LiamC

£2k every three months, thats £8k a year! Are you sure you have your sums right?

Salters have a slipway at Donnington Bridge on the Thames in Oxford. Its there for maintaining their passenger boats but they do slip narrowboats during the summer season when their own boats are out on service. Might be worth a try as they are local. Tel: 01865 243421.

Does anyone know of a vehicle that had a large alternator as standard that might be found in the scrap yard? Lots of modern vehicles have big alternators to supply headed seats etc but they're not the sort of thing found in my local yard.

I have a remote starter switch on my SR3, its a 15A switch on a cable run of about 10feet of 20 amp cable which works fine. Originally it was on 5 amp cable and the solenoid clattered in and out causing irratic cranking. Therefore a decent cable or a relay to operate the solenoid is the way to go. The solenoid on the SR3 is a pre-engage type which means that it is not only a big relay but it also physically engages the starter motor with the flywheel before the starter motor is energised. Therefore the solenoid is quite powerful hence the high current it draws.

Brokers often ask for a deposit when submitting an offer. If you submit your offer with the condition that it is subject to a satisfactory survey then you may walk away from the sale and have your deposit refunded if the survey reveals any major defects. I thought this was standard practise when dealing with a broker?

Thanks for your comments so far. We will know more when we get the full written report in the next couple of days. It is indeed the classic style with the high bows. The base plate was 6mm originally but we will see what else the surveyor has to say. Its a shame as its a lovely boat, very nicely laid out, very good engine but I'm sure there are other boats that would meet the criteria.

Hi there, just hoping for a bit of advice from some experienced narrow boaters. We've put an offer in of £21k on a 46' Harborough Marine but the survey has shown some problems. We've had the verbal report from the surveyer and are currently awaiting the writen report. He tells us that the lower part of the side plates are down to 2.7mm thick from the original 5mm caused by rusting from the inside out. He estimates a welding cost of £2k to put right. He also says there's a problem with the central heating which is most likely the circulation pump. If the welding was done and the heating fixed he values the boat at 20k so we're thinking of asking the vendors to do the work and reduce our offer to £20k? Altenatively we've thought about reducing our offer to £17k and getting the work done ourselves. Or should be walk away and look for another boat? The survey and slipway fees have come to £650.00 so we're a bit undecided on what to do next. Any advice appreciated.

Thanks for posting that. I have sent them an e-mail.