jetzi

I had a go at trying to sand the non-slip. Well, it does work, but it is going to take a long time and chew through a lot of sanding discs. I tried a flap disc, which is faster but still extremely slow and difficult to get it even. I think it is definitely not possible to only key the previous non-slip by sanding. The raised bumps very much get in the way. I would love to just clean it and paint over it because the underlying paint is sound, but clearly some past owner painted over it and that paint is peeling. I think the real answer is to hire a scabbler & genny and remove it properly, but that's a pretty intimidating prospect especially for a towpath job. @Ronaldo47 I'm not sure who you're asking, I haven't used any non-slip yet, but I opted for buying the epifanes granules at a ridiculous price to go with the epifanes paint I'm using.

Thanks. Do you know at what point it becomes cart territory?

Ah, so there is... https://canalrivertrust.org.uk/notices/19979-lock-84-to-lock-92-rochdale-9-manchester-rochdale-canal Thanks for pointing that out, could have been a real problem. And sounds like the kind of thing that might hit snags. Still, excellent communication from cart so far, so I'll check again on Tuesday. Don't have exact dates, was thinking perhaps making the transit from Saturday to Tuesday or thereabouts. But perhaps I'll head up towards Liverpool first instead. I wanted to see the Barton swing aqueduct anyway.

I'm planning in the next few days to transit the Bridgewater canal, through Manchester, up the infamous "Rochdale 9" locks, right onto the Ashton canal, then it looks like I'm out of the woods (or rather, back into the woods where I belong) when I get to Millbrook. I'm not too concerned about the horror stories, but I do prefer the country so my aim is to do the urban bit as fast as possible. It's a pretty long trip though so I will likely have to spend at least two nights in the city. I'm completely unfamiliar with this part of the country, but my aim is to eventually go through the Standedge tunnel, then to check out the Peak Forest canal simply because it has the nicest sounding name. Once I'm done up there I plan to come back to the more familiar waters of the Trent and Mersey by way of Macclesfield. I've read a few of the older posts on the topic, but I wondered if anyone has any general advice or more recent updates?

Thanks for all the responses! To collate: River Witham below Boston. A local harbour authority (no licence required, but probably need VHF). Anglian waterways (Nene, Ouses, Wissey, Lark, New Bedford, Burwell/Reach/Swaffham Lodes) - EA or Gold licence required. The Thames below Teddington - Port of London Authority (no licence required, but need VHF). The Wey - National Trust - Need licence from here (£91 / 7 days, £114 / 21 days) Basingstoke Canal - Basingstoke Canal Authority - Need licence from here (£45 / 1 week, £100 / 1 month) Trent below (north of) Gainsborough - Associated British Ports (no licence required, but need VHF and crew) Bridgewater Canal - Bridgewater Canal Company - reciprocal arrangements apply for short term visits by CRT licenced craft (7 days free) Manchester Ship Canal - Manchester Ship Canal Company - a number of special requirements apply for passage by pleasure craft. Middle Level Navigations - Middle Level Commissioners - Anglian Pass required for EA/Gold licence holders (£100 / 1 month) Bristol Floating Harbour and Feeder Canal - Bristol Harbour Commissioners. Separate licence payable below Netham Lock. (payable to whom?)

I was planning out some potential travels and I was dismayed to discover that the Warwickshire Avon has its own navigation authority (ANT) and so I assume a Gold license won't cover it. They charge 50 GBP for a 7 day through pass and a whopping 1238 for a year! I'm trying to find out who the navigation authorities for all the connected network that I can reach with my 65' boat. Can anyone help me or provide a source for these? River Witham below Boston. The CaRT map stops at Boston, and it seems logical that the W4IDB would take over. I think that CaRT covers Sleaford and Black Sluice though so maybe it does? Apart from the bit of the Cam above (south of) Bottisham Lock, the Anglian waterways (Nene, Ouses, Wissey, Lark, New Bedford, Burwell/Reach/Swaffham Lodes) are all EA, correct? The Thames between Teddington and Brentford is apparently covered by the Port of London Authority - would an EA/Gold license cover this bit? The Wey = River Wey and Godalming Navigations - correct? Basingstoke Canal = Hampshire County Council - correct? Trent below (north of) Gainsborough - the CaRT map stops here but I'm pretty sure CaRT governs the Trent all the way to Trent Falls, doesn't it? Everything else I think is covered by CaRT... I hope...

Oh interesting that the eastern part of Popham's Eau might be navigable, many maps are missing this section. My boat is 65'. Yes I agree part of the appeal is that it's not primarily meant for navigation, my comments are not meant to "blame" MLN/MLC or EA, it just seems a pity that there are a number of "almost but not quite" cruising rings!

