NB Willawaw

Rudders (non narrowboat ones anyway) are a black art in themselves. If you have interest, "google" Schilling rudders and Becker flap rudders. The former have a fishtail rudder application used on dutch barges which use aerofoil sections. I supply autopilot systems in my job and these have to work with a wide variety of different and quite sophisticated rudder designs. The forces that come into play when you apply 35 degrees of rudder on a VLCC going ahead, on emergency turns can be head-swimming. Best Regards Mark NB Willawaw Oxford

Gary, Can't quite work out how you raise the plates to get them level for welding. Presumerably, the girders act as a jig/level and the plates are raised to the level of the bottom of the girder (no gaps). How does the horseshoe/wedge idea work ? Best Regards Mark NB Willawaw Oxford

Stuart, Just a few things to consider: 1. When you say shower light, presumerably you mean a light over the stall itself ? The light for the cabin itself should be located near the entrance, otherwise you are going to be staggering around trying to find your way into the stall on a cold, dark winters morning on a potentially unlit mooring. This is a great way of knocking yourself out cold. 2. Appreciate what you are trying to do with the shower flow switch, but consider accessibility if you use the switch (make sure you can get to it if its goes wrong). Also, consider the long term effects of limescaling on its operation. 3. When installing a discharge pump, consider the effects of unwanted human hair going down the hole and clogging the outlet (its amazing how much hair we lose !) and inversely consider the effects of dropping wanted things like jewellery down the hole. With no trap like a home, its easy to lose things forever overboard. We use a sump pump with a easily accessible filter. This starts automatically using a float switch. We strongly suggest carrying a spare water pump onboard (we actually carry a spare water pump and a spare sump pump). The failure of either one on a cruise can spoil your whole day ! Best Regards Mark NB Willawaw Thrupp - Oxford Canal

When they've finished, make sure they put the weed hatch back properly and clamp it down securely (they usually take the weed hatch off and black it separately !) It has been known ! and many number 1's will just motor off after the dock is flooded, confident that their boat has been serviced by professionals You might also want to get the stuffing gland attended to (i.e. repacked), if the packing is getting old and weary and the gland is dripping more than it should !

From the other shots I saw of Whisper when she was lifted out of the Thames, I think they are fresh water mussels. There was even one on the weed hatch plate. Mark

Don't worry about it Weeble - you're not offending anybody. Its probably the cabin fever. A by-product of winter leisure boating. Once the ice stops and the sun starts giving us some warmth again, we'll be out boating again and back on an even keel. Mark

No you're probably right John. That Fedora and pink boa you wear at the tiller are probably far more traditional

You could try here for some ideas: http://homepage.mac.com/andy.greener/PhotoAlbum5.html Best Regards Mark NB Willawaw Banbury - Oxford Canal

Thought you might be interested in this shot of a bottom ! http://www.nb-whisper.com/liftout/liftout-Pages/Image4.html

You must think it a little naff yourself to bring it up ? We don't have it, but I've seen it on other boats and I think it looks fine if its done well and the carpet is a good quality. I guess the fact that it is on the wall, draws attention to it, so if its cheap carpet in a ghastly colour, it will scream out. But other than that, I agree with Chris. I meet a lot of opinionated people on the cut - people who think I should use a certain knot when mooring, people who think you should dress in a certain way when steering a trad (they don't like my baseball cap) or loop your sternline on your tiller pin, etc and I don't give a toss. I live the way I want, don't hurt anybody else and am content. Carpets are the thin edge of the wedge ! P.S I've lived on the river since I was about 11, have sailed on all kinds of boats and ships around the world and find those kind of people quite amusing. P.P.S On my home river a few years back before I had my own boat, I used to regularly see a guy who we referred to as the rear admiral. He flew the red duster on a small mast , wore a naval cap, had lots of badges on his person and was always correcting people on the canal about how you should go astern, work locks correctly, use the correct sound signals, etc. I was skippering a community boat up through a lock at Hertford and he was waiting to come down. We were letting the "crew" which comprised of young people work the locks under supervision. One teenage girl was struggling to understand the mechanics of paddles and gate opening and was a bit slow for his liking, so he decided to berate her as if he was addressing a common seaman on a battleship. After years of tolerating him, I finally lost it and after I finished downloading on him, he just turned silently and returned to his boat to wait for us to clear the lock. I felt a lot better after that. Moral of a long story - do what you want !

Not for the serious boat builder, but a bit of fun if you are looking at buying or building: http://www.braunston.demon.co.uk/boatdes/top.html

Jon, We continuously cruise, so our location obviously changes every few days or so. I have found that if I enter this in the signature or location section, it changes all past posts to the current location. Short of having to type location in manually on each post, is there any way that the system will store a specific location against the post it was entered on ?

Touche -

Oh yeah. I can see it now. If you look at the smaller photo's the angle of the third blade make it hard to see doesn't it Hope all works out o.k.

Nice boat Bill. At least you know the bilge pump works. Give my regards to Paper Mill.

Bill, Having studied the pictures closely, I think you've only got a two-bladed propeller on her ! Was the three-bladed one an extra cost option ? have a look if you don't believe me ! Is the mooring near a certain narrowboat hire company ?

Onspeed produce data compression software which is said to drastically improve the performance of internet connections. It basically compresses data so that it takes up less space and therefore improves download speeds. As GPRS is priced per meg of data, it is said to therefore also reduce cost. I've read the website and claims, but wonder if anybody has used it and if it meets its claims ?? In theory, it could be good for GPRS internet connections on boats until 3G starts to achieve nationwide coverage.

I'm thinking about using Onspeed to improve my Internet performance. Is anybody out there using it and does it work ?

Nice one Stuart. Looking good. P.S. The stone/marble ? shower tray looks quality but is it going to be deep enough ? Even if the pump is really efficient, isn't there a chance of leaking over the edge if the boat rolls due to somebody stepping on or off her ?

If yours then has a valve to mix in cold water once it's been heated then yes, this would solve the problem, but how do you know how much to add? I know this all may sound a bit fussy but when you're having a shower and the waters hot, but a fraction off it can get a bit annoying. Many a time I've been in the shower and i've thought if I could turn a tap I'd have it a tad warmer, or vice versa. Cheers Becks <{POST_SNAPBACK}> The valve has an adjustable thermostat on it. If the water temp exceeds the setting, the valve just opens to allow cold to enter the circuit and regulate the temp. We don't play with the setting, but presumerably, you could do this if your shower is too cold/hot ??? Have a look at the suppliers website - it might be totally wrong for what you want, but it does no harm to look: http://www.tek-tanks.com/Pages/C-Warm/Selection04.htm Mark

OK thanks. Got it !