Theo

When we bought our original PartaPotti 365 back in 2007 we bought two holding tanks. Originally we had the one with the pump action flush rather than the bellows type. In 2018 the pump action finally refused to work (It was sticking and not amount of lubrication of any sort would work) so disliking the idea of a single tank with a Qube we bought a new 356 on Ebay with a bellows action flush. This is the one that we now have, and because we kept the old holding tanks we now have three. The bellows sprung a leak after not very long but we were able to buy a new spare. Try Ebay for a a 365 N

I have just started using VPN because it was offered at no extra charge for my Google 1 (100GB) substription. It seems to work fine with Three tethered from my Fairphone mobile (SIM only contract 30GB/month £8) N

Thanks all. Should have read the notices! N

Slightly off topic but related. We've just moored at Sharpness (What a beautiful mooring it is!) overlooking the Severn (Which you can't see from the saloon but you can from the bank) closely followed by a beautifully mintained Wilderness boat. The couple from said Wilderness boat told us that the bridges are unmanned and therefore closed for navigation on Tuesdays. We haven't read this anywhere. Are they correct? They said it had been confirmed by a bridgekeeper. N

Thanks all. That makes me feel less inadequate!! 😁

Our first trip down the G&S but we have been a little uncertain about the protocol. Reading the guides says even if your air draft allows passage wait for the lights: Steady red: wait Flashing red: bridge or lock being prepared Green: proceed We approached Hempsted bridge from the north and there was nothing showing. We got closer and closer, still nothing. Stong wind so I phoned to find out what to do. "Your too far away wait a bit. Still no lights showing. We needed to keep steerage way on and by this time we were passing the traffic light. The bridge keeper came out and started windng open the bridge. "Ah," thought I, "lights dysfunctional". Proceeding as slowly as I dared. The bridge now fully open so I proceeded and got told off for not waiting for the green light. Sims bridge lights worked as per instructions. Rea Bridge: no light so we hung about and waited. Eventually the bridge keeper walked down and said that we could go under the closed bridge and that the lights not showing indicated that we could just proceed. I am a little confused... N

Brilliant! A stage up from the butter cooler that we used to use. When our 230V fridge broke down in a heatwave we used a cloth draped over the milk bottle sitting in a bowl of water. Not as good as the OSOKOOL.

I would echo Tony's opinion. Our new Lec (mains) fridge rated at A+ is proving excellent. Nick

I decided that running the engine just to charge the batteries was expensive in fuel and very noisy in the boat (BMC 1.5) so I went down the path of a suitcase generator running on lpg. I think that you need to reduce your electrical consumption. A 2.4kW kettle will draw about 200A from the battery but it's not on for long. What about the Remoska? I son't know the power or duty cycle but it might be significant. N

You could run it on petrol until it's out of warranty and then switch to gas. N

My records from 2015 - 2016 tell me that from the time I bought the Kipor 1000 I ran it for 250hrs and bought 3 x 13kg bottles of gas for it. I should also add that in that 250hrs I also bought 5.3 litres of petrol, which I used before I fitted the gas conversion. HTH Nick

That's a shame. They were really excellent on after sales when I bought ours 8 or 9 years ago.

That's why a gas conversion is a good idea.

Coming very late to the discussion that's exactly what I have and exactly how I run it. The only differenceis that I have fitted a gas converter. Petrol is really hard to come by on the canals and not that esy to store satisfactorily. I have two gas bottles for normal domesting use and a third one dedicated to the generator. All 13kg propane. Edited to add: I leave the gas bottle in the locker and have a long flexible hose. The pressure reducer is on the gas bottle with a "Gas fuse".

Thanks for all the comments. I had the impression that thse two young men had an idea and didn't do their homework. What will happen now is up to them. They had thought about stability and someone was going to do some tests for them but the someone hadn't turned up so they were carrying on anyway. I think that it may all end in tears. N

This conversion is nothing to do with me. I observed it in progess and asked, not quite in these terms "Do you know what your are doing sability wise?" and they, not quite in these terms said "No". They had the grace to look somewhat alarmed and said they would look it up on the internet. I might put a note through the door to get in touch with Paul Fisher. The were pleasent, hardworking chaps and I would hate their dreams to be shattered at the stage of completion and getting the boat licensed to do whatever they intend to do. Nick They are very pretty boats in a variety of styles. Worth a look just to admire. N

In converting a wide (12foot?) narrowboat into a cafe boat it is proposed to deck out the roof to make it level and have tables, chairs an customers sitting on the top. Has this boat a chance of being stable? A heeling experiment coupled with the mass of the boat will give the length of the righting lever but you need to position of the CofG to move on from that to work out the effect of 40 people on the roof! It all sounds very dodgy to me. Am I being alarmist? N

If I were in the running for a boat I would seriously consider this one. I find the dated interior rather appealing. What interests me is that nothing is said about what's under the tug deck and how do you get to the space. The engine in the back cabin is a bit of a downer. Nick

We have come to the conclusion that the young man, who said that he was a volockie, was having us on deliberately or had ben fed alarmist information. He said that 24 hrs before he saw us he had been warned by CRT to get off the river in 48hrs and that was 24hrs ago. The Severn is a pussycat today. Had an excellent run down and are moored overnight below the Avon Lock. On down to Gloucester tomorrow. That'll be new water for us. We haven't done the Severn below Tewkesbury before. Thanks as ever for all the advice. CWF never fails to be helpful. N

The split charge relay is downstream from the master switch but the sensing leads are connected directly to the batteries as per the instructions. N Quoting from my earlier post: Engine running at full temp after about 1.5 hrs cruising. E11 showing and SG battery voltages 14.1V on the domestics and 13.3V on the engine. This, to me indicates a high resistance somewhere in the engine battery circuit. I guess that the master switch is being affected by the temperature in the engine hole.

Thanks all. StephenA, would you post a link for the graph that you showed, please? N

So whne do you think that the surge will reach Worcester? N

Met a man in a boat. He helped us through a lock as we approach Worcester. He told us he had been warned to get off the Severn because in 24 hours the river levels will be high and the yellow boards will be out and may be red soon. He also said that he is a volunteer lockie and CRT had contacted him. We intend to go to Gloucester so this concerned us so I looked at the river levels and trends and warnings. Nothing to alarm us on there. Does anyone know anything different? I am beginning to think that he was having us on. Or was he correct and had more info that we do? Nick And then I find this on the CRT web site: Water levels River Severn - Lock 2 Gloucester to Upperlode Lock /notices/20932-water-levels-river-severn-lock-2-gloucester-to-upperlode-lock Please be advised that due to rising water levels The River Severn navigation is now closed between Gloucester Lock and Upper Lode Lock. We'll continue to monitor the situation and update this notice as soon as possible. I am confused! N I then clicked on the link for the CRT warning. It was for November 2021! Web sites are useless if they give misleading information. N

Exactly. But I have a query: As you run the alternaore more slowly the filed current supplied by the alternator regulator has to increase to keep up the output voltage of the alternator. Presumeably this has a maximum value determined by the design of the system. By reducing the revs and keeping the max output you are keeping the filed current at a maximum. Why, then, will reducing the revs further mean that you overheat the alternator. Won't heating reduce if the output reduces? Nick

Certainly not. Over time, with the variable pressure the joint will work apart. Nick