monkeyhanger

Thanks for the information, everyone. Looks like Lower Heyford will be fine. Cheers, Jack

My boat is currently at Braunston, and my son will be using it in late July/ early August on the Thames. I will soon be moving my boat south towards Oxford. Could someone advise me of any 7 day moorings within easy reach of a railway station, where I can leave the boat for my son to collect. I would prefer to be as close to Oxford as possible. Thanks, Jack.

If it's a regular ticking noise, it could be the valves in your water pump. Mine do that from time to time, with no indication of why, or when for that matter. Get your crew to have a listen (Using a screwdriver or something similar) as you gradually increase the revs, to the point when it begins to be heard It could very well be the washer type valves hitting their seats.

About half a turn, once the engine is running works on my engine. It splashes a bit of water for the first couple of minutes, but after that it's dry as a bone.

"Cleveland" will be there, and "Comet" as well. Jack

As I've mentioned on this forum before, a couple of years ago, in the last months of BW, I met an operative greasing the mechanisms of the "Rising Sun" lock at Berkhamsted. When I mentioned that there appeared to be a fair amount of grease on the gear already, he replied "You know that there's enough grease on there, I know that there's enough grease on there, but the computer says I have to put grease on the mechanism so I have to do it" He helped me through a few locks, though, so I was glad he was there. Oh, and it wasn't veggie grease either, as my trousers will testify.

I've seen zinc ones for that price on ebay-are these the same ones by any chance? If they're magnesium I'd be very interested. After quite a bit of internet searching, the best price I've seen so far is at Limekiln chandlers. I was wondering if anyone knew of anywhere better.

I need to buy four 4.5kg magnesium anodes for my narrowboat. Who has the best prices, please?

Depending where you are in London, you may wish to try "New Era" oils canalside at Bow flyover. Their SAE 30 is about £18 for 5 litres. I've used it for 20 years and my JP is still running.(not on the same 5 litres I hasten to add)

You're possibly thinking of Old Ford Lock on the Regents Canal.

I had mine converted to electric start by Tony Redshaw about 3years ago. He did a nice job. The cost was £1700-not so nice- but I guess you get what you pay for.

Did you manage to get one--I'm pretty sure that I have one somewhere. Jack

My daughter dropped her phone in the water at Little Venice, climbing aboard after an evening in the bar at Canalway Cavalcade.We got it back by phoning her number and we could see where it was when the screen lit up underwater. We then retrieved it with the seasearcher, which unfortunately did more damage to the electrics than the water had done!

I'm almost 100% sure that it is Bullfinch. In late 1990 I first saw it at Valencia Wharf as it was just finished and ready to leave Allen's yard, and they were getting ready to start building my boat. Bullfinch took longer to build than expected, because, as Bob Allen told me, they built the stern three times before he was happy with the shape and was prepared to allow it leave the yard. That says a great deal about his standards of work and commitment to detail.

Sorry everyone, I was being a bit thick when I typed it. It is definitely NEXT SUNDAY, DECEMBER 1st, as many people have so correctly said.

Canals in Hackney Users Group (CHUG) will be holding a Christmas Fair in Kingsland Basin, Hackney, next Sunday, December 3rd. There will be Santa boat trips, Carol singers, Mulled wine, Mince pies, Food stalls, Craft stalls and more. All welcome. Come along if you can. Sunday 2pm-5pm

I've got a collection of old 5 litre oil cans which I can use to transfer the diesel backwards and forwards so to speak, but I may need something quite a bit larger depending on how much diesel is still in there, hence the plastic dustbins. My main tank is under the floor of the back cabin, and I seem to remember that , after taking measurements 20-odd years ago, that it worked out as 135 gallons. It's a wide and quite shallow tank and not easy with certainty to know how much is still in there as it sloshes about with the boat's movement. That's handy to know--thanks.

It's already got quite a bit of "Marine 16" in it. I'm not sure how much diesel remains in the tank. If it's only a couple of gallons, then I may discard it. However , I suspect it could be more like 20 which is why I want to filter it. I was thinking of using something like the "sock" type filters you can get, and filtering the fuel into a couple of new dustbins. I have an access hatch in the top of the tank, and I intend to clean it out with rags before refilling.

I've cycled along the Regents canal towpath quite a bit recently, and have been amazed at the number of boats with out of date licences or no licence displayed, approximately 25% of the boats I saw .If CaRT were to deal with these boats more effectively that might free up a few mooring spots.

I need to clean out my diesel tank. It's never been done in 22 years of use, and I've recently had problems with diesel bug. I have purposely let the level get very low, and I intend to pump the diesel into containers, filter it, and after cleaning out the tank, put the diesel back in. What I need to know is what size of filter should I use? Would one fine filter do the job, or do I need a set with gradually finer mesh? There are plenty to choose from on ebay. Any info gratefully received. Jack

I did consider that originally, but went for white smoothrite instead as it looked cleaner and any leaks, drips or rust would show more readily. (A white coal bunker? Yes, I know.) Thanks for the suggestion anyway.

Just aft of the gas locker on my boat, under the front deck, I have a storage area for coal, steel ballast and general junk. It's about 18 inches front to back and is the full width of the boat. It's accessed from the gas locker lid. At the bottom of the locker, which is steel, I have wooden slats which rest on polystyrene foam, and the ballast etc. rests on these. When I fitted out the boat I painted this locker with Smoothrite which has lasted well for many years, apart from on the bottom of the locker, where rust has got under the paint causing some of it to lift. I've removed most of the old Smoothrite by scraping, wire brush and Nitromors. My intention now is to give it a coat of Vactan to kill the rust, and then apply either a couple of coats of Smoothrite, or possibly, Waxoyl. I'm tending towards Waxoyl as the bottom of the locker gets wet when the boat is underway, but there are drainholes which allow it to empty again when stopped. Plus it's easy to see if any more rust should form and I can whack a bit more on if necessary. I'd appreciate any opinions as to the suitability of the above coatings, or any recommendations for alternatives.

I think that GUDS are based at the Marina just north of Cosgrove, the one close to the "Navigation" pub.

You're not far from Uxbridge Boat Centre- I'm sure they'd sort you out. If you can manage to remove the injectors yourself, CJ Diesels in Isleworth is very good, and they would probably be able to clean and set them up while you wait, as long as you speak to them first. Jack

I will need to replace my steel holding tank soon. May I ask where you had yours made, please? Does anyone else have recommendations for suppliers? Thanks