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Hi All, Many thanks for all the useful information and replies on the thread. As promised an update after drying out the tank area. I emptied the tank and left the dehumidifier running for a couple of weeks, this has had the expected effect of drying everything out! I think I have now found the root cause of the water: current theory is that it is nothing to do with the water tank and is to do with rainwater leaking in between the steel and the wood of the bow door frame, dripping down the steel into the area in front of (at the stern end of) the water tank. This was probably going on all winter until I got my new covers fitted last month and I didn't notice until now. Combined with some condensation this seems like the most likely cause at the moment, but... I'm going to give it another week of drying out and then do a test run filling the tank, checking hose connections etc and then will report back again. If the problem is the doorframe, then I'll have to have a look at dismantling it and resealing or something like that. Hopefully the damp there hasn't caused too much damage to the floor or caused too much rust!

Great, thanks for the recommendation. Good to support good local businesses.

Hi All, First of all, thanks so much to everyone for all the replies and helpful advice and thoughts! I've drained the tank and I'm in a situation where I don't need to fill it for a couple of weeks due to Easter hols. So I'll get the dehumidifier on and try to dry the area out fully. When I fill up I will watch the filler hose and breather and all that. I'll report back in a couple of weeks with an update. Fingers crossed it was just winter condensation! Cheers! Fingers crossed that this is the answer! Thanks, no bongs or noises like that, and thanks for the heads up on costs, I'm lucky that the only obstacle is the stove, the saloon is otherwise unobstructed, if I do need to remove the tank.

Hi All, I have a 1996 narrowboat with a stainless steel water tank under the well deck at the bow. The well deck is completely sealed welded steel with a welded in place filler tube for the water tank (starboard side, raised above deck, no seal in play). The tank is accessed from the saloon (behind the stairs) with quite easy to remove ply panels, however, the stove is located on the starboard side so does obstruct easy access on that side. The tank has concrete slabs (ballast) stacked on either side between the hull and the tank. Sadly, I noticed some damp in behind these panels (while doing some other routine maintenance) I've had a brief investigation and the tank itself feels dry (along the front bottom edge), the stopcock and water feed to the pumps feels dry, but there is evidently water getting into this space somehow. I guess options are: some sort of leak around the filler tube or breather tube that causes a flood when filling, and this water has just sat there in the cold space for a month. condensation? none was visible. a failure of the stainless tank. something else? I'm going to drain the tank and try to dry the area out and will try to investigate further. In the meantime, what thoughts do you all have for troubleshooting this? Alternatively, if I'm in for a trip to a boatyard for a new tank, does anyone have recommendations for reputable places to get this sort of work done (current location Northampton). Many thanks in advance, happy to supply more details!

I wasn't sure of the rules. But I used https://www.cutmy.co.uk I'm sure this isn't the cheapest way to get polycarbonate, but from my perspective, it's worth a bit of extra spend to get a cleanly cut piece that is exactly the right size and shape. They are also selling the self adhesive magnetic tape. Hope that helps someone.

Thanks to the replies on this thread I figured out secondary glazing for my Houdini hatch which seems to work pretty well at preventing the condensation. The cold bridging effect on the Houdini frames is REAL! I got 3mm Polycarbonate sheet cut to size from a supplier on the internet (not sure if I can name names or give links on the forum), and they also supply a self adhesive magnetic tape so the panel is easy to remove and doesn't look too tatty.

Great information, thank you. I'll run the hose to the sink.

I've just been given one of these Meaco DD8L dehumidifiers. Do you just leave yours running while you're away? Do you find the tank is big enough? Or do you use a hose to drain? I'm a bit nervous about running it 24/7 (but not for any good reason). Tips welcomed! I stay on my boat part time, so I can check up on this once a week, and it wouldn't be very handy to fully drain the water system every week etc.

Cool piece of kit! Thanks for the link.

Thanks for the write up, it sounds like a really smart system. Food for thought!

Thanks to everyone for all the suggestions for thermostats that's really helpful. Do you run the radiators at like max power and let the thermostat do its work cycling it on and off? Or do you take a more softly softly approach with a lower setting on the rad and let the thermostat keep it on for longer? I guess that's a question of taste! This sounds really smart, what type of system do you have set up to do this? Thanks!

I’m thinking of a setup like this for the boat this winter, what kind of thermostatic controller did you use?

You could try Matt Miller at Bulls Bridge Dock. I found him really helpful (and a nice bloke too).

I agree, the weed seems to get chopped up by the prop fairly effectively, a few bursts of reverse every so often as well. This is quite unlike the plastic sacks, straps, copper wire, fishing line, tracksuits and other detritus that seem to get round the prop in urban canals! That stuff really does require use of the "weed" hatch 😁

Adding my tuppence worth to this thread and to encourage other boaters. I've been up and down the Northampton Arm a couple of times over the last month. I have a heavy deep drafted boat, so I was worried about the trip the first time I did it, but there is really no issue. The flight was in good condition and apart from having to let some water down to raise the level in a one of the pounds to get across it (which really wasn't a big drama) it was very pleasant. The lower section was very weedy and reedy. But I didn't need to get the weed hatch up, I managed to chug on through at a slow pace. A couple of the long pounds have got crystal clear water, teeming with fish, it's very picturesque! I understand that the clear water encourages the weed growth, but it seems a shame to complain about the water being so clean. The water level in the lower sections seemed pretty good in terms of depth, I was not stirring up mud at any stage, so I guess the draft in the centre of the channel is pretty good. However, the usable channel is really quite narrow, so for long stretches it's a bit like being in a bridge hole, pushing water backwards around the boat in the limited channel. Not a drama, just rather leisurely. In summary, slow going, but no drama and very picturesque.