monkeyhanger

My boat is out cruising for 5months in the summer, moving almost every day. In the winter it is connected to a land line and I have a trickle charger. When I built my boat, the engine was hand start only and I made do with two 110ah batteries. When I had an electric starter fitted, I used the leisure batteries to start the engine, assuming that they wouldn't last long. In fact they coped perfectly well. I replaced them with 2 more 110ah which I bought from Ebay for £59 each. These have lasted 6 years and must be coming to the end of their lives, I was considering buying 2 Yuasas to replace my 2 Ebay ones but I am concerned that perhaps 2 x 90ah batteries may not be as "capable" as I need. I'd be happy to go with 2 bargain basement ones again, but these Yuasas seem too good to refuse.

I have been offered some Yuasa Swl 2500 efr batteries at a very good price. My electrical system on the boat is powered by two 110ah batteries which are 6/7 years old. These Yuasa batteries are rated at 90ah. Do you think that will be enough? I have Led lights, freshwater and shower pumps and a starter motor to power.

Thanks for the thought. My wiring is plenty big enough -2.5 sq mm-and I'm 24 volt.

Thanks for the info.

My pump is connected to Hep2O pipe using flexible tap connectors and it is not actually screwed down. It sits on a pad of rockwool type rigid insulation, and is surrounded by the same material. All this is tightly enclosed in a demountable plywood box, which is inside a side bench filled with spare bedding. I would have thought that those things might have been enough to deaden the sound, I must admit that initially I was a little concerned that the pump might overheat with all the padding around it, but I don't think that should be a problem as it always has cooling water flowing through it. In your experience, have you found Whale universal or Flojet pumps to be any quieter?

I've adjusted the pressure in my pressure vessel to the recommended settings, but the pump still makes a racket, even when it's surrounded by insulation and inside a sealed box which is inside a bed base with spare bedding around it.

I used to have one of those. Wonderful pump, almost totally silent. However when it broke "no spare parts are available for this pump" was the answer. Very frustrating, especially as it was, as you say "not cheap"

I have a par max 2.9 water pump for my fresh water system. My previous pump packed in when my son was using the boat and he ended up going 9 days without fresh water. (24 volt system, not easy to get off the shelf) I intend to buy a spare pump to keep on the boat just in case. However,I find the Par Max quite noisy. I've been considering buying a whale pump as I've been impressed with their quietness in the past and they look to be a straight swap with the Par Max. I'd appreciate peoples opinions. Thanks.

You could try the people at "Bedazzled" at Whilton Locks. I've always found them very helpful. They may not be open at the moment, of course.

Thanks for the article. Useful info. Unfortunately, no mention of Lister JP in the article, so I'm still not sure

...and not venturing any further than their marinas, ie in the direction of Hillmorton.

I have a JP2 with skin tank cooling. I need to change the blue antifreeze, as it has been in the system for a couple or 3 years. After checking antifreeze prices on Ebay, I notice that pink antifreeze is not much more expensive than blue, and pink has a much longer life span. Obviously, I'd flush the system through first, but is there any reason why I shouldn't change my coolant to pink?

If you decide not to go to Roger Fullers, I could help with transport, should he want them. I live in Hackney but have canal contacts in Staffs. I'm sure we could get them to him.

I can personally recommend Roger Alsop, who is a member of this group. He's on the official list which you added the link for.

I've just cancelled my subscription to Canal Boat, after buying every copy since it started in, I think, 1996. I find the quality of production these days, totally unacceptable for a national magazine. Every month I find spelling, grammatical and factual errors, and I find myself getting angry and frustrated by it. In this months edition a photograph is printed upside down! And that's not the first time it's happened. During the first lockdown, having plenty of time on my hands, I found so many mistakes in the first couple of pages that I sat down and went through the whole edition with a fine toothed comb. ( Sorry, I'm a sad old git) I found over forty errors. I contacted the magazine to say how disappointed I was, and I'm still waiting for a reply. WW may have its faults, but it's in a different league to Canal Boat.

I spent a week living aboard Foudroyant, as she was then, in 1968, when she was, as you say, moored in Portsmouth Harbour. There were links between the ship and the college at which I was studying at the time, and I was lucky to be chosen to spent a week sailing and generally messing about in boats, aboard her. As a thank you we were asked if we would volunteer to do some practical work on the ship, which was more than a little run down at the time. Along with a friend, we built the capstan head to replace the old rotten one. To cut a long story short, the ship ended up being virtually totally rebuilt by the shipwrights up in Hartlepool, and it now looks magnificent, As I said in my earlier post, it was really gratifying to see that they'd chosen to keep my bit of handiwork amongst all the other fabulous restoration work that was done on the ship.

HMS Warrior was totally rebuilt in Hartlepool over 8 years before it was moved to its permanent mooring in Portsmouth. The folk of Hartlepool were genuinely saddened to see the ship leave. They had watched it change from a floating hulk into the magnificent vessel it now is. Many people wished it could remain in Hartlepool, as a floating testimony to the craftsmanship of the people who worked on it. Warrior was replaced at the Hartlepool Museum by HMS Trincomalee, a wooden 3masted sailing frigate dating from 1817. I was lucky enough to be able to do some work on the vessel many years ago when it was based in Gosport. When I visited the ship a couple of years ago, I was pleasantly surprised to see my work still in existence, sitting there on the main deck, after almost 50 years.

I've remembered what the discrepency in prices was. Paul had to source a second hand starter motor before work would start. It cost him £250, so I reimbursed him.

I've had a search and found Redshaw's bill. The year was 2009, and the bill says "removal, machining and refitting of flywheel", "fabricating of bracket for mounting starter" and associated electrical work. 34.5 hours labour. Total cost £1468. In my logbook I've written that it cost me £1718, so I might possibly have asked them subsequently to do some other work as well. Hope this helps.

And it's been in the same prime spot for 3years at least. I cycle past it regularly.

£1700. That included supplying a starter motor.

Redshaw's fitted an electric start to my JP2. They machined the flywheel to take a shrunk-on ring gear.

The green area, top right, just down from what looks like a lighthouse, is pretty close to where "Woolwich" narrowboats were built.

Thanks, Dave. I knew you'd be able to come up with something. I'd have contacted you personally but for some reason I appear to have lost your number. Regards, Jack

Thanks for the photo. Comparing the two cans, there seems to be little similarity between the two. However, each item of "canal art" is individual, and people's styles change and develop as time goes by. My can is much older than yours, and Phil's work from, say, 20 years ago would be different to that of today. I have no idea how old my can is, but there is something about the brush strokes on the roses that reminded me of Phil's work. Perhaps Chris Ramsey based her style on that of Phil, and then, over time, developed it into her own?