Darrenroberts
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Posts posted by Darrenroberts
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3 minutes ago, matty40s said:
How big is Priston, most boats can pass Napton banana lock now.?
She’s 50ft and 7ft 1 3/8” at the rear chine
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Hi guys Iam trying to get to Braunston but iam sure you may have seen that a gate has fallen off at kings Langley! So iam thinking of heading on to the Thames and up the Oxford. Has the pinch point at Napton being fixed/ are there any others on that route I should be aware of? Thanks in advance ?
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Hi there bit of a long shot here, but iam looking for any boat yard/ drydock job vacancies ideally in the Warwickshire area (but I am canal based so can locate to different areas) iam a apprenticed trained cabinet maker, with drydock and boat handling experience. I also have qualifications in Deisel engine manetence and experience with different types of boat fitting and maintence aspects. Just thought I’d post a message just in case anybody closer to those areas knows of any yards that are looking for somebody as google searches are so far limited. Thanks in advance, Darren.
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14 minutes ago, pete harrison said:
This thread has turned into several different topics, so I am not going to respond to anything else unless it is directly related to this threads title 'historic boats for sale online'.
All of these other topics are interesting and I am happy to contribute to them - but they need to be established in their own threads
Quite right apologies everyone....back to the boats for sale. Thanks again Pete
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2 hours ago, pete harrison said:
Back in the 1970's I was not very interested in numbers or boat history, but very interested in boating and learning the skills involved in all of the aspects of boating I could. I did not have a great interest in B.C.N. day boats back then, but went on too many to remember) as they were still everywhere, with quite a number still in trade mostly as rubbish boats or hoppers. I only developed an interest in B.C.N. day boats when I acquired a set of B.C.N. Company gauge registers in the early 2000's.
Having said that the iron day boat on the bank looks like BESSIE to me, which is BCN 14695 and fleet number 18 for its first owner and 112 for Stewarts and Lloyds Ltd.. I am unable to identify the wooden day boat at present but I suspect it will have come from S&L.
edit = When we cleared out the redundant day boats from Stewarts and Lloyds Ltd. in 1976 the ends of the boats were lettered with S&L (red top bends) and British Steel Corporation (blue top bends) in equal(ish) numbers, and I think some may still have had Noah Hingley on them
Right is see was Noah Hingley a carrier or company? We’ve discussed this before Pete, about Priston and I’ve still been going through any old photos I find of day boats with a magnifying glass for that illusive “107” but I carnt recall wether I actually sent you a photo of the two plates I have which where in the bow. Any way here they are. Do they look like s+l plates or have u seen any that look like this before?
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3 hours ago, Pluto said:
No, it was 40 years ago.
Ah yes quite a while ago then
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5 hours ago, Pluto said:
The boatyard being built. I was working on getting the lifting bridge operational at the time.
Do you recall the numbers of the two day boats on the hard standing there in the background, is the front one in s+l colours?
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5 minutes ago, pete harrison said:
Seems like a no brainer to me - buy DANE and re-fit the Bolinder into TOWY - offset some of you costs by selling TOWY's National 2DM and asset stripping DANE - sell DANE's remains to a 'dreamer' for £1,00.
The result is you maintain some of your emotional attachment as you will still have DANE's Boliinder - TOWY regains some of its historical relevance - there is the opportunity for a Grand Union motor to regain a historically relevant engine and you put a smile on somebody's face by selling them a boat for £1.00.
Some of this is meant in jest but you can probably see where DANE's future lies
Did some one say dreamer?
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9 minutes ago, billybobbooth said:
Malcolm is on here, bargeboy (think that's correct) if not he's on Facebook which is how I normally talk to him. Not sure of price to be exact but was in the mid to high 20s I think it was
That’s great Brilliant. Thanks again to all for your advice and leads.
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2 minutes ago, billybobbooth said:
Malcolm must have sold lapwing then as it was available not that long ago as I enquired about it, but was too much for me. I assume your talking about the fmc lapwing that was converted into a trip boat/bar
Yeh that’s the one, strange I’ll cycle down the cut tomorrow to see if it’s still there as iam just the other side of the tunnel. do you have a contact for Malcolm? And if you don’t mind me asking what was he asking for her when u enquired?
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52 minutes ago, sirweste said:
Gary is moored up next to me at the moment actually, if there's a message / number you want me to pass on let me know
Great, I’ll pm you
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48 minutes ago, furnessvale said:
The FIRST requirement of coaling these days, and was probably always thus, is to identify your customer base. Most of the network is already served by existing boats. Whilst there is nothing they can do about another boat turning up, provided the existing service has been good, customers will remain loyal and the newcomer will have slim pickings (No, not the cowboy actor).
