thingsweregood

Hello, Another (probably v basic) question from me - I've been putting in a lot of hours cruising as I'm moving my new home to the area I want to be, and I've noticed a build up of black, quite viscous liquid in the bottom of my engine bay below the prop shaft. I've got a trad stern, so I assume it's not rainwater. I measured it with a stick and it's about 4 inches of liquid. Any ideas what it could be and if I should be really concerned? Checked my oil levels and they still appear to be good. And any idea for how to easily remove? It's a really long distance down and such a small space I'm not sure if I'd be able to contort myself to bail it out with a jug. Thanks in advance!

This is the exact situation that the boat currently has for the TV aerial so I figured I'd just do the same for the new poynting cables right next to it.

Hi all, I have one of the popular Poynting antennas to help boost my internet signal from my mobile router. It works great! What doesn't work great is that I currently have no entry point for the two cables coming down from the roof and into the main cabin, to be connected to the router. There is currently a TV aerial that is fed down beside the exterior bow doors, and in through a small hole drilled in the steel cabin. I want to do the same thing for the antenna, as they are both attached to the same pole and it makes sense for both cables to follow the same path. However, the ends are quite thick, approx 12mm at their widest, and there's two of them. The cable itself is 0.5mm x 2. I was thinking of drilling 1 x ~15mm hole through the cabin and feeding each cable through one at a time, but likely I'd need to strip the SMA plug ends off first to get both cables through then reattach. Has anyone stripped the ends off a cable similar to this and reattached it? I am concerned that if I pull it off, I won't be able to get it back on and have it function as well as it does now. I've changed plug fittings on lamps and things before, but I feel like that's more forgiving. Don't want to screw it up and have to spend another £80 getting a replacement!

I am very much relieved. What pump model would you recommend as a separate one to do the pumping overboard? I think I'll run one from the point just after the stopcock, into the cut like you say.

Unfortunately it looks like I don't have one! I followed the pipe work from the stopcock all the way to the pump and there's nothing in between them, sadly. So might need to look at fitting one. IN RELATED NEWS, the plot thickens! I just pulled the wall off under the steps at the bow doors, and it looks like the water tank sits a couple of inches BELOW the fore deck. So I'm not sure how this affects the inspection hatch enlargement situation? Is this and integral tank, or have I got a separate stainless one on my hands? I would have assumed it wouldn't be rusty if it was stainless. But now I'm concerned that if I cut a bigger hole in the fore deck, if it'll just open up to... a 2 inch drop and then the actual tank (and who knows what sort of sized hatch there is on the tank itself, if at all..). It's a russian nesting doll of a water tank!

I've got this thing attached to the pipes near the water pump. This isn't a filter is it? Trying to figure out which bit is the filter (if there is one), and where the strainer might be in the system so I can investigate. Thanks Paul! I'm chipping away at the hatch lid, but the bolts I think are too low/worn to get a proper grip with a wrench, so I guess maybe the thing just needs to be levered off entirely. Have contact Scott Welding, thanks for the tip. They look really good.

Thank you, thank you. I'm learning a lot today! Ok, so first port of call is to fill it up asap, and then decide to tackle the fore deck hatch enlargement and repainting etc. So, am I correct in assuming I should NOT be running the rust through the taps if at all possible, so that there's less risk of them clogging the filter? I haven't noriced a reduction in water flow currently.

Gahhhh, what a nightmare. I hope you're joking about selling the boat, because I just bought this one and as I'm living aboard I need to make it work somehow!

Ahhh - so the rust (I think it's rust?!) is now coming out the kitchen tap - hot water comes out clear, but cold water has very clearly got some brownish/redish sediment in it (see pics below). Some questions: - Is this for sure rust? - Does that just mean my tank is almost empty and its starting to pick up sludge from the bottom? - If so, am I better off keeping the tank topped up to avoid this as much as possible until I can get the hatch enlarged and the inside of the tank cleaned? - If the rusty water isn't coming out the hot water, does that mean it's all collecting in my calorfier? I can't imagine that is good for it.... - I'm not drinking the tap water, but I am using it for cooking/showering/washing up. Is there any risk to my health doing this? Ah, what a drama.

Yeah, defintiely needs attention. What do you think - scrape it all back as much as possible, apply a rust converter, then undercoat, then paint?

Sadly it seems like it might be impossible to access with my current hatch (too small, looks like it would need to be cut open) This is what I'm working with: Can't remember the name of him, but it wasn't one of the big names. I think this might end up being the only way.... In the bow entrance, below the front step (in the cabin) is a red screw tap thing to turn off the water to the rest of the boat - any chance there could be a vertical access panel behind the wall part here, or is the access hatch ALWAYS on the top of the tank? (I imagine a vertical access panel would be risky for leaks, but you never know...) Might have to be some purifying tablets for now until I can think of the appropriate long term solution...

