Geoffrey Hammond

I hope that my boat will be finished for the Summer. It has a JP3 - a much older engine han I am used to. A very old posting led to this reply about maintenance. If I follow it carefully, should it suffice? Now for maintenance Every day grease rocker gear grease water pump (if it's the origional one) Check oil level Check reduction gear oil Check injector pump oil Change oil every 450hrs ( 7 gallon) Can't remember the frequency for the pump and reduction They start fine if the compression is OK Very hard working and relable engine. Things to do and not to do Don't try and start it in low compression. Unless its hot it won't start Do run it in low when on rivers and running hard. Things that go wrong Diesel will leak through into the injector pump oil so it needs to be changed often. Many thanks.

The boat is beeing fitted out at Braunston.

Many thanks for all the previous and good advice. I sent the form off - marked registration only - with £15, and received the number and plates within the week. I am most grateful.

John, The pleasure was mine. Enjoy your journry. Geoffrey

I'd be delighted to help. What is the name of your boat? Will you be going up or down - and about when. Send me your mobile number if you'd like to make more precise contact. Best wishes.

A further update. I am now definitely in Braunston from Monday to Friday - 11th to 15th April. And what I am keen to do is to quietly and politely help on the water. I'm happy to drive up to an hour or so from Braunston to walk and work a lock flight - or give whatever help is needed. Many thanks.

Within a month or so, I hope that my new boat will be finished. I wish to have its registration number signwritten. How do I go about getting the boat registered? Do I have a choice of where it is registered? How long does the process take? Many thanks for any help.

Many thanks for the most friendly reply. I shall be in touch towards the end of next week. Geoffrey Hammond

I apologise for a slightly unusual posting. I am going to be staying in the Braunston area for about a week from the 10th April while the fitting out of my new boat continues. I shall be happy to watch and learn, but I’d rather be boating. If there is anyone who would like some crew help - locking, etc - for a day or a few hours, then I would be delighted to drive out and help. Naturally, the more help required, the further I would drive. Many thanks.

Many thanks for all the help this far. If one goes for Durbar - as shown in an earlier image - should one go for steel or aluminium?

Thank you for this excellent image. Is checker plate the same as durbar? If not, does one have advantages over the other?

Presently the fit out of my new boat is going well. However, I am mulling ahead to the floor for the engine room, which is dominated by a JP3. In the living area, galley, bedroom and bathroom, the flooring will be oak, but I rather feel that this could get in an awful mess in the engine room, however carefully I look after the engine. What would others recommend - I'd quite like it to be able to be raddle red in colour. Any images would be a joy. Many thanks.

Excellent News! The Gongoozler's Rest is back. The charming and gently eccentric floating cafe is refreshed and restored and once again serving the weary and the hungry. Please visit it soon to make the owners feel welcomed back.

Last week I travelled up the Runcorn Arm. The delight? The scenery was intertingly diverse. The towpath strollers were friendly. There was delightfully little rubbish. Winding and mooring at the end was a pleasure. Runcorn is fascinating - how an historic location can be destroyed. The hope? That more boats will go up there - a townswoman said that she had never seen a hire boat moored up before! That the Old Locks will be restored; they are waiting, bordering a footpath. And then what a tempting ring there would be involving the the Runcorn and Weston canal and the River Weaver.

Greetings. I was up at the yard on Friday having just returned a boat. I was chatting with Adam Foskett, the owner, about hiring Larch in May. He gave me a large card advertising and describing it - with an extra image. I'm sure he'd send you one if you gave him a call. The pull-down bed in the boatman's cabin will be fine for two if they are 5'10" or shorter. Traditional controls simply require you to think a little further ahead. Larch is a fine boat, excepting that there is no enrty at the front. I hope this helps.

A small question. My new boat is now being fitted out. I shall soon be asked to choose a gas cooker. I have decided that I would like a separate oven and hob. I glanced in Midland Chandlers, but had no idea which model was considered best; I knew none of the makes apart from Belling, so could not go by their domestic reputation. Are they all much of a muchness? Has any one had startlingly good or bad experiences with a particular make of oven or hob? Do any well-known companies make ovens and hobs which work on LPG? Many thanks.

