colinjw

I am one of the daft sods in this country that goes to sea in the Merchant Navy and I went and bought a 62' narrowboat two years ago. I started off in 1975 by hiring a boat (Tupperware Special on the Broads) and hired in various locations including the Thames and Midlands canals. I had always hankered after getting a boat of my own but my ex said that all our holidays would be boating. Then everything changed in about Sept. 2002 when I was on yet another hired narrowboat and I happened to mention to my present partner that I had always thought of getting a narrowboat. "Why not get one then?" Linda says and after doing my sums I went and got one at an unbelievable price. The great thing for me is that it is a complete chill-out with the only worry being of which pub to stop at for the night. Countless number of people have asked if I get bored with boating after still being at sea but my answer is the previous sentence. I only wish I had got a boat long before now. Stephen...don't worry, I'm sure I must be more boring than you when I go on about narrowboats.

Hi soph, I agree with Paul regarding flushing etc. The filter Paul mentions is very good for drinking water and you actually finish up with less limescale in the kettle. They are available from: www.generalecology.com I fitted mine in less than an hour an dwhen I renewed the filter in the autumn, there seemed to be so much fine sand like stuff on the outside of the filter that I was amazed it was still letting water through. I started off with a new stainless steel tank 2 years ago but I was amazed at the amount of stuff the filter got out. If you can get to a boat show, these filters are a decent bit cheaper than buying them from General Ecology and it gives you an excuse to go to a show. Happy boating, Colin

Hi alz, I tried one of those indicator things and it is so hard to see down the side of the gas bottle to see what level is indicated that I did without it. Colin

Thanks for that bottle. I missed the advert first time round. Unfortunately, I'll have to wait till tomorrow to phone. Colin

I've got a 38 h.p. Isuzu on a 62' boat and with the tide up my chuff was doing 8 m.p.h. (by g.p.s.) in places and that was not flat out. If you are going on the tidal Thames, the lockies let you out after low water from Limehouse and you get the benefit of the flood tide all or nearly all the way up. If you can manage 6 m.p.h. in still deep water then you will have no problem with timings. Les, it sounds as though you had a bad do when you did it. Colin

Hi Alan, We did Limehouse to Brentford last year. Once you get to Limehouse, find the lockkeeper and he will tell you when you will be let out onto the tideway. He will also give you a couple of sheets with diagrams of the bridges with which arch to go through. If you have a cratch cover, make sure it is fitted. If you don't then cover up the front vent to stop water ingress to the cabin. Have the anchor ready for use but NOT sitting on the bow. When you are on the tideway, keep a good look-out for trip boats and rubbish barges. They tend to produce a decent wake. Aim to cross the wake at right angles to greatly reduce rolling. As the wake passes your prop there is a change of noise from it but this is only cavitation. The busiest part that we found was from Limehouse to just past the London Eye. It is a great feeling to go under Tower Bridge on your own boat. I'm sure you will enjoy it....I did. If you would like any more info just drop me a p.m. Colin p.s. I put my telly on the floor just in case. Colin

Hi Peter, Thanks for that. I'm sure they would anyway.....very helpful. I've got to go down next week anyway to do oil changes etc. and put the boat to bed for the winter. Cheers, Colin

It's fairly decent up here near Falkirk. Being in the middle near enough, we have been quite lucky. Don't know about the boat though, I'll find out next week when I go down. After all Otherton is a bit blowy at the best of times. Colin

Soory folks, It is such a long time ago that I set up the t.v. to watch ITV Central in Scotland. Apologies all round. Colin

Hi all, I watched it tonight and Nigel, I am not going to sell up and go liveaboard. I am going to get a new barge pole....stainless steel, vertical and a nubile young maiden to dance round it but with no guests! But alas my partner will not allow any such thing...spoilsport she is sometomes. Andy....there are no nick knacks on my boat whatsoever so lets join the bye-law breaking brigade. At least with this series, there seemed to be less jumping about between stories. I see next week that there is a bit about radio-controlled boats. Colin

