agg221
-
Posts
855 -
Joined
-
Last visited
Content Type
Profiles
Forums
Events
Gallery
Blogs
Store
Posts posted by agg221
-
-
We have the standard sized swan neck, well the imperial one at least which takes a 1.25" bore tube as a tiller bar. The present brass one has a 1.5" OD (so a 1/8" wall) and works fine, but I would like a painted steel one for the winter and boating in the rain. I thought it would be easy to find a bit of steel pipe with a 1.25" bore and a 3mm or 4mm wall thickness (it could stand to be a little thicker than the present one as the swan neck is over 1.5") but it is proving surprisingly difficult as t'internet either turns up thin wall or bigger/smaller sizes but nothing with these particular dimensions. Anyone have any ideas? Even a piece of old-style galvanised water pipe of the right dimensions would do nicely if I can find one about 30" long.
Alec
-
9 minutes ago, MtB said:
Yes, it was started by my own flippant observation that coal is a renewable fuel just like wood, but with a longer timescale.
I've a flipancy to offer about vegetarianism too. It's fine for vegetarians to eat beef, as the cows only eat grass. Surely that must be true?
Anyway the point I was (too subtly) trying to work around to but got completely subsumed, was that whole concept of wood being a "renewable" fuel seems a fudge and 'weasel words' to me. Once the carbon has been captured in the wood, it appear to me better to leave it in the wood, not release it again by burning it. For the concept of renewability to even apply, surely you have to ensure the wood grows back that you just burned, to even stand still on your carbon emission account. Not just leave it to chance and hope for the best.
Wood can be viably described as renewable, but it does depend on sourcing.
If you have a managed woodland, the wood grows, is harvested and used and the cycle repeats. If you have woodland being cleared to create farmland it does not.
Leaving it in the woodland does not usually retain the carbon - wood if left rots down quite quickly (except the heartwood of a few species). This releases the carbon on a slightly longer timescale than burning, but still very rapid compared with the climate change timescale.
There are huge acreages of unmanaged coppice in the UK alone, which are gradually degrading and reverting to poor quality forest. Their rate of carbon capture peaked decades ago and is now very slow. If you were to fell, use the wood (fuel) and allow regeneration they would grow far more vigorously and capture the carbon again. The same applies with short-rotation willow and poplar coppice which is planted in reasonable acreages now for biomass heating.
Where this works well is in niche applications such as off-grid, e.g. boats, where the volumes are small and other solutions are difficult to apply, and in very large power plants where it is cost-effective to scrub the exhaust gases, such as power stations converted to biomass (leaving aside the point that a lot of the biomass is currently imported rather than domestically produced). Where it doesn't work is as a mass option for domestic heating - too high a level of emissions to disperse.
Alec
-
1
-
-
46 minutes ago, wandering snail said:
Think how much saving there would be on sewage going straight in to water courses if all householders, let alone boaters, were encouraged to use separating loos instead of Victorian style flush, with the infrastructure in place to collect it for compost. Time for a total rethink on how we manage our human waste?
Back to the night soil men?
Maybe we should also go back to wearing a lot more tweed to make use of the liquid component...
🙂
Alec
-
1
-
-
2 hours ago, Leemc said:
We replaced our sealand maserating ( cassette) with a composting one in January and thought it would be helpful to let people know our thoughts so far.
This system works for us and we are delighted with what it's been like this year. I know others disagree quite strongly, but once you see how it actually works on a day to day basis, you can't fail to be impressed.
Thank you for posting your experiences.
This is an area where I don't think there is currently a 'one size fits all' solution and it is useful to hear about what does/does not work for people under particular circumstances.
Alec
-
1
-
-
At that price, I would take the risk. I would offer a price without a survey, then get it surveyed, then expect to either have to do/pay for welding work.
Find a shallow mooring and you will be fine even if it does sink - just more pumping and fit-out work to do. If ours went under, I don't think it would go down by more than two inches, having had to dredge out our mooring with the prop just to get in there.
Alecedit - if you post up the registration number (the one which begins with 7) then it may be possible to tell you something about it.
-
50 minutes ago, ditchcrawler said:
I guess the night boaters have me down as one of them, I can't resist flying out to see who it is not to shout at them other than say "Evening"
I've been following this thread with interest as our current lighting solution is my wife sitting on the foredeck with an LED worklight, pointing it in the appropriate direction but following a 2hr session last time she has indicated an alternative is now required. I must admit it is quite pleasant running in the evening when everything is quiet apart from the thud of the engine. We have had quite a few people pop out to listen and say good evening.
