Iron-Dutchess

I couldn't find them on their website, so have emailed images and asked.

There was but it wouldn't accept it for some reason. Should be there now.

Hi All, Does anyone know where I can find this type of window catch? The place I used to get them seems to have vanished.

https://www.tidetimes.org.uk/ https://www.tidetimes.org.uk/humber-bridge-tide-times

Just collecting ammunition, going to see if I can get anything fired up. A bit of name and shame as a last resort might achieve something.

Glad about that, it cost enough But they did put a lot of paint on 5 coats in all.

We were planning to moor at Maiden Mead Moorings North Newton. It is up for sale, if the waterway was suitable we were going to buy it, but that doesn't look likely after our visit.

This was in the transfer document when control was passed to CRT from BW: 7.1 The British Waterways Board (‘British Waterways’) is a public corporation with a statutory responsibility for operating and maintaining those waterways, docks and harbours in Great Britain that were transferred to it in 1963 as one of the successors to the British Transport Commission under the Transport Act 1962 together with waterways and docks acquired or restored since then. British Waterways is required by statute to maintain the majority of the waterways in a suitable condition for the craft which use them. British Waterways’ 2,200-mile network of historic canals, rivers and docks is visited by 13 million people a year and delivers an annual £500m in benefits to the nation, from amenity, flood relief and employment to green infrastructure, neighbourhood renewal and wildlife corridors. There is also a post on this forum discussing licensing of a boat (see section below in blue) http://www.canalworld.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=78861&page=64 Where CRT state: "The Claimant believes that unless it is granted an Injunction against the Defendant, . . . . . . . . . . the Defendant will simply move or tow the Boat to another mooring on the Canal or another canal or inland waterway controlled by the Claimant such that these proceedings will not have achieved their objective and will not enable CRT to comply with it's statutory duty to ensure that the inland waterways controlled by CRT are safe, well-managed and properly conserved." This to me is an admission that they have a legal duty to do maintain the waterways. Otherwise they can't use it as an argument against anyone else.

Thanks for the info. We went and had a look on Sunday, some sections are full of weeds and silted up leaving a draft of 15" to 18". According to the CRT's official figures for the canal, it should be: Bridgwater & Taunton Canal Barge Lock to Firepool Lock - Higher Maunsel Length: 16.8m - 55.12ft Beam: 3.8m - 12.47ft Draught: 1.36m - 4.46ft Headroom: 2.2m - 7.22ft Which if true would be OK. Don't the CRT have a legal duty to maintain the canals to the given specification?

I realise this is an old topic, but just thought I'd mention that I had a 55' x 12' Replica Dutch barge built as a live aboard in 2003, HMRC designated it a qualifying vessel. I paid no VAT on the build. Each time I have had work done since, HMRC was re-consulted and still designated it a qualifying vessel. I just had it completely repainted and sign-written, again no VAT. I should say that I have no other property (house or boat) this may have some bearing on their decision.

We have a standard sky dish mounted just above the roof. We have no problem setting it up when we move the boat, and no problem with signal loss due to the small amount of boat movement. But then again ours is 55ft x 12ft and weighs 30 tons. . . The boat that is, not the dish

I have a 660Ah battery bank 6 x 120Ah and a 2.5KW Inverter, I have to do some really drastic loading to get my batteries down below 11V. Even switching on a 2KW kettle only gets it down to 11.5 towards the end of the boil. You could, of course fit a smaller dedicated battery that can be charged by the regular charging system/s, but can only be drawn on by the heating useing a blocking diode, as used in wind turbine generator feeds to prevent back feed, as these are high current but fairly inexpensive. That way the heating battery would be voltage independant to the main bank.

http://www.itrheat.com/Hurricane.html is a proper heater. They are a bit pricey but they just Work & work & work & work & work & work & work. . . . . Also servicing is a doddle!

Hi, Our hull is painted with Leigh's Epigrip L524 Epoxy http://the-iron-dutchess.com/iron-dutchess/TL524.pdf It's been on for over 4 years now with no sign of rust at the water line, just the odd scrape above the water, none of which has gone through. It's very tough against abrasion and can be applied with a roller or airless spraying. I think they use it on oil platforms. Chris

Contacted some more fuel suppliers, below is a reply from one of them, the rest are similar. _________________________________________________ Many thanks for your enquiry to Bayford Direct. Red diesel (gas oil) is the same as road diesel (derv) but it is not a taxable product as it is reserved for use off road. It is therefore slightly cheaper in price Red diesel is used primarily for farming equipment and other off-road machinery so is therefore a non-taxable commodity. Red diesel could be used in a diesel fired boiler aboard a boat. If you have any further enquiries please do not hesitate to contact us. __________________________________________________

The RCD on the boat still trips if presented with a 30ma fault, and if I bypass the RCD on the boat, the RCD on the pontoon which is the other side of the GA trips out OK.

I have removed the boss cleaned it out (well bunged up ) and refitted it, all seems to be working OK. The gasket looks fine, but I have ordered a gasket kit and will fit a new one when it arrives. Thanks again.

Thanks Julian, didn't know about your first point, I'll go and take a look. Everything else is as was.

Err, according to my company's fuel supplier it is. But I will check with others and see what they say.

You can make your own simple galvanic isolator which will allow AC to pass along the earth line so the RCD remains functional, but will block DC in either direction. DC being the one that will eat your or your nearby boats. I have one on my boat and the DC on the earth line is zero. The two rectifier diodes will prevent AC or DC currents in either direction, the two capacitors will block DC current in either direction but will allow AC to pass. The centre connection between the capacitors discharges any charge they hold through the diode, as if they became fully charged they would be ineffective.

Gas oil is the same as road diesel, it just has dye added to show that it has been purchased at the lower tax rate. If gas oil was somehow of a lower grade than road diesel why do marine diesel engines run equally as well on it? They are mostly the same engine as they put in a road vehicle but with a low speed alternator and a heat exchanger for cooling, my Perkins Sabre M92 4.2Ltr being an example. Plus my Mikuni ran faultlessly for 18 months on gas oil.

Hi Everyone, I bought and fitted a Mikuni MX40 heater 18 months ago, since then in constant use it has performed OK. Last week it packed up, blowing the 15 amp main fuse. On inspection the glow plug coil had become distorted and full of carbon deposits shorting it out. I purchased and fitted a new glow plug and the unit worked fine for two days, and then blew the fuse again. On inspection the glow plug had fouled up with carbon and shorted, removing the carbon fixed the problem for another two days when the unit failed with the same problem. Could this be a fuel contamination problem or is there another possible cause? The unit is running on gas oil from a separate tank, and the system is fed with water from the boats domestic water pump through a pressure reducing valve at 0.5 bar with an automatic air bleed at the boiler water intake. TIA