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Mad Harold

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Everything posted by Mad Harold

  1. Thanks for your advice,you had me worried. When I got back home,I splashed some Old Mice aftershave on,and I am relieved to report that I can smell it with a vengence!
  2. Thank you all. Today in W Yorks it has been a blistering hot day wth no cloud and sun all day.Even so,16.4 volts charging does seem high,when with the engine running it charges at 13.something volts. Perhaps even a 10W solar panel needs a controller despite the advice I was given that a 10W panel will only trickle charge enough to counter the normal discharge when stood. I will check the battery voltage tomorrow,and if it has dropped to the low 12s or 11s,then I know that my battery has had it.I will now leave the solar panel disconnected untill I get some advice from a proper boat sparky.
  3. Think it's an XC 70 Oh dear,it'been charging at this rate for weeks! Don't know what current was flowing in.There's only one battery and it has screw caps,so I think it is not the sealed type. After a few minutes thought I went back to the boat (I only live ten minutes from my mooring) and disconnected the battery.The battery felt cool but after a couple of minutes with my head in the battery box to disconnect the terminals,I noticed that although I couldn't smell anthing,my nostrils were stinging a bit.
  4. It's a Honeywell a few months old and gives a double "beep" every five seconds or so. No battery charger,however there is a small (10 watt) solar panel fitted with no controller and wired direct to the battery. I have been told that being only 10 watt a controller wasn't necessary. I did check the battery and it's voltage and with the solar panel connected I got a reading of 16.4 volts,and disconnecting the solar panel from the battery got a reading (after about an hour) of 13.6 volts. Although the battery was cool to touch,it's possible I suppose that it may have been releasing gas. Thank you both for you replies.
  5. Went to the boat today and found the carbon monoxide detector twittering away. Checked everything,no cooker on,engine not running,and no nearby boats running. Tank vented to the outside and battery box vented into the aft of the cockpit. It is a very hot day,and the interior of the boat was as hot as the interior of a car that had been standing in the sun. Is it possible that heat alone could have set the alarm off? It was definately the carbon monoxide alarm and not the smoke alarm.
  6. Had a short walk up the HNC yesterday,and lock 1E paddle gear chained up.Not that it mattered,as there didn't look as though there was enough water to get over the cill. The only craft that could navigate there at the moment is a paddleboard. Locks 5,7 and 8E are listed as closed due to silt and I don't know how going through Standedge is going to work maintaining social distancing from the chaperone. Walked the other way down the Huddersfield Broad,and lock 9 bottom gates leaking badly.Dont think it would be possible to open the top gates without using a "Spanish Windlass" The pound between locks 8 and 7 is very low too. You might as well go to the pub. Oh,sorry,I forgot!
  7. That's a rather scary opinion Arthur! But probably true.
  8. You could if feasible,fit a "grey water" tank. compulsary I believe in some countries.
  9. Strangers are not welcome here, Stranger!!
  10. Thats too easy! It's obviously the "Battle Suite"by Samuel Scheidt. Give us a more difficult one.
  11. When mooring for any length of time,I take a turn around the bollard,and lead the line back to the boat's cleat. How does one "dip the eyes" doing that?
  12. I have secured the lines of unoccupied boats on odd occasions if they look dodgy in windy weather.I think it is a neighbourly thing to do. I was grateful to someone recently for re-tying my stern line when it came adrift. Everyone has their own way of securing mooring lines,so I can't always re -secure a boat in the same way it was originally tied.
  13. This post cannot be displayed because it is in a forum which requires at least 10 posts to view.
  14. You have just reminded me,I have most of a 2ltr tin of British army olive drab matt paint in the garage from when I had an Armstrong MT motorbike. Perhaps painting the outboard with this plus the boat name and reg in white may deter thieves.
  15. A plain outboard cover helps so that scrotes can't see what sort it is. Regardless of what thiefproofing stuff you fit,some use a 12v angle grinder to cut the engine out of the transom. Get a really evil dog? A tip from someone on this forum was to paint the outboard in some garish colour to make it harder for thieves to sell. I couldn't do that to a brand new outboard!!!