I measure my boat's air draught as 5' 9". According to the headroom map on the maps page of the MLN site, Exhibition Bridge 80 (E on the above map) has only 5' of headroom. Given that Bevill's Leam is blocked by the pumping station, that effectively cuts off Yaxley for most craft, right? And Ramsey, Great Raveley Drain and Monk's Lode are accessible but will require reversing in one direction. There's a sluice on Great Raveley Drain that is well before the indicated head of navigation, but I can't find any evidence that it's passable - @Scholar Gypsy you said in this post that you got up to the sluice but the signs (not legible in the photo) discouraged you from passing it. The MLN is starting to look a bit less extensive than first glance! Unless I'm looking in the wrong place, the navigation map (2013) on their website doesn't really seem definitive. This shows forty foot drain and new bedford river (though they are outside ML so I suppose that could be overlooked). But it also shows Old Popham Eau as navigable to Nordelph, which is at odds with every other map I've seen.

So based on what was said above about the un-navigability of forty foot above Horseway lock, and of the Old Bedford being unnavigable for full size craft, and the New Bedford being hazardous due to shallowness, does this map (modified from IWA peterborough) reflect an up to date picture of MLN navigability?

And then Welches closed shortly thereafter? It seems a bit of a pity that the MLN commissioners only see the need for one way through, it would be nice for visitors to be able to go there and back a different route, not to mention the redundancy preventing people being stranded one side or tother. So the lock is fine, it is just the actual waterway between Horseway and Welches. Thanks for the link though, I'm reading through your other posts in the area. It looks marvellously isolated down there, probably worth the mile of reversing!! Edit: Found some more information on the IWA website here: https://waterways.org.uk/waterways/discover-the-waterways/old-bedford-river Welches Dam lock was closed in 2006, and it also notes that "Longer boats [than 50 feet] may not be able to gain access due to the tight bend in the narrow tidal channel below Old Bedford Sluice." As my boat is 65' it looks like this wouldn't be possible for me anyway Even if the locks were open.

Is it just the lock that is closed? Is it possible at least to cruise from the Ouse south on the Old Bedford River to the top of Welches Dam lock? And vice versa via Horseway to to the bottom? I managed to find this image of Welches Dam on Google street view, seen from Old Bedford River, which looks navigable-ish. But the lock is clearly closed as you say... hopefully not permanently?? Sure and I'm looking forward to that but it would have been nice to go out and back a different way. @Scholar Gypsy Perhaps it's worth noting on the guide that routes through Welches Dam are not possible, none of the maps I have seen indicate this and I'm probably not the only one who wondered if there is an alternative route. ?

Have a question about this magical mystical middle level land. Going between the Nene and the Ouse, on the map I see two main ways of getting through. 1. Via Salters Lode and Denver Sluice 2. Via the Old Bedford River (either via Benwick or along sixteen foot river). Option 2 requires you to go through Horseway Sluice and Welches Dam sluice. I cant find much information on these though and when I look on Google Earth, forty foot drain looks completely dry! Is this just what it looks like, or is it unusual, or is it a case of waiting for rains?? Sub question, how did these drains get their names - 40 foot, 20 foot, 16 foot. Is that their maximum width?

OK so the answer is that you don't key the non slip, you remove the non slip but try not to go too deep through the underlying layers. @blackrosea was suggesting that it wasn't necessary to get all the nonslip off and @Sprint955 was saying they were having trouble getting the nonslip off anyway (as I have no doubt most would...seems to me like it would equivalent to sanding sandpaper).

Isn't a scabbler a seprate and specific tool? Is there such a thing as a scabbler "attachment" for a sander? I can't find anything by Googling... Just curious, how could you properly clean and key paint that had non-slip grit in it? You can't sand it, so isn't the only way is to take it back to bare steel?

I have a drum of 100 litres of used coolant that I have been carrying around for months. It's pretty dilute as it is 50 litres of my coolant plus 50 litres from my first flush with tap water, but obviously too toxic for a drain, soil or (gasp) a waterway. Can you name those tips (preferably near a canal)? I have called around at many tips and they all say they are only willing to take a couple of litres in containers. Many of them also want me to prove that I live in the area and arrive in a car... as a CCer both things I can't do. I have also called several garages and they also don't want anything to do with it. I called CaRT who say that's nothing to do with them (fair enough). I called the council and they gave me the number of a private chemical compay. That was the closest I can get - they will come and pick it up for 150 GBP ex vat, and even they want to steal my drum. Can anyone suggest the name of a place that they know of who will take it (I'm on the Shroppie at the moment but I can travel)? I feel like I'm out of other options. Is it really going to cost me 200+ quid to get rid of this stuff?

For the record, which part is the aquadrive? Is it the concertina black rubber thing? It's much quieter since I tightened the bolt. I don't think the metal skirt is quite touching the bearer but it is close. Is there any harm in hanging on for a few months or should I replace the mount urgently? Yeah, it seems that if I got the revs just right then the engine wouldn't move aound so much, even with the loose mount bolt. I think this was a valid theory, but yeah definitely seems to be the mounts. I've always (since the last 3 years of owning her) found that tickover is quite vibratey and noisy. I wouldn't want to increase the tickover revs though as I'm sure I'll get lots of fistwaving as I pass moored boats. Since the alignment seems to be not an issue, I'm going to take her for a cruise now and see how she goes. I will check if the stern gland gets warm and see how the vibration goes at a variety of RPM. Is there anything else I should keep an eye out for?

