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alan_fincher

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Posts posted by alan_fincher

  1. On 01/12/2024 at 07:55, roland elsdon said:

    We bought her because she was the rare thing of shortened but with the right front and rear so historically ok.

    weve had 3 full length boats in the past. Too hard now. 

     

    And I reckon very sound thinking.

     

    Another advantage is for cheaper licensing, mooring & blacking.

    ....... Although even better if you choose one shortened to only 40 feet, of course!

    • Greenie 1
  2. The pub has been run by the same two gentlemen for some years - they have managed to turn it around, and to bring a stability that it had lacked for many years previously.

     

    It's hard to convey how it differs from most other pubs, and can really only be experienced by going there.

     

    One thing that singles it out is don't go there if you want a meal.  Other than trays of nibbles or chips when it is hosting an event it doesn't do food, (probably because it isn't physically large enough for that to be practical.

  3. Thanks all, and my apologies for not acknowledging your very helpful replies sooner.

     

    I did just check that my former insurer, GJW Direct, does not offer a basic third party cover.  They confirm that fully comprehensive is the only option they have.

     

    So I decided to look at "Basic Boat Liability" that has received many mentions above.  It proved very easy to go through their web site, and get covered immediately.

     

    So thanks once again.

  4. 1 hour ago, DShK said:

    At first I really liked fenny but

     

    Don't like how the cabin has been done (mostly done to look wooden - but the engine room looks like a metal top?)

    Cants don't look right

    too short (a plus for some!)

    As David has said, the original configuration of Large Woolwich boats was with a riveted engine room but a wooden back cabin.  On the whole the vast majority of back cabins have been re-fabricated in steel, (to reduce ongoing maintenance), but done in a way to so far is possible look like wood.

     

    Fenny's 57 foot length is because it is one of a batch of boats that British Waterways shortened to become maintenance boats on Norther Canals where 70 foot (plus) boats can't travel.  Subsequently it worked as a fuel boat in this shorter length, so it is a very genuine article.

    • Greenie 1
    • Love 1
  5. At least for the short term I need to insure a boat to at least the level required by CRT to issue a licence.

    The boat is 88 years old, and does not have the recent full out of water survey and valuation required by (I assume) all regular insurers to get comprehensive cover.

     

    I believe I will need a basic third party cover to satisfy CRT.

     

    I recall "Basic Boat Insurance" having come up repeatedly in the past, but Googling for that string seems to produce many links to insurers actually asking you to complete on line forms that are very obviously about comprehensive cover.

     

    Could anybody with experience of buying "Basic Boat Insurance" please offer suggestions as to who I might approach.  Can you please provide exact UPLs, to stop me keep ending up in the wrong place.

     

    I'd also welcome views on who is good, and who to avoid.

    Thank you

  6. 12 minutes ago, IanD said:

     

    Very good advice. Not going to be easy for less than £30k, but the ex-Warwickshire boat linked above (Carousel) looks like a better bet than the Springer...

     

    I've not read all the previous comments in detail, but I am 100% certain that Carousel is an ex Rose Narrowboats hire boat.  I don't think it has any connection to "Warwickshire".

     

    One sees quite a few sold off Rose Narrowboats about, mostly still in the company colours, and generally well presented.  They do operate a fleet of fairly elderly boats though, and those that are sold off will generally be amongst the oldest.

    4 minutes ago, alan_fincher said:

     

    I've not read all the previous comments in detail, but I am 100% certain that Carousel is an ex Rose Narrowboats hire boat.  I don't think it has any connection to "Warwickshire".

    EDIT: Amended to acknowledge a reference to "Warwickshire" as the fitter out, rather than the shell builder, stated to be Hancock & Lane.

    4 minutes ago, alan_fincher said:

     

    One sees quite a few sold off Rose Narrowboats about, mostly still in the company colours, and generally well presented.  They do operate a fleet of fairly elderly boats though, and those that are sold off will generally be amongst the oldest.

     

    • Greenie 1
  7. 5 hours ago, IanD said:

    Given that the number like this is well into double figures and I've never found one with only one plate, that rather suggests that what @alan_fincher speculated -- based on one boat -- is wrong... 😉 

     

    Well two people have already posted to say they had a boat with just s single plate, so it seems like I am not totally wrong.

    I have seen it on multiple boats, including on a number of hire boats.  I can't recall ever being in charge of any boat that had any more than that, but as I have been  boating well over 50 years, I can't fully remember what the situation was in the early 1970s.

  8. On 18/11/2024 at 23:20, bigolslabomeat said:

     

    So, theoretically, if I cut some thick ply to size and bolted it over the hole, I could move her for other works? Presumably some loss of efficiency as water pressure is getting shot up the chute instead of out the back...

     

    Many narrow boats, (quite possibly the majority?), don't have a plate at the bottom level of the weed hatch.  They simply have a plate capping off the top.. This certainly was the case with the only boat I ever had with a hatch. (both my current boats don't have such a luxury).

