MichaelG

Hi all, I come to this debate from the position of boater with a cassette toilet but have for some time been considering swapping it out for a dry toilet (I use that term rather than composting as I have no facility to fully compost the resulting material). I note the CRT article says that composting toilets should not be emptied into Elsans as they risk blocking them. The whole point is ofcourse the material is not composted. The dry toilet I have been considering says in the use instructions that it is not necessary to add any drying material such as sawdust or wood shavings to the solids bin. Consequently the only material ending up in the bin should be excrement and toilet paper. That said, why should that not be disposed into an Elsan. I estimate the container would be emptied every 1-2 weeks so little composting will have taken place. I appreciate that a 20 litre solids container would contain more solid material than a 17 litre cassette but I don't see it would cause blockages if flushed away with plenty of rinsing water. Surely if an Elsan can cope with the amount of material from a holding tank being self pumped out then a small bucket would cause it no problem. The reasons I was considering swapping are my cassette (I have three) lasts us two days before it needs emptying, and disposing of "dry" material seems less horrific than the excrement/urine soup you get in a cassette and no need for chemicals.

Hi, I had to do this myself recently after a bathroom leak. The large concrete slabs were tightly packed between the bearers so the only way to get them up was to break one of them using a lump hammer then there was just enough space to get the next up. During the process I found a lot of the limber holes were blocked with sprayfoam so some of the compartments between the bearers weren't actually draining back to the stern. Ive relayed the floor with easier access. Having lifted the ballast I have to say if I have to say I wouldn't bother doing it again, instead Id just ventilate it to dry it best as possible. Lifting the slabs was back breaking work. Sods law as soon as you get it all down again you'll get another leak.

Hi all, I am looking at installing a modest single panel, probably about 250w solar system on the boat. I realise it won't serve all my power needs but am just looking really to offset some of the demand. I don't want a roof choc full of panels hence just a single panel. I am thinking of supplementing the panel with a single wind turbine. A company called Giga turbines were showing at Crick last year and they had some really neat and quiet little units. They quote they put out 30w at a windspeed of 13 mps so quite a stiff breeze. So the output would be quite low but ofcourse would be working when the panel is not, IE on wintry overcast days and at night. I wondered if anyone combines the two and how well it works. I presume solar and wind can both be wired through a single controller?

Nice little video about a day in the life of a fuel boat.

Hi, I had a Freeman with the same engine and used to lay it up for six months a year and never had a problem with the petrol going off over that sort of period. Petrol will lose it's octane level over time which makes it harder to ignite which can lead to rough running. You can buy octane booster products or top up the tank with a premium grade petrol which have a higher octane level which might freshen up old fuel. But ofcoarse the rough running could be due to something other than stale fuel.

15k for a Broom 30 sounds pretty cheap, you may find its a scruffy example. LH Jones in St Ives have one for sale at the moment although twice the price. I've always avoided twin engine boats as an unnecessary expense for inland waters.

I own a narrowboat and over the last 30 years have owned a number of other types of boat and I thought it was a pretty sensible design feature, from the previous posts it seems some boat builders do too, but each to their own.

And If you don't crash your car you won't need seatbelts.

I recently saw a narrowboat with what was described as "an unsinkable weedhatch". It was a traditional style stern with the weedhatch directly under the stern deck hatch. There was a bulkhead a couple of inches forward of the hatch opening which extended down to the bottom of the weed hatch, effectively sealing off that area from the rest of the boat. I wondered how common place this design feature is. The safety advantage is obvious and I cant think of any negatives so I wonder why all narrowboats don't have them, I don't see that it would add much to the overall build costs of a new boat.

Wow, what causes such significant damage, electrical erosion or plain old rusting?

That's what I did when I bought my boat from a marina based brokers. My survey report was emailed to me by the surveyor within 24 hours. Some negotiation was had with the broker around some issues raised in the survey. It was agreed that they would remedy some of the issues prior to the conclusion of the sale and a price reduction was also agreed to take account of a few other issues that I would sort out post purchase. With that all agreed the boat was blacked before it was hauled back into the water. Basically if you don't have it done while it's already out then you will have to stump up again for the cranage and hardstanding fee when it comes out post purchase. You might want to ask the broker who would be liable for the cost of the blacking in the event the vendor was to withdraw from the sale at the last moment.

Thanks for the recommendation. Is there an alternative to the bitumen based products? other than the two pack epoxy systems.

Hello, so I'm now wondering which product to go for, Intertuff 16, SML Ballastic or Keelblack. They all seem to be in the same area pricewise give or take a few pounds. What would be the consensus on the best stuff to use?

Hello, as in the post I won't have the benefit of a covered and heated area. The marina has a slipway and a large hardstanding that they can haul out onto. I was planning to do it in the spring but after the comments about temperature I will move it back to the summer. I also will be repainting the sides from the top of the blacking upto the side decks whilst the boat is out and repainting the top sides once she is back in the water. If the weather stops play it wont be possible for me to complete it all in one hit as I work full time.

Hi, thanks for the advice. Is there a time period within which the second/third coats have to be applied. For example if the first coat went on and then rain stops play and I can't get the second/third coats on for a while would that cause any issues with the application.

Hello, thanks for the replies. I wont have the benefit of a covered area, the marina has an open hardstanding area that they can haul boats out onto via a slipway. I can leave it until the warmer weather arrives. I don't know which product the Marina applied two years ago, the bill just says bitumen paint. I think it cost me about £700. I don't grudge paying for it to be done but I'm thinking if I I'm thinking if I do it myself I know how it's been done. Sorry for the two messages but the pooter seems to be going rogue on me.

