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I had a 'staffordshire' 57' narrowboat supplied in 2009 by Lymm marina Boat sales. The shell was built by D.P.Bridgeman boat builders in the midlands and fitted out to sailaway level by Lymm marina. It was a very good value for money bog standard boat that handled well and did the job, The picture looks very much of the style. A search shows a D.P.Bridgeman website but now out of business in 2017? I subsequently had a 9'6" boat built by the same builder/supplier in 2015 which has served me well to date.

Thankyou all for your input . Can I ask Pearley where that information photographed is published ? It is a Collingwood but fortunately a 'round stern'

Does anyone in the area know the length of Broad Cut Top lock? Tried all the usual resources but a bit ambiguous . I know beyond is limited to 57 foot but Looking to take a 60 foot widebeam up to Horbury Bridge. (With a view to eventually turning it round in the offline moorings entrance there? Thankyou

Thank you for your replies, especially the humorous ones ... Pumpout with spare porta potti I think is the way to go ?

Moving onto a 3rd sailaway fitout and have the usual 'cassette v pumpout' decision ? We moor in a marina with a pumpout facillity ( but we get iced in occasionally) and usually go out and about for a couple of month with very few pumpout places available. Was looking at having both a pumpout AND cassette toilet. It dawned on me I have room to do this is by putting two toilets in the SAME BATHROOM ! Has anyone ever done this or seen it done ?? Cheers

Thank you for your quick replies Yes Tony I see your your point of the danger of running the alternator into an open circuit should the fuse fail. Yes Loddon the isolation switch dillema I think still remains, Am I right in thinking BSS requires the alternator charging cable to connect to the cabin side of the isolation switch ? So if the cabin battery switch is OFF and the engine is started , there is a possibility the alternator can put its full charging volts down the 12 volt cabin supply !!

Hi, one for the electrical guys. Is there a requirement/need for a FUSE between cabin battery bank and the alternator ? Some boats seem to have one and others dont Thank you

Thank you again for your replies ..... very helpful info re hull bonding ?

Thankyou for your quick reply ..... and to the point !! ?

Hi, currently installing the leisure battery wiring on a widebeam sailaway . The Starter battery is of course already fully installed with the negative cable returning to the Engine block (canaline 52) The leisure and starter battery negatives always seem to be shown linked together. The Starter battery is on the port swim and the leisure battery bank is on the starboard swim, quite a distance apart. Can the leisure battery negative cable be run to the engine block bolt (as is the starter battery) or does it have to run all the way round to the starter battery negative terminal? Connecting to the engine block would be a much shorter / tidier run and seems logical as it is only the charging current return ? I know it is also recommended to take a strap to the Hull from this point when 240v ac is installed. (along with a connection to mains earth) Thank you in advance.

Thanks again for the comments. Re Reedley Marina it quotes £20 night on website for widebeams (we are 9 ' 6") but have quoted me £30 a night ? So .... no thanks. We have decided on foulridge moorings just before the tunnel but does anyone know how long you can stay there?? Cheers

Thank you for your replies. Reedly marina want to charge £30 a night ! (plus electric) ?

Hi, currently doing the Leeds Liverpool (from Leeds) Can anyone suggest a safe place to moor from the bottom of Barrowford Locks to Burnley. We need to leave the boat for a bit / pick up visitors when in this area. Or anywhere to avoid! Thank you for any input.

The BOATHOUSE at Goole seem to do a good job. I blacked my own in their dry dock but saw them do three boats quite thoroughly. Nice lads as well.

Thanks again for your replys . Never even considered air draught, only about 6 foot but having looked Mercia marina will do. Cheers

Thank you for the quick replies, excellent info.

Hi, tried the usual sources but cannot find out how far you can take a 10' widebeam (east to west) along the Trent & Mersey canal . I would imagine you can get to mercia marina as they sell widebeams . Which is the first 'narrow' lock? Thankyou Steve

A collar is absolutely required on single skin flues . Could you get a conventional collar the correct diameter for twin walled ?? , mine is 7" overall diameter. Seen lots of variations on roof exit for twin walled, including the 'storm collar' the op mentioned (on a boat next to me) . The boaty 'morso' kit certainly doesn't come with a 'collar', just a thin bit of plate with the hole in it.

If you look at the marine morso twin wall flue kit (very expensive !) the 'collar' is simply a piece of thin plate (with a hole for the flue in it) which fastens to the roof. You then seal the gap around the flue and plate with a high temperature sealant. The flue protrudes about 150mm above the roof, on top of this is attached a short length of flue with a chimney top. The outer case of the twin flue at the roof point does not get overly hot but a gap of 60mm is required on the inside of the roof between flue and ceiling of course. I fitted this to my first boat and was still good after 3 years. On my current boat I simply made a neat hole in the steel roof (doing away with the thin plate, surplus in my opinion) and ran a 1.5mtr flue straight to the fire, The roof hole sealed well with a high temperature quality flexible sealant. It protrudes about 200mm above the roof on top of which I put a 500mm flue piece (and chimney cap) which can be removed. It has been installed 18 month and never moved/leaked and looks tidy if you get the sealant right (I used masking tape on final application). If you cant cut a neat hole there are flue plates available with a 'nice' hole in them on fleabay.

Supreme marine at Castleford is definately the closest. A long days cruise away ..... The Boathouse at Goole or Stanilands at Thorne .... but not sure of the 'heated' bit I know the Boathouse is £300 for the week and you can stay on the boat. I would do a lot of the prep work before hand as you cannot get a lot of paint on in a week. As mentioned before the M62 bridge is just down the cut !

My opinion ... it looked what it was .... a floating container! (albeit covered in plastic grass) I would be very upset if someone put that next to me. The gimmicks were just that .. gimmicks. Does anyone else think his clothes would go mouldy in there? I am residential in a BWML marina and cant even have a 'proper' shed perhaps they would let me have an arctic container instead :-)

Hi, what filler do you find is the best to use on rust spots /small indents ? I tend to clean back to metal with a small screwdriver /small piece of sandpaper and apply a rust converter, but do I then apply a primer followed by filler, or the other way round. Is there such a thing as a good 1 pack filler ? The stuff I have used tends falls out of the hole when sanding it down. Any help appreciated Thankyou

Cheers .... good ideas :-)

Thankyou for the replies. Especially Richards ..... I can relate to the RCD comment in that I seem to have tried to meticulously comply, but the profesionally built boats around me that are CE marked don't seem to come even close ! I will try the dremel thing (or a variation of it) but did you do it hanging upside down off the stern :-) or in dry dock ? I can see the dremel going for a swim ! Steve