I believe one or two bits of the network remain available but, again, that is probably for a good reason.
Thanks, totally agree. This is something I’ve considered and actually experienced. Just to make clear iam not operating in dreamland here (apart from my current budget haha) just trying to make some logical steps to make a living from the canal. As you may have guessed from the thread, iam very much aware of the work still to be done and that my journey is still in its infancy, but Surly if the history and traditional skills of the canal are to continue and be preserved, at some point a younger generation of enthusiasts are going to have to try and break through? So that’s what Iam trying to do. Oh and p.s I was actually looking into sawn timber carrying more specifically as that’s where my contact base lies.
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25 minutes ago, pete harrison said:
If PRISTON is the boat I am thinking of then it will be too shallow draft and has an aggressive / short swim to make a good towing boat. I was not suggesting a butty would suit the needs of 'Darrenroberts' but that he had reached a psychological milestone as far as 'historic' narrow boats are concerned
Yeh Priston is correct and yes she dose have a shortish swim. Draft wise am not to sure although I did move a narrow beam hopper with her once but opted to tie up alongside
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1 hour ago, billybobbooth said:
Lapwing would be a good bet for you. Its around 25k depending on your out look its got a new (understood now well done) wooden bottom, for carrying fairly quick and easy to remove external extra cabin stuff for carrying not simple but not difficult.
This was my ideal boat I was going after but they beat me too it as i was waiting for it to get a bit lower in price before I thought it was a good option to offer what I could, given the boat has just sat I wish I had before buying towy but I wouldn't be without her now
I was moored opposite Lapwing a few months ago at city road basin in London. I saw it go backwards and forwards a few times with a few volunteers but she basically just sits there, or so I’ve seen. I wasn’t aware it was for sale? Is it still/ has it been advertised? Or was this a few years ago?
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24 minutes ago, pete harrison said:
There is certainly no harm in 'chancing your arm', and who knows what might turn up. As said I think it unlikely that you will find a mainstream family type motor for £20k to 25k, but you are at a point where you could buy a good butty - so there is a positive. My suggestion remains as keep saving and buy something worth having, along with a restoration / improvement fund.
You say that you want to operate a boat for commercial carrying, but do you have any background in this ? If not I would suggest you befriend a fuel boat operator and help out if you can, or even get involved with an organisation such as The Narrow Boat Trust Ltd. who operate a narrow boat pair crewed by volunteers and have a training programme for steerers, with at least two retail coal runs each year and visit shows e.t.c. for the remainder - all very good experience, especially as the volunteers also carry out much of the maintenance
Yeh I decided that’s what I wanted to do a few years ago and alongside saving I’ve been trying to put together as many pieces Of the puzzle as possible. This has taken me down a few different avenues,and I’ve made some good contacts. So far av managed to secure a yard free,of charge to work on a restoration and I’ve been working down in London at west India dock with the CRT. This comes with a free boat licence, so there’s a few small fees taken care of. As for commercial experience current state of play is on going, I’ve pick up a few things on the way boat licences for commercial workboats and powerboats and Iam currently preparing to take my boat masters licence. I thought it all might help and work have been covering the costs so there’s some progress there and generally I’ve tried to ensure my working days are always canal related. I volunteered for the Narrowboat Trust jut once the winter before last helping load up Brighton and Nuneaton and have just recently written to them again to see if I could help it again as it was a great experience. Basically am trying to do all the things and meet all the people I can in the hope that one day an opportunity may come my way. P.s I was very tempted by the look and how long Hades has been in the marked but again the long term logistics of a butty been towed by my live aboard BCN boat might not be realistic.
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12 hours ago, pete harrison said:
Even though prices of 'historic' narrow boats are falling I think you will struggle to find any motor worth having as low as £25k, not even a motorised butty or B.C.N. boat. I can't help feeling that you would be better off to continue with your saving as if you buy a boat too soon then just paying for licence, moorings and basic maintenance could bleed your plans of restoration dry - leading to the possibility of it not ending well for you or the boat. I also can't help thinking that the collaborations / partnerships that some have mentioned have been done between people who already know one another, and where both parties have experience of operating commercial narrow boats and have often worked together before in some format.
If you do manage to find a cheap carrying boat and decide to pursue your dream then I wish you well
Thanks Pete To quote man of La Mancha “to dream the impossible dream” thought I’d try chancing my arm, the thinking been with all the chaos going on some owners/ Circumstances may of changed? And if I didn’t ask I wouldn’t know. Not a problem I’ll carry on saving, one day I might be able to get my foot on the ladder as they say.
