Ynot

Totally agree with all of the above, it has to be the trickiest move. I however have found a solution that never fails - my better half takes care of it. I don't know if she is a natural, or if its just intuitive but I just seem to over think the situation and make a mess every time.

I'll be interested to see the concensus on this one as we are doing the same trip in June but starting from Worcester. I'd planned to go up the Avon because I understand if there is a current running some of the bridges can be "interesting". Did Tardebigge a couple of weeks ago and are no longer phased by its might.

Why not indeed, whatever tickles your fancy. Makes me wonder what other little games we play in order to amuse and pass the time - strictly boating of course!

Why?

We spent the last 2 extended weekends around Tardebigge and Alvechurch and were surprised by the lack of boats in general, but what there were seemed to be mostly hire boats.

All not too smart but you can't help feeling that much of it is due to a lack of awareness of the dangers due to inexperience, with perhaps a liberal shortage of common sense. What you become acutely aware of after a few cruises, and reading this forum, are all the things that can go wrong. It all seems so "safe" the first time you go out. This is not an excuse for bad and dangerous behaviour, just perhaps a reason why it happens. I don't think it is exclusive to hire boaters by the way.

Is it the same stuff or less calories?

Quite a difference as you say, but like so many others it seems, I too have had periodic back problems so the extra cost is worth it. Thanks for the link, that tells me what I need to know and the probability is that I will need to take out another contract.

I understand there are restrictions on the contents of the gas locker. We keep wellies and the rather bulky hose pie in there. It would just make the retrieval of these items easier. The main thing is the awkwardness of getting them out + I bought some plastic stands a couple of years ago to keep the bottles off the base of the locker where water can accumulate but - doh!, the stands are for 6kg bottles.

We are thinking of installing 6kg gas bottles in place of the current 13kg to make them easier to handle and reduce the amount of space they occupy. Does anyone know of a downside to this?, other than they are weight for weight more expensive, and run out quicker of course

Hello Bridge100, I have a multistage 16amp Ring charger. I'm not sure it makes any difference what brand of charger is used, providing it is multi stage, but the evidence now seems pretty convincing that a bank of fully fully charged batteries may give this misleading visual alarm, simply because of the method the unit uses to determine that it is charging efficiently from the alternator. Once some of the power from the batteries has been discharged, the warning light is no longer illuminated.

What about a torque clutch on the prop drive shaft with a micro switch that cuts the engine if it pops out? Wouldn't save any poor soul that got too close but it would reduce the severity of the problem if a mattress found it irresistably attractive.

I did our SS tank at the weekend but didn't spot the stainless steel issue. Used the recommended ratio as for baby stuff - 30ml to 1 litre of water. Is that what others do?

Errrr... not on this ocassion but I'm sure all contributions are given with the best of intentions

I'm sorry if I've caused confusion by reverting back to the original topic but for anyone else who has a similar issue, I spent the weekend on the boat using fridge, lights etc and ran the engine with no flickering charging light so I'm quietly confident that the batteries being absoluetly fully charged was the cause, but to make sure will go for a short trip next weekend. Thanks again for the helpful advice. John

Thank you Sir Nibble, I am about to leave for the boat to try just that. I'll let you know what happens.

I have looked carefully and it is definitely flickering. Interestingly, I just got a response back from Beta Marine asking if I recently fitted new batteries. They are not new, but are on permanent charge and it seems that may well be the answer - they are fully charged. I know I'm wandering into dangerous territory here, but I understand the warning light does not illuminate when it sees a voltage differential or not in this case?. That little gem did not come from Beta Marine. (Waits to be shot down because that's rubbish) When I get chance this weekend I'll put some load on the batteries and try again.

Back to the original post, I'm afraid I spoke too soon 'cos the flickering warning light is back. Gibbo mentioned that it would have been better if I had not removed the alternator so that tests could be carried out. As it is now reinstated, could you let me know what exactly I should be checking. I have a multimeter but not a load tester beyond 10 amps. Thanks.

I've never seen a bicycle riding dog exerciser carrying their trophy bag of do-dos, but perhaps that's because they always seem to be a long way infront of the dog and don't see it perform?

I don't know if this is the total answer to "What's with that" but as dog and boat owners, we always pick up and sometimes leave discreetly in a tree to be collected for disposal on the return part of the walk, rather than carrying it for the entire stroll.

Took Gibbo's advice and cleaned the brush set and rotor as best I could without full disassembly and have now refitted it on the boat. No red lights showing so I hope that's an end to it. Thanks again to all who advised.

Yes I was surprised also, but put it down to it being necessary because of the vibration. It is possible that the connecting parts are severely clamped / crimped together, but I wasn't about to use too much force to seperate them in case I broke something.

Thanks to all. Stripped it out and fell short of removing brushes to clean thoroughly, there seem to be soldered adjoining parts preventing removal without de-soldering (probably no such word). Got close enough to determine that it all looks clean and healthy. I'll try refitting next weekend but in the event of it still being a problem, does anyone know of someone near Worcester who could inspect / service it?

Aha! Well I'll try cleaning it up and reinstall. Hopefully I wont need further help. Thanks