NB Willawaw

Whilst motoring along the cut yesterday, I passed a dirty and uncared for narrowboat with a list that only unchecked excessive rainwater or a leaky stern gland can cause... and I wondered what happens to old narrowboats when their time is up. We all know what happens to old cars (the feared crusher) and I know that ships end up run on to a beach at high tide in the Indian sub-continent, being cut into small pieces, but where do narrowboats go ? Answers on a postcard !

The patent or taffrail log is no longer used and has been eclipsed by GPS and fixed transducer logs. You can still get them from marine antique shops (they were still in use in the 1970's) for a few hundred pounds and upwards. If you are really interested, try e-bay or search the antique sites. The Thomas Walker model was a beautiful example. Best Regards Mark NB Willawaw - Linslade, GU Northbound

Your alternative choice of name reminds me of a boat I saw on the River Lee last autumn which was nb something or other registered in Bow Locks (yes a real place on the Lee !) Best Regards Mark NB Willawaw Linslade - GU Northbound

Don't have any particular experience with the hire companies, but try looking at: Silsden Boats www.silsdenboats.co.uk Pennine Cruisers www.penninecruisers.com

You don't say why you want to know the speed of the boat and therefore I'm not sure whether you want to know speed over the ground or speed through the water. If there is a 2 knots current flowing against your boat, you could be doing 4 knots through the water, based on propeller speed, but only 2 knots over the ground (4 knots speed less 2 knot current slowing your progress to the next lock). If you then turned around and went downstream, you would still be doing 4 knots through the water, based on the same throttle/propeller speed, but 6 knots over ground (4 knots speed plus 2 knot current pushing you along). This is an extreme example on canals, but quite feasible on tidal waterways. Speed through the water can therefore be a bit misleading and not really used on inland waterways. Speed over ground is really what speeding offences on inland waterways are judged on. Most inland boaters just judge their speed on how fast the bank slides past. A persons brisk walking speed is about 4 knots. A simple handheld, battery powered GPS will measure that and these are now available for around £100. If you really want speed through the water, you will need to penetrate the bottom of your boat with a transducer, which has a little paddle wheel built into it and these can be bought for about £80. One knot is one nautical mile (6080 feet) per hour. A statute land mile is 5280 feet. Best Regards Mark NB Willawaw Linslade (GU Northbound)

This may seem a silly question, but it's a question that I do not know the answer to and I have been dying to ask. When the time comes to black, does one black the bottom plate as well as the sides ? I seem to remember reading something somewhere that said it wasn't necessary, but this may have been in conjunction with the old working boats, not modern nb's. Assuming that you have to, when you drydock, so you paint between the keel supports and then flood the drydock, move the boat a foot or two, and then paint the bits you missed ? (allowing work done to dry of course !)

Try: http://www.bathroomheaven.com/bh_buyonline/small_baths

I have read all comments on this thread. Having come up from the deep sea merchant ship side and having been caught out a few times in twilight, trying to make a specfic mooring, etc, I do tend to use nav lights. Irrespective of how the rules are interpreted, I work on the common-sense basis of see and be seen. Just for a different perspective, the RYA Inland Waterways handbook says "on rivers, all boats must have nav lights. On canals, a narrow boat must have at least a white light showing to the front. Note that a tunnel light is not the same as a navigation light". If you cruise waterways where commercial vessels ply their trade (cargo or trip boats), watch their insurers wriggle if there is a collision in bad viz and they claim they didn't see you.

Looking good. Thanks for the engine photo. Keep us updated.

The thing to avoid is waste water laying in the pipe between pump and outlet overboard when the pump is switched off, as it can then seep back into your shower tray. In my small experience, the pump is normally situated remotely with an inlet tube connecting it to the shower tray and another outlet tube connecting to the skin fitting for overboard discharge. A rule of thumb is that the inlet pipe should be at least twice as long as the overboard pipe. This is to stop the water in the outlet pipe seeping back up into the shower tray when the pump stops pumping. Another thing to consider is how to access the pump if a) it fails it becomes clogged up with hair, etc. You don't say whether you are going to use a pump with a float switch or relying on someone holding the button down until the shower is empty. On/off switches are not normally a good idea as they can be left on or accidently switched on. Most modern pumps can run dry without damage, but it doesn't help their life expectancy. A float switch is probably more practical as the tray will empty itself while you are concentrating on showering and turn itself off when the job is done. Some makers produce pumps which have a small chamber with a clear window, so that providing you can access the pump, you can easily see if it is clogged up and clear it. As a footnote, if you plan to use the boat for long cruises, I recommend carrying a spare water pump and a spare discharge pump for the shower. The failure of one of these can ruin your whole trip - sod's law is that you can never get a replacement when you need one (i.e. model out of production or sorry we're out of stock for two months).

Pardon my ignorance, but what does the Waxoyl do ?

