Liam

I may be mistaken but I'm sure I've read somewhere in the past that it was Ellesmere Port which had misplaced some items. I'd suggest an online archive, suitably backed up would be the best way forward.

Picked up the gearbox and reduction box the other day... TYPE 2R Serial Number 25560 Does anybody know how to date this or if there's any possible way to trace it's history? Thanks

Did it the other day, a very nice walk if you dodge all the sheep poo ?

Heading north, up onto and across the bridge before the tunnel and turn left onto the Watford Road. Keep along the length of the Watford Road until you see the Wheatsheaf pub in front of you in Crick village and turn right up Main Road. There'll be show directions from there. Past the Post Office and over the canal and the marina is on your left. There is a short cut along Boat Horse Lane and Lauds road but it's not that shorter and more difficult to describe and follow.

Is that a CRT notice on the ground next to the scaffolding poles?

Stop in or near Rugby / Hillmorton and get the No 96 bus towards Northampton. It drops you off right outside the garden centre / Marina. I did this trip after getting off the train in Rugby and it was £2.60 for me and 70p for the dog.

Thanks all for your replies and help. Picking the gearbox up tomorrow, but may be a while before we get round to that particular job. Will post once done.

Yes there's plenty of wiggle room on the shaft, there's a UJ just before the flange to the gearbox and another one further along the line towards the prop. It's attempting to remove the reduction box from the gearbox. Having not done it before I'm not sure what I'll find. I'm sure I have a manual somewhere which I'll try to find to see what's what.

I've no experience about doing this but it sounds as though it's more complicated than I imagined?

If you could do that later it'd be much appreciated. Would rotation also be the same?

If there is a difference in height, how much would this be?

Well my couple of years of searching has paid off and I have managed to acquire a Lister Blackstone gearbox with a 2:1 reduction box attached, without having to sacrifice a limb to pay for it. The plan is to replace Ariel's current 3:1 reduction box with the 'new' 2:1 box. I'd then have a complete 3:1 gearbox as a spare. Hopefully it should be fairly straight forward but I'd like to ask if there's anything I should look out for or keep in mind during the op? Thanks Liam

Thanks all for your replies

Go a bit further north and there's excellent access at the Broken Cross pub.

Perusing the workingboats.com website it says that Iona was based in Marple as a trip boat in 1966. Just wondering if anyone knows the fate of the boat? TIA

Yep I'd agree with that. My own fault for not correcting any of the "scared of the cabin whilst the scary engine is running" behaviour. I went down the route of putting Tommy on the cabin top with me, something we're both happy with. Suprisingly fireworks are a different kettle of fish. He was just over a year old when he heard and saw the bangs and flashes and so with a treat each time one went off, by Bonfire night proper he was sat out with us on his own chair watching them intently.

Had the same thing with my Tommy, a Patterdale Terrier who I had since he was an 8 week old pup. He started off boating with no problem at all, and spending time in the cabin to begin with as he joined me in January 2016 and it was flipping cold! Something must have changed in his attitude though as one day out of the blue he decided he didn't like the noise from the engine room whilst sitting in the back cabin. By this point he was a few months old and the start of summer so he came out to join me on his bed I'd placed on the slide. He is more than happy now and spends his time relaxing on the bed watching the world go by. It's also nice to have company whilst boating and there's always an appropriately placed ear to scratch Another problem he had was when I'd pull in to carry out a delivery and would leave the tiller to shift coal or pump diesel or whatever. He'd scream and shout until I'd return, the same applied but unfortunately worse when I'd take coal or drums of diesel off in the wheelbarrow. I made the mistake of turning around to him and saying "shush" etc but soon realised he was getting what he wants. I then tried ignoring him, if you can mamage to put up with yapping and barking for a short time, the dog gets bored with no reaction and shuts up. Tommy certainly did and when I go off delivering I can sometimes be delayed half an hour or so whilst chatting to customers and when I return Tommy is sat as good as gold waiting for me. Ignore any bad or unwanted behaviour and reward any good or positive behaviour. It definitely works. Don't forget that our canine friends are excellent at picking up our own moods so if you are nervous and hesitant then the dog will be too.

Well, thanks to Philjw for the Porthole. As he says it was reclaimed from a wooden boat 30 years or so ago it will be nice to give it a new lease of life on Ariel. Thanks all for your posts, much appreciated. Liam

Hi, I've sent you a message

Thanks David.

Thanks Rob, I did have a quick check via Google earlier and noticed that the 8" quoted has an external size of 11". David would you know if the 8" porthole is the ID or OD?

Thanks David, just what I was looking for. Now to try and find a supplier, as 8" seems to be an odd size and not that widely available. The usual Chandlers and a search on eBay either throws up smaller ports for Pigeon boxes or the larger 10" typical brass portholes.

Hi, hoping somebody is able to share what a Yarwoods built boat was supplied with size wise for the cabin port hole. Did they use a stock size etc or were different sizes used for the various styles of boats. If somebody could point me towards a supplier of a suitable porthole including, it would be appreciated. Thanks Liam

Depending on the services you have on the boat you may be able to pull the BBC exempt card. As you have no engine and you think it appears to be a complete refit it sounds like you're half way there. Here's the PDF file... https://canalrivertrust.org.uk/media/original/733-boat-safety-scheme-certificate-application-for-exemption.pdf

He way I see it is that lots of boats have been converted and unconverted over the years. And whilst it may not appeal to everyone it's what the current owner has chosen. There's been no drastic changes to the boat or anything original being cut or removed from the hull which is the main thing. There's nothing to stop a future owner spending a bit of time with an angle grinder and removing the small extension and thereby putting the boat back to how it was 2 years ago.