Denis R

Deep joy. They've been.... So now the foot-high grass is everywhere and of course after the rain yesterday and today, it's sticking like s*** to a blanket. I seem to have walked half of it into the boat and that's despite taking my shoes off at the door. All we need now if for the sun to come out again and complete the super-glue effect. Not that I'm unhappy the grass has been cut of course, but I'm almost tempted to dip in for a grass-box for the hapless mower!

At the risk of sounding like Finbar Saunders in 'Viz', have you tried repeatedly tugging it back and forth to see if it'll come loose? If the lube penetrated the bearing it should have loosened up any gunge in there and perhaps a bit of repeated tugging should work it in. You can then follow up with grease. Are you absolutely sure the rudder spindle isn't bent? It sounds a bit suspicious to me - assuming it's a ball race bearing in a flanged cast iron housing I would have thought that you'd get it moving OK. Mine still moved quite freely when it was as dry as the proverbial, but the whole thing sounded like a creaking inn sign....

I was led on a wild goose chase by a cheap crappy grease gun I bought from Halfords, blissfully pumping away for ages thinking I was doing some good, but wondering why there was no visible sign of grease oozing out of the bearing race.... only to find no new grease in the bearing when I removed the nipple to check. Borrowed an industrial job from a fellow moorer - within seconds a satisfying splurge and hey presto job done, tiller nice and smooth.

Yep, and the pebble-dashing extends to Gayton Moorings too. At the weekend the grass was looking about a foot tall in places and when they do eventually come and cut it, it'll all end up over the boats as they don't collect any of it. Mix in the odd loose stone kicked up by the blades and paintwork repairs will add to the seasonal job list..... A couple of the more enterprising moorers bring their own mowers down and give their pitch a going over themselves, which only goes to make the rest look even more unkempt!

What, like how to take the p**s in a pre-meditated and systemic way? Yep, and up 'til recently I would have said that you could dump your boat anywhere on the GU for as long as you like. But round my way BW have actually done something about it and moved on the landmarks. And their patrol officers seem to be coming back regularly in an attempt to suppress the roosting instinct....

The towpath tittle tattle around here is saying that the BW mooring wardens can no longer move boats up and down on long term moorings to snuggle them up or gain a bit of space, or to loosen off/ tighten your mooring ropes any more. Least not without filling in a Risk Assessment first..... Anybody know if this is a another case of 'Elf n Saftee' gone barmy, or is it a case of not letting the truth get in the way of a good story?

Try Here Tim: http://stores.ebay.co.uk/Davethetoolss-Emp...9QQftidZ2QQtZkm Edited to say: Sorry, can't get the clicky to work, you'll have to paste the link into your browser!

I've often used Helicoils in cast iron in the past. If you can get the right Imperial thread version, a Helicoil will work in this application and will allow you to use an 'original' design stud..... "Heli-Coil® has the most effective and universally accepted method of thread repair. HeliCoil® quickly, easily and permanently restores stripped, worn or damaged threads to original condition. HeliCoil® inserts can be used in any material: cast iron, steel, copper, brass, bronze, aluminum, magnesium, plastics and wood. After installation, they never shift, wear or back out. Stripping, fatigue, corrosion, crossthreading and seizing are eliminated."

It could be a timing issue. I had this problem on a vehicle engine some years ago and a check with the strobe showed that I had to back off the distributor several degrees with the electronic ignition fitted..... On another engine I fitted a Lumenition system and the timing was spot on out the box.

An Aga, Heritage or similar....

I've been running a Webasto ThermoTop C for 2 years now and apart from a choked burner which was replaced under warranty at about 11 months old, it's been working fine, almost daily - under closely controlled conditions since the burner change. However, if I were to do the project again I wouldn't choose a Webasto (and definitely wouldn't choose an Eberspacher). I'm convinced that 1) The Webasto wasn't designed for prolonged running although it appears to be, under certain conditions, reasonably red diesel tolerant. 2) The Eberspacher was definitely not designed to run on red-diesel. 3) A webasto will work fine if you run it for short bursts at high output. Extended running at half power or idle will kill it. Next time I'll be looking for something a bit more fuel-quality tolerant and a bit more robust....

Well BK must have sold 2 million units!!.... I had a burner clogging issue with my Thermo Top C at about a year from installation (Feb 2007) and BK via Foxton Boat Services replaced it under warranty. It was totally and utterly clogged with carbon and so were the passageways within the heater body. Since then it has been running fine with the new burner and has shown none of the previous tendencies to cut-out or hang up. However, I don't let it run on 'idle' or low power for long and prefer to run it in hour-long bursts where it runs at full power for most of the time. I don't know if this helps, but it was FBS recommendation and their intimation was that long periods on low power were the root cause of most of the troubles. The instructions I received with my unit advised that additives shouldn't be used in the fuel.... And the installation instructions were specific to a marine environment.... with no mention of it not being suitable for use on 'red'....

I've not had an explanation of the failures - not that I asked mind you. The first unit was exchanged over the counter without question and the replacement is back for repair/exchange at the moment. I'm back to the original regime of 40amp alternator feeding the starter battery and the 70amp alternator the domestic batteries and am minded to leave it like that now. I'm sure the ABC would work fine with a single alternator feed but as I said, I've got no evidence on which to base my suspicion of the double alternator set up.

I've got through two Alternator to Battery chargers in 18 months. Whilst they've been working they've been fine, but both failed in the same mode. First it would be reluctant to 'fire up' and then would intermittently cut-out at odd points through the charging cycle and then not fire up at all. In both cases from fully functional to dead took about a week. Mine was configured with two alternators feeding - 70Amp and 40Amp and of course the alternator charge light on one of the alternators wouldn't operate in this mode. I used the ABC to combine the output of two alternators to boost the charge rate and with the benefit of hindsight wouldn't have done it this way given what I know now. I had the units installed by a very competent boat electrician and from my understanding of electrics there is nothing that I can see that pins the problem on installation. It really is a very simple installation. I'm sceptical about the double alternator configuration however and I wouldn't recommend it now.

Pearl Harbour here. The ducks are sitting on the cut not in it. Tunnel Hill Road, part of the old horse route over Blisworth tunnel, was closed by the police yesterday morning.... "It's like an ice rink, mate". Haven't ventured that way this morning yet, but today is if anything colder.... (Pearl Harbour, courtesy of Viz: 'there's a nasty nip in the air'.)

Seems that length sells too. Here at Gayton the 21 metre mooring went for somewhere around £600 above guide and the 12 metre mooring just a few quid. I was surprised that the Wormleighton moorings went cheap, would have thought they'd have been quite an attractive proposition. I wasn't surprised that the Dodford moorings didn't go barmy mind you, as they're somewhat more inaccessible and probably not to the taste of the 'all mod cons' brigade. Also there are two new marinas on the GU at Blisworth and Bugbrooke, both with power, water and parking which may seem a better bet for most.

Mike and Snibble both make valid points in my view. There are a couple of 'cheap alternative' boaters on my stretch who never seem to come out to play and appear to treat their surroundings as little more than a linear dumping ground. Likewise there are boaters living very modestly who obviously care passionately about their environment and the waterways. I think it's a 'personal administration' issue - a taterdemalion mob aren't necessarily poor and a well manicured spruced-up shower aren't necessarily rich.