[Any advice for Manchester transit (west to east)]

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?

[Which navigation authority are these rivers?]

Thanks for all the responses! To collate:

1. River Witham below Boston. A local harbour authority (no licence required, but probably need VHF).
2. Anglian waterways (Nene, Ouses, Wissey, Lark, New Bedford, Burwell/Reach/Swaffham Lodes) - EA or Gold licence required.
3. The Thames below Teddington - Port of London Authority (no licence required, but need VHF).
4. The Wey - National Trust - Need licence from here (£91 / 7 days, £114 / 21 days)
5. Basingstoke Canal - Basingstoke Canal Authority - Need licence from here (£45 / 1 week, £100 / 1 month)
6. Trent below (north of) Gainsborough - Associated British Ports (no licence required, but need VHF and crew)

7. Bridgewater Canal - Bridgewater Canal Company - reciprocal arrangements apply for short term visits by CRT licenced craft (7 days free)

8. Manchester Ship Canal - Manchester Ship Canal Company - a number of special requirements apply for passage by pleasure craft.

9. Middle Level Navigations - Middle Level Commissioners - Anglian Pass required for EA/Gold licence holders (£100 / 1 month)

10. Bristol Floating Harbour and Feeder Canal - Bristol Harbour Commissioners. Separate licence payable below Netham Lock. (payable to whom?)

[Which navigation authority are these rivers?]

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?

 

1. 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?
2. 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?
3. The Thames between Teddington and Brentford is apparently covered by the Port of London Authority - would an EA/Gold license cover this bit?
4. The Wey = River Wey and Godalming Navigations - correct?
5. Basingstoke Canal = Hampshire County Council - correct?
6. 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...

[Guidance for visitors to the Fenland Waterways]

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!

[Guidance for visitors to the Fenland Waterways]

5 hours ago, Scholar Gypsy said:

E and I denote low bridges that very few NBs can get under.

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!

 

5 hours ago, Scholar Gypsy said:

The MLC map is the definitive source.

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.

[Guidance for visitors to the Fenland Waterways]

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?

 

[Guidance for visitors to the Fenland Waterways]

48 minutes ago, David Mack said:

Until Well Creek was reopened in the 70s the only way through was via Horseway, Welches Dam and the Old Bedford.

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.

 

 

26 minutes ago, ditchcrawler said:

The other end can be seen here https://nbharnser.blogspot.com/2012/02/horseway-lock-28-feb-2012.html

 

 

the right hand bank had been scraped clear to allow a crawler tracked dredger access and this had worked its way right up to Horseway Lock which was helpful. We have moored for the night on the lock landing which like the lock is in first class order. The bottom gats of the lock are chained and padlocked but both end gates are ajar with no level differential. The other side of the lock the cut just disappears into an overgrown mess, so I am sure no one will be wanting to lock through

 

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.

[Guidance for visitors to the Fenland Waterways]

1 hour ago, enigmatic said:

Welches Dam is closed and has been for years, so your only route is via Salter's Lode

 

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??

 

 

1 hour ago, enigmatic said:

It's alright really, Upwell and Outwell are interesting to navigate through and even the "slow" route via Denver lets you cruise at 7mph north of Ely and other bits of river you probably won't want to miss

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. ?

[Guidance for visitors to the Fenland Waterways]

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?

[Roof repaint..non slip]

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).

[Roof repaint..non slip]

On 08/05/2021 at 08:31, MarkH2159 said:

Go get a Scabbler head and discs for your orbital sander.

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...

 

  

On 07/05/2021 at 23:26, blackrose said:

Why do you need to remove all the non slip paint? Is it that bad? Why can't you just go back to metal on the bits that need it, patch prime and possibly fill those areas, and just give any sound non slip paint a key and cover the lot with a good undercoat and topcoats of whatever you want.

On 09/05/2021 at 15:40, blackrose said:

If the existing paint was sound and you keyed and cleaned it properly then I don't understand why it would lift

 

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?

[Where to buy large quantities of antifreeze?]

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.

 

  

On 21/12/2019 at 21:34, nbfiresprite said:

Every tip that I used, have had a tank for it to be poured into.

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?

[Engine seems to be getting louder]

1 hour ago, Tracy D'arth said:

you have an Aquadrive

 

1 hour ago, Tony Brooks said:

its a Pythondrive or Aquadrive

 

For the record, which part is the aquadrive? Is it the concertina black rubber thing?

 

1 hour ago, Tracy D'arth said:

Your noise is that rotted engine mount, the metal skirt is touching the engine bearer. If this is the only bad one, just change that one. Its a DIY job now that you do not have to line the shaft up.

