[any news on oxford basin]

in adition to the other topic on castle mill boat yard does any one have any news on whats happening with the plans to restore the basin at oxford? redevellop the basin for housing and b.w. to referbish the castle mill boat yard as a fully working boatyard maybe b.w.could put in a decent dry dock so as to help the relations between b.w.b & the boaters the site should stay as a boatyard. besides it would give the idle b.w.staff some work to do.

[Does being a driver make you a better boat handler?]

Having a conversation recently about a handling issue I've got with the boat. Reversing. A Catch-22 of because I've not done it enough I'm not confident, but because I'm not confident I've not done it enough.

 

But that's by the by (and not the topic of this thread), and the conversation got into general handling but suddenly hit a brick wall when this sentence was dropped into the conversation ...

 

"Of course, because you can't drive (a car) there's really no point talking about it as you'll never really handle a boat if you can't drive."

 

WHAT???

 

Considering we're talking two completely different modes of transport with widely different handling methods in widely different conditions the statement above surely has to be complete, erm, twaddle.

 

The chap is adamant, but I can't see the connection.

 

So, open to the floor.

this is total nonsence i cant drive a car but i can do anything with my 70ft 6 n.b. reverse in a strait line etc etc and wind in very tight spots

[BW maintenance]

The news in Waterscape of the naming of BW boat, which is to maintain the waterways to a high standard, including clearing over 3,300 tonnes of rubbish each year (thats London I think)

 

OK so whats essential maintenance? A whole day dedicated to the painting of two square foot white panels? And then brewing cuppas for the rest of the day before returning to base at 4.00pm?

 

These things were described to me by a liveaboard the other week. I took a look at the two square foot panels and I'm sure I could have done that in 15 minutes! Is that maintaining the waterways to a high standard? Anyone have any other examples of BW staff 'not doing anything?'

 

Is that why the waterways are in a bad state? Yes I know waterways workers have always skived to an extent but is it getting worse?

seamus63834 if you want to see blaitent neglect by BRITISH WATERWAYS sorry i mean BRITISH WASTE AWAYS you dont haft to look any further than the kennet and avon, in particular the locks between little bedwin and crofton pound with the coping stones and brick work crumbling so badly that water is pouring between lock gate and the chamber walls on the top gate and then there is the dreded paddle gear what a waste of good cash that could have been spent better on maintainence. if b.w .had any sence they would scrap the stupid paddle gear and use what common sense they have got left if any they would use the paddle gear thats on cobblers lock just above hungerford marsh lock,and while i talk about hungerford mursh lock i wonder if b.w.i have replaced the top gates yet? doubtfull, its almost as if they spend all their budget on kaen hill with them badley/dangerous designed top gates what were they thinking. and thats my gripe about just two sections of the K&A is the maintainance any better else whare? P.S. sorry everyone i was on a bit of a rant...........

[Where to put the stove?]

Hello one and all, the Jones clan has just bought a loverly ex hire boat from Countrycraft Narrowboats on the ever srinking Brecon & Mon. We have a million questions but half the fun is finding the answers ourselves. ODon't know what happened then, One min it was there and the next it had gone and I hadn't got to the important bit. I'll be quick before this buggers off on it's own. Want to put a boatman stove on our 45ft NB what sort of regs do I have to get my head around, such as clearance around the stove and that sort of stuff. Thanks in advance for any help you lot think I'll need.Cheers. MARK

seamus63834

 

I used to have a trueburn range in our boaut about midships ( middle of boat ) it would heat my boat from engine room forwads to the bow of my boat and a traditional epping in my boatmans cabin. stove types boatmans and squiral are good but one of my freinds has a villager stove on his boat, its one of the best stoves i have ever seen side opening so he was able to get good sise logs into the fire and being cast iron it held onto its heat even when no flames or embers were left in the graite.

[Painting]

Another basic question. The boat I am looking at will need a 'holding' paint job done on her while she is refitted and things are moved prior to a professional paint job. She is ex-hire and we want to get rid of the livery and treat and cover the rust / scratches spring next year. What I cant find on the web to price this task is what the coverage of international paints PreKote or Toplac is so I dont know if I should cost this at 1 tin of each or 10 tins each. Anyone have experience of how far a 2.5l tin covers and how many cotes makes a durable (say 3 - 4 years) job?

 

P

SEAMUS 63834 i agree with what the member onthecut has said if it is for a short period use a good quality exterior gloss or do all of the prep work and leave it prepped and primed ready for a proffesional to paint your boat. I used to use DULUX EXTRA DEEP BASE EXTERIOR HIGH GLOSS about 53 quid for a 5 ltr can and i used to get 2 coats on the roof and both sides on a 70ft trad,and its dammed good paint! it also flows well when using a brush and it goes on nicley with a roller.so why bother with expensive marine paint if its only for the short term.

