frahkn

While I wouldn't suggest going this far, my 70' boat has 9 portholes per side (of which 2 open slightly) and 6 hatches. As well as 3 pigeon boxes. We like our ventilation!

Dean, I can't help but feel that your proposal falls down at point 2). If adopted, CaRT would chose the questions to be asked and would avoid those areas where they did not want to hear alternatives to their own decided policy. Senior members of large bureaucracies have enough to worry about - their careers, keeping on top of the heap, keeping the workers reasonably content/quiet, running the bureaucracy (as opposed to the actual endeavor). They certainly don't need unpredictable "customer" input complicating their lives.

"I would not feel so all alone - everybody must get stoned" Who am I to argue with his Bobness but I have never had a boat stoned - must try harder I suppose.

Hi Just a couple of points. I have a valve that selects either morco or hot water from tank. I had a 70 foot boat that had twin pumps at the front so I removed one and did a bit of basic re plumbing as it seemed totaly unecessary to have two pumps. I was right the system worked faultlessly with one pump. Tim Tim, Having recently bought a 70' boat with two pumps at the front, I would be very interested to hear more details (either on this thread or by PM) about your "basic plumbing". Is it as simple as removing one pump (and its pressure vessel) and connecting both pipes to the other? Thanks. Frank.

Thanks very much everybody. Once back on the boat, convinced by you all that there must be a valve to swop between calorifier and Rinnai, I found it. It works exactly as you predicted. The water from the calorifier is too hot - strange as the engine apparently runs a bit cool - but that is a matter for another thread. Cheers.

I was a potential buyer, not seller, but Braunston gave me the keys to 3 £60k plus boats and let me walk round on my own. The salesman had never seen me before and I was very surprised. I would not have been happy if I was selling any of them. It did give me the chance to see 'the neatest boat in the world' at my leisure - which allowed me to decide that very neat boats just don't do it for me.

Bear in mind the possibility of a cocooned engine (which will be quieter but may still give good access). An off-set engine (which will allow more room to walk past it). An engine placed well forward of the stern steering position (which will sound less intrusive to the steerer). None of these are particularly common but none are rarities – my boat has all three though I wasn’t specifically looking for any of these features in my prospective boat.

Don't expect technicolour - as far as I couls see there was red paint on the top couple of inches of the racks, nothing else. But I was on the boat, not working the locks, so could have missed something. The CaRT employee said there were 'full instructions' at the top lock but the only sign we saw was so overwritten as to be unreadable.

There are still red paddles at Delph - most of the blue paint has worn off, so no (or few) blue. Whatever system of working they were painted for no longer exists. The only 'rule' is to minimise by-wash by opening the top paddles on the lower lock of each pair before opening the bottom paddles of the lock above. This is generally 'good practice' on most close flights. I think about 50% of users don't bother with this but on my last passage (a week or so ago) a CaRT person was very insistant that this be adopted.

We are deep drafted - 28" - but we found good moorings just after Farmers Bridge (about 400 yards from the top of the Stourbridge 16). Only ten mins. walk to reasonable shops and pubs. Not in the Bull & Bladder class but fine for our purposes.

My right arm and hand have limited strength and mobility and I had considered lorry straps to assist with mooring but never got round to trying anything. Possibly two sailing winches would be an alternative - if they could be placed where I would not trip over them. Bit expensive though.

In my former (shared ownership) boat the heating was provided by a multi-fuel stove supplemented by an Alde (which also provided hot water). It was a 57' boat and there were 4 radiators. Used in winter to help the stove, the Alde was reasonably economical - about 13kg per week. A problem with larger gas bottles is finding a suitable place for the gas locker - our gas locker was on the semi-trad deck but I doubt we could have fitted a larger one in.

A bit too inclusive Mr Hogg, I pay council tax - quite a lot of it - I do not share your objection to "tinkers". Who can say when I'll be a "tinker" myself? Frank.

Having hired over many years and then been in a shared ownership scheme for 11 years (this was a Reeves boat), I did not really believe that different boats handled very differently in the water. Yes there were small differences but nothing major. I now have an Orion boat and though it’s early days, I just cannot get over how much better it handles than anything I have used in the past. This may be of less importance to some, and probably would not excuse the odd internal fit out of mine – great quality but very eccentric, but it does for me.

Smileypete, Photos are a bit difficult at the moment - the gallery thinks all mine are too big and (despite advice from this forum) I haven't been able to sort this out yet. The boat is a 2003 Orion "tug" which I've had for three weeks. There are RCD documents explaning how to fit the calorifier but not how to operate it. It is clear that it has not been fitted exactly in line with the instructions but I imagine that is often the case. The previous owners have been able to tell me only that 1) "the water was hot for them" and 2) "we had a man do work under the bed immediately prior to the sale" [the calorifier is located under the bed]. They seem to have used the boat as a more or less permanently moored home so will have been on shore power most of the time - there is an immersion heater in the calorifier but I have not tried this yet (in case there is no water in the calorifier). When back on the boat (in a week) I plan a full investigation....but need a full list of possibilities to investigate. I'm worried that it may be something vague like an airlock. I suppose I'm looking for reassurance that the problem is something more "real". So far, this thread is helping to convince me that it is a problem that can be solved logically. Thanks.

