Oddjob
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Posts posted by Oddjob
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Yesterday while moving south on the Oxford came across a hire company who thinks its ok to moor their boats 3 a breast leaving just a single channel open for navigation, and then at top of Hillmorton locks boat yard thinks its ok to moor a NEW boat on the lock landing. Also to rub salt into a sore spot on the other side a boat was moored on that lock landing as well, who had stayed overnight as he had a can over his exhaust pipe. I thought if coming down I would have moored against the new boat minus fenders and then see the reaction from the boat yard!
This I've found is a problem with hire fleets they just take up all the navigation as there God given right and then get bent out of shape if their boats get bumped while navigating passed them.
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On 01/02/2021 at 11:25, MaggieA said:
Hi All,
I've got a Pete Nicholls boat built in 1982. She's in really good nick and I've generally had her base plate backed at my local marina. I know many folk do not do this, but I can tell you that the bitumen has always been on there when she's been re-blacked, so it's not always the case of 'don't bother, it will come off on the bottom of the canal'!
I am by Braunston, heading south on the Oxford Canal. can anyone recommend any boat yards where they will also black the baseplate?
Thank you
Debdale marina just north of foxton locks do the bottom I had mine done and afterwards going along used 200 rpm less for same speed.
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Went shopping at Morrison’s in Middlewich came out and had to wait 1 hour for taxi back to the boat. So got a paper and was waiting in the garden stuff shelter. Mgr came out and asked if I would like a coffee while waiting I offered to pay but and I quote “ it’s ok it’s on us” also the door man said you wait there I will tell you when your cab is here. So it’s a big thumbs up for middlewich Morrison’s from me
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Already old baking tray on standby for just that reason
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Yesterday had the most useless bubble stove removed and consigned to the skip and a Morso Solid fuel put in. Had the double walled flue system fitted as well “Loads of money” but looks good. They also made a steel fire place for it to stand on as the tiles break from the weight of the stove.
So now we look like proper boaters with bags of coal on the roof lol.
Very happy with it expensive but worth it.
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When do Haji charter flights Nigeria to Mecca with a DC10 a seal on the hub cap was broken while changing wheels and no spare available. Fix get on the PA and ask the cabin girls who has stick on nails "I do" shouts one good let me have the glue. The glue is like super glue cut both ends of the "O" ring with a razor blade at 45 deg stick ends together and away we go! Add job to list of "must do list" on return to Gatwick. Normal items on list are clean toilets, replace seat covers, clean carpet, bomb the cabin (pest control spray) to kill off Afican bugs etc etc.
When in the back end of nowhere mend and make do is the name of the game, like going to local garage with main wheels to inflate to 205 psi took about 5 hours to pump up 2 wheels lol.
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Wife is sure she saw it on the Middlewich branch around bridge 24 day before yesterday. Canal closed at bridge 18 so not passed there but could have backed up into the T&M.
Hope its found soon.
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On 22/01/2021 at 20:06, Keeping Up said:
Quick way to do this- get some bare wire and wrap it round and round the 2 terminals. No need for any tools, just make sure you don't let the other end touch anything especially the hull. If you haven't any wire, as an emergency temporary measure use twisted kitchen foil.
don't think kitchen foil is going to take amps required for engine start! as said above put both cables on same stud until key obtained
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Flush crushed ice cubes through it scraps the crud off the inside of the tubes and can't jam up as it will melt.
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3 hours ago, Bronco99 said:
Please, please help if you have direct experience with this rather than, like me, loads of reading up, official and unofficial specs and guidelines and tips on revving with bins full of water!
I want to get up the Grand Union main line from Bulls Bridge as close to the Warwick Cape locks as possible. I know what the CRT specs say and I know how they differ to other publications and chatter in pubs etc.
I have a height of 7" (wheelhouse off, square cockpit screens). Lets assume a chart datum water level and take into account my 9" beam for the arched bridges.
Does anyone have any actual experience of attempting this passage with a similar air draught.
If it really isn't possible then how far north IS it possible to get?
Really appreciate some first hand knowledge of this, recent if possible but all welcome.
Cheers all.
7 inch height and 9 inch beam should be no issue. IMHO. lol. “= inch ‘= feet
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Stay in your home and local exercise rules say funny being so far out in the country and tow path still like M25 all locals yea right. Just like the numties driving from London to walk up Snowdon.
