Jen-in-Wellies

Has anyone found semi-trad locker seats comfortable to sit on for more than a few seconds? I find the angle of the cabin side and inner projecting handrail at the top makes them useless as a seat on my boat. It does make a good foot rest though for when sitting on top of the control pedestal to steer. When people want to sit on the semi trad deck they bring up a folding bar stool from the kitchen. Other boats may well be more comfy and worth getting cushions made. Mine just has a wooden lid. I picked the boat's fridge up from a canalside shop. Put the big cardboard box on the semi trad deck and steered back to the mooring sat cross legged on top! Jen

Welcome! The only problem with living on a boat while a student is when you graduate your robes will end up smelling of diesel! When I was a student the first time around the canal through town was still derelict, so not an option.

Just 'cause someone put it on Youtube doesn't mean it is a good idea, or that they know what they are doing! ? A straight flue on my boat going vertical from a centrally mounted stove. Central both across the cabin width and length to distribute the heat all over. I then used an angled roof collar as that was the only one I could get at the time, so I didn't know what I was doing either! One day I'll replace it with a straight one. Jen By paying attention to the trigonometry lessons in maths class at school. ?

New shoes if they have less than 2mm of tread left and replenish the neatsfoot oil on their tack. ?

You need to get the OK from CaRT for each trip, or regular service. See.

And it is the little things that add up to lots of money.

Who is going to be doing the installation? If paying someone, then anything other than a direct replacement BMC 1500 is going to need a lot of fabrication work and alterations, which will get expensive. Or one of these?

A cynic might say that this mismatch is deliberate to make such direct calculations and comparisons difficult and open to doubt. I've never heard leaves used as a term for individual gates before this winter. It does make the number sound bigger. From a lock gate makers point of view it is what they deal with, so not sure. It could be just another press release written by someone who doesn't actually know much about canals. The usual conflict between the conspiracy and cockup theories of history. Jen

The lever on these switches can be removed when in the OFF position, but not the ON. A safety thing. When working on the electrics it can be turned off and the key taken away with the person working on the system to prevent it being accidentally turned on. When ON you want to be able to turn it off in an emergency and having to hunt round for the key is not what you need! Since a bow thruster is only used when cruising then the key could be out and the cap to keep the internals a little drier. On @cuthound's boat it might be possible to use longer bolts and washers under the mounting plate to space the lever down enough to remove the key while still having enough room to get it to engage and turn. Alternatively, fitting a new mounting plate in a better spot. Need to be a bit careful, as the gas locker may be behind the bulkhead, so making holes for bolts leads in to "does it pass BSS or not" territory. A welded plate would be better from that point of view. Jen

Here you go. This is what you have. https://www.midlandchandlers.co.uk/products/battery-switch-250a-single-pole-durite-vs-054 I have these on my boat. As fitted by Pipers when it was built. Jen

If we see it in next years OED we'll know there is one of their compilers on the forum.

Me too. It definitely meets their criteria of protecting bystanders around the boat.

My experience too with several friends boats. Mains installed, with GI, or without, but no hull earth bond. With boat electrics never assume anything! Jen

Based on my experience: A lot more expensive than a GI. Fit and forget. Less likely to fail unsafe from a hull corrosion point of view, so no monitoring needed. Monitoring of a GI often gets done less often than it should. CO and fire alarms should be tested once a week according to the makers. Most don't get this, mine included. If you connect generators with weird earth arrangements the earth will be redefined properly on the boat. They can be a bit buzzy sometimes when drawing a large load. The soft start thing on my Victron includes a loud relay, so, if on board, I can hear if the shore power goes down. Takes up more space than a GI. My take. If you can afford one and your boat spends most of its time on a marina shore lead, then they are the gold plated solution. Otherwise, a GI and regular testing. For most people the extra cost isn't worth the marginal differences above. Jen

We have land line boxes on each of our residential moorings here. A few people use them. We have a really good 4G signal here. Much faster than the land line broad band. I've never bothered looking in to getting the land line connected. Since I once accidentally destroyed an electric bollard by setting off with the shore line still connected I don't think I could be trusted with another wire... If the mobile signal is poor where you are then it might be worth it. Jen

