Canal321

I don't like how these shows such as; Great canal journeys and Celebrity carry on barging, give a bad example to new boaters and hire boaters. You watch these shows with these celebrity novices and supposedly experienced Tim just banging into other boats, smashing the banking and everybody just laughs it off. I know it's all part of the 'entertainment', but if it was my boat smashed into I would not be laughing...

I can definitely nearly see what your saying.

This is the one, but it seems to have gone up in price since I got mine. http://m.ebay.co.uk/itm/NEW-10A-12V-24V-Solar-Panel-Charge-Controller-Battery-Regulator-Safe-L3Z9-/401102557621?_trkparms=aid%3D222007%26algo%3DSIC.MBE%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D20150519202351%26meid%3D3605a240c432477ea41cd8afeb6c7858%26pid%3D100408%26rk%3D17%26rkt%3D25%26sd%3D131899462807&_trksid=p2056116.c100408.m2460

I have just done exactly this. Got a 100w panel of Amazon for £99, it's rated at 5.4 amps max (I think). Got a 10 amp controller (PWM) about £10 with an LCD screen, it shows; temp, battery voltage, charge current and load current. Connected it up and had 3 very charged batteries ever since, I am not using all sorts of power hungry gadgets (just a TV and lighting) but on most days even the cloudy, rainy ones (which is most of them up to now) I have been getting 1.3 amps. The batteries get charged until they are at 15 volts, then it knocks off and they drop down to 14volts, then it starts charging again. After dark the voltage slowly drops with usage but by the time I get up in the morning the panel has got batts up around 13.5v. Just wait to see how much it produces in summer (if we get one).

Which canals are you thinking of doing? The north/south debate. (I'm firmly northern )

It's a bit hard to explain, it involves plugging you multi meter cables into different outlets (on the multi meter ) and then connecting it into the circuit. The easier way is to go on YouTube and have a search. I knew my meter could be used to test amps but I had no idea how until I went to good old YouTube.

I got myself a cheap modified sine wave inverter, its running a normal 240v, 32inch, high definition TV. All works perfectly, measured current with the old multimeter and it draws just over 3 amps. My new (also very cheap ) solar system keeps batteries charged aswell which is great.

My dad fiber-glassed the water tank in our house 30+ years ago. Still perfect to this day.. If access is good; clear out any rust, then a few good coats of glass mat and resin. Gel coat on top, will last longer than the boat!!

Thanks for the replys. I am now able to use the site as I did before (just remember to click on the blue dot).

Agreed. Gargrave gets my vote everytime.

Nah mate, too Blue for me, plus I would have to get used to a whole new set of names, on here I can almost tell who knows their stuff and who's chatting bubbles.

OK then here goes. Hi I'm currently using the mobile version of the new site on a 5 inch (mobile phone) screen on Google chrome in the portrait position. So I go on a forum , say 'general boating' and click on a topic I like the look of, after reading the current reply's (say 15) I exit and come back a few hours later. Now when I click back on the same topic (which now has 30 reply's) it starts me again from the beginning, so I have to start searching through for the place I was (which is marked by a small blue line) and if I miss the line I end up lost and having to start again which is annoying. On the old site, when I returned to a thread it would start me off where I left off. I would then scroll up a post or two to refresh my memory then carry on, EASY! Is there something I need to do so It remembers where I was, like the site of old did. I've read some of the other topics in this forum but the screen shots of the site are different to the mobile site that I'm on. I can't even find settings... Thanks for helping. Hopefully my problem can be helped!!

Yeah I'd agree with the above, 5 turns on my boat is perfect.

Bridge 119 that's here, right?

My boats just got some new Lithium's, I hope the thief hasn't got his ION them. They didn't half cost the Earth...

Survey didn't allow me to select: narrowboat, widebeam and cruiser, for the boats I own. It assumes I only own one of the above.

OK. I find it nice around that area. There are a few other offside moorings on that stretch. Are you thinking of putting your boat on the L&L? There are now houses being built on the old boat yard site. Still a few narrow boats moored there, wonder if they will want to stay when people start moving in and groups of youths appear.

W+t how long ago were you in Hapton boatyard? I know that area very well

Hi. Just reading through some old posts. Interested to know how you are getting on with the little boat, I notice it's been well over a year since last update. Did everything go OK?

Bridge 117, heading towards Clayton-Le-Moores.

Oil will remove bitumin, it melts it. Use washing up liquid to remove the oil from the canal around your boat.