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?

 

35 minutes ago, Steve56 said:

Which is what the op seemed to be suggesting when he said if he got the speed just right then there was an improvement. Although this is now irrelevant as it appears the mounts were at fault.

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?

[Engine seems to be getting louder]

14 hours ago, Tracy D'arth said:

You need to get all that oil sorted out too, it will wreck your new mounts. They will rot if oily.  Is it a leak or spillage?

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.

 

14 hours ago, Tracy D'arth said:

Can you sent a pix of the coupling and shaft behind the gearbox?

 

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

 

[Engine seems to be getting louder]

3 hours ago, Tracy D'arth said:

You need to get all that oil sorted out too, it will wreck your new mounts. They will rot if oily.  Is it a leak or spillage?

 

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.

[Engine seems to be getting louder]

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??

 

 

 

3 hours ago, Tracy D'arth said:

You do NOT wind the top nut down but the bottom nut up.

Thanks i definitely would have done this the other way around if you hadn't said!

 

 

 

1 hour ago, Tony Brooks said:

The top picture suggest degraded rubber by hydrocarbons oozing out of the mount while the second one seems to have a strange strip of rubber sticking out. I would not be a bit surprised if at least two mounts have gone soft or failed.

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?

 

2 hours ago, Bee said:

Ah, that looks like the problem. Now the tricky bit. Check the two rear mounts and hopefully they will look as though they have not moved. Then as Tracy said, wind the bottom nut up till the whole thing comes up to the top nut, that should then be OK as the top nuts are Nylock and vibration proof. That should all be perfect.  There is a 'should' in that last bit. Keep an eye and ear out for noise, vibration and wear for a while just in case things have moved a bit. It took me ages to get my engine sitting straight, level and square on its mountings and nicely lined up to the shaft.

 

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.

[Engine seems to be getting louder]

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.

 

 

 

[Cheap LiFePO4 BMS?]

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"!!

[Engine seems to be getting louder]

5 minutes ago, Mike Tee said:

Engine mounts OK?

Forgive the stupid question, but how would I know?

 

1 minute ago, Rob-M said:

Anything that could drop down on to the engine, I had a floor support drop on to the top of the engine and it sounded like the engine was about to explode.

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?

[Engine seems to be getting louder]

8 minutes ago, zenataomm said:

Louder in gear or same as in neutral?

 

It's loud in neutral as well as in gear.

 

3 hours ago, Tony Brooks said:

Check the temperature of the stern gland after a run and look to see if the shaft is in the centre of the pusher. That is unless you have a flexible (Vetus) stern gland or a Aquadrive type shaft coupling.

I'll check this tomorrow, thanks. What temperature is normal for the stern gland?

 

 

7 minutes ago, Machpoint005 said:

Stupid question: have the sealing strips dropped off the deck boards?

My boat has a steel hinged lid, never had any sealing strips. It's really more of a vibration sound.

[Engine seems to be getting louder]

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...

[Running an engine without the air filter]

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!

[Running an engine without the air filter]

I opened my engine bay and I found that my air filter assembly fell off the engine. I was fiddling with it 2 days ago and I obviously didn't tighten it properly. It has been idling for maybe 1 or 2 hours since then. Could I have done any damage running the engine without an air filter? is there anything I should do about it?

[New Narrowboat shell in build. What do you think of this?]

2 hours ago, peterboat said:

If an electric motor runs hot something is wrong so my comment calorifier should be enough was made.

I'm also a bit surprised that the electric motor would need keel cooling. But if it does, I don't know that relying on a calorifier would work, surely once your hot water is up to temperature the calorifier will stop cooling the motor?

 

What is a more pertinent question to me is what is going to cool the diesel generator if it is in the bow? I assume that is air cooled? Surely the diesel generator will produce more heat than the electric motor - it feels like the cooling is the wrong way around - water cooling the diesel generator and supplying a calorifier, while the motor is air cooled or with that very small skin tank you mentioned, would feel like it made more sense?

 

That little notch out of the bearer doesn't really bother me. Doesn't look so neat but it can't be material, the motor will weigh much less and vibrate much less than an engine so I'm sure those bearers are probably serious overkill anyway.

 

I have no idea what I'm talking about though, this is just my gut feel.

[Radiator hoses for calorifiers inside diameter]

Thanks, I got it about 70% of the way on now. I actually boiled the hose in a kettle of water and then whipped it straight out and pushed it on. I have some blisters to show for it but combined with the jubilee clip on it I think it will hold. It's unbelievably tight though!