops from larger photographs. With this setup, the port end of the lever (the bit you hold) moves, I'd say, 6 inches from neutral to ahead and 4 inches from neutral to astern. I can't be certain of that though as its one of those things you don't really think about and I can't check as the boat is miles away. I'm not quite sure what you mean by a slot in the top bracket but I don't think I'd be able to say whether or not there is one anyway - I'm only going by the photographs and video I've shared. I don't really know what the spring is for but I'd guess it is to prevent excess movement in the rod going down to the engine. Really, I am guessing. I'm afraid I'm not an engineer. Cheers, Ben

I'm not sure that this will help but in my video at http://www.vimeo.com/7190527 you can see the gear linkage bit in the engine room of Beatty though not particularly well. Wait for the video to load and then watch from about 1.20 - the metal rod going up is part of the gear operation mechanism thingy. Once the rod disappears through the bulkhead into the boatman's cabin, it just attaches to a push pull lever. I hope this is useful though I think it just shows what has already been described.

I've decided that this thread is missing an appropriate picture. Here is an attempt to get the post and the lock in the same shot - it hopefully gives some idea of the distance and, for those people who don't know what is being discussed, an idea of what the posts look like (or at least what some of them look like). The photo was taken in 2008 and I am afraid I can't remember where it was taken - that's my not brilliant way of organising photographs playing its part.

A few pics of a wooden bottom on a composite boat at http://nbbeatty.co.uk/1968___Present.htm Excuse the blatant plug for the website!

The narrow boat is definitely ex-Samuel Barlows motor Beatty which my family have owned since 1968. She was owned by Jack Craddock at the time of the photo, though he doesn't appear to be steering. There are more photographs on our new website: http://www.nbbeatty.co.uk on the '1960 - 1968' page. The lifebelt has been 'borrowed' from Malaya, which he owned prior to Beatty. Edited to say: The exhaust is for an Armstrong Siddeley which was fitted in 1955 to replace the original Petter - if you look carefully, there is a patch on the port side of the pigeon box where the old exhaust was fitted.

Fantastic stuff! Save yourself some work - just weld those two bits together. I'm sure you could fit a boatman's cabin in! Good luck with transporting and doing the middle bit.

Thanks for the positive comments Chris (and everyone else). I actually used a free web-design thing I found called 'pagebreeze'. It worked reasonably well but I haven't tried to be too adventurous - e.g. using 'php' scripting and other such things. Ben

Hi Andrew, We have yet to get this DVD but Laurence did send us a still 'capture' so we could see that Beatty was included. I'm sure my dad will be buying the DVD soon or at least putting it on his Christmas list! Hi Liam, It is me, Ben, who posts on the forum as opposed to my dad I'm not an expert when it comes to websites so the hit counter was literally the first one I found. I'm aware that it counts every page refresh but haven't yet resorted to spending hours manually inflating the number of visits . It's more of a general indicator of interest rather than an exact count of visitors. However, if you do know of a better (free) counter, I would be quite interested. Ben

Hi, For those that are interested, we have just created a website for our historic Samuel Barlow motor Beatty. It contains pages about the boat's working days, the early years of her converted life and her current use. Some interesting photographs and lots of interesting information. Visit the site at: http://www.nbbeatty.co.uk/ Ben

Just found your thread today. I am greatly admiring your handiwork. Like many others, I wouldn't know where to start when building a boat and having the skills to do all the fabrication yourself must be great. I think the 'mad max' reference captures that upside-down stern end perfectly! Good luck with the rest of the build; I will continue to watch this thread with interest.

We did the River Severn from Sharpness to Portishead with a pilot. I think this is advisable if you don't know the river well as the channel doesn't follow the line of the river so you need to know where you are going to avoid grounding. But, having said that, last time I was at Sharpness, a few plastic boats went out without pilots on board. They had to use a lot of power to push down river as the tide was coming in at the time. They also definitely knew where the channel was. Insurance wise, I guess if the insurer says take a pilot then take a pilot.

Titania it is then. It's interesting that there is that link with Themis as both boats have similar conversions. I'd also noticed Themis' can on the roof; this confused me for a while as I thought it was trying to be a replica of Themis or something. Thanks for all the help.

I think this is an old boat that has been converted but I'm not absolutely convinced so this could be in the wrong forum. It's an interesting boat - I like the maximised living space! I've seen it twice now, both times at the Western end of the Trent and Mersey but can't see a name. Any ideas? Ben

A picture of the tiller on Spider I apologise for the quality of the picture. Ben

She's 70 ft.

Hi all, I've uploaded a video onto Vimeo containing photos and video from my recent summer holiday on Beatty. In 16 minutes, it features the Rochdale, Ashton, Peak Forest, Macclesfield, Trent & Mersey, Staffs & Worcs, Severn, Gloucester & Sharpness, Avon, Stratford Canal, BCN and the Bridgewater. See here: http://www.vimeo.com/6777111 Feel free to add you own sound! Ben

Thought I would put up a picture of Spitfire as at 19/08/2009: I think that I personally would have kept the rounded bilge as I'm sure you could work around it and it adds to the historical character of the boat.

Yes, we were slightly confused. Ben

Hi all, I have just finished uploading video footage of our Easter holiday on Beatty. There are four videos in total. 1) - Leigh to Ellesmere Port via Weaver Navigation and Manchester Ship Canal. 2) - Ellesmere Port Easter Gathering - part 1 3) - Ellesmere Port Easter Gathering - part 2 4) - Ellesmere Port to Leigh via Shropshire Union Canal I hope they are enjoyed, Ben

That's sort of the next stage, I think. It all depends on how much time you wish to devote to designing. I have only very briefly tried sketchup but it seems like one of those programs where you'll have to spend hours learning how to do things before you can use it to do anything useful. That's why I tend to use MS Paint It has its limitations but I find it relatively useful for doing designs. The problem is that, although easy to use, it isn't very good for editing a drawing - every "object" becomes part of the same "layer" so, when you find you need to move your sofa, it's not as easy as it should be. I may try sketchup again, the allure of seeing something in 3D probably outweighs the learning curve. How easy is it to use, by the way? I have tried doing that sort of thing by (1) taking a photo of the boat; (2) "freeform selecting" the areas of cabin side excluding the windows; (3) changing the colour of the cabin side bits. I did this using MS Picture It. Here is the result: From this: To this: