Kudzucraft

The thng to keep in mind is that fuses protect the wire, not necessarily the device it is connected to. It prevents the wire from overheating and possibly causing a fire. I have seen wires overload glow bright red! It might not be necessary but a properly sized fuse is good idea and cheap insurance

Now that I think about it, it makes sense that canals are not covered under standard navigation rules. Obviously on a narrow canal the boat is head on towards you. I am just used to being a big navigable river where standard lights are required. Once you get used to it it is quite easy to see another boat and know direction is headed. But many don't use them and we have at least one accident where someone is hurt every year.

Aren't narrow boat required to have standard navigation lights? Red and green facing forward and a 360 degree white light? A white light shinning in your face ruins you night vision but you can split those with one white that faces forward and a rear facing light on the transom.

Interesting read. Our goal is to buy a boat and Cruise 8-9 months of the year. Return to the States for winter. My biggest concern was leaving the boat in the water unattended for 3 months while we are half way around the globe. Not trying to get this off subject but is having the boat hauled and stored on land for 3 months practical? Or cost effective?

Hot tea is like cold coffee to me. I can totally see why you Brits would hate ice tea. But seeing that mom (Mum) put iced tea in my bottle as a baby it is just wrong to drink it hot.

I hope you don't get them in large numbers! I live on a large river and thousands of cormorants have moved in. I don't know about fish damage but they roost in large numbers. Poo in large volumes and the ammonia is so strong you don't want to get near the Island. It also decimates all the plant life under them. Once the trees die they move to a new spot and start all over again. We have an are locally called 'The Islands', as the name implies it is a string of several islands, from small to a 3 or 4 acres. They have roosted there starting on the smaller islands. Decimated those, erosion without the greenery started and a couple of small islands were lost. The larger islands suffered badly but they moved to the other ends and started it all over.

I have always thought a Bimini top was a great idea. I think the key it proper size and installed in the right spot. If so you can take one down in 30 seconds or less. Just release the two straps and let it lay down. Thing to think about is where it mounts and where it will lay down. You don't want the arms to block you getting off the boat. I like to take the arm lengths and measure form the pivot point and see where it is going to fall. What is anything it is going to hit of be in the way of. Looking at this photo looks like you would need to mount in on the cabin and let if fall forward on top of the cabin. If you mounted it on the rail it would probably fall past the tiller and nothing for it to rest on. If you leaned it forward it would block you exit off the deck.

I respectfully disagree. I think this is really bad advice. Having had dealings with an insurance company on a disputed claim and having to sue them. I can confirm it is amazing at what they find out about you. I will give you odds are slim you will have a claim but if you do they can legally deny the claim and you could be out a lot money.

if you Google overplatting a narrow boat a few articles show up. I am in the US so I am sure more will show up on the UK version. Here is one I have seen linked to in the forum before. https://www.iims.org.uk/the-dangers-of-overplating/

Surprised no one mentioned an external attenna (connected to a router). Pretty sure this was covered in the linked thread. But, steel boats are basically Faraday cages and block any signal inside. Windows allow signal through them. If you CC around London or a big town probably not as big an issue but if you are going out in the country side I would expect an antenna to make a huge difference.

I didn't save the link but a quick search and I found it.

Recently watched a video testing several of these in a tank. Most were surprisingly good and chewed up the rope. Seems to me that rope is less of a problem on a canal boat than old sleeping bags, clothing, shopping trolleys, etc. I guess it depends on where you cruise and what you get tangled in your prop shaft.

Not buying a boat but I have bought cameras using an Escrow service and it worked really well. As the buyer I paid the fee. Not sure if a boat would be any different but if the buyer is good with it, it could be a good option.

If you going to live it on and Cruise the Tennessee River, yup! Summer temps of 90 degrees (32-33 C) are normal and add to that 70% or higher humidity. It would be like living in a over when sitting still.

Good point! Must have been wood.

To burn that bad it had to be either a wood or fiberglass topside. Either one could catch on fire from a grill outside from either end.

I think most of you clients would change their mind once they saw inside. A widebeam would be much more practical. No reason to be so narrow here. Plus if you building one you don't have to do an exact copy. You could modify the underwater hull shape to work better in these water and still keep the general look. I know the Tenn. river well. It is a person choice but if I were going to have on here it would be Dutch Barge. I think they are very good looking boats and would suit these waters pretty well.

If you can get an antenna outside the boat connected to it, then yes. External antenna will make a huge difference. Metal boats are basically Faraday cages except for the windows.