captain flint

I have no idea at all!

Thanks Tony. Makes sense. Not on board right now, will have a gander later, might post a photo

A couple of years back I had to replace my calorifier. The new one is the same size as the old one, but the hot water doesn't last nearly as long. This makes me think it's not full. Which would make sense. It lies on its side, so the inlets and outlets are positioned considerably lower than the top of the tank, and it was installed empty. I'm wondering if there's any straightforward way to bleed it? I can't think how you'd do it. Also if there's some way this could have been avoided in the first place I would be curious to hear about it. Of course, if we had filled it on end, and installed it full, that would have done it. But I'm guessing that it would be a heck of a job, even with a winch, as it sits in the engine bay on the counterpane. But maybe I'm wrong about that.

Good shout! I just followed the instructions which stated that the metal strip should go on the wall, but obviously it wouldn't make any difference to reverse them. It was the first time I'd used the stuff and hadn't been warned of/didn't think of rust coming through. I live and learn. Well I live, anyway. You never know, maybe I learn something on the good days, in which case this was one of them. Cheers!

Yeah I'm aware of how it works I guess I'm a little surprised how cold to the touch the frames and, to some extent, glad, considering these are the top of the range tb d/g windows. Extractor fans would help. I do pop some little bit quite powerful usb fans into the gap in the window in the bathroom when taking a shower... I know! 🤣 Though getting rid of it, having to store it in summer, and the metal strips round the window frames which tend to rust, was one of the bonuses of getting the new windows, or so I thought. I've been thinking about it. But the new internal window frames have screws in screw cups that stand a little proud so it would be tricky to do properly Yes it's the frames in mine that's the issue mainly. I did think the thermal break might be more effective. Wiping it off eh? Hadn't thought of that! 🤪

That's what I said! 😜 Not noticeably

I've just had new thermal break d/g windows installed. The external paintwork needed renewing, and on inspecting the old windows and their surrounds, it seemed like it was a good time for new windows. It was put to me that if the budget would stretch to it TB D/G was the way to go. I went with channelglaze. Previously I very seldom had any condensation, though it should be noted that during winter I had magnetic acryclic secondary glazing in place. That said, I don't remember having condensation over winter before I installed the sickest) secondary glazing. This doesn't exactly blow my mind, I figure the old windows weren't as airtight as the new ones. But, without having given it much thought before the install, it did take me by surprise. Any time I cook or have a shower I need to open some windows, and when I'm done, I need to wipe down all the window frames. It's no big deal. But I just wondered if others have had the same experience, and/or if there are any recommendations for anything further I should be doing.

Thanks. Can't quite work out whether it's worth it, as a load of it is simply inaccessible - I could treat the stuff I can reach, I guess, and that wouldn't be a bad thing, exactly, but if I leave half of it untreated I do wonder if it's really worth doing!

Thanks. From a very quick glance at their site this seems to be about rust prevention? I'm thinking about rust treatment at this point, which is not to say that's a bad shout

I've been fighting to get my bilge dry, as it was for years. Pretty sure it was rain water getting in, and optimistic I've now stopped that. And it's currently dry. My question is, when I can confirm that the bilge is staying dry, would I be advised to do something about the rust that's started? I'm thinking there's not really anything to be done nor much point trying, for two reasons: 1. It's mostly unaccessible. 2. There's not all that much of it (see and it shouldn't really increase much in the absence of further water ingress. But I don't know and if anyone has any suggestions, I'm all ears. Photo attached

It's a bit confusing (to me, anyway). From the CRT website, regarding EOG moorings: 'The applicant must own the property or land and the boat' But then there's a separate section about 'Moorings which are accessed from private property on the offside of the canal' Which says: 'Moorings which are accessed from private property on the offside of the canal These are moorings where a third party landowner has agreed for a number of boats to be moored alongside their land adjacent to our water.' The land in question in my case is on the offside, but it's also a garden. No idea which applies, but then again, maybe CRT won't know either?!

Thanks all. Is the OS mooring fee a flat rate or variable? How much are we talking about here? I'm my case the garden owner would want to make some money on top of anything owing to CRT. I'm trying to work out if this would necessarily mean the mooring would be really expensive...

I read in the CRT notes that in order to apply for an end of garden mooring the applicant must own the land and the boat, and that subletting is not allowed. I had been hoping to rent a spot at the end of someone else's garden. I get that, in theory, this isn't allowed. But I know people who do. I will ask them how they managed next time I see them, but in the meantime I wondered if anyone here can shed any light on the matter..?

I mean, to be honest, this is pretty much nailed on what l will actually do. Possibly minus the glasses.

