bmp

Hi Dave I wouldn’t want to kill my engine for the sake of £20 but I am probably more curious to know if I am just buying the same item at different prices ..... and how could I tell?

It is Canaline .... I think my issue is that I don’t think I would know what to look for to see if it was too cheap.

Hi Everyone... Just getting the parts list together to service the Canaline 42 on my boat. I got the parts last year from Engine Plus who are the "recommended" supplier for Canaline - according to my manual. I got the recommended parts last year as it was my first time doing the service so I was being extra cautious. Plenty of people on here have recommended getting the filters from various other motor factors and online etc .... quite a few recommended Inlinefilters.co.uk. Looking at the fuel filter as an example ... EnginePlus price is £25.11 Ex Vat Inlinefilters price is £9.07 Ex Vat for what they call an "equivalent" filter. Ok - so my question is this .... Is there any reason NOT to buy the cheap filter? I am one of these people who generally believes that you get what you pay for and don't have an issue spending money on the right stuff, but equally if these parts do exactly the same job why buy the expensive one? Are the cheap filters rubbish? Any thoughts on this would be appreciated. Thanks BMP

Thanks for the info. I was hoping that it would be controlled in some way.

Are farmers allowed to use the water from the canal to water their crops ? I have had a few walks along the Leeds Liverpool canal near Scarisbrick over the last week and each time have noticed several hoses in the canal pumping water over the fields. Also over the last week or 2 I have had emails from the CRT warning about canal closures due to water shortage on certain parts of this and other canals.

I need to put some Miltons in mine - not been done since I have had it so must do that. Thanks. Good point. My drill cost a lot more than a water pump. Sounds like a combination of the above solutions is the way to go. Got plenty more weeks to plan it by the look of things anyway.

That is a good idea too - thanks.

That sounds like a good idea. Saves killing my pump. thanks.

I was thinking that about the syphon option too . wasn't sure if it would work. I think the water tank is about 150 gallons and it is nearly full. Boat is on shore power so no issue with the power - just the time the pump will need to run to empty it.

Thanks Tony Wasn't sure if it would kill the pump or not. I always turn the power off to the pump before leaving the boat and leave the taps open too - just to be on the safe side.

Morning all.. Just thinking ahead for when I can eventually get back to my boat..... The water in my water tank would have been sitting there for a long time and I was going to empty it out and put some fresh water back in. Ho do you normally do this? I know the obvious answer is to turn the tap on and leave it until it is empty - but will this damage the water pump? Would I be better using a hose to syphon it out? The other option I was thinking about was to buy a cheap pump and pump it out with that. At least I will have a spare pump then too .... although this might be knackered by using to to pump out a full tank after I use it !! Any thoughts or advice would be appreciated. Thanks BMP

I suppose it depends on how "nice" the facilities are. I only use my boat at weekends and short breaks at the moment but often use the showers in the marina. This is usually if I don't have any hot water if I haven't been out for a cruise or if I just fancy a long hot shower without worrying about using up all my water. If I found the facilities to be "grim" as someone mentioned above I don't think I would stay there. Not sure I would pay over £2000 a year unless the facilities were good. BMP

I am not sure if I am right on this or not but ... I thought the elsan points just flushed down the normal drainage system but the pump outs go into a big tank that then needs to get pumped out into a tanker. I see a tanker appear every now and again at the marina where my boat is to empty their tank. I assume they pay for this and that is why they charge you. I may be wrong on this so apologies in advance. BMP

I spent ages a few months ago looking and waiting for a decent second hand Brompton and none went for less than £500 / £600. Any cheaper were rubbish. I ended up buying the new Brompton B75 for £745 - which is ideal for what I use it for. No mudguards on this version but I never use it in the rain anyway. Ok on most dry towpaths - no good if muddy - but as I said I wouldn't use it if it was too wet anyway. For me the smaller compact folding size is ideal to fit in the boat. I knew if I got a bigger one I would end up taking it back home as it would be in my way on the boat. BMP

I feel your pain on this one. I have a smart TV that worked perfectly with my old Vodafone 4G router but would not connect to my EE 4G WiFi. I tried every setting that is possible to force this to connect without any luck. Lots of other devices like my internet radio, laptop, phone etc all connect to the EE device without any issues. The way I got it to connect was a bit strange. I had already tried putting in a manual IP address but that didn’t work initially. If you login to your router and click on the “sign in to change WiFi “ you get into the main settings of the router. in the top menu click on STATUS and then connected devices. Hopefully you will see your TV in the list showing up with a 169 IP address. This is the weird bit..... Next to the device there is a slide button to enable internet and another one to block device. I disabled the internet on the device and also blocked the device. Back on the TV I then entered a manual IP address as you have already tried. I then went back to the router and the TV should now be in the blocked devices list. I unblocked it and enabled internet. After that my TV now works fine on the internet. it is obviously not right that you have to do this - but it did work on mine. hopefully works for you too. BMP

My boat had this done before I bought it last year. I dont know the reason why. There is a receipt in the folder that came with the boat. It says "Swap out PSS stern gear for conventional stuffing box arrangement" £670 + VAT This was done last March. Hope this helps.

Hi Jim. All my trips are short at the moment anyway so short trips up and down the L&L should be fine.

My boat is fairly new and not much needed yet in the way of repairs or changing anything. It is probably just the “chill” bit I am looking for. Once retired the distance won’t be an issue. I need to visit there and have a look. It appears to be a good option. Thanks for the update.

Yes I think you are right. I have been to Tattenhall Marina a few times and it takes about an hour from here so could be a good compromise. Hi Rob ... What you have described is what I have now - the 2 hour bit and maybe what I think I want in the short term - somewhere nearer to pop to in the evenings and maybe take family etc out. I think I want the best of both worlds !! As I said in one of other replies I think I need 2 boats !!

I think while I am still working this would be an ideal solution and probably one that is making me consider my options. When I retire it could be further away. There has been a few days this week when the weather has been ok and when I finished work and was at home about 6 o'clock it would have been lovely to pop over to the boat. But then at the weekend it is not such an issue.... Maybe I need 2 boats !! (Only joking !!)

Will take a look at that option. Was preferring a marina because of the facilities etc but this could be an option. All those places are actually nearer too. Maghull is 10 minutes from where I live. That is a good point !! What do you think of Scarisbrick Marina and the area around about it?

I think it will be very similar weather to where I live now. We are quite sheltered here and dont get any extremes of the weather so not really an issue - but as someone else has pointed out it is often warmer in the midlands than it is here. The trade off bit is exactly it.... Just trying to way up the good and bad points of each location. What I am looking at here is only for the short term while I am still working. Once I retire the distance won't be as much as an issue.

All good points.

Thanks. Distance wise they are just another 10 minutes from me. The main issue I have with them is that they are on the Rufford branch and that looks a bit more “locked in” than the Scarisbrick Marina but would welcome any ones opinion on that.

Thanks - that is good information and advice. I agree about the mooring and distance bit ..... I really like the marina and area it is moored in. I need to do a bit more homework about Scarisbrick to see how that compares to where I am now.