Nick D
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Posts posted by Nick D
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5 minutes ago, nicknorman said:
. Personally I don’t really see the point of canal boating if one doesn’t want to work locks, but as you imply, each to their own.
Absolutely agree. It would indeed be boring if they were at every lock. Sometimes though during or at the end of a longish day or in a big flight they are a welcome sight (to us at least).
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10 minutes ago, nicknorman said:
I can appreciate that some people welcome volockies - for a variety of reasons including infirmity, not quite knowing what they are doing, disinterest and yes even laziness! Nothing wrong with that - until they are forced onto those people who don’t welcome them.
Just to confirm that we are not infirm, we know what we are doing, are interested in the surroundings and certainly not lazy, but when we see a volockie we appreciate their help as do many others. Can see that not all boaters are the same. Each to their own!
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Yes, when there’s a vollie! But each to his own, if you prefer something different then fine, just don’t assume that all boaters don’t appreciate them.
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5 minutes ago, Mike the Boilerman said:
This speaks volumes. To me it is not 'help', it is interference with my boating.
I LIKE working the locks, it is a principle reason I go boating. I absolutely do NOT want other people 'helping' me with my locks, I want to do them myself. I pay CRT handsomely for the pleasure of locking my boat.
You seem to see locks as obstacles and appreciate help in surmounting them. Not everyone sees it your way.
I disagree with your assumptions. We don’t see locks as obstacles and enjoy working them but if there’s a Vollie we sometimes enjoy them even more! Accept that others might not always see it this way.
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1 minute ago, Mike the Boilerman said:
Let me guess. You LIKE having a vollie work you through a lock.
Nick would perhaps (like me) prefer to do it himself so having a vollie taking over 'my' lock is a lot more irritating for us than it is for you.
We APPRECIATE help and don’t mind sharing the load with a vollie.
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9 hours ago, nicknorman said:
Haha well famous last words...
Just come up Sawley. Volocky standing at his pedestal. Jeff greeted him as we entered, but got no reaction. Gates closing as I’m trying to hook the rope over the bollard - ropes slightly tangled so there were a few seconds of faffing. Volocky watched from his pedestal about 3 paces away, but did eventually take those steps and flip the rope over the bollard whilst looking at me as if I had “learning difficulties”. At that point it seemed to me that the top paddles were already partially open, but I wasn’t sure so didn’t say anything. Lock filled in silence with no interaction, gates were opened and we exited. Afterwards Jeff confirmed that he had partially opened the top paddles before the rope was over the bollard, and certainly without any contact with me.
There is a large CRT sign saying “boaters must use ropes at this lock”. Once the situation was confirmed by Jeff I was sorely tempted to go back and remonstrate with him, but in the end couldn’t be bothered.
So this Volocky was not following CRT protocol in a number of respects. And as for being an ambassador for CRT, being taciturn and slightly grumpy doesn’t really cut it!
Clearly the guy just like pressing buttons. Probably was denied a trainset when he was a kid.
You do seem to be very unlucky. In many years of boating, both as a hirer and owner we have encountered many Vollockies and never once have had a problem. We are always pleased to see them on approaching a lock and never been disappointed! Maybe we’re just lucky
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4 hours ago, cuthound said:
More passed our mooring on the Coventry this summer than any other year since we moved here in 2014.
Perhaps they are all doing the Warwickshire Ring? ?
I think you might have a point. We spent most of July on an enlarged Leicester ring, from Fradley Junction via Birmingham, across to the GU Leicester, up the Soar/Trent and back to King Bromley Marina. It seemed really quiet apart from the sections that were on the Warwickshire Ring. Perhaps everyone has gone there this year!
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We have Channel Glaze double glazed windows on our three and half year old boat, which we have owned for just two and a half years. We do get some condensation in the winter, but only on the frames, not the glass and I wouldn’t say it was too bad. It’s very warm and draught free. The windows feel solid and are good quality. I don’t know what the cost was, but I would definitely recommend them.
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We passed through both the Watford and Foxton flights last month and I only have good things to say about the lockies. They have to follow the (not always logical) CART water shortage rules and deal with the odd irate boater whilst moving as many boats as possible through the the flights. Yes, you might not get through as quickly as you wish, but I normally find that if you approach them in a helpful and friendly manner, they normally respond likewise.
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Another thumbs up from me for Streethay. Very helpful.
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We got our pickaxe handle from a general diy/handyman store which you should find in most towns.
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1 hour ago, Dr Bob said:
Yea, but Smelly said his were at 12.6 with a very light load. IF that was my system it says he would be at 90% SoC ish so has used only 45Ahr ish since yesterday evening. That seems a bit light. With TV's. fridges etc we use 100Ahr+ overnight. So on 440Ahrs capacity, you would be down to 12.4-12.5 ish.
That makes me feel a lot better as our usage is around the 100ah mark from finishing cruising to next morning, but earlier in this thread some folks were suggesting this was unusually high. The difference is that we are around 12.2v in the morning so I still think I need new batteries!
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This makes me pretty sure that my batteries must be on their way out. In that situation we’d be around 12.2 mark
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15 minutes ago, howardang said:
Just a couple of small corrections:- the CRT offices are CRT NE not NW which are, I think, actually in Wigan. Granary Wharf is below Office Lock and above River Lock and has a number of moorings including electric hook up points. There are also moorings above Office Lock but I don't think it has any hook ups.
Howard
Thanks Howard, you are quite right, NE not NW although the location is right, just across the footbridge. You are also right that I confused Office Lock with River Lock but whilst there are electric hook up points there I don’t think they work. At least they didn’t when we were there.