Alec
-
1
-
-
Apolloduck, Ebay and Facebook Marketplace are all places to look. They contain a mix of private sales and brokerage sales.
If you have a small budget, at current prices you are probably buying a project. That means you will end up with additional expenditure but it is spread out over a longer period and you can put in labour which does not have a cash cost.
Personally, I don't think brokers in inflate prices per se. They sell at what the market will stand which, as has been mentioned, has been very strong (although it does seem to be slowing down slightly which is to be expected as it gets colder and darker). I would also echo the point that the place the boat you want is for sale dictates whether you are buying through a broker or privately. If your specification is wider then you have more options.
Brokers do also overcome three significant challenges of the private sale. Firstly, when the boat goes on brokerage you know exactly what you are getting. In a private sale, the owner continues to have control right up to the point of handover and things you thought were part of the purchase may turn out not to be. From personal experience, this can be annoying and carry some additional cost. Secondly, it makes handing over the money easier as there is never a point where one party has both the money and the boat. This is challenging to avoid in a private sale (not impossible, but challenging). Thirdly, if you buy through a reputable broker, they can be genuinely helpful in arranging the pull-out for a survey (you want your own surveyor) and in providing the right documentation such as a bill of sale. Again, you can do this yourself but it requires a steeper learning curve.
Within the past six weeks, I bought Oates privately, a friend bought The King through Harefield. His purchase was a lot more straightforward than mine. I think if I had the choice I would buy through a reputable broker but I am only ever likely to buy the kind of boat which will change hands privately.
Alec
-
2
-
-
An old thread but since it has come back to life. The thing which originally got me into canals was my aunt, uncle and cousins hiring several times from Anglo Welsh in the late 1970s/early 1980s. My brother and I were fascinated by the exotic postcards of canal trips sent to my grandparents and eventually persuaded our parents to have a canal holiday in about 1985, with Viking Afloat. I have a complete trip diary for it somewhere in the loft.
What was perhaps the more interesting point was that in 2019 we hired 'Molly' which was then based at Otherton. I realised it was an original Anglo Welsh boat from the 1970s and on asking the owner when we returned, she dated from around 1975 and still had her original engine and cabin. She must have been one of the oldest purpose-built hire boats still in operation at the time I would think, but has now gone into retirement having been sold due to the losses of the 2020 season. She is one of the very few boats I would happily have bought.
Alec -
I can't help wondering whether anyone has been into the Brindley tunnel lately. It closed in 1914 due to subsidence and allegedly nobody has been any significant distance in since the 1960s but I can't help wondering what state it is now in. An aside, but I have a set of photographs taken in the Lapal tunnel long after its official abandonment.
Alec
-
We're not heading that way any time soon as we ended up going round the Staffs & Worcs. instead. A few ideas though:
If you're capturing the place, it may be worth being ready to record the Tunnel Keeper's briefing as well as the trip through.
Four Counties Fuels go through on a schedule so that may make it easier to 'book a passage' as it were. Not run across them myself directly so not sure what engines they run but it should be a good sound! They can be found here: https://www.facebook.com/fourcountiesfuels/
Are you aware of the story of the Kidsgrove Boggart?
Are you aware of the disused railway tunnel above that you can walk through (wear wellies)?
Alec
-
1
-
-
You mention you have offcuts of 15mm copper pipe and a bender. I think I would be inclined to try and bend up the whole section from the Refleks to the upper pipe in one by inserting the bender from each end in turn, so first make the swept bend from the stove to the cladding (a little less than 90degrees if you want to follow the profile) and then insert the bender from the other end to make the curve round to the upper pipe. You then have swept curves, less soldering, fewer opportunities for leaks and a better overall fit. If you have several pieces to play with then you can afford to get it wrong at least once. Between this section and the straight pipe is a sensible location for a compression fitting including a bleed screw, joining on to the long run of pipe. If you do increase diameter at this point then a suitable fitting can be used and the whole lot is visible rather than buried so you can keep an eye on it and be sure it isn't weeping.
Alec
p.s. you may already know this but if not, it is much easier to make the bends with the ends slightly over length and then cut them off to fit, rather than trying to put a bend close to the pipe end, It also allows you trim to actual fit, rather than hoping it works out!
-
1
-
-
I have moored there on three separate occasions and had no problems. That might however be something to do with arriving at 11pm and leaving at 5am on each occasion.
Alec
-
2 hours ago, MtB said:
In my experience every alternate enquiry for a boat for sale asks to see a "recent survey", so I can see why.