Wot @WotEver said. You might get away with it, or the routers life might be a bit short. Depends on how well the input electronics on the router are designed if it can cope with being powered direct from the boat, or not. Since these things are designed down to a price my guess is not very. As well as the higher than 12V voltage from the alternator, or charger, you also have various high voltage spikes coming down the wires from things like water pumps. A voltage stabiliser, like that linked to above is what you need. Jen

I've had a Victron isolation transformer installed for the last twelve years. It has the anti-surge gubbins that @Onewheeler ,mentions. Not cheap, but basically fit and forget. It is fitted in a similar position to where you are proposing, so some protection from the rain, but not total. Wind driven rain and the hatch open would get it wet. I keep the hatch closed and doors shut when cruising if it is raining for that reason. You've got a cruiser stern, so can do the same. Or build a vented cupboard around it to keep it dry. Jen

Just had a look again and it now says: I wonder which part the seller decided was in error?

There was another recent thread where this was pointed out and we came to roughly the same figures. Oak lock gates seem to last 25 years so.... Until the balance beam rots through and falls off when someone tries to open the gate. Damage by a boater according to CaRT. Accountants. Experts in everything, not just bean counting. ?

I agree that you can find shed boats everywhere. What is special here is the discrepancy between the extreme shedness of the boat and the apparent pride with which the seller describes it. I don't know if he is just talking it up in the hope that a mug buyer on ebay will actually pay £8k for it, of if he is genuinely proud of it and blind to its shedness and his complete lack of any skill in fitting it out. Jen

Yes, that looks like it. If the alternator in questions centre terminal says D+, then this goes to the warning lamp. The other side of the warning lamp goes to battery +ve (via fuses, switches etc.)

The B terminal goes to Battery Positive. A thick wire. What is the lettering under the centre red connector? It is probably the connection for the ignition warning light, but this needs confirming. W is probably the connection to the tacho. If so, then not needed just to get it running.

Finding out the which connection is which may be tricky. A possibility could be to find a place locally that repairs alternators and starter motors. Most towns of any size will have one. They may be able to tell you. Are there any numbers, or letters moulded in to the plastic by the terminals. If so, what are they as they may give a clue? You're going to need to do some research. Jen

A Ford Sierra 2.0 was a model of car, not a type of alternator. The picture may have been of an alternator that was fitted in that car. The picture also shows a ribbed belt pulley, not a V belt, which I would have thought more likely on a Sabb 10hp single cylinder engine, so you may have to change the pulley at one end, or the other and possible in between too. In order to be able to wire it up you need to know which is the output, which will be the largest and which is the alternator light wire. There may be others like sense wires and tacho outputs too. I have no idea what this is on an old Sierra car alternator. The alternator warning light needs connecting up as otherwise the alternator won't work. It is not just the wiring diagram, but an idea on wire sizes. Connections to the engine block from the battery negative and from the battery positive to the starter motor need to be a minimum of 25mm2. The alternator output to battery positive, or starter positive can be smaller, perhaps 10, or 6mm2, depending on the alternator output current and distance. Connections to any glow plugs may need to be substantial. 4mm2, or more, depending. Other wires can be lighter. Boat safety scheme says there needs to be an isolator switch to disconnect the battery, but see the comments on the risk of wrecking the alternator. I have put in a basic wiring set up in a friends boat to get the engine running so it could be moved and it can be very simple, but you need to understand what you are doing. Jen

Greatn (where n is a very large number) Grandfather Bizzard said "But half the time, folk don't need bronze tools to do simple jobs when peaceful flint tools can do it. Most folk these days have lost the art of knapping flint. Around here for example, we have folk getting out their wretched bronze axes to cut up twigs when they can be cut much more quickly with a flint blade glued with pine resin in to a wooden handle. Mucking about with smelting and casting and the smoke and smell just to get a few ounces of bronze. Having to trade with foreigners in Wales and Cornwall for copper and tin. It 'taint natural. This new fangled metal ought to be banned. Kids today."