Tuttifruity

Brilliant, thanks again. Still no news about Cranfleet so we’ve decided to go home on the train till Christmas then come back the day after Boxing Day. Fingers crossed we might make some progress then!

thanks, I’ve had a look at the videos which are very useful. Also we mustn’t moor up once we get to Keadby or we’ll have no boat left due to the local night life

Sorry for late reply, struggling with wifi on I pad so using very small phone! Thanks for everyone's advice and have spoken to Tony whose laid up with a very sore tootsie! Will set up the anchor with lots more rope as well as the chain in case we need it, and will test the engine at full blast for a few hours. It's a barrhus and ive only ever had it at 2000 revs max for hours on end. Prob no chance of getting to sheffield in time for Christmas though! Might end up at sea. Will keep u posted

Hi all, we’re on route to Sheffield from the Peak Forest canal and have never been on the river Trent before (never been on any river before!). We had to go the long way round due to stoppages, and we pulled into Sawley Marina to refuel. Unfortunately while we were there, we received an emergency notification that Cranfleet flood lock had to be closed until further notice due to the river going into flood. Can anyone advise if this can go on for a few days or could it be for the rest of the winter? We’re not sure what to do

Thanks Ian and Alan, I'll fish out the voltmeter and go to the boat tomorrow hopefully. It does have two alternators and one of the red warning lights was lit up, but not sure if this was for the domestic battery bank or starter. Not clear from the schematics in the Barrus manual

Hi everyone, I've got a problem with the battery charging alarm staying on even when I rev the engine upon starting up. This began the day after I'd had the prop shaft and engine bolts replaced and drove back to my mooring. I'm not very good at electrics and am having trouble finding a marine electrician who's not busy. I've looked to see if anything obvious has been knocked off when the engine was disturbed, but am clueless. Can anyone suggest what might be the problem?

Hi all, I'm new to boating and have bought a boat with a Refleks stove. There's a slight drip from the pipe coming through the skirting board and joining the stoves pipe work. I've tried tightening the joint but no good. Is there a replaceable olive in the joint? It must be very small if there is, the pipe work is tiny!

Thanks maties, I was amazed at how many wide beams there are down there, and also how many neglected boats there are, some haven't moved for eons. By the way, can anyone recommend a decent boat yard that does blacking near the Macclesfield canal?

I've gone and done it and bought Misty Blue, my first boat! Not wanting to do things by half, I bought it from a chap in London by Little Venice and then had to get to the Macclesfield canal after hiring a boat for a week! Had to borrow a friend who'd been on one before. It involved the Grand Union, Oxford, Coventry and Trent and Mersey before hitting the Macclesfield canal, and took exactly 2 weeks. Fortunately the on board shower worked well, as the only showers we passed were at Bosley Locks and they were broke! Talking of locks, we must have gone through about 160 of the blighters, the worst being the big double gated locks down south. Two things became apparent fairly early on that a surveyor couldn't see, one was the stern gland letting water in so a lot of grease was used getting home, and the engine electrics packing up at Bosley Locks due to a bundle of wires melting together as they were stuffed under the hot engine! We couldn't turn the engine off even using the emergency stop, so had to turn off the diesel feed. Fortunately a friend didn't live far away and turned up with a load of electrical repair stuff and managed to cobble the wiring together again, and we got back. The joys of boating!