I've wiped up the oil around the mounts with oil absorbent pads. I used it like dental floss to get under the cap and a bit of sticky black stuff (not oil) got stuck to the pad, I guess this is a bit of melted rubber? The one mount (to the fore of the boat, opposite the one that was loose) seems worse - I can actually see and feel bits of rubber coming out there. Here's a photo: I guess this does mean I need new engine mounts. I will have to look for a boatyard willing to do the job. Honestly I find it near impossible to get anyone to work on the boat. There seems to be more work than anyone knows what to do with so even if you find someone with availability, they prefer to do nice clean easy jobs. Yes, here are pictures. In the second picture I'm holding the stripped brass bolt that I replaced, in case that's a clue for how the gland was wearing. I also uploaded a video of me rotating the shaft with my hand. I don't suppose you would be able to judge a couple of millimetres of misalignment from it, but it's at this link: https://imgur.com/a/ivoqOeY

The bund under the engine became flooded a couple of weeks ago and coated the bilge (and the mounts) in oil. I cleaned out the bilge so as not to pump oil overboard but I need to clean more, especially if the oil could be damaging the mounts. The thread from one of the brass bolts holding my stern gland was stripped, and water trickled in that way. My bilge pump is manual. In fact come to think of it perhaps the stripped bolt was also the result of the engine vibration? I'll trial and error the corner i messed with and see if i can improve the vibration further. But I'm certainly in no hurry to get new mounts if it isn't absolutely necessary, the noise an vibration is much better now. Unless you'd strongly advise more urgency I'll get them checked next time I black the boat which will be in a year or so.

That loose mount was definitely 90% of the problem. Sounds much better now. I do notice that the engine doesn't seem to hum perfectly consistently - every few seconds it either sounds like the revs briefly speed up for half a second or slow down for half a second. i don't know if this is related or if there is something else going on. Also - it's hard to say - but I think the engine is getting louder the longer it runs for. I think perhaps the bottom nut of that mount is working loose. I am going to let it run for half an hour and then check. If it is working loose again, is there anything I can do to stop it?? Thanks i definitely would have done this the other way around if you hadn't said! It could be oil from the engine as well - it's really mucky in there at the moment - I need to spend some time cleaning and repainting the bilge soon. If the mounts have gone soft, I take it that's a boatyard job with a mini crane to lift the engine? I wound down the top nut a bit so it's probably not in exactly the right place... I am only running out of gear at the moment, I suppose putting it in gear, checking for vibration, balancing, rinse repeat is the only way to align it.

Here are photos of the mounts. I can already see the problem. The nut on the port-fore engine mount has worked loose, and with a crowbar I am able to rock the engine diagonally quite far until it bumps against the engine bearers. On the other two mounts it only moves a couple of mm. So I suppose I just need to tighten this bolt? Any idea how tight they should be? I have a torque wrench.

Last weekend I put in a new calorifier that has a immersion element. It is dual voltage, 1kW 240V and 600W 12V. I want to connect this up as a dump load since now it is summer by 1.5kW panels charge my 640Ah LiFePOs almost by the time I wake up in the morning. The immersion element came with a digital thermostat for the 12V elemenr where you can set the on and off temperatures, but it only has a 10A relay on the board so it doesn't seem fit for purpose (600W at 12V is 50A). As for the voltage I need to set it up so that it starts the heater just before the solar goes into float (currently set at 13.8V) and then turns it off again before the heater has drawn down to say 60% SoC. I am not using the relay functionality on my BMV712 so I thought that might be something I could use. Owing to the currents involved I think I'm going to have to learn about using MOSFETs to turn on Tyco 190A bistable relays. I have two or three spare that I bought during my BMS installation. I'll have to find an old copy of "electrical engineering for dummies"!!

Forgive the stupid question, but how would I know? I stand on top of the engine when entering and exiting the engine bay (very awkward to get in otherwise). Am I damaging something by doing this?

It's loud in neutral as well as in gear. I'll check this tomorrow, thanks. What temperature is normal for the stern gland? My boat has a steel hinged lid, never had any sealing strips. It's really more of a vibration sound.

Running my engine seems to be getting louder and louder. It's hard to be sure as it's gradual but I was having to shout to make myself heard today and I'm sure that's not normal. I installed a hospital silencer about 2 years ago and I remember the engine being really quiet. I don't think it's the exhaust though, it sounds like there is something vibrating or something loose. Could it be that my engine mounts are wearing out? It seems to be louder when the engine is cold and as it warms up it gets quieter, and if I get the revs just so then it's quieter. Traveling at tickover is unpleasantly noisy. My only thought is to spend some time in the engine hole with my torque wrench and beta 38 manual and make sure everything is tight. Would appreciate any ideas or tips to try to find the source of the noise...

Thanks for the reassurance, I am a bit of a novice when it comes to mechanical things so I don't really know how important stuff like this is. Appreciate the replies!