Lampyrichard

OH had one on her first boat - a 30' Springer. It was fine for that size boat, though the closet we ever got to river work was on the Calder & Hebble / Aire & Calder on green boards, so no comparison to proper river work:-) As Tony has said, they're proper boat engines, not converted van or digger engines like most modern inland diesels, so certainly bombproof. Much more character than the Beta in my current boat (though arguably her BMC 2500 has character, just of a different sort). The one challenge I found (which may have been due to 'maintenance' by a previous owner) was that the position of the stop solenoid in its housing was critical - we eventually realised that it had been screwed in too far, and was permanently limiting the fuel pump output, meaning we only had about 7HP of the peak 10HP available. Sorting this made an amazing difference to the boat's stopping distance! I did also find it was very easy to overcook this adjustment, so that the only way to stop the engine was with the decompresser... The hand crank even got some use when we had properly knackered batteries after leaving her unused for too long. TW Marine were very helpful to us as well when we were attempting to sort out the previous owner's 'maintenance'. They were even able to tell us the engine's original boat from its serial number! Richard

Another vote for the excellent info on Pennine Waterways. Also fully agree with Martin re coming down Salterhebble middle lock. We have a mooring there & have seen all variants described, including one boat who's owners were convinced it was only 60', but after more than 3 hours of trying (including help from locals) had to give up & head back to Sowerby Bridge as we just couldn't get the bottom gates open. Richard

The only online resource that seems to have any useful information is Falkirk council's planning dept... There are 112 supporting documents for the 2011 planning application: http://eplanning.falkirk.gov.uk/online/applicationDetails.do?activeTab=documents&keyVal=LI6RYBHC4X000 The easiest ones to work out what's going where are probably the Kelpie pool layout: http://eplanning.falkirk.gov.uk/online/files/0B433D59F50DC5E6DCB343BD8B9D8037/pdf/P_11_0154_FUL-_Approved_02__Layout_of_Canal_Hub___Kelpies-190842.pdf and the canal extension layout: http://eplanning.falkirk.gov.uk/online/files/0F2080DA5745C6E03693EA4BD9F8EC50/pdf/P_11_0154_FUL-Canal_Extension_Layout-445937.pdf Also on the list are canal sections & drawings of the new sea lock arrangements plus proposed details of the visitors' centre (which afaik still has no funding). It really seems a shame that none of this was put onto the Helix site to show the wider World what's going on. Richard edited because I got the links wrong...

Another option for you to get a quote from would be Richard Fee at Swiftcraft in Apperley Bridge: contact details at http://www.swiftcraftboats.co.uk He's just surveyed a boat for us & was very helpful & informative with his findings. Very worthwhile being there during the survey whoever does it if you possibly can, as many surveyors will give much more of an opinion verbally than they will in writing... Richard

Others have explained the route from Falkirk to Spiers Wharf. Your other option is to head in the other direction, up the Falkirk Wheel onto the Union canal, then 4 hours cruising gets you to Linlithgow, with good moorings, great pubs & direct trains into Glasgow (30 minutes to Queen St, last return train normally 2330, but will almost certainly be later during CG). Depending on what sports you're looking at, heading on toward Ratho or Edinburgh might actually get you closer to the venue you're going to:-)

Probably worth a call for a chat anyway, as they can let you know what else they have in stock. Have a look at http://www.ace-energyshop.co.uk/ for contact details & an idea of what else they do. Richard PS hoping to be down your way at the weekend picking up our boat from Brian @ Shepley Bridge after her repaint, than back to Salterhebble if there's any water left in the canal!

Hi Sunsoup, One for you to try as you're in W Yorks is Ace Enegy in Greetland. We use their Real Flame smokeless nuts on a Squirrel & get excellent results - very good heat, banks down well & less ash than many smokeless - including Taybrite which used to be our favourite, till we got the mooring in W Yorks. They do a comprehensive range of other coals / smokeless as well & were very helpful & informative when we started out with the stove a few years ago. They'll do free delivery for 250kg, which is only 10 bags, so if you'd only need your sister to hold on to a few bags to make that work I reckon, or you can pick up as little as a bag a time from the depot. No connection other than as a satisfied customer:-) Richard

I can confirm this is the correct glow plug - mine arrived this morning from this seller. Last one failed because I stupidly kept on trying to get the unit going when the flame fail sensor had gone us. Thought it was air in the fuel supply (also just changed fuel filter), so just kept turning it back on, even though I *know* I need to let the glow plug cool down between attempts.

