Mad Harold

My last grp boat had lots of "spider cracks on the roof.Sanded and applied gel coat filler and re sanded (a long job because the filler I bought set like concrete!) Yours looks worse than mine was so I suggest the same treatment. I would use a power sander on the gel coat filler otherwise you will be sanding untill the cows come home.😄

I remember that one.It was a Freeman 22 and although Freeman did build some 6'-10" beam MK2's, the majority were 7'-6" beam. The person that bought it was to keep it on the Macclesfield Canal (a narrow canal) but only discovered it was the wider Freeman when he couldn't get through a lock. I did see it advertised for sale shortly after.

You could do what Naughty Cal has done. Sell your boat a and buy a motor caravan.😢

Yes, you have only to have a boat passing with a gorgeous female sunbathing on the deck, and forty people wil migrate to one side to ogle, and over the cafe boat will go! 😂

Just read that Mr.Ward has just been presented with a bill for over £30K by CRT.Also a notice to remove his gazebo from the towpath. From the Wiltshire Times.

The narrow beam (6'-10") grp cruisers don't usually have much headroom.5'-10" is usually all you get,but there are exceptions. I went to look at an Eastwood 24 and there was a good six inches space above my head in the cabin.(I am 5'-9") However the Eastwood is 8'-6" beam so cruising narrow canals is out. (If you can find one with working locks and enough water!)

I think you will have to strip the carb to check it properly. Old petrol turns into a brown gungey jelly and it may be that a blob or two is blocking a jet or perhaps the needle valve (that lets fuel into the float chamber) or even prevents the float from operating properly. If you havn't stripped a diddy outboard carb before, take some photos as you are doing it to help re-assembly. I almost forgot.Spread a cloth underneath the carb just in case you drop a screw or something. Stuff falling inside the outboard leg can prove well nigh impossible to retrieve! Don't ask me how I know this! 😞

If the last two years are anything to go by, then your only option is the Trent. I understand your nervousness about the trip, but I am sure there is plenty of sound advice on here from the people who have done it.

A couple of things come to mind. The auto choke is I think that solenoid?on top of the carb. Put your ear close when you switch the ignition on, and you should hear it click.If it clicks on, keep the throttle in the tickover position, while starting or it will over fuel.If it doesn't click, give it a bit of throttle when starting. The other thing it could be as I think it may keep running if you keep squeezing the primer bulb, is a perished fuel pump diaphragm. This is operated by vacuum pulses from the manifold, and if E10 petrol has been used it will perish quicker than normal.

Looks like there is water coming out of the tell tale. I think it fired but then stopped and I think you may need to give it a few more seconds on the starter. A common problem is a blocked slow running jet in the carburettor. The hole in these is very tiny and blocks very easily. Needs removing and blowing out with a pump. The hole is usually too tiny to push a wire through.This is not recommended anyway.

What's with the 'bonk bonk' You're not having sex while writing this post are you? 😘

Sounds too complicated! An across the board increase sounds more logical and simpler, with the % extra applied for width. To have differential pricing for CCers and home moorers will I think will cause moorings to become more scarce and therefore more expensive.

If you livaboard and don't have a mortgage or pay rent, then yes, it's pretty decent value. If you are a leisure boater like most of us, paying rent or mortgage plus council tax,then canal boating becomes a rather expensive hobby. Taking into account water shortages and stoppages, I don't think the leisure boater is getting a very good deal.

What they might do is restrict canal use by padlocking top and bottom locks on a flight and only opening for a few hours a day (or week).Saving wear and tear on locks and managing water resources better. This is already happening on some Northern canals. Probably this would cause less fuss than closing a canal.

At least THRIFT is a recognised word. When I was flying we had to remember stupid ones like BUMPF, HASEL.

The first night I spent aboard, I moored out 'in the sticks'. Pitch dark, wind sighing through the trees, an occasional owl hoot and fox bark.It was a bit uncomfortable at first, but once used to the solitude, I wouldn't want it any other way. There are 'scrotesville' areas that I would only moor there briefly to make a cup of coffee, but not overnight and certainly not leave my boat unattended. I know some boaters like their solitude and are not happy when someone moors up close to them, but the 'herd' instinct is quite strong in most of us and it feels more secure to be near someone else.

Dunno about diesel, but I once sealed a leaking carburettor fitting (petrol) with Araldite Rapid. It lasted for the several years I had the engine.

Yes, she's just been through Huddersfield. 😝

But it is patrolled by (by all accounts) a Barsteward on a moped!