The Gravy Boater

Is there something you're not telling us Rob... got yourself a big Patreon?

I appreciate this is probably a recurring topic, but I'm interested in what is going on right now. It's that time of year for me and as my insurance renewal cost has gone up for no reason I'm looking for a new insurer, or at least to discover whether everyone is in the same boat (so to speak). Please let me know your preferred insurer, whether the cost has gone up or down this year and what experience you have had in the event of a claim. Thanks in advance.

I was convinced I would want a pump out when I was first looking for a boat, but all the options other than cassettes are either expensive and/or a potential nightmare if something breaks. Buy a nose peg... become one with the poop... bucket and chuck-it.

Is it better to seek forgiveness or ask permission? I may have obtained a new bottle from a part time marina employee who was unaware of the current edict. Flurry of calls later and Calor accepted the loss. Possession is 9/10 of the law...

This forum can play havoc with your waistline...

My 2d would be to say I've been using a Honda EU22i with LPG conversion all winter, about 300 hours of use, and it has operated flawlessly. My charger requires 70A and has worked fine. Simple to maintain and very quiet, especially if you point the exhaust away from the boat and any neighbours. I've had no complaints about noise, but plenty of folks enquiring about the LPG conversion. LPG burns cleaner and sidesteps the issues of needing compliant storage for petrol (which also has a shelf life and is more of a faff to acquire on the canals). You turn it off by turning the gas off, so any left in the generator is used up. I get an average of 35 hours out of a 13kg cylinder, so it's about 75p-£1/hour depending on where you get your LPG. Two other issues to be aware of... boy dogs seem irresistably drawn to piddle on generators... and the EU22i cannot be run in wet conditions. As others have mentioned if you just want power in the summer then spending the same amount of money (or less) on an oversized solar array will give you more power than you could ever want. Solar is also much better and obviously cheaper for maintaining LA batteries.

I'm confused... who would have any interest in visiting That London nowadays?

I have 860w of solar. Ran my 12v fridge, a router and my desktop PC (for 6 hours/day... it uses 160-260w) while charging my 540ah bank and a load of mobile devices last Friday, Saturday and Sunday. It was exceptionally sunny, but over the winter there have been many days when I haven't bothered to run the engine or my generator.

Stove fans are easy to fix with dirt cheap components... in fact you can find videos of how to do this on... YouTube.

If you have any time to move a boat over the summer I would consider looking at boats up north. The market is going to be pretty fierce when we come out of lockdown (more than it already is) but you will get more for your money and maybe even some choice if you look further afield.

Those who can, teach... those who can't, teach teachers... and those who can't teach teachers manage them.

Happy days.

Any non-boater would assume you were a liveaboard... whereas any watching liveaboard likely wouldn't give a rat's arse.

If you haven't already investigated this it may be worth watching Journey With Jono's vids on the matter. I seem to remember he addressed this specific issue in his configuration. Given that he was subsequently employed by Victron I imagine he got it right. I looked in detail at Lithium but decided against it last time on account of not having enough electronics experience and everything costing 2-3 times more than it should if it has the word 'boat' in the title. The RV market in the States seems to be driving the development of so called 'Solar Generators' / 'Power Stations'... basically just lithium batteries, a solar controller, inverter, BMS and assorted connectivity in a box. Indiegogo is awash with prototypes and stuff going into production but supply is screwed by Covid. The prices are comparable to what you would pay for similar amp hours of lithium boat batteries. Maybe this will help drive adoption of lithium... economies of scale by tapping into a much larger market (RVing, Camping, all off-griddery) and making it idiot proof.

Using 5kg of supertherm per day in my Petit Godin and couldn't be more toasty (50' narrowboat).

A happy moribund religious festival to you all...

Solar output is of course reduced in winter and certainly cannot be relied upon. Right now during the shortest days I get about one third of my maximum output (around 300w out of an 860w array) in strong unobstructed sun if the boat is positioned east-west with panels tilted south. Still useful, but not much given how short the days are. If you want to spend any time on your boat outside a marina solar is a no-brainer, the more the merrier. As the others imply gas hobs or stove tops are a more efficient means of cooking, so unless you have deep pockets and there is some reason why you are determined to be all electric this is a much better option. If you have high power needs in the winter away from shore power a portable generator may be a more convenient solution... mostly because they are easier to maintain than your engine and provide a largely bulletproof power source for when things go wrong. Just don't moor near me if you get one.

This. Michael and Jo are hardcore CCers who are doing the silver propeller challenge. There vlog is one of the few boaty channels I bother watching any more.