Hi khaffra, I've got a 30 amp charger and sterling said that 900 watts would cover it no problem so if you go a bit more you should be safe. BUT.....it would probably work out cheaper (that's the Jockinese in me) and quicker to use your engine to recharge your batteries. Colin

Hi clevett, If you go to www.boatsafetyscheme.com and have a good look through it, you may well find some info. I had a quick look but couldn't find anything on gas gennys. Hope this helps a bit. Colin

After about a year when I got my boat, the stern tube was leaking quite badly from where the stern tube passes through the hull. The fellow said that it probably needed resealing with PTFE. This involves removing the stern tube. As far as I know, they slipped the boat and did the job and now no leaks. Fortunately mine was done under guarantee so no payment. Colin

In my previous post I said to put the poly sheet round the prop but what I meant was round the prop shaft. Barney, if you are doing the job yourself, get a packing extractor to remove the old packing. It's like a corkscrew on a flexible wire. The job itself is easy enough, I do plenty on various ships. Best of luck, Colin

It is possible to repack the stern gland whilst afloat BUT be very, very wary of water ingress. Putting a new turn of packing on top of the existing packing is no problem. One thing to remember wherever the job is done is to cut the ends at an angle to make a better seal and to stagger the joins 180° apart to reduce leakage. An idea from way back when I was on an ocean going ship where we had the stern gland packing disintegrate in port was to put a sheet around the prop (I'm sure polythene sheet would do the trick nowadays). This got sucked in to help stop any leaks. But as Nigel says, have a good bilge pump or two just in case. Colin

Hi all, I can't find the old post but I think I have the solution. Apologies are provided beforehand because the grey cells are fading here. On the Sky handset Press: Services Select: Other channels Select: ITV Central Autoview cannot be selected. Selection and button pushing must be done just before the programme starts. I would suggest that you try with the above with a different ITV area than your own (try Grampian...it's very different) to see if it works. Best of luck folks. Colin

Hi dor, I see that Waterworld is on on Thursday. Although I live in Scotland, I can still get Carlton via cable. Bernie, if you have cable or satelite Sky, I can look back as to how to view Carlton from other areas and put the instructions here. Colin

Hi Nigel, Well done on your effort there. Must have been heart-stopping to say the least. Colin

Hi folks and a Merry Xmas to all, Back in the Oct. edition of WW there was an article about a system for radio remotely controlling a boat. Whilst this may well be cheating I think it would be a great help when I go single-handed. According to the article, the inventor has been approached by a company interested in marketing the system. Does anyone know where I could get more information on this? Colin

Hi JK, I got some sound-proofing sheets from a Vetus agent and that made all the difference. The sheets are self-adhesive and cost about £25/ m². I got 5 sheets and that did the whole engine space of my cruiser stern boat. If you want to go half way with the job, just line the "roof" (deckhead) of the engine space. As a by the by, a friend of mine who also has an Isuzu engine said while we were alongside each other that my engine had stopped because his engine was apparently noisier than mine.

Hi folks, I must admit to falling in but only up to my knees. We were on the birthday (mine) booze cruise to Worcester and met up with friends at the Lock at Wolverley. We proceeded onto the Severn to have a rather late carvery lunch at the Lenchford. We tied up 3 abreast at the Lenchford and while still in the process of tying up, I walked between my boat and the middle one. As I got to the bow I slipped on the gunwhale and managed to grab the hand rail on my roof. My partner was supposed to be tying up the front but when one of our friends said 'For God's sake throw the rope' she couldn't for laughing. Tears streaming down her face she eventually grabbed my jeans and helped me back on board. After getting changed, we all had a lovely meal and an even more memorable night.

Hi Zoe, It is many years since I hired but my present boat is a direct copy of the Black Prince Countess 62' and I have had no problems with comfort etc. so I know what their standards are. Enjoy your holiday. Colin