OK there are surveys and surveys, but as a recent buyer I agree it is definitely a level of reassurance, particularly in a fast moving market where you may need to buy without time to have your own survey done.
We have not had a survey. We have a 170 year old boat and fully comprehensive insurance without one and didn't feel it would add any value under the circumstances. A friend has just bought a 116 year old boat without one too - in both cases it relates to specific reasons to have confidence in the file of paperwork which came with the boat.
Alec
-
1 hour ago, JustforFun said:
Hey agg221 cor you really put the wind up me. I hadn't even heard of Denham Lock but checked it up on the map and yeah, it was on the way (leaving from near Watford) and looked at the stoppages and then promptly forgot the date and thought Monday was the 1st of November. Phew but it's not. And breath.
As an FYI anybody reading this thread Denham Lock is closed from 01/11-10/12
Leaving on Monday you will be well past Denham Lock - just worth being aware of as a reason not to leave it another week, regardless of the weather.
I think you will be well past by the time we get moving (I will probably go down and give him a hand) but if you do happen across 'The King' then that's him/us depending on exactly when.
Alec
-
Where are you setting out from in Herts? A friend has just bought a boat at Harefield and, subject to a few things being sorted, will be moving it down towards London in the very near future. It won't take the whole day to reach his mooring so if timing permits it may be possible to do at least a bit more of the trip, or at least travel in convoy for a bit of it.
Are you aware of the imminent closure of Denham Deep Lock for a month if that affects your plans?
AlecEdit: no it didn't sink, no it isn't painted London White - it's far nicer than that (and a whole lot more interesting), no he is not joining the endless line of boats in central London - much nicer basin mooring
-
1 minute ago, David Mack said:
Or take the boat out of the marina to have the work done.
That's what I would do. Assuming the boat has an inverter and a 240v socket there should be no problem working remotely from a shoreline. A power drill and potentially jigsaw should be all that's needed and they are rarely over 1kw.
Alec
-
29 minutes ago, David Mack said:
Yes! I ordered a couple of pieces of toughened glass recently (non boat project) and the guy assured me it would be ready in 4-5 days. Took a month and even then he had to drive to the toughener to collect my glass and a couple of other orders, as they were very slow in delivering.
My new portholes were cast within a week. The glass is a month.
Alec -
1 minute ago, PeterF said:
There is a good Facebook group on Refleks stoves, https://www.facebook.com/groups/334808647035734/ and that could also be a good source of information.
There is a thread from earlier in the year with lots of narrowboat install photos, may be worth a look, see https://www.facebook.com/groups/334808647035734/posts/1132902143893043
Thanks - I recently joined the group and posed some questions - the ones above were those which didn't get an answer to so I wondered whether that was due to the lack of narrowboat-specific knowledge (or just my impatience :-))
The link to the installation photos is particularly useful, especially as some of them are very compact. I suspect a couple of them would not technically comply with the manufacturer's instructions, but on the other hand they are highly likely to result in charring so I can't see any problems. Food for thought.
Alec
-
4 minutes ago, David Mack said:
If you have room I would mount the calcium silicate board on spacers so there is an air gap between it and the wood, open top and bottom so any warmed air can escape. That will keep the timber cool.
Tiles mounted directly to wood provide no protection. The tiles themselves will be fine but will conduct heat through to timber behind. There have been examples of scorching to timber in these circumstances.
Thanks David - yes I am aware of the negligible protection provided by tiles and the risk of a fire starting behind, and hence the advantages of an air gap. The specific point is that this applies with a radiant stove where the heat radiates directly into the surface, ie it does get hot. With a convection stove the surface of the stove itself, and any surrounding surfaces, don't get hot. I know this; my query was whether an examiner could reasonably be expected to know this too and hence understand that an installation for a convection stove could be different from that for a radiant stove, or whether they may not understand this point and I would therefore risk a fail, and as such I should make the installation suitable for a radiant stove not for technical or safety reasons but simply to ensure a pass. Thinking about it though, your comment does have a substantial bearing on the installation of the flue which does generate significant radiant heat, so maybe it would be preferable to take the whole wall board out and replace with calcium silicate across the entire panel.
10 minutes ago, Alan de Enfield said:There are 'good' BSS examiners and there are 'bad' BSS examiners, for many people a 'good' examiner is one that turns up, gives them a 'pass' and clears off, not even having looked at the boat (my last one was one of those), others want a true examination and to ensure that the boat is as safe as the BSS requires it to be.
There are a few BSS examiners on the forum (I know at least a couple of them that are very committed to ensuring compliance and are thorough) maybe worth addressing the question directly to them and see of they would be prepared to commit to an answer.
