QuaintJames

In case anyone is coming to this looking for current advice on freestanding LPG gas cookers that don't operate on 240V, there is an option I've found. https://www.midlandchandlers.co.uk/products/statesman-legacy-50lpg-cooker-silver-n55-s# Statesman Legacy 50 LPG Please note that the documentation on the product page is at least partially inaccurate. It appears to be written for a 240V appliance, however the ignition is actually done by a single AA battery (which is included). There's no electric hook-up at all with this cooker - the only connection you have to make is a 1/2" gas connection. It is also fitted with flame failure devices. There is of course no fan or clock or timer with this model, but it's met our needs very well and is much much better than the rusted 20-year-old built-in cooker that it replaced. Hope that maybe this helps someone.

Thanks - I did in fact do a search, but you must be using different search terms, because this one wasn't on them... Good link though - much appreciated! And I'll definitely confirm the power supply. Excellent - thank you. I'm hoping we can get the work done before we get that far up the Trent, but I'm learning that having several fallback plans is a good idea!

Hi all, We've been let down by a welder in Nottingham and we're looking to get some work done on the next stage of our journey. We'll be heading out towards Boston in February, so hoping to find someone to do the work along the way. Does anyone have recommendations for welders in the area? The bits we're looking to get done are: Weed hatch extension Creation of a bike rack to sit on the back of the boat Any suggestions welcome! Alternatively, if there are no options in Lincolnshire, we're heading towards Sheffield afterwards, so anyone in that direction could also be a possibility. Cheers James

Hi all - thanks for the advice. We've gone with Nottingham Castle - it's on the pricey side of what we were looking at, but being in a city over winter suited us. Definitely not planning to do major refits in the marina!

Sadly we don't have much time to do that. We're not going to be able to get to a place beforehand unless it's close to Blisworth. Knowing where we're going to moor is also going to influence which canal we end up on.

Thanks both! There seems to be a clear consensus - we'll hit the phones tomorrow!

I'm a continuous cruiser, doing 100% remote work from my boat - my partner also works from the boat. At the moment, our two solar panels are giving us plenty of electricity to run a couple of laptops for several hours a day, but during the winter that's obviously not going to be the case. The idea of running a generator for long periods is unappealing - noise, expense, fossil fuel - it's going to be an unhappy winter if that's our only option. So what we're looking for is a winter mooring with a power hookup. My understanding is that the CRT moorings are all unserviced, so they're out. It looks like marinas are our only option for serviced moorings, however the couple that I've contacted have come back with a generic message along the lines of: "Our moorings are fully occupied - you're welcome to join the waiting list". My question is: are serviced winter moorings at marinas truly a thing? They exist, right? In order to get them, is it usually possible to book in advance, or do you have to do what the generic message suggests, and join a waiting list, then hope that someone vacates a spot at some time in or around November (which doesn't seem like something anyone's likely to do)? --- For information, we're looking at an area vaguely between Birmingham, Lichfield, Nottingham and Leicester, but could go further afield. Starting point will be Blisworth and we're not looking to go south. Thanks!

Just to conclude this thread, here's what we (my incredibly helpful dad and I) had to do: Getting the swan neck off was, as people predicted, a real pain. It took 2 attempts - the first attempt, with smaller/less powerful tools didn't work - so if you're attempting this, my advice would be to get some serious tools! We used a fairly beefy puller tool, then heated the outside ring of the swan neck with a powerful blowtorch and whacked it on all sides with chunky hammers. After about an hour or two of that, it did finally come off - slowly - but it was a lot of work. No way I could have got it off without a puller tool. Once the shaft was exposed, we then had to remove the rusted bearing, which was of course, fused to the shaft. Several cuts with an angle grinder finally took it off, but again, a pretty mammoth piece of work - probably took another hour and a half or so to try and avoid grinding into the shaft itself or the bottom plate. That didn't actually manage to get the rusted bearing off the shaft though. The thing that finally did it was the puller tool again. We had to lift the rudder up slightly so that we could get the puller tool underneath the bearing (we'd taken the advice of putting a bit of rope through the hole in the top of the rudder, so we were able to lift it - it never slipped out of the cup that holds it at the bottom end, though on other boats that may be a risk). All that done, we were finally able to determine that the shaft width was 1 1/2" as opposed to 40mm, which are the 2 available sizes of F208 bearing unit, which I got here - thanks @OldGoat for the Bearing Boys recommendation - no need to go anywhere else. I then sanded back all surfaces as best I could, liberally applied grease over everything and fitted it all back together. Just got a couple more nuts & washers to find, but it's solid enough to pilot the boat now, without the tiller clanging back and forth. One day we'll repaint some of it, but - of course - not the grease nipple!

This seems a very sensible precaution - thank you! Cool - I'll look out for those, thanks! Okay - I think I've got it - sounds like I'll have to open a new tub of elbow grease. Wonderful - this sounds doable, which is excellent news. Thanks all - this is much appreciated!

So is that something I can do (with help) while it's still in the water? Thanks!

Hi all - very new to boating and the boat that I've bought has a very loose tiller. It was identified before buying, so not a surprise, but I'm hoping someone can help me understand the best next steps to fix it. Some details: The looseness is only at the top - the rudder appears to turn fine, and has done so for three years (previous owners didn't travel very far and didn't see an issue with the steering). The boat is a Bidston Marine from 2003 Shaft diameter appears to be 53mm, however that diameter may also include some of the wreckage of the old bearing seen below - actual shaft diameter should probably be measured after removing this! The existing housing is marked "F208" Here's the tiller in question: Looking at other posts on here, it seems like the bearings have been destroyed and what's left of them will need to be removed and replaced. A few questions then: If I take the swan-neck off, do we think that the rudder is going to fall into the water? (It seems to be standing up based on the bottom cup at the moment, so I'd guess not, but thought I'd ask) Once the swan-neck is off, I'm assuming that I'll be able to lift the old bearing off and clean the rust off the top of the shaft - do we foresee any issues here? Do I just need to take off the entirety of the existing painted housing and replace it? Looks like you can get F208 bearings quite easily - like https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/New-40mm-Bore-4-bolt-flange-bearing-F208-with-40mm-bearing/284234869022 - do they come with different bore sizes? I've only found 40mm. Lastly and probably most importantly - is it likely that the bottom bearing may also want replacing when we take the boat out of the water in a few months, and if so, is there a reason I might regret not doing top and bottom bearings at the same time? Thanks! James