Hi all, I plan to have the boat out in the spring for blacking. It has only been done once since I've owned the boat and that was done two years ago by a marina so this will be the first time I've done it myself. The current coating is failing along the waterline so little patches of rust are coming through. Does anyone have any recommendations on which blacking to use, Intertuff seems quite popular. I presume there isn't any compatability issues between different brands as long as it is a bituminous based product going over a bituminous based product? What method of application works best, roller or brush. Also how many litres can I expect to need for a 57" narrowboat. I plan two coats and an extra coat along the waterline. I won't be doing the baseplate as it wasn't done previously and the boat will be on sleepers so too low to get to the baseplate. Thanks, Michael.

Your not alone, I have this daunting task ahead next year too. The boat is coming out to be blacked in the spring, Luckily the marina I'm at has a slipway and an hydraulic lifting trailer to pull boats out and a large hardstanding area where you can do your own work. I plan to repaint the sides from the top of the blacking upto the gunells whilst on the hardstanding. Then the topsides will be done once back in the water. Painting in the marina is prohibited for obvious reasons, risk of neighbouring boats getting spattered and risk of spillages into the water or onto the pontoons etc. They do allow painting on the slipway though so that's the plan. We plan to sand the existing paintwork just enough to give a key then paint directly over. We've chosen similar colours to the existing ones so any scratches to the new paint wont be so obvious. We've bought Teamac marine gloss and will be rollering it on and tipping off with a brush. I wonder if anyone has used the Teamac gloss and how they found it to use?

I can't say for residential moorings as I've never looked for one but I imagine they are hard to come by, but Ive never had any trouble finding a marina leisure mooring. We were looking to move marina last year and made enquiries at a few and all had a few spaces available. We ended up moving to one in Northamptonshire and they had a few spaces left. I guess some areas of the system are better served than others. Ive bought a number of boats from brokerages based in marinas and they have always offered a mooring so if you visit brokers it might be worth asking, it saves the hassle and stress of having to find a mooring straight away.

If this young woman has an eye on her future financial security she would be much better advised to be investing the £1000 a month she currently spends on her boat loan and licensing fees into bricks and mortar. In ten years time she will have an asset that has appreciated in value, rather than a boat which will probably have depreciated. I would also say the expenses of running a small modern house are likely to be lower than the boat.

Hello, we had a boat on the broads for a few years and then moved to The River Great Ouse. The downside of The Broads is limited mooring spots, although you can usually squeeze in. As already said can be quite busy, although we moored on the Southern section which is quieter. I much preferred The Great Ouse. Much fewer boats, I think just as pretty and quite a few towns/villages on the river. Plenty of moorings, join the Great Ouse Boating Association as they have a lot of moorings for members. The river does ofcourse have locks but it is lock free from Hermitage Lock all the way to Denver or back down The Cam to Cambridge. The locks from Hermitage through to Bedford are quite widely spaced so not too onerous and most are electric guillotine gates so easy to operate. The section between St Ives and St Neots is really pretty, proper Wind in The Willows stuff. The navigation is often closed during winter months due to high water levels and fast flows but fine the rest of the year.

Hi all, thanks for the suggestions. Been down to the boat today and lifted some floor boards to try to find the source and found under the shower room was very wet. The waste water pump from the shower is one of those that sits in a plastic box with a float switch activated pump. A little while ago I noticed I couldn't hear the pump kicking in when showering. I found the float switch had jammed and fixed it. Thought I had noticed it straight away but maybe not and some of the shower water ended up in the bilge and has just found its way through the concrete slab ballast to the rear inspection hatch. Ive mopped it out best I can with limited access between the slabs and left the floor up and inspection hatch open for ventilation. Ive bought a 12v bilge blower and will pipe that into the inspection hatch next time I,m there to force some air flow through.

Hi all, my boat is a trad stern with a conventional layout IE from the stern, bedroom. bathroom, kitchen and saloon. The bedroom has two inspection hatches into the cabin bilge, one under the steps into the engine room and one under the wardrobe which is against the bulkhead between the bedroom and engine room. So about as far astern as you can get before you get into the separate engine bilge. I regularly check the inspection hatches and they've always been dry since we've owned the boat, about two years. Last week I noticed there was water in the cabin bilge under the wardrobe. The boat does have a slight list to port so any water would tend to find its way there. There wasn't much, probably about two litres which I mopped out. Apart from the obvious but hopefully unlikely cause that theres a hole in the hull I'm thinking a number of possible causes, A leaky window although theres no sign of any leakage around any windows. We have had a lot of very heavy rain. Leaky heating system. I have had to top up the expansion tank on the Alde boiler. Leaky domestic system although the water pump doesn't cycle randomly. Lastly I recently had the fresh water pump replaced as the last one packed up. It may be the engineer may have been a bit careless when replacing it and dumped a bit of water into the bilge in the process. I thought about putting some air vents in the cabin floor to assist drying but Ive read two contradictory theories. Vents are good because they will cause a flow of air through the bilge aiding drying out. Vents are bad as they will introduce warm air from the cabin space into a cold bilge, result condensation. Any thoughts, advice and ideas others have tried gratefully received.

Thanks KevMc, I didnt spot they had a showroom, thought they were online only. Might be worth a visit.