I have become aware of this. My preference is to ensure that the boat is actually safe - my children sleep at the end where the stove is going so I have every reason to want it safe.
It's an interesting thought to put the question directly to examiners who are members of the forum and I would very much welcome their input - I don't immediately know who they are though.
Alec
-
29 minutes ago, cuthound said:
Why not ask one of the the UK importers, such as Lockgate Stoves their opinion.
If you get a written answer and meet it then any subsequent BSS examiner will be forced to agree that it is compliant with the manufacturers agents recommedations.
It's a good thought - I am buying the stove through Lockgate (I hadn't previously realised but they sell second-hand stoves). Unfortunately whilst they had some of the information I needed, there are other parts which they don't. I have also managed to supplement the information directly through the documents on Refleks' own website and a reproduced on a couple of their continental suppliers. This has specifically enabled me to work out minimum distances from flammable and non-flammable surfaces, so the remaining questions that I couldn't answer through my own research are the ones posted above.
The remaining questions are, I suspect, not Refleks-specific. They are more generally about installation of heating appliances under the BSS, which appears to be rather subjective. If it was as simple as 'no signs of scorching' then that would be easy to comply with (quick repaint before the examination...). I obviously don't want to burn my boat out either, but in practice if the body of the stove does not get hot, I don't really need to worry about the insulation properties of the non-flammable surface attached to the end of the bench seat since there is no risk of heat conduction through to the wood behind, since it won't actually get hot, so it is only a question of avoiding surface ignition. This is the reality but I am trying to work out whether an examiner would also see it that way.
For the flue, it really will get hot so I do need to make sure it does not cause damage. This is more a question of how people have successfully dealt with flue installations in the past. At the stern-end, for the Epping stove, the tongue and groove lining has simply been cut through and removed in a strip, being replaced with calcium silicate board. This is functional but ugly. A line of tiles up the side of the wall to the roof would look marginally better but I am presuming people have come up with something that looks decent, so any thoughts on that welcome.
2 minutes ago, Alan de Enfield said:But, as it states in your BSSC T&Cs any work done to the boat that involves an item which is covered by the BSS, MUST be done in a compliant way, otherwise you are invalidating your BSS and (obviously) without a BSS you are no longer licenced.
If there is doubt as to the compliance or non compliance the only way to resolve the issue is to have BSS examiner examine it make a decision on it.
But as we all know the BSS examiners do not work to written instructions, they all work to their own interpretations so your next examiner may well fail it.
Such is life.
This is where the difference in approach between Building Regulations and BSS becomes annoying. I want to be compliant, and to know that I am compliant, but I can't simply read the regulations and apply them, them safe in the knowledge that I am compliant. Compliance should surely be a matter of fact, rather than opinion?
Cheers
Alec -
1 hour ago, MtB said:
With the BSS some of the requrements are black and white (e.g. are there CO alarms of not?) but in others areas it is the opinion of the BSS bod doing the inspecting that counts. Bod "A" might say your suggestion is fine, bod "B" might say no it isn't.
So bottom line is, choose who you plan to have inspecting it, and ask them. Then they can't turn up on the inspection day and say "In my opinion, that heat protection is not really good enough". OTOH if you ask in advance, they might say just the board is fine, no need to add the metal sheet or tiles.
Thanks - this in part illustrates my problem. We have a brand new BSS so no need for inspection in the near future and by the time an inspection is due, anyone we speak to may well no longer be active. Hence the aim is to 'get it right' in a way that nobody will object to.
My background experience comes from living in a Grade 2 listed house and building my own extension. By reading the building regs carefully and making sure I was compliant, I automatically passed - there was no room for opinion. On the Listed side, I could put forward a proposal and once it was approved in writing that was entered into the file and stood against any new officers choosing to review it.
I am finding that the BSS is a lot more woolly and difficult to pin down, so whilst nobody can be definitive, I am hoping that a general consensus might develop - something along the lines of 'if you put 6mm calcium silicate board against the end of the seat and then tile over it then you will definitely have no problems' although that may be too optimistic?
44 minutes ago, starman said:The flue pipe from stove to roof gets very, very hot. For personal protection buy one of the Refleks guards that encircles it. They look good too.
Thanks - yes, I had picked up on that and we have ordered a guard as part of it. I agree they look good, although I wouldn't personally want one in brass or copper - yet more polishing!
