NB Watersnail

Agreed, tick over speed seems non-existent on the Oxford. We often have short term and sometimes longer term (up to 6 months at times) moorings available at Sovereign Wharf on Banbury. Booking is advised as we are only a small place and as mentioned above, good public transport links. Typically 15 mins by train to Oxford. Options in Oxford itself are very limited, you'd be best trying Bossoms on Port Meadow, but that's not exactly central to town at all and its on the Thames.

I've heard of boats getting to Bewdley, I'm sure there was a post on here about it recently. I think you need high water levels and an exceptionally shallow draft boat. I know little of the river below Bewdley, only above it.

Not a chance. You'll be lucky to get to Bewdley, beyond there it's often difficult in a kayak!

Another one watching with great interest here. GRP has always been a black art to me, this thread is a real eye opener! Looking forward to the next instalment.

That engine looks very smart!

We normally make a charge of £2 for water, unless the customer is purchasing something from the Chandlery, in which case we normally wiave the fee. We are in an area where CRT taps are plentiful and easily accessible and as our site is on a water meter every drop that leaves the tap does cost us. I see no issue with Marina's anywhere charging for water (or any other service), but dropping the fee when other services are purchased does seem reasonable and fairly universal.

We had the same problem, but with gravel ballast. Nothing holds water like tightly packed gravel! Plenty of ventilation saw it dry eventually. A few years later when we ripped the floor up there was corrosion on the base plate, but it was dry and looked to have stopped when the moisture disappeared. Very little metal had been lost when surveyed. It's a worry, granted, but dried out over time, I wouldn't loose sleep over it!

I'm reasonably confident Dusty was built for purpose, around 2004 I think, but I shall check that next time it passes us.

Ash properly cleared down, ash pan emptied. The right amount of the right coal put on in the right places and finally the vent set to the perfect point. Takes a while to figure out and varies dependant on the coal, temperature and wind.

Our villager puffin is 4kw and keeps our 57' warm and will stay in all night if loaded with care. It's about 15' from the front. Just an eco fan on top, no boiler, but that's a can of worms we really don't need to open!

Best of luck to you!

Neoprene tape is definitely the best way of fitting windows. Tried silicone and it didn't last long and was almost impossible to get the window out!

I've been aware of these for a while. Althoug I've not seen one, I know Steve has put a lot of effort into these and his effort is always top notch!

900kg according to an online calculator for steel weight. That's almost as much as the 1000l water tank being discussed in the other thread. All well worth considering if the boat has a relatively low freeboard to start with.

^^ that's roughly my understanding too. The over plate on a base plate needs fixing to the old plate in more places than the edge to prevent sagging and a gap. We had Water Snail's base plate replaced during the lengthening. The old plate was cut off and the new plate welded in its place. The cabin floor will need to be up for an over plate, so why not just cut off the old and replace with new? New floor (cross?) bearers were also fitted. If you're doing a job, do it properly!

Mike, I think Cropredy Marina sells diesel now, at least the website implies they do! I wasn't aware Aynho's hours were patchy. We've always bought from Dusty, but with a large tank, a frugal engine and never doing as much cruising as we'd like, waiting for his next passing has never been a problem for us. I can see it being less practical for those passing through the area. Bunny, if anything changes and hours are extended I shall make a point of jumping up and down here and letting you all know!

That's a shame Tony, I was here around Noon yesterday, although possibly not visibly. Had you pulled up on the wharf, I'd have happily tried to help, although we only keep 3.9kg, 6kg and 13kg in stock.

Thanks for the well wishes and comments. It's a very tricky situation to get right. As Adam1uk says, our main business is moorings. Many people wanted the previous owners and now us to open more days and longer hours, the impression given is that there is demand for the services to be open fully. However, having spent days working through years of past accounts from when the wharf did open for longer hours and more days, it seems the demand has never really been there and the services don't bring in enough income to justify them being open. The previous owners had realised this, hence their gradual reduction in hours. So, why open them at all? Firstly, we don't want to see the services here lost completely, especially for the benefit of our moorers and boats moored on CRT moorings locally. Now, as we moor here ourselves, we can service the local boats and those boats on our moorings quite easily, they simply need to let us know when to meet them. We both have other jobs elsewhere, but as we intend to be working here for one day a week , to keep on top of maintenance and admin, it seems silly not to at least open the shop door and offer anything we can to passing boats. We looked long and hard at retaining diesel sales, but the margin is low, the paperwork is high and on limited opening hours the turnover wouldn't be much. There's an active fuel boat (Dusty) and diesel sales at Cropredy and Aynho. It's a saturated market in my eyes. It is with regret, but not without thought, that we won't be selling diesel. I'll finish with the quote "never say never". If we do find a viable way of operating the services more regularly, with or without diesel sales, I would be very keen to make it work.

Morning All, Some of you may have been aware that Sovereign Wharf in Banbury has been on the market for a while. As the previous owners neared retirement, the services were slowly cut back and closed. I think the Wharf has now ended up with a reputation of being permanently closed. I'm pleased to be able to tell you that the tide has now turned and Sovereign Wharf will be back on the up with new owners at the helm. Charlotte and I took over Sovereign Wharf last Friday after a lengthy and complex sale. We've both been boaters for nearly 12 years, 9 of those as liveaboards. Many of you will have seen our build blog on this forum for Watersnail's stretch and refit. Although it's still very much early days, I thought I would start to spread the word around that we will be opening a little more regularly. At present, we will be open on Friday's from 9am - 5pm, but as resident moorers, we can be open by appointment at other times. Please call or email in advance of arriving. We have a small amount of stock in the Chandlery that we hope to increase over the coming weeks. Most other items can be ordered in at reasonably short notice. We are also able to offer Calor gas. Although the service berth is currently let to a longterm mooring, we are considering the possibility of opening it again in the future for passing boaters. This would also enable us to offer pump outs again. The only service previously available at Sovereign Wharf that will not be re-opening is the sale of Diesel. For Diesel on this section of the south Oxford, I refer you to the wonderful service of Dusty the fuel boat. Of course, long-term moorings will still remain our key business, with short-term moorings sometimes available. Mooring enquiries can be made to the office for availability and we do keep a waiting list. Charlotte and I are excited at the prospect of running the Wharf and look forward to meeting any of you who may call in. If you'd like to keep up with developments at Sovereign Wharf, we have a new Facebook page: www.facebook.com/sovereignwharfmoorings and our contact details are on the soon to be updated website: www.sovereignwharfmoorings.co.uk Ian & Charlotte Marris

I'll expand on my comment to agree with the other posters. We do have a Candy Aquamatic for daily use and bought the little single tub for when out cruising as we couldn't justify a big inverter for the limited time we cruise. I wouldn't want to use the little tub for all of my washing - it would take forever, but it's a great little backup!

I've got a single tub, it washes light items well, but is quite labour intensive and they do come out sopping wet. Uses next to no power, which was why we bought it. However, that means it can only be half loaded as the motor doesn't have the power to keep a full load moving when wet.

Athy, I did exactly the same as you a couple of weeks ago! Same thing, same place!

I've had exactly the same in the past. Filter inlet stub cracked and leaked into the cabin bilge. We only noticed when the carpet at the rear of the cabin was damp all of the time. It's now one of those things I check on now and again.