[Getting thrown in at the deep end!]

Firstly I'll say a big "Hello" to you all as this is my first post (even though I've been a lurking for quite a while)

 

Now, due to an ever increasing mortgage , break up of a relationship and the desire to get away from urban living and spend some peaceful time in the countryside I'm selling my house and buying a nb to live on.

 

As a relative newbie to narrowboats does any one have any practical advice about living aboard and cruising as a single person? I'm a bit concerned about dealing with locks etc on my own.

 

Thanks

from anrew63834 one good bit of advice in regards to use of locks i used to have a 70ft n.b.and have been doing locks broad and narrow on my own with no real problems my advice to you is as follows if you are ascending in a broad lock what ever side your boat is on when entering the lock open the paddle slowly to a quarter of the lenth of paddle size and let the water in to the chamber slowly and your boat will cling to the wall and not get pushed across the chamber.

 

when decending depending on boat lenth i always keep the bow on the gates untill i clear the cill and dont panic or rush about it can cause an accident. i have been on the cut a while and i have cruised a large part of the canal network i would recomend life afloat to anybody

[URGENT HELP! Knocking sound in engine]

Hello. Since yesterday our engine has developed a knocking sound. We're rather concerned about it, as having ignored one knocking sound in the summer, our air filter box jumped off the engine (fixing bolt had sheared off entirely); and a second rattling sound turned out to be one of the alternators not being fixed to the engine properly (didn't ignore that one, learned our lesson by then!)

 

We're obviously very worried about this one. I've checked all the nuts and bolts and I can find and nothing appears loose. I found one small nut just sitting in a crevice of the engine, but can't find where it's supposed to go as all bolts seem to have nuts on now (it could have been from the old alternator problem some weeks ago)

 

Whereas the past two experiences were rattley sounds this is a deeper pitched noise. The engine starts with no problem and sounds completely normal, except every 3-4 seconds there's a "knock knock" sound. (And I don't think it's trying to tell us a joke!)

 

When standing to the left of the engine, the noise sounds like it's coming from the right; and vice versa. So we've come to the conclusion that the noise is either coming from deep inside the actual engine or just beneath it.

 

I've run my hand along the underside of the engine to every bit I can reach and can't find anything loose or wobbly.

 

Any ideas anyone? Batteries are at 12.4V and we're going easy on the electrics (about to have a shower in the RSC dressing rooms!) in case running the engine to charge them up again makes the problem worse or damages something in the engine.

 

I'll be at my laptop only for the next couple of hours - any suggestions of what the problem might be or if it's something I can fix myself, (or whether it'd be safe to run the engine) would be very much appreciated!!!

 

Thanks all.

andrew63834 get rcr to come and inspect your engine asap

[Photos of your boat.]

Not the most recent pic and before anybody shouts - there is no speed restriction on this section of the Nene . . .

 

what a good looking boat

[seamus walsh boats]

I have recently sold me and my ex partners narrow boat seamus and was wondering does anyone have any imformation or pictures of our beloved old boat as when he was new or a couple of years after he was launched? as i have never seen any pictures of him when new the n.b. in question was built on the shropie in 1970 70'6 long 6'10 wide and built by seamus walsh full trad with boatmans cabin and engine room containing a beautifull lister hr2 with blackstone gearbox and as far as i can work out the boat was clothed at the bow end and is called seamus boat index no 63834 if anyone can help please let me know.andrew63834@yahoo.com. PS, if anyone knows steve chambers a good boat painter at the boat yard at the wharf on the welford arm,leister line of the union can you say hello from andrew&maddy.I am also intrested to know what his other boats look like?

[Moored boats running the engine....]

Hello all, firstly I'm a newbie to these boards so please bear with me Have had a good nosey round, spent over an hour following the Cragdale thread, so pleased the boat was found, well done all concerned.

 

So, to my query - we're currently in London and were moored up behind a boat (old-style, open with rear cabin) the other night which was running its engine whilst in gear - the clunk of our rudder pushing against the stern brought me out for a look. I thought someone had just made a mistake as the pull on the ropes can't be good either but then saw another boat (semi-trad) further down the towpath doing the same thing.

 

Can anyone enlighten me?

E.

i have been boating for about 15years and as far as i am aware if you are one the cut its against the bylays to be running your engine in gear when moored. but its mainly peaple who have water cooled engines but it is becoming more and more of a problem even more so if the boat have a deep draught with a large prop and can somtimes cause damage to the bank with underlying erosion caused by cavatation from the prop n.b.seamus