     

    I don't actually think it cases any significant effect on the bot moving forwards.

    • Greenie 1
  9. I thought that it is often said that a Beta 38 is very similarly sized to a BMC 1500 or 1800.

     

    I can only assume that the BMC must also have been a very tight fit into the available space.

     

    If a skin tank was adequate for a BMC, then it ought to be equally adequate for a Beta.  The estimated 6.5 square feet is not ideal, but I have seen a lot worse, and it should more than suffice on canals.  As has been said pushing against the flow on rivers might be problematic, but for canals it sounds fine.

  10. 1 hour ago, Batavia said:

    I think that you mean "able" not "unable"!

    LS-X only works if you can smear it round the olive before assembling the fitting, as I think you implied.

    Chris

     

    Apologies Chris - yes my mistake.

     

    Should have read....

     

    However LS-X can only help if you are able to undo the joint with no further damage.  In this case it sounds like that has been declared risky?

  11. 15 minutes ago, Batavia said:

    Unfortunately not all copper olives are created equal - I recently had some, from a reputable supplier, which were so thin that I couldn't get a seal on a few compression fittings without using LS-X on the olive.

     

    I may have missed it, but think this is probably the first mention in the thread of Fernox LS-X.  I'm well aware that compression joints should need no sealant and/or tape, but actually I have found LS-X very effective in sealing compression joints that are not 100% leak-proof.

     

    However LS-X can only help if you are unable to undo the joint with no further damage.  In this case it sounds like that has been declared risky?

    I'm not aware of much that can be applied externally to make the damaged joint watertight -  a number of things might work, but they are far from guaranteed.

  12. Worth noting for the future that although the D51B looks remarkably like the D61B that replaced it, the D51B doesn't share many of the parts with the later D61Bs.

     

    If you need parts many in my experience were obsolete.

     

    The flue size is larger on the D61B as well, so if you ever replace one with the other you may well need an adapter.

  13. 10 minutes ago, Tony Brooks said:

    Knowing absolutely nothing about those stoves, is it possible that the circular plate is a rotating flue damper that is shut, rather than an access point for cleaning?

    Hi Tony.

    No it is definitely simply only a cover.  There is usually two lugs on the pack of the plate that line up with two "notches" on what it attaches to. 

     

    It is possible (maybe even usual) to have a plate higher up that can rotate to give anything from a totally closed off flue (plate horizontal), to a virtually wide open one, (plate vertical).  I have encountered these with no knob attached on the outside, and where it is possible to have it in the position that the flu is closed off, but no obvious way of correcting that.

  14. 10 hours ago, Michael Siggers said:

    Can I ask, when you had the external ones fitted, did they remove the redundant internal one, to gain access for the fittings etc

     

    On a boat we used to own the fabricator torched off the former internal skin tank as part of the exercise of adding a replacement external one on the swim.

     

    The result completely cured a previous overheating problem, and allowed us to start using the boat with full confidence.

  15. For hull and cabin linings a good quality WBP plywood should be more than adequate.  You can chose one with a hardwood veneer on one side if you want to end up with a wood finish.

     

    Personally I would use ply of at least 9mm thickness.  Some will tell you it is too thick/stiff to form a lining to the roof, but I never had a problem achieving the required curvature.

    As Tony implies there are a whole range of qualities of ply purporting to be "marine".  The stuff that is genuine marine ply costs a small fortune, (certainly more than 3 figure sums per sheet).  I doubt that even the very top end professional "fitter-outers" use it, as the cost to line a whole boat would be prohibitive to most buyers.  they ay use something sold as "marine ply", but which isn't really.

     

    Some people use faced MDF in preference to faced plywood.  Personally I thing MDH is horrible stuff, with possible heath risks - I wouldn't touch it.

  16. On 18/10/2024 at 21:10, matty40s said:

    Between Brentford and Stoke.Bruerne there are about 20 of these...mainly wood fabricated rather than external support.

    Get used to it, the new normal.

     

    And approaching a third of those are in the main Marsworth flight.

     

    Shocking, frankly - CRT really do seem to have lost the plot.

    On the other hand there are at least lots of nice blue signs.....

    • Greenie 1
  17. 2 hours ago, Arthur Marshall said:

    I thought the whole lagging exhaust thing had been dumped?

     

    That is my experience and FLAMINGO has passed several consecutive BSS examinations, with no complaint by the examiner, (hardly surprising as it was he who advised me I don't need to lag).

    From what Momac has pasted....

    image.png.d371fd208cf5bd2d579e2a15519580c1.png

     

    I read it that is only required in cases where the exhaust ifs not located out of harms way - a fairly unusual situation I would say.  Certainly it looks like if it is beneath a deck, or surrounded by a "box", then it doesn't need to be lagged.

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