In the magazine supplement to The Times on Saturday, there is an article by Robert Crampton concerning Towpath Cricket, a game he plays as he cycles to work. The rules are simple: what he ovetakes - human, animal, boat - he gets runs for; when he is overtaken he is out. In part, the article was written in celebrtion of his maiden century. All rather fun. My question is simple: does any one have a version they might share appropriate for one who is steering - especially if they are on their own? I know one's eyes should be always on the cut, but, to be sure, there are some rather dull sections, and I'll admit my mind - but not the boat - wanders eveywhere. A game, once in a while, might be rather enjoyable. Many thanks.

Thank you for the replies this far. I will add one more myself: the welcoming and gently quirky cafe which is part of the lock-keeper's house at Barrowford Top Lock on the Leeds and Liverpool Canal. I recall being hugely impressed by the value and excellence of their bacon rolls - and by the friendly people. I would certainly go back. There must be more gems like this.

I popped in to Braunston yesterday, in part to see how the refurbishment of the great Gongoozlers' Rest was coming on. This charming narrowbaot cafe is presently closed whilst improvements are made to the kitchen and more. All appears set for the intended 4th Feb reopening. Braunston is lucky to have such a gently eccentric and friendly establishment - where one can never be quite sure that a bacon sandwich will not be disturbed by a boating collision - but are there other unusual and interesting places to eat in on the canals - places which are free from corporate blandness, places which, through their location or construction or owners, are individual and intriguing and worth the visit, whether you enjoy the cuisine or not?

Richard, Many thanks for the greeting. Yes, I hope it gives me as much pleasure as the mighty Barnoldswick Strumble. Have a cracking 2011 - and good luck with the new boat. Geoffrey

Richard, Thank you for your friendly posting and for the kind words. I feel jolly lucky that I am having the boat fitted out by Bob Mitchell: he seems both a craftsman and an utterly decent chap. The boat will stay at Braunston Marina; I like the people and I like being somewhere which is alive, where there is building, hiring, repairing - and incident! Best wishes for you and Pinmill in 2011. Geoffrey

Many thanks to the replies this far. I have decided to create a blog. I do not use the word with enthusiasm for I find it an ugly word. Further, my blog is unlikely to be exciting or particularly rewarding as I am neither building nor moving. In addition, visually, it will be austere as I have little IT skill. Why then have I created it? I suppose so that some people may encounter it and introduce themselves and perhaps even offer guidance; I am looking forward to becoming someone who spends much time on the water - the more good people who love our canals I know, the better. I hope. Here is its address: http://strumble2.blogspot.com/ Many thanks.

Many thanks for all the guidance given. Because there have been few comments concerning chimney storage this far, can I presume that what has been said is what most people do - that is, stand them in some form of container - plant pot tray, perhaps - in the engine room?

Presently I am having a boat fitted. Little by little, I am realising that though I know how I want the boat to look, I have not yet thought through the minutiae which will make it a better boat. So here are two questions. First, the boat has a boatman's cabin. As I am likely to be single-handed much of the time, is there a tidy way to store a windlass and a pair of mooring stakes so that they are at hand but not lying about? An image of a successful solution would be much appreciated. Second, the boat has an engine room. Is there a tidy way to store chimneys when they are not in use, so that they do not fall as the boat moves? I would intend to have four chimneys - 2 engine and 2 chimney - with probably only two in action when I am moving. Again, an image would be much appreciated. Many thanks.

Last Year I had a boat. I liked it hugely, but it was not a boat I was ever fully at ease on - some things did not quite suit. I then sold it and spent many months searching for something which was to be just right. An impossible dream, of course. But fun. Then chance threw me one of Barry Hawkins last builds - a 70ft trad unfinished project. It had a 1952 Lister JP3 and the ceiling had been lined and a boatman's cabin had been created. Here was an opportunity. I have no practical skills, so the boat is slowly being created for me at Braunston Marina. Tony Redshaw has made good the many faults with the engine. Dave Bishop will paint the boat. And the master fitter Bob Mitchell has just started work on the inside. I think I am very lucky. The boat is tucked in the wet dock - Bob Michell's new base. You are most welcome to cast an eye on it. All comments are most welcome. I hope to be back on the water in April.