Ewan123

Thanks for sharing! I've wondered about something along these lines before. Someone I know mentioned (without details) that a friend had bought a similar (but commercially made) thing for about £1000 - not cheap!

Pardon me if it's already been posted here or elsewhere, but there seem to be some positive noises coming from the All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for the Waterways: https://www.waterways.org.uk/about-us/news/electric-charging-points-gain-support 3 key issues: the need to invest in infrastructure to deliver more electric charging points across the system; a proposed boat engine scrappage scheme to encourage conversion of existing boats; and a move towards greater distribution and use of biofuels. This step is favoured, over the current proposal by HMRC and HM Treasury to move from red diesel to white for inland waterways craft. Here's the letter from the APPGW to the Chancellor:

I think this might be one of the more problematic elements - one would probably need a seconday propulsion source for passing anything much more than a single boat. Having the line high enough to get over a normal boat (let alone some with things stacked on top... or even extended antennas!), I think it would be difficult to exert any useful pull on it. Maybe the pilot can punt it for a stretch!?

Yours may yet prove more reliable and/or effective in the long run - I wouldn't be too upset if what you've got still solves your issue.

It feels like there's a joke in here somehwere. There were at least five people involved there on the day, not to mention whoever did the planning, balloon procurement, video editing and social media posting. "How many CRT workers does it take to float a balloon in Walsall Basin?..." I think you're right, that's probably their aim. The execution is really what's lacking... the time, materials and money will all be for nowt when the balloon deflates and becomes just another piece of flotsam to catch your prop on.

If a developer is paying for the restoration, it may be that a compromise is unavoidable. The extra cost of engineering out the problem might make the development financially unviable and therefore unable to go ahead at all. It might be practical if another party were willing to pay the difference between the compromise and full wide restoration. I'm inclined to suggest that, for want of a slightly softer way of phrasing it, beggars can't be choosers (or at least can't demand too much).

I'm looking at one for sale from 1980, so definitely much potential for mistreatment since! It's in London and got that look of modern interior combined with missing a few crucial details on the ad, caution definitely to be applied.

My mistake regarding Black Prince, I misread this old post.

Does anyone know much about Tolladine as builders? I've read that they were bought by Black Prince and also that they often had wooden cabin structures. I was wondering about their reputation regarding things like hull quality and how well they handle.

That would make sense to me, though wonder whether the WiFi is provided as a free/complimentary service (as is often the case in hotels fora instance, I find).

This is a product I came across recently that should do the job of boosting the marina's WiFi/picking it up better at long range https://www.wifionboard.co.uk/product/wifi-extender-canal-pro/. I don't have any experience of it though and also bet there are cheaper alternatives around.

A bigger prop than was usually fitted I presume? I take it the previously mentioned relativey low tickover speed suits the larger prop for passing boats etc.

Exhaust emissions requirements? Thanks for the info and offer .

I think I missed the joke there 😐 Please? Does it fulfill the same need for fiddling and tinkering? I did just find a topic from a few years ago that suggests they're reliable, unless it was owners with a romantic bias to their own engine...

Ahh, BD3 not DB3. Easy as that. Thanks for satisfying that curiosity itch! Do we know much about these engines in general?