  16. I bought my present boat,a Norman mainly because it had a new Tohatsu outboard and a new canopy (the two most expensive items on a yoghurtpot) The bill the previous owner showed me for the outboard was for £2000 but included new morse control cables and a new fuel tank. The last outboard boat I had was powered by a Yamaha 9.9 but was the permanantly locked down type and although the boat would float over obstructions,the outboard leg and prop was prone to damage. My present Tohatsu has features that are very desirable on canals, ie,the outboard leg is free to click up into three or four shallow water positions as it has some sort of ratchet mechanism when in fwd gear,and locks in the down position when in reverse or neutral.Very necessary on our lovely "deep"canals. I would suspect you will need the longshaft model outboard as most cruisers over 20ft do,but you will need to check this. The Tohatsu is a peach of an engine,smooth,and whisper quiet and as they have through the prop exhaust,extra thrust is generated. Mine is the 8hp model and although I havn't yet given it full power on a river yet,opening it up on a wide bit of canal very briefly,I saw 10kts on the Sumlog before throttling back to a sensible speed.I think there was more speed to come but that will have to wait untill I get onto a river. If you can get the model with a pull start as well as electric,then a flat battery is no problem.
  17. It may be helpful in your boat search to list all the things you want from a boat,this is mine. I am a not a live aboard but a weekender with a couple of three or four weeks away a year,but have frequent day trips,and always on my own. The boat needs to be 30- 35ft, trad or small cruiser stern,no more than 20 years old. It must have a decent amount of tumblehome and not look like a box,and have decent paintwork.It must have tubular roof rails that you can get hold of properly and not ledges.The cabin roof must be strong enough to walk on without "oil canning". A hull survey should show plenty of meat left on the hull. The engine should be a modern Japanese marinisation (preferably Kubota) and have skin tank cooling at the proper size (1sq ft per 4hp) Last boat had direct canal water circulating through the water jacket,and I don't want that again. A cratch cover I think is important for storage. The galley/eating area should be at the back,a solid fuel stove should be midships,and a cassette toilet and shower.No pumpout! Living/sleeping area at the front with a permanent fore and aft bed.Last boat had a crossways bed aft that had to be made up every night and it was a pain. Must have a gas hob and grill to make my morning toast,and hot water from a instant gas water heater,no fancy plumbing or calorifier and also no fancy electrics,inverter etc.Shore hook up and battery charger is quite enough. That's my wish list for my next boat,and of course everyone will have different requirements,but I hope to find the boat I have described sometime.
  18. Looks to me to be pretty uninspiring and nothing special. Recommend you keep looking. As a point in passing,my last narrowboat was built in 1978 and was largely ok. But I have decided if I buy another narrow boat,it will be no earlier than 2000.
  19. I like that boat a lot.It certainly has character and (subject to survey) doesn't seem overpriced. I would be happier with gas cooking and a solid fuel stove,but if it ticks your boxes,go for it.
  20. If the parts of the boat you can see are bad,then what are the parts you can't see like? Engine?gearbox?electrics etc? You have said you are not a good at diy,and it sounds from your post as though it will need a complete internal refit as well as a thorough hull inspection inside too,because a hull corrodes from the inside too. Can you trust the vendor or broker to make good to an acceptable standard? Personally I would doubt it. Labour charges where I am are £46 per hour + vat.If you get a substantial discount on the price,then it is your decision to go ahead or not. From what you have posted I would walk away.There are hundreds of boats for sale at the moment.
  21. Me too Tony. I don't reckon owt to this getting old business. Had a Hurth gearbox on my last boat coupled to a BMC 1500,and I heard the word on the street (cut) that they were non too reliable.Read on an American forum some time ago that Hurths were known as the "dollar an hour gearbox"because at that time they cost $1000 and were only reckoned to last 1000 hours. There was no information as to what engine they were coupled to or the type of boat. However in the time I owned the boat I did about 1000 hours and don't know how many hours it had done before I owned it,but it had been no trouble at all and the boat is still moored here,and chugs past still. One tip I got from even older geezers than me who had probably been boating since Pontius got his pilot's licence,was to have a good slow tickover so that gears engaged without a crunch.This I was advised prolonged the life of the gearbox.
  22. Sounds like somewhere in the circuit the current is running to earth. The cicuit breaker should trip when this happens.
  23. Try Norman and Mary's on the upper Peak Forest.The last boat I bought was moored there and was cheap,isolated with water and toilet disposal. Can't remember the contact details,but if you pop into TW marine (a short walk away) they will know.It's in the village of Furnessvale just by the railway station. Just thought,I can give you directions,to the mooring because it is a bugger to find by road. Through New Mills to Furness Vale.Turn left into Station Road,over the railway crossing,and you will see a farm gate immediately on your right.Go in there and there is a big house at the end of the drive,thats Norman and Mary's house and the mooring is about 500 yards along a track alongside the house.
  24. I think I mentioned polyurethane foam and fibreglass construction as used in homebuilt aircraft when you were talking about stretching your Norman. The foam is easily sculpted to shape and covered in fibreglass and gelcoat,then power sanded to a finish. A point to watch though ,steel hulls with wood or fibreglass tops will leak after a time due to different rates of expansion.
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