A bit late, but my experiences FWIW in a similar situation... I have a *very* cheap (Tesco Teknika) DAB radio. Boat already had a Status UHF/FM aerial & amplifier, so great I thought, that sorts it, it had worked OK for the previous FM radio, even in the bottom of the valley where the marina is. As per OP, I spliced the single aerial lead to a co-ax plug & got nothing, radio wouldn't even do the start up auto tune. Next plan was to get a mag-mount DAB specific external aerial, assuming I'd mis read the Vision specs & either the aerial or amplifier weren't passing DAB frequencies... Sat the aerial on the roof, brought the cable in through a window & 'spliced' (OK twisted it together) with the radio wire. This time it did the auto tune, & found about 2 stations, all of which sounded like Davros was staging a comeback from my 1970s TV watching. Next plan was to go back to schoolboy basics & cut a simple length of wire to a 1/4 wavelength aerial & hang it out the window. In Scotland, the BBC ensemble is around 225Mhz, so I cut a bit of wire to about 35cm (theoretical 1/4 wave would be 33.2cm), joined it to the aforementioned single wire aerial & poked it out the nearest window. I immediately got a whole bunch of stations & most of them sounded like real people too! My entirely non scientific engineer's method for optimising the bit of wire was to dial up the signal strength report on the radio & snip a few mm a time off my 'aerial', watching as the number on the screen gradually got bigger, then when it dropped I stopped chopping bits off. If I could be bothered, I'd cut a new bit of wire a couple of mm longer than the one I have, but I can still get all the stations I want wherever the boat is, so I haven't bothered yet... Downside is I have about a foot of wire dangling out of one of my windows & every so often I need to jiggle it so the end doesn't poke against the window frame (sudden loss of radio when this happens). Up side is I have really good DAB reception wherever I've been. There's endless information around that says this approach shouldn't work with modern radios. I agree that this approach shouldn't work with modern radios, or at least the results should be patchy & sporadic. My friends who design radio antennas assure me this approach won't work with DAB. I'm listening to Radio 4 Extra... Richard

Not exclusively, see guidance here from the Information Commissioner's Office. So it really depends on the intended manipulation and / or filing system for paper records. Richard

Discouraged for transits, prohibited for long term licences. From BWS as was email to F&C leisure licence holders in 2011:

Well if the OP came up here to the F&C, he'd have no problem as Scottish Canals specifically prohibit single handed crewing, even with the toy locks & their staff running them... Fortunately we also have a boat in W Yorks, so I can go and get my fill on the proper sized locks on the A&C:-) Richard

Hi Simon, I've used the sand method in the past on previous boat - dry, salt free play sand was recommended at the time, to help avoid it breaking down the paint system. It certainly gives a positive non slip surface when done well, but I did find it rather aggressive especially on the roof & any areas where bare skin could rub over the surface & I did skin my knuckles quite a bit on that boat... Given you say you've got plenty of the right colour top coat, I can highly recommend the Hempel/ Blakes anti slip pearl additive. I've used these on my front well deck & they do give a very positive anti slip finish without the sharp points of the traditional sand finish. The 160g tin (£6 from my local chandlers) is said to be enough to treat 2.5L of top coat - I just decanted roughly the right amount of paint into a paint kettle (Craftmaster coach enamel FWIW), then slowly mixed in the powder till the mixture seemed reasonably thick, masked round the areas I wanted to anti slip & rolled on with a foam mini roller. Rest of the tin went into the back of the paint cupboard for any future touching up. 2 years on, it's holding up very well, still anti slip, easier to clean & I haven't lost any skin:-) Regards, Richard