6 minutes ago, Neil2 said:The moorings I was referring to are in the pound above granary wharf - (aren't they charged for?) there is a short gated section between Office lock and the railway bridge. The railway makes it a bit noisy but otherwise it is surprisingly pleasant and our dogs preferred it because there is a grass verge...
One thing worth a mention is that on a really windy day this whole area can be difficult for a narrowboat to negotiate because of all the tall buildings that seem to funnel the wind in all directions, at least that's been my experience.
Of course the main issue getting from Skipton to Leeds is the number of swing bridges and Millman bridge at Apperley bridge is my most hated location on the entire canal network.
I’m pretty sure the moorings in Granary Wharf are free, as they are in Royal Armouries. I know the gated section you mean but personally, despite the gate I don’t think I would feel safe on that mooring but that might just be me! Agree about the swing bridges which I imagine are particularly difficult for single handers.
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Agree with Neil2 that Rodley is probably the last place to stop before your descent into Leeds - for me, not because of the alleged issues with locals as I think this is a thing of the past, but in reality there are very few places to moor in between as it’s a bit shallow around the edges.
Also, I think the major mooring points in Leeds have been given different names over time. When Neil2 is referring to the moorings above Office Lock, i think this is now known as Granary Wharf and is the last basin before you drop onto to the River Aire. These are decent moorings right in the city centre next to the railway station. Yes, it’s a little noisy but actually surprisingly quiet at the same time given it’s location. There are some hook up points but I don’t think they actually work, but that aside these are good city centre moorings.
if you drop down onto the river for a short distance (maybe half a mile) just before you reach the next lock on the right you will find the Royal Armouries basin. There are quite a few permanent moorings on the right hand side as you enter but about five or six visitor moorings on the left against a pontoon. These have electric hook up and you can get cards from the CRT North West Office which is located just over the bridge on the other side of the River Aire. These moorings are about a ten minute walk from the city centre and feel a bit more up market from Granary Wharf but we liked them both for different reasons.
Hope this helps
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Since I’ve had the BMV it appears that they are being fully charged by my cruising hours etc.. This pattern has always been the same before so I think it’s fairly safe to say they If they are being charged now, they were being charged then. Could be wrong tho!
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1 hour ago, Alan de Enfield said:
There is no correct answer.
Everything is a balance of cost of batteries vs life of batteries, vs amount of Ah used vs cost of running your engine to recharge them.
The general consensus is that not going below 50% SoC is probably the most economic option.
Do not let your batteries goes below 12.2 volts, and them charge them immediately to as a high a state of charge as you can then with 8+ hours running every few days to get them back to somewhere near 100% SoC
So before I had the BMV I was using an analogue voltmeter. It was very difficult to judge whether the reading was 12v, 12.2v or even 11.8v. If they were actually regularly going down to 12v could that be the reason they are now failing, notwithstanding that it seems that my regime is fully charging the next day?
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So if I do end up needing to buy anew set of batteries, what is a safe level of voltage beyond which they should not drop? I can then set a warning alarm on the BMV
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So who do you pay and how much are we talking?
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We are currently travelling northwards on the GU Leicester arm. I’m tempted to take a detour into Market Harborough where Nicholson’s says there are plentiful mornings plus electric hook up. Anyone able to confirm this?
Later, we will be travelling through Leicester. Anyone able to give advice/comment on the moorings in the City?
Thanks
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Out of the last four nights, including tonight, two have been on hook up so too early to tell, but I will report back with findings. Probably need to give it two or three days offshore to see if a peters emerges.
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2 hours ago, Dr Bob said:
Ah, you have to be clever to work this one out.
The graphical output is from the Victron energy portal. Victron sell a Venus GX and a Colour Control GX box which are £300 and £450 (ish when last looked a year ago). Far too expensive. However, Victron have made the code that runs on the venus GX freely available which just happens to run on a Raspberry Pi. Therefore, buy yourself a Pi 3plus (£38), load the software onto a micro SD card (software ex victron) and plug the Pi into you BMV via a £20 cable. Connect your Pi to your router and then register at the VRM.victronenergy.com site.
Basically, all the data from you BMV is fed to Victon's site and you can pick it up where ever you are over the internet.
@Robbo is the expert. You dont need any specialist knowledge to set it up and you dont need to know how to programme a Pi but some experience helps. I got stuck on the mac address but finally worked it out myself. Mine been connected and working fine since early Feb.
Well worth spending £60 and you can leave it connected when in the marina and watch the power status......so you know when the shore power goes off and comes back on.
Thanks. Sounds a bit convoluted but if I’m still having problems will certainly consider it. Might be back on here for help tho!
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Surely most boaters have this sort of stuff without too many battery problems (cooler excepted)? We don’t have a microwave. Generally we are consuming c100ah from about 4pm when we stop until we wake up in the morning. This includes the normal tv etc. but we only charge phones etc when cruising and I don’t think we are wasteful with electricity. We don’t have solar. I started a thread on here a few months ago about having solar and the general consensus was that it wouldn’t be worth it for our cruising pattern.
By chance, we passed a marina today which is part of our home marina group where we can stay overnight for free. I’ve hooked up the shoreline tonight so it will be interesting to see what happens when we go back off grid over the next few days.
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This looks interesting. Didn’t know it was available as all I can see on the Victron App is similar graph for Watts/amp but only for the last minute. How do I get this extra information?
First volockie irritation of the year.
in General Boating
Posted
Not sure which category you have me in? Don’t think c500+ hours a year counts as occasional or low usage.