Hi all, I'm a few weeks into living aboard and currently doing a test to see how long my water lasts me - I topped up full about 8-10 days ago, and have since been using water 'normally' to see how long it takes me to get through a tank, as I don't know the size of what I have. I'm now seeing what I assume is rust flakes in the toilet bowl (very tiny particles), but strangely, not in the kitchen sink. I assumed I must be getting to the end of my water and it was dredging up whatever grossness is at the bottom of the tank, but I can't be sure. Unfortunately I have an integral tank that appears to have no way to access it in order to clean/rust treat it. Is there anything I could drop into the tank (tablets or something?) to treat this? Or should I bet getting a hole cut into the bow to access the water tank? There's a small inspection hatch (maybe 20cm x 10cm) but it's bolted shut and looks like its been painted over about 4 times/not opened in a long time. Definitely not big enough to properly get in and scrape out and treat the inside of the tank.

Ah ok, got it. So riding that sweet spot between 20-80% charge. Pretty sure I do this anyway, so that's good!

Ok, so let it fully drain before plugging it back in to charge up again? Apple laptops not that easy to remove the batteries on a regular basis unfortunately.. Overcharging is leaving it plugged in whilst it's on 100%? Good to know that the PSW inverter is the same sort of function as mains!

Might be a silly question but I can't seem to get a clear answer from google. I have solar (1 x 260W, 2 x 230W panels), 3 decent batteries and a Victron pure sinewave inverter Phoenix 12/800. I work from home, so use my macbook laptop all day. It charges fine via the 240V plug, but someone once mentioned to me that over time being not on a mains system can damage the laptop battery to the point where it won't hold charge. Is my current system ok to avoid this, or is there something I can do to prevent degrading the laptop? For ref, laptop charger says "100-240V, ~1.5A, 50-60Hz"

Good shout, thank you.

Thanks everyone - indeed it was a fuse issue. Shout out to the absolute legend PaulJ from the forum who chatted with me on the phone and patiently talked me through figuring out exactly where my fuse trip was (popped it back in with no issue), and then to check the amps. Looks like both pumps run off the same circuit, which has a 10A fuse. So might be that they're both pulling too much from the system. Have settled for running the shower and gulper alternately whilst showering and that seems to work fine, and in the future I might look at getting a bigger fuse (??) or getting the pumps split onto separate circuits. Onto the next silly question, I'm sure!

I'm trying to figure out if these things are connected, or just a coincidence: I was having a shower (my first one on my new boat), and I switched on the whale gulper pump at the wall and started to shower. After about 2 mins, the water ran out and also the pump stopped (within about 30 sec of each other). Now when I flick the pump siwtch on and off, nothing happens (no sound). But I've still got a bit of a puddle of water sloshing around in the shower tray! Are these things connected, or did my pump just die on me coincidentally at the same moment my water tank ran dry? Any advice on how to fix it? Arrrghh!

Yeah, basically looking at my options if I need to leave the boat unattended for a couple of nights. Sorry, I'm new! Unsure how safe it will be on the towpath by itself in that area. What's Anita's? Google not giving me much!

Looking for a place I could securely moor somewhere not too far from Kingswood Junction on the GU, just for a few nights. Any ideas?

Ah yes, I'm looking at that now. How do you get onto the GU from Stratford?

Ah that sounds lovely! I will be sure to ask the community. From Gloucester to Worcester, then.... I don't know! Over towards London ideally. Up through the Tardebigge lock flight, onto the Straford-upon-Avon canal at the bottom of Birmingham, down through Lemington Spa, the GU down to London? I'll need to get an experienced boat mover for the Severn, then probably also through until after Tardebigge, and then hopefully I can manage myself most of the way from there. As long as I can get decent internet sorted on the boat then I'm not in a hurry!

Bit of an update for anyone invested in my saga: I've agreed to a price with the owner, reduced from original asking, so I'm happy with where we landed. Now I need to... learn how to operate a NB, figure out how to run the electrics and plumbing and not fry my batteries on day one, somehow figure how to get her up the River Severn and onto the canal system (anyone know any boat movers in that area? I won't be attempting it by myself!) Officially one of you lot now ?

I had a chat with him, he was really lovely but yes, up in Nottingham. Boat is gloucester, but I'd be ideally living around the London area most of the time. There's a yard in Bradford on Avon which has ok pricing for grit/epoxy, but nightmare to get there on the Severn/estuary through Bristol, or 2 weeks trip one way from London. Gah!

Thanks Dave, yeah I'm calling around a few places and even if there are places that allow you to apply DIY it might not really save that much ££ overall.