Jen-in-Wellies

There are visitor moorings at the basin. Not many and you may end up moored alongside someone. The basin is run by CV Marine these days. I wouldn't moor anywhere else. Urban area and the problems that can give. Jen

<pedant>He doesn't actually say he plans to get a mooring there. He is only enquiring if a 62' boat can get there</pedant> Perhaps he just wants to visit, turn round and come back? 😀

More'n my jobsworth is true here. They are not going to risk it. I vaguely recall some years back someone bought a boat longer than 60' to moor at the basin in Sheffield and couldn't use the Tinsley flight. Can't remember if it was craned in and he couldn't leave, or if he couldn't get there from the rest of the system. Did a search, but couldn't find it, but I think it is on CWDF somewhere. Jen

Modern narrowboat drawing around 2', I've found going gentle, with low revs in forward and reverse when stopping in locks minimises the amount the horrors on the canal bed are stirred up and head for the prop. If you think Burnley and Blackburn were bad, try Rochdale! Jen

The locks have strong currents in them unless worked very carefully. They were designed for Sheffield size Humber Keels, not narrowboats. There are also projecting walkways on the bottom gates over the chamber that can trap boats beneath them. The cills are curved, again to accommodate wide beam keels, with the longest region in the middle, so going diagonally means putting the boat in the centre of the top gates, not full diagonal across. Similar to doing the Calder & Hebble locks in a 60' NB. The Tinsley locks are also full time CaRT staff keeper operated, so you'll have to convince them it is OK to take your long boat through diagonally. They are going to get the blame if you end up sinking, so don't be surprised if they were to say no. Personally I wouldn't take a narrowboat longer than 60' through them. Maybe a foot more at the outside. The locks have no bywashes, so excess water goes over the gates. Longer boats can get flooded as a result. Jen

Thinking it over, probably easiest to do it by following my second paragraph above. On the 6mm pipe from the Mikuni, 6mm compression fitting to 1/4" BSPT female thread, joined to a 1/4"BSPT thread to 3/16" compression fitting to the 3/16" copper supply pipe. Wade part numbers MC106/164 and 7061/3. Jen

Non negotiable! 😀

What's this? Where am I going to empty the cassette now? CaRT should get a move on and fix it! 😀

4.75mm could actually be 3/16" (4.7625mm). Could the 6mm pipe actually be 1/4"? There are 3/16" to 1/4" straight compression couplings. See Wade catalogue, page 7. You may well get away with using a 6mm pipe in a 1/4" compression fitting if it is a metric 6mm, rather than imperial. There are 1/4" to 6mm couplings too (page 6), if you want to do it exactly, so Mikuni pipe to 1/4" pipe, then 1/4" to 3/16 in two fittings. Or, 6mm compression to 1/4" BSPT taper female (Wade MC106/164), joined on to a 3/16" compression to 1/4" BSPT taper male (Wade 7061/3). Lots of other ways to do it. Jen

They'll also supply you a boat known to fit through Standedge and will have all the ins and outs of booking the tunnel.

This is true of any canal holiday. A breach, or damaged lock will prevent you completing the trip. The S Pennine ring will be a good challenge and good fun, but everyone on board has to be on board with the idea of doing it.

Yes. 74 just on the Huddersfield Narrow. You can get a nice plaque if you've done them all. Jen

Otherwise known as differential GPS. Using ground transmitters of known location to enhance the accuracy. GPS for civilian use only took off after president Clinton turned off selective availability in the late 90's, that reduced accuracy to around 50 to 100m. Jen

The most common questions on here are on electricity and replacing it in the batteries. The only way to run a 725W of power for grow lamps is with a generator, running basically every hour that is allowed under CaRT rules. You'll want a built in diesel generator for noise reasons, both you and your neighbours, but this will set you back around £10k and cost a lot in fuel and maintenance. I'd suggest that this hobby isn't going to be compatible and it would be a lot cheaper to just buy in your chillis and St John's Wort. For computing, try to reduce the power usage. What is the real minimum spec you need to do your work? Diesel is the only fuel that won't limit your travelling. Electric has to be generated somehow. Biofuel isn't available on the cut. There isn't the charging infrastructure (yet). With lots of solar panels and I mean a lot, plus lithium batteries, electric boating can be done, at least in summer. Search for @peterboat's description of his wide beam. At the moment you are basically on your own, with engineering your own system with happy fun exploding battery banks and fires if you get it wrong! I totally agree and love the example pictures. You may end up having to do a refit on the interior. You have a reasonable budget, so could end up with something rather good. Yes there are. A recent example in General Boating. Very late 60's, early 70's. Most boats are rather traditional on the outside, but some owners do go wild! The paintwork leads a hard life. Knocked and scratched by vegetation, other boats and canal infrastructure, so it needs to be able to be touched up easily, which s harder to do with an air brushed finished without it being obvious. Oh and welcome to CWDF. May I suggest getting a secondhand boat that is set up for living aboard, living on it it for a year, or so, then going for your ultimate boat. The depreciation will be small and you'll learn a lot about what is practical and what you really want in that time. These will likely be very different from what you think now. Jen

GPS was originally a military thing and still is. Developed partly to increase the accuracy of nukes launched from submarines and mobile land launchers. If they know exactly where they've started from they stand a bigger chance of landing on their target. No surprise that most of the countries that have their own system also have big militaries and nukes. America (GPS), Russia (Glonass), EU actually France (Galileo), China (Beidou), India (NAVIC). The only exception is the Japanese system. India developed their own system after the Americans locked them out during an India/Pakistan conflict in 1999. Jen