Try: http://www.canalboatproj.freeserve.co.uk/ They have a wide beam boat called Stort Challenger which can be hired by any group providing one of their number is disabled. The boat is only a few years old, was purpose-built and has both a hydraulic lift for chairs and non-follow up jog lever steering so that the wheelchair user can steer the boat from his or her chair. It was designed for just the purpose that you are referring to; to enable the disabled to get out there and participate in canal boating.

On the boat in question, I looked in the documentation to see what coating had been used. It was a special bitumen based coating for water tanks, but when I searched on the Internet, the company appeared to have gone into liquidation. I did a search looking for alternatives and came up blank. Can anybody give me a website for a manufacturer (I know chandlers sell the stuff but I like to do my homework first), especially as that boat often takes groups of school children out on trips.

Got access to the drawings now: 4 x 12V 140A/H in parallel = 560AHC TC5, have you done an energy audit on your boat to calculate what power you are going to need ?

Stuart, Although not directly related to the water tank issue, you may be interested to view the following website which covered another Liverpool boat called Isabella: http://www.nb.isabella.btinternet.co.uk/

I could probably control my impatience for that long !!! I've looked at the photo's, but can't see what is in the engine 'ole. How much gear (apart from the engine) did she come with in there ? Presumerably, you've got a starter battery, diesel tank, etc. Are your calorifier connections blocked off at present ?

No I found the link and it WAS a Beta. Primarily, the smaller one than I have on Willawaw, the 1505, but it also mentioned the Greenline series, which I have. Anyway, nobody else seems to have reported any problems, so may be it was a batch fault or an isolated incident.

Stuart, I wll leave other more qualified brethren to respond to your question, but a word of warning from experience. Do it properly and take the time to get it right ! Near me is a wide beam 58 footer, which is less than a year old. The bow locker doubles as a water tank and the special black coating is already coming off in places and light rust starting to appear on the inside of the tank. It occurred to me that this will be a pain to rectify as you have to access the tank through a small inspection hatch and remove the coating, strip back to metal, prime and then try to re-coat. I've suggested the owner take it up with the yard, but its worth taking some care on this aspect if you are doing it yourself.

I have been reading comments from people asking about changing the names of boats e.g. is it unlucky, does it involve a lot of red tape, etc. Somebody has already answered about the paperwork side of things, but I just wanted to make a comment about the superstition side of things. Deep sea vessels change their names frequently and in a vessels life of 15-20 years, it is quite common for her to change names 3-5 times. Ships are traded from owner to owner as assets and each new owner will change the name. Furthermore, when vessels are chartered by a company to carry their cargoes for a long term time period, they often ask for the ship to change name to reflect their company identity. In short, ships change their names all the time and do not seem to suffer any ill effects. I also have a full transcript of the ceremony which should be performed to appease the gods of wind and water to ensure safe passage. Would I change the name of my boat ? not a chance - well, you just don't know, do you ?

For what its worth, I rarely start my genset when cruising on a regular basis. Even in the winter, I use a solid fuel stove and an Eberspacher for heating and my lights/fridge/pumps/microwave run from the batteries/inverter. However, the electric cooker and hobs do take a lot of juice, as does the washing machine, so I have to start the genset for large meals like sunday lunch or on laundry day. In comparison to their electricity consumption, the fridge consumption is minimal and I run that from the inverter most of the time. If I'm going to spend a couple of nights at a mooring, I give the genny a run for 2-3 hours to top everything up. At the moment, I'm stoppage bound and have left the boat in a marina, but usually use their shorepower when I'm onboard. I hate running the genset when stationary. I'm probably just too mean to burn the fuel

After the rules change, I suspect that marinas will only stock white diesel and anybody looking to obtain red diesel for heating purposes will have to make their own arrangements, which will prove very difficult.

I guess its very difficult for you to know if they are holding charge when you are away and then return to the boat - how do you assess charge on sealed batteries ? with the old type, you could use a hydrometer ! If you don't have access to shore power, the next best thing is to take them ashore and charge them. This will remove questions about your alternator/charging circuit from the equation. If you then find that they run down quick, then they either a) aren't holding charge in which case you need new batteries or something is discharging them quicker than you think it should. The only way you can prove the latter is to experiment by isolating the loads and then bringing them in one by one to the circuit. This might take a while to do. If you can get your hands on a suitable ammeter, you can measure the current drain on load for each device and from this you can calculate your total current consumption and therefore work out how long a fully charged 220AHC battery should last (I assume that they are wired in parallel !). Hope this is logical and makes sense.

Sorry not physically on the boat today, so don't have access to the books. From the top of my head, I think the domestic bank is about 440AH.

I find it hard to believe that such new batteries can be dead. In addition to johns valid suggestions, I wonder if you have a discharge somewhere in the wiring. This would cause the batteries to go flat even though you think everything is off or not drawing too much. Do the batteries seem to hold their charge when you leave the boat and take the isolator key(s) out ?