Alec
-
I am about to install a 2066mk and could do with a few pointers on BSS compliance.The installation is very tight on space. The installation needs to go in a corner between the end of a dinette bench and the hull. The installation instructions do not require a minimum gap between non-flammable materials and the outer jacket (this is a convection stove so the outer jacket should remain relatively cool).Q. I can strip off the hull lining and replace with calcium silicate board but what do I need to do about the wooden end of the bench seat. Is it sufficient to fix a calcium silicate board to it and tile it/cover it in a stainless sheet? The same with the flue running up the cabin side - installation says a minimum 100mm from a non-flammable surface so do I need to strip out the current lining board and apply calcium silicate board instead? If so, has anyone managed to do this and find a way make it look half-decent, rather than just a strip of calcium silicate board running up the cabin wall? I wondered about replacing the whole wall with a large board but that seemed excessive.ThanksAlec
-
1 minute ago, roland elsdon said:
Looks like the bottom may be replaced, in the photos.
She would have been iron of course.
I remember her with the Jp at the back.
Lms station boats make lovely tugs.
One of the photos shows lines of rivets on the bottom so maybe still original?
Alec
-
5 hours ago, doratheexplorer said:
The Avon Ring has 130 locks in total. At least a couple of these will be manned and you won't have to do anything.
The Four Counties Ring has 94 locks but is shorter so you may well want to go up the Llangollen Canal or Caldon Canal, so you'll end up doing a similar number of locks to the Avon Ring.
The Avon Ring is generally prettier than the Four Counties Ring and it's more interesting and diverse from a boating perspective too, including canals, a small river and a big river. The Four Counties is all narrow canal. It also contains more of those historic towns and cities than the Four Counties, which you Americans like to visit. Lots of lovely old architecture, cathedrals, castles, half-timbered buildings etc.
Don't get me wrong, the Four Counties Ring is nice, it's just not as nice as the Avon Ring. I wonder how many commenters on here have done both, since the Avon Ring involves getting an extra licence for the River Avon, and that seems to put some off. It shouldn't affect you in a hire boat though.
I have done both. I have also been caught once with the Severn going into flood. The time we did the Avon ring, we went from Wootton Wawen and, against the advice of the hire company, we went down the Avon first and then up the Severn. We were very glad that we did as all the boats which went the other way around got caught and did not make it back.
To be honest, I found the Avon rather dull. Limited mooring choices and although the towns would be interesting if that was what you were looking for, the actual waterway didn't have much to offer. I didn't enjoy the stretch upstream on the Severn much either, even fewer mooring options and running flat out against the current on a large river. It was a real relief to get back to canals at Worcester.
Having just done the Four Counties in late August, and added in the Caldon (which is probably my favourite canal of all) I still prefer that one.
On an earlier point, I am not trying to sell Birmingham, but it is perhaps worth mentioning why I suggested it as a side trip (which coincidentally is equally possible from the Avon ring). If you look at a canal map of Birmingham, you will see that there is a lot of it! Most of the network is now a bit of a backwater, often little used and not generally somewhere you would choose as a first place to see. This is where some of the mooring issues also arise. But, straight through the middle of the Birmingham Canal Navigations, running East to West from Birmingham to Wolverhampton, is the Main Line, which is actually two parallel main lines in parts, Old and New. A trip down this gives a real sense of the industrial purpose of the canals. I would not describe it as a tourist destination but it does give a view on the history and a fair amount of that still survives. I am not aware of anyone having any issues travelling this route, and it allows for a very nice city centre mooring in Birmingham itself, around the redeveloped heart of the network with plenty of choices for restaurants and a walk around the centre. Stopping at the Black Country Museum provides a nice mooring too, and a real insight into the area 100 years ago. Look up the museum website if you want to see more. The top of the Wolverhampton flight also provides a safe mooring if you don't want to tackle the flight until the following day, and a walk around Wolverhampton is again surprisingly enjoyable. My personal favourite is to visit the art gallery there, particularly because of their collection of works by Edwin Butler Bayliss, but others may have different preferences!
Alec
Source of steel pipe for tiller bar?
in Boat Equipment
Posted
Thanks All, particularly MartynG as that's exactly the what I have been trying (and failing) to find.
Blackrose - I understand where you're coming from but the swan neck is steel anyway, not to mention the cabin, decks etc (the hull is ferrous too but that's wrought iron). Ours is an industrial-looking boat and once re-painted plain dark grey will be increasingly so, so a plain off-white tiller bar will be in keeping with the look and a lot less of a pain to keep looking decent over winter and in the rain. A day's rain spots is another thing to polish up and I have enough of those with the portholes and the Kelvin!
Alec