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10 minutes ago, Chris-B said:
You could always have a chat with Malcolm Burge at Alvecote
He has a few boats and everything is for sale
.......now I do wonder how much for................................
Cheers Chris I’ll see if I can get a number off there website.
5 minutes ago, matty40s said:Ah, his boats are special self steering boats too....?
Jules has added several boats to the fleet in the past few years, good business to be had with the increased liveaboard population. Never going to be a millionaire, but hey ho.
Haha I gave up on the idea of been a millionaire after i bought my first boat?
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33 minutes ago, junior said:
Can't see Jason selling Bargus!
If i were you I'd be carrying a big bag of cash down to Denford and start persuading Rupert to part with Ben, assuming it's still there. That said, it's always been a boat i like and last time i spoke to him about it he did have plans for it.
Sorry I ment in relation to the post about more established carriers sponsoring boats. I’ve seen he’s done a lot of work to bargus.
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24 minutes ago, Tuscan said:
On the off chance I would have a word with a couple of the more established coal boats like jules fuels and nb Alton who have several boats They might have ideas or even consider buying a boat on a partnership basis to expand a roundAh that’s really interesting I wasn’t aware that was even a possibility. I had suspected as I’d previously been keeping my eye on Tadworth, an later saw that juels fuels had bought here. Had also wondered about fuel boat Bargus. Thanks for the advice.
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7 minutes ago, furnessvale said:
If you look at the price of an unconverted boat that is in a suitable condition for carrying, THAT is the price you will have to pay to end up with a boat fit for carrying.
You may manage to buy one for half the price that needs work doing, but I can guarantee you will spend at least the other half getting it fit for work. We all would like to believe different, but it isn't. Been there, done it! Sorry to be a wet blanket.
Thanks, iam aware of the price of restoration as I have already been there myself. Ian not looking for a magic scenario here, just a starting point as it’s difficult to put the finiance in place in one lump sum. Previously I’ve managed to stagger the cost over a period of time lol and typically that results in spending more money in the end but such is life.
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32 minutes ago, matty40s said:
The owner of Edgeware and Balham has plans apparently, and isnt in need of finance, just time.
Oh I see deadens there then. Thanks for the info tho ?
21 minutes ago, Parahandy said:Have you approached the owner of Ascot and the Butty Beverley , I suspect he may be open to an offer though Ascot clearly needs some work .
Hi there thanks for the tip where abouts is Ascot and Beverley, I don’t believe I’ve seen them out and about? Also do you know the owner?
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Hi guys, iam still in the market for an unconverted motor for the purpose Of commercial carrying. I’ve been keeping an eye out on the usual websites, but even after saving for 2 years 40+k is still out of reach. I’ve been reading a old thread about the pair at weedon and was wondering if anyone had any intel on Edgware other that what has been posted. Do we know who actually owns the pair? I know they both have been in a state of disrepair for some time and I seam to recall seeing some concerning holes around the back chine on Edgware last time I when past her and am sure the fun and games will really start below the water line. Tragically, that been said this is the condition of boat my budget is likely get me whilst leaving the nessasary cash to make the repairs to get going.lol It may be some time before I’ll be attending any rally in full colours. Alternatively, I don’t seam to be having much luck waiting for the right boat to turn up at the usual brokerage websites, so was wondering if anybody knows of any other good potential leads I can chase up? My budget currently is 20k but might b able to pull some strings to around 25k. laughable! I know but if not I’ll have to carry on saving, but thought it was worth an ask. thanks in advance. Darren
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Thanks for the responses guys, I really carnt fault the engine for its age she cold starts first time and runs really well I don’t have a temp gauge fitted but using a laser thermometer Externaly after a hour of idle running the engine block was reading 68 degrees so i presume it’s operating around 80ish degrees? Also I removed the air filter and cleaned it all not that long ago so I think it’s safe to rule that out.
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Hi there guys just a quick question for the group. I have a bmc 2.2 raw water cooled engine. Now I’ve noticed small amount of Diesel on the water behind my boat. Over the course of a year this was a small amount that came out the exhaust with the water after just starting the engine and then stopped. I presumed it was as residue left in the engine been blown out with it been cold, stopping as It warmed up. I have been monitoring it over the last year and as of today the Diesel didn’t stop and light trail had formed behind my boat after an hour of idle running. Am I right to suspect the fuel injectors and if so is it a clean out job or a replacement situation? Cheers.
Pinch points on the Oxford
in General Boating
Posted
So I am right in thinking it’s just Napton I have to worry about? Am trying to get hold of the Crt construction manager for that area for some more in depth local knowledge of that navigation, the website just says 7ft lol.....I guess maybe some one was been a bit Lazzy filling out all the spec info ?