We always used Brian at Shepley Bridge Marina when we were at Elland - 01924491872. Can't remember prices now as last time we blacked there was 2008, but I remember him as being very reasonable. He's got one of the old graving docks as a drydock, so no crane charges which helps a lot too. When we boated through last year Brian said he no longer let the dock out for DIY, but as you say you're looking for full service that shouldn't be a problem for you. The only minor issue we had was getting in touch with Brian as he was always out & about in the yard, so it usually took a few calls to get hold of him, but always very helpful when we got there... Richard

Possibly interesting project boat has popped up for sale down the road at Grangemouth: eBay link Now I'm not in a position to be interested, & I certainly don't claim any real knowledge of historic boats, but I know a couple of folk who might be tempted by the project... My question is does anyone here have any ideas on where she might have come from & is that putative 1911 date really all that likely? While I'm on, what's the current spares situation with Ailsa Craig engines? Richard Ah, apologies, been offline for a few days in dry dock, so hadn't seen Scrunch's topic on same boat!

Afraid I'm not much help on the 'cheap' vs 'not cheap' as it's more than 5 years since we last used his services, but definitely another vote for Pete Hopley - we found him very thorough but also realistic about what he'd expect to find given the age of a boat, also clear on which were the 'big' problems and which were more niggles that he'd noted. He's a BSS inspector too & picked up several fails on the boat he was looking at for us which had definitely been there at the time of the (previous owner's)existing BSS! Richard

Hi TC, if it all fails again, I can recommend this eBay linky high temp sealant. I had a similar problem with the flue adaptor & flue joint on the top of my Squirrel. I originally used fire cement at the stove end & Plumba Flue (with glass rope) at the collar to allow some movement, but I still got cracks at the stove end. As Phil Ambrose pointed out, Plumba Flue is only rated to 250C continuous & my Squirrel gets well beyond that even at a moderate rate, especially burning wood. Also second comments from Bizzard & Higgs re filling the gaps with small beads & letting cure between times. The product I linked to specifies 3 days to cure a 10mm bead for example, so this weather is definitely the time to do anything like that;-) Richard

Thanks. Hope you get the mooring your bidding on tomorrow btw, good luck!

I got through on the standard BW Leeds customer services number: 01923201120. Can't remember now exactly which options I went for on the automated menu system. Possibly I just waited till someone picked up the phone. Obviously you'll need to wait till the morning as customer services are only open Mon-Fi 0800-1800. Personally I wouldn't worry till tomorrow morning anyway, as others have said, it's probably tech support fiddling around with the auctions website or it's crashed & there's no-one in BW Towers over the weekend to notice. Richard

This nearly happened to us last year - the whole waterscape site went down 3 hours before the end of the auction we were bidding on. When I spoke to the moorings coordinator at BW Leeds she said they had no formal plan for what would happen if the site was down at the advertised finish time as they hadn't considered that a possibility when the system was set up. By the end of our conversation, she'd decided that the only way they could deal with such an outcome would be to cancel that set of bids & relist the mooring as they had no way of simply extending the deadline. In our case the point became moot, as the site came back on line about 15 minutes before the closing time of the auction. I also got the promised call back to let me know it was all up & running. Given the lack of disaster management planning revealed by my experience I'm not hugely surprised that the waterscape tech team haven't managed to put up a 'site closed for maintenance' page while the auctions system is being tinkered with. If the site's still down in the morning just rings Leeds & tell them it's happened again. BTW, last year they were unaware that waterscape was down as their internal system was still working, so I did initially have a challenge persuading the office there was a problem;-) Richard

Second vote that you *definitely* need to be looking for an 'appliance inlet' for the boat, not a socket - eg eBay cheapy which is IP67, so less likely to corrode through water ingress than the 'standard' IP44 type usually fitted on boats (though you obviously need the matching sockets to make the connection water resistant). From your description of the existing install it sounds worth checking that the 230V system is properly bonded to the hull for safety. Search the forum for many threads on the importance of this, or shout for more info if you can't find it / understand what that means... Regards, Richard