Anyway stay safe as most comments from marina moored owners or house owning boaters who only go to the boat once in 6 months to check that’s it’s still afloat, then there posters who don’t even have a boat! Say no more. -
Nice to see CRT again telling people to use tow paths for their well being. What about my well being have all sorts coming past my front door! CRT not bothering to think about boaters well being.
At the moment moored up on the offside so good but as we know these are rare, also only access is from canal and we are alone here so very happy. -
Private person can not do a credit check against another person as report only goes to their home address not yours. I needed to check my credit history as the previous owner had a bad record and I was living overseas but they would only send report to address being checked which was no good to me as you only have 30 days to say there is a mistake and I couldn’t get the report to me within that time frame so I gave up until I returned to uk 7 years later. Previous owners forwarding address was HMP Brixton lol.
also a broker has in their contract with you the buyer if there is an outstanding debt you can’t hold the broker responsible so it all comes down to you the buyer taking all the risk. However a broker has a lot to loose as in reputation by selling boats with outstanding debts so they will not take on a sale if they doubt the seller is telling the truth about no outstanding debt if there is a debt broker will pay it off direct and give balance monies to the owner on sale completion. -
Bottom line if a debt/ loan taken out against the boat you will loose it to the person who gave the loan if not paid off. Only way to protect yourself is take out insurance against this happening.
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On 31/12/2020 at 16:02, Alan de Enfield said:
Almost (but not quite) as bad as geting 'the old man' caught in the zip.
Mate did that I took him to hospital on back of a 750 cc Triumph Trident and the nurse between laughing and trying to be serious just snipped the zip at the bottom and pulled it apart, job done. She said not the first time she had done this. Another good hospital visit was a friend fell of my trail bike flat on his back. Took him to cottage hospital late on a summer evening nurse put him in the bath tub with warm water 2 handfuls of salt and the gave me a nail brush and told me to scrub his back until all the dirt was out. Then said I’ll check back later as I’m busy do my drug rounds. He didn’t feel a thing, well not for a couple of hours any way. Then he was in agony for about 10 days as the scabs kept coming off after getting stuck to his shirt. Thing is these types of hospitals have gone by the way side now just mega sized units that you wait for ever in to get seen.
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Tank level has no effect due the reg had a float in it. When I spoke to Harworth heating maker of Bubble stoves about installing reg was told it has to be fitted with float plimsoll line 2mm above the centre line of the inlet, dog walks across the boat trim changes by 2mm lol. I have tweaked the ref up a bit which has improved the situation some what but still goes out if both of us are on the bed together as this changes the trim so float level falls below inlet centre line. It is what it is location of the stove is at fault which I am not going to re engineer the boat for so will live with it.
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My stove goes out with change in trim go to bed stove goes out if I sleep on the sofa other side of the boat stays alight. I would like to use it as my mud weight but fitting a solid fuel stove to many issues so have to put up with it.
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On 28/11/2020 at 13:16, rgriffiths said:
Following the fan belt breaking and engine overheating, we are regularly having to top up the water - daily and a couple of litres.
Thinking (hoping) it might be an airlock I have removed the thermostat and watched it run for an hour or so.
Bubbling slightly and foam. Can this be anything but the gasket?
Head gasket gone gas getting into coolant side hence bubbles.
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On 03/12/2020 at 09:43, Alan de Enfield said:
The problem with pumps is that you may not realise that one has 'packed up', it only takes minutes of no circulation for the water in the back boiler to boil. turn to steam and 'explode' your system.
Pumps are dangerous and should not be used.
Design your system to be gravity / thermo-syphon driven.
What happens as long as the system is not a sealed pressure system is if pump fails water in the back boiler turned to steam and the expansion pushes the water in the pipe back into the header tank which now over flows and dumps the water on the floor/bilge then if you have plastic pipes near the fire they melt. This I know as just before I brought my boat the broker got the fire going to show a buyer but did not turn on the pump and above took place. When I got the boat I found water in the bilge and when I asked the marina based engineer he told me the story. Cleaned out the water and no more issues. I plan to move the pump to a better place as access is under the bed stowage so I have to empty the stowage to get to the pump. I plan to replace the pump before next winter as it’s a new pump in September 2019 as it was leaking will replace as prevention is better than cure in this case as it’s running 24x7 now. It was only £70 so not to much for peace of mind
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On 06/12/2020 at 09:52, wetfoot said:
My sons boat has a Yanmar 4JH4AE engine and a ALT 4036 70A Unipoint alternator.
As a expected, there is almost no output from the alternator at idle and only at a relatively fast idle , or slow boating speed, is there any charging of the battery.
I'm investigating changing pulley sizes to increase the alternator speed so that it charges at idle.
I found this conversion kit in the US but its very expensive.
Does anyone know of a similar kit in the UK to make the crankshaft pulley larger and the alternator pulley smaller?
(I think it might be preferable to fit a second pully over the crankshaft pully like that kit does rather than replace the pulley for a bigger one, as I believe the crankshaft oil seal is formed against the pulley, not the crankshaft so I'd rather not disturb it if I can.
Speak with “4 countries marine services" he did an upgrade for me 90 amp alt with smaller pulley and it works like a dream. I have a Barrus engine with a travel pack he also replaced the bearings in it and fitted a free wheeling pulley that also was a first rate job.
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Another good one was now working for Dan Air as fleet engineer engineer on A300’s. after winter check carried out at British airways Gatwick I was taxing aircraft to carry out high power engine runs just as aircraft started to move a quick dab of brakes just to make sure there working on the master green system and guess what no brakes at all nothing pedals flat as a pancake. Now moving towards active runway with no brakes mind going 100 mph ok turn off anti skid system that puts us on the yellow system brakes but it takes 20 seconds for the relays etc to change it was a long 20 secs that’s for sure. Also at Gatwick taxing a DC 10 had total radio failure that got the control towers attention lol. Fix was 1 click for yes two clicks of the mic button for no they then sent a yellow follow me wagon to lead the way. All in a days work lol. Now moving at 3 mph on a NB but you still need to keep your wits about you.
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Towing balls up, when I was a mechanic at Laker Airways Gatwick I was told to go and collect a DC10 from stand 20 and bring to the hanger ASAP as hanger staff were ready to start work on it. Big rush so I set off with another guy who was to sit in the flt deck operate the brakes. Put tow bar on backed up the tug bar was just a little out of line for the pin to fit backed up a bit and heard the pin drop in this is where the mistake takes place I did not check the pin it had NOT passed through the eye of the tow bar. So called up the tower asked and got clearance to back off the stand and go to the hanger, backing up was fine as the bar was jammed in the tug fitting but when I put on the brakes the tow bar fell off and said DC10 rolled down the taxi way backwards on its own. When the guy in the flt deck saw me jumping up and down he slammed on the brakes and the nose wheel came about 1 foot off the ground I thought that’s it it will sit on it’s rear end. All was good in the end got connected up and got to the hanger after getting inside the hanger I got a round of applause the news had got there before me. Much fun was had working there it was a sad day it closed down in Feb 1982
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22 hours ago, ditchcrawler said:
And the Ex pats who are likely to come back and forth if I may use that term without offending.
I am not fended at all I’ve been working all over the world since I was 22 @ 22 I was sent to Nigeria for two years working on helicopters. The point is with CC’s is even if you count us where to you build a old people’s home place for us I could be counted in London but need a old people’s home place in Manchester. Anyway when the time comes off back to India nice and warm and home help available and affordable. I went there for two years in 1990 thinking I was going to starve as I hated Indian food lol Returned to UK after 7 years with a wife and 2 sons loving Indian food. Point is most like 87% of Indian places in the UK are in fact run by Bangladeshi’s so not Indian lol.
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I don't think wearing a sari would work doing locks lol.
Why do we need to be counted anyway? My permanent home is between two houses in India one in Calcutta and our main home is in Goa, CC's while on boat in UK. Wife has a UK passport because of marriage to me, she is half Irish half German but born and brought up in India and I have a "overseas citizen of India" card because I am married to her so I can live in India, so best of both worlds for the both of us. So who counts us? No one that's who.
If some job's worth find us on the tow path on the day then I will fill it out but I am not going to make a fuss about it that's for sure.
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Navigation blocked by boat yards
in General Boating
Posted
Read my post yes they did moor on the lock landing