Thanks Tony

Can external paint in good condition be simply flatted back and a top coat added after it's fully cured? I've just had my boat repainted. It was a big job, done very well. There was a lot of prep. But I am slightly regretting the colour on the roof and side panels, and wondering about whether top coats can be added once the paint is fully cured or if it needs to be in that dry but not cured state it was in when painted. In terms of colour/coverage it's currently craftmaster 'duck egg' but I realise I would much prefer 'Grand Union Blue'. So it would be a fairly pale blue on top of a very pale blue.

Ah right, thanks. Hadn't read those other threads with due care and attention...

I quite like the idea of getting into smuggling people into and out of London. More than I like parties anyway. I *had* wondered about inviting family and friends on a 50th birthday there and back cruise. Cos, you know, it's finite. There would come a well-demarcated home time. And no, there wouldn't be 25. But although I think it's precious unlikely that there would be any problem, the potential for issues might be the excuse I need to celebrate the passing of another year in my more customary style: by doing nothing. Ask a silly question, get an erudite answer. I really do like this forum. That's really interesting and I had no idea. I thought it was the max number of people allowed on board, and I had always scratched my head about that a bit. Ta!

I've read some of the threads on this subject. I get some of the regulatory/responsibility issues: - there's a max passenger number in my RCD paperwork (8, if memory serves, in the case of my boat) - that if there was an incident with passengers exceeding that number on board the insurance might well not pay out. - I also have read that the maximum number without holding certain RYA(?) papers is twelve I understand that trying to work out what could work in terms of pure payload beyond that is pure guesswork and therefore might sensibly be avoided. But I am curious, anyway. I'm not saying I won't be sensible in terms of what I actually do, but I feel it's ok to daydream un-sensibly. My boat measures 50'x10' boat. It weighs about 23 tonnes. It's very well ballasted (sometimes I think too much for my taste, it really hardly rocks at all). And the drainage etc holes are all a good 15+cm from the water. How many people does anyone guess I could practically carry before encountering any issues? I'm not saying I'll actually do it. But I would have thought I could carry 25+ before anything untoward was likely to happen, practically speaking. That number is plucked out of the air, but my water tank holds on excess of 1000l, so if that was running very low, that alone would be quite a lot of extra displacement, er, headroom... What do people think? I'm honestly not saying I'll do it, just curious to imagine.

I've worked out what the plan should be. Get double glazing, and use my nifty (?) patented secondary glazing solution to fit insect screens instead of secondary glazing so I can leave all the windows open on hot nights. Bingpot!

That all makes sense thanks. One thing I'm giving serious thought to is night time temperatures. I definitely think that in the evening/at night double glazing will help the boat retain more heat, and that during the hottest parts of summer that is not a good thing.

That all makes sense thanks.

Looking online it seems that in houses DG is assumed to keep things cooler in the summer, as the argon filled cavity stops the inside surface of the window getting so hot. Which makes sense. But on a boat I am guessing the question is whether the inside air temperature exceeds the outside air temperature, what with metal getting hot in sunlight and all. If the air temp inside the boat is greater than outside then I'm guessing DG would help retain that extra heat better than single glazing. But maybe what with the glass itself being warm that benefit of single glazing would be minimal. Do you miss it? Do you have any view of whether it got hotter in summer than single glazing when you hadn't opened everything up? I know I can have everything open, but especially in the evening that can mean bugs/mozzies. Obviously screens can be a solution to that. But when the outside temperature drops after sunset I don't really want to retain the inside temperature afterwards. Oh hang on. There's an old gent upstairs from my mum who used to work for NASA on thermal engineering, and also had a boat. Really. I think perhaps I should be asking him!!

I'm replacing the windows in my boat. They're getting towards the end of their serviceable life. Currently I have single glazed, plus secondary glazing, fixed with a magnetic strip, which I remove in the summer. It works wonders in the winter, keeping the boat very noticeably warmer. But when I've left the secondary glazing in place in the summer the boat gets unbelievably hot (haven't made that obvious mistake in a few years!). Removing it really makes a huge difference. I'm wondering if thermal break double glazed windows make the boat rather hot in the summer? Obviously there's a big difference between these and secondary glazing - inert gas in double glazing, versus a thick chunk of air heating up with secondary glazing. Anyone have any experience of this? (There are other factors to consider, too, cost obviously. Also aesthetics: the double glazing would have to be* black framed which I think looks smart but naff, whereas the single glazed could be anodised bright gold colour which I much prefer. Internally I have a nifty solution for making the secondary glazing look much better than it currently does, but I'll leave it at that for now as really I'm here to ask about how double glazing performs in summer) *long story. But I don't really like the powder coated 'gold' anyway, just looks like dirty yellow to me

Thanks! Didn't think of doing a reverse image search, good plan.