Trackman, Thanks for the first bit, I assume that as the Rinnai is an instant heater, it would not be involved with the calorifier (unlike the Alde)? As for the temperature, I have only had the boat for a couple of weeks but I've noticed that the engine temperature (per the gauge on the instrument panel) never gets above 70 C even with fairly hard running. If the pipes into the calorifier are hot (too hot to hold comfortably but not scalding) surely the calorifier must be as hot? I would like to test this by switching on the immersion but I am afraid to in case the calorifier is empty, because of an airlock or a closed valve somewhere. What I really need is an exhaustive list of possibilities, so that I can check them methodically. Mike, Sorry, posts crossed - I'm a slow typist!

Thanks all, for the tips. I will try them out systematically when next on the boat. Can I just pin down the issue of 'how do the taps know what heat source to use'. My previous boat heated the water by calorifier and with an Alde gas heater. There was an 'on' switch on the Alde (on top of the room thermostat) but nothing else. I don't understand - never thought about it - what happened if the Alde was switched on when the calorifier was hot, where did the hot water come from?

I am taking Gefion to its new mooring but have had to go home for a week or so to deal with an urgent matter. I telephoned a marina and was offered a temporary visitor mooring but was asked to e-mail details before they would take a deposit.. Despite reminders and telephone calls, they did not get back to me, so I have had to make alternative arrangements. Luckily the alternative marina could not have been more helpful, didn't even want payment in advance. Is the sloppy attitude of the first typical, do many marinas have such poor customer service? Frank.

Paul, Off the boat for a week but as I remember, schematic was fairly basic but I will check. Mine is a 70' boat with the water tank in the bow and the engine (and calorifier) about 15' from the stern. Perhaps for this reason (can't think of another) there are two water pumps (and two pressure vessels) by the water tank. One serves the cold supply, the other the hot. I can't hear any supplementary pump opperating when the Rinnai is working. Mike, Even I can follow pipes and will do so next week, the calorifier is under the bed and significant dismantling is required to reach it, so presumably the switch/valve would not have been put there? Bones, Air locks are going to have to await the attention of an expert - I know when I am out of my depth (most of the time where this boat is concerned). Any other suggestions for lines of enquiry which I can to be pursue next week? Thanks.

In the couple of weeks that I have had this boat, I have not been able to get hot water from the calorifier. The pipes taking water from the engine to the calorifier are hot but the calorifier itself is too well lagged to be certain of its temperature. Pipes leaving it seem no more than warm. I have a Rinnai gas heater which also heats the water so there is no immediate problem but I want to get the calorifier working. Finally, there is an immersion heater in the calorifier but I have not tried that 1) because I am not on shore power at present and 2) in case the calorifier is empty, perhaps due to an airlock. Sorry to be so long winded, what I want to ask was prompted by a casual remark in another thread – is there likely to be some sort of switch or valve which selects either the calorifier or the Rinnai as the heat source? If so, what is it likely to be – switch or valve? Where am I likely to find it? Thanks. Frank.

I did exactly this trip on Friday (from the Dog & Doublet to Cambrian Wharf). My timings were as follows:- whole journey - 7 hours 50 mins; from Salford junction to Cambrian - 4 hours 10 mins. I had a crew of two but I have limited mobility myself so call it a total of two and a half. We encountered some low pounds, especially on the Aston flight and had to let water down. Having said this, it was nonetheless a much easier trip than my first (also about 30 years ago). Although we could have started much closer than the Dog & Doublet, I saw nowhere on or between the two flights where I would be prepared to moor. I am not a nervous or particularly wary boater.

I recently sold my share in an ex-Ownerships boat which is now managed by ABCN, as many ex-Ownerships boats are. I owned the share for ten years and would not have sold had I not been buying my own boat. I would reccommend an ex-Ownerships boat since the drama surrounding the collapse of the original scheme at least made owners resilient and able to take most events in their stride. Although the scheme ultimately failed, the boats are of good quality and the day to day organisation was (and is in most cases) good. There are always shares in some boats for sale - Ownerships had 110 boats in the fleet at the end.

The volt reading varies between about 13.7 and 14.4 but what should I understand from the current flow figures - I thought these would be big at the start of charging and fall over a period of time, irrespective of the state of the batteries. Is this not correct? Nicknorman - am I just wasting diesel if I continue to run the engine for a few hours after I moor? Assuming the charge fell to nil during the journey? Thanks. Frank.

Thanks for the link to the manual - I had a printed version but it only related to installation.