alan_fincher

I think unless you are very lucky, you will not successfully heat as much water in a horizontal calorifier as in a vertical one. That said, I agree with Tony that "rotational adjustment" of an horizontal one might well improve its performance.

Severn Dolphin is a boat that has been under renovation at Brinklow Boat Services over an extended period of time. From memory I think it was overplated on parts that had already bee overplated! It is one of several "Middle Northwich" motor boats that were on the BW maintenance fleet in the South West, and I believe is one of those for which the original GUCCCo "Star" name cannot be known with certainty. (Unless I am no longer up to date on this subject).

Like some have already said I also (much) prefer Vactan to Fertan. In fact I don't know where I went wrong trying use Fertan, but it was an unmitigated failure.

David ?

Yes, I've just worked that one out! Back in the days when every Marsworth lock had a full set of balance beams. Last time I walked up the flight only one lock had 4 genuine balance beams - every other one had one horrible temporary" 😂 alternative arrangement. If this is true for much of the rest of the GU then it really is disgraceful The CRT archive claims these to be 1955 images, so only about 7 years after nationalisation. Dates on the archive are sometimes wrong, but from the presentation of the boats 1955 sounds well plausible. There was probably around 15 years to run before they ended up with Blue Line, I'm guessing.

I'm confused/intrigued.... I can only see a post with this image, and not a series of photos that can be attributed to the Marsworth flight. Can you please provide a link to the post that shows multiple images. Thanks. EDIT: A bit of a look at the CRT archive throws up other images of Renfrew and Belmont

I'm not sure if that is meant to be slightly tongue in cheek, but... Most originally steel or iron working boats have long since had to have had an all new bottom. Both my 1933 built boats have replacement undersides.

You would have no problem on the Leicester section at Watford and Foxton - these locks are significantly wider that a typical ex GUCCCo motor.

Good info here about boats shortened for use in the North...

I'm reasonably (say 80%) certain that I may still have an old manual for a Kestrel controller. Unfortunately though, if I do, it will be on the boats, where I currently am not. I have no plans to be there for a week or two (I think), but when I do go, I'll have a look around. For what it's worth I'm firmly of the view that if you have a Kestrel you should get rid of it ASAP.

Just one thing - it says "gas boiler" was new in 2022. Assuming they mean the instantaneous water heater, I'm struggling to believe you could buy one that looked like that 3 years ago. To me it looks a great deal older, but I'm happy to be proved wrong.

Can certainly add Tim and Andy Collier, and those working with them, (including my two brothers).

As ever different sources tend to give different numbers I can certainly find reference to the ST2 giving 20HP at 2,600 rpm. However going anywhere near that number would be fairly unpleasant for those aboard, I feel.

Out of curiosity, was the "someone" you got Tony Tucker or somebody else?

His member details say Watford, Herts. Do you have somewhere booked to dock it? No use finding a surveyor who can act quickly if you can't also get it out of the water at a suitable time to match.

A piece of trivia..... Allegedly the funnels originally served two purposes. 1) The engine exhaust 2) Vent pipe relating to an Elsan in the engine room. So now you know!

From what I remember the "funnel" made a nod to the original GUCCCo item, but definitely was not a close copy of it. I think one of the problems with the GUCCCo funnel was its considerable weight - it could not easily be demounted in a hurry. That is why they quite quickly became a rarity. That said a few preserved boats now have them - probably a new item in most cases - I'm not sure if any original funnels are still in use.

If you based yourself at Aylesbury you would have to travel through 17 locks in each direction just to get positioned on the Grand Union main line. This will not be an issue for many people, but doesn't really fit in with the idea of weekend only trips. You would end up seeing a great deal of the Aylesbury arm, but not much of anywhere else.

Yes, worth trying this. There are at least the following three on the Grand Union. Dunstable & District Taverners Lionhearts. However they tend to select you, rather than you choosing them. There may well be an interview to include their commodore, (yes honestly!). They may also need you to convince them that you will spend adequate time on club related activities, such as rotas for grass cutting or similar. The only one I ever applied to rejected me, so at least they set some reasonable standards! 😄

Nah! That's looking down the weed hatch, surely?

Yep! Simply have a plate welded over each end of the tube.

What were you on other canals?

Thanks for pointing this out - and to Mike for doing the video. Very interesting. Unlike some old hands who I have seen being able to correctly remember what their slides were of, Graham seemed to be very on the ball with his subject matter. At least when he wasn't sure which boat was depicted he said so - rather than just inventing a name!

Except that he says "you cannot get North of".... If you were on the Nene, there would be no problem in going North.