robdalej

Thanks for that but the reason i queried it was that , last year the engine when cruising seemed to take longer to reach temp than now and I dont want to take it out and find I am faced with an overheating problem, I fitted a new thermostat last year. I am just concerned that an engine can warm up so quickly at this time of the year when everyting is stone cold. hope tat makes sense thanks again bob

Have noticed aproblem with our vetus 4 cyl,lately after the engine has been running for 10 mins or so , from cold, the temp guage shows a reading and seems to registerto normal very quickly. It does not show as overheating but considering the engine has been not been run for weeks it seems to be to quick to be normal. I am wondering if the watr pump has packed in during the winter but am not sure how to check iof this is the problem. On a car you can normally tell by taking off the rad, cap and seeing if the wateris ciculating but dont know if the same applies to a boat engine.Any ideas please?

Might be easier, and cheaper, to leave you FIL in a pub thar has sky, collect him on then way back , After all he wont be any use on the boat

Just seen item on the news. The forthcoming boat show in April has been cancelled due to funding cuts?

Would agree with comments. My feeling is that most people feel a little nervous when cruising through most urban areas as this is probably were any trouble will occur. Last summer we stayed in Liverpool and Manchester and had no trouble in either place, although cruising towards Leigh we came across some kids who looked as if they were looking for mischief but nothing came of it. I find that sometimes if you ,at least, try and acknowledge the person they seem to be o.k Some boaters seem to travel along as if noone else has a right to be on their canal and that can wind people up

Would agree with you ,18 months ago we bought a 1989 David Piper ,after a good survey , the quality of fit out is excellent,although a little dated. I would never disount a boat based on age alone .,

Would agree with all that has been said here but also.imo over the past few years there have been quite a few boat builders that have knocked out a lot of budget boats as if they were off a production line, now, maybe these are coming onto the market as they start to fall apart. I would think good quality boats are still in demand and harder to find. Also this time of the year people are not going to buy when canals are frozen up and stoppages are still going on

That is the Liverpool link and would not see point of trying to wind there as there is a massive dock area the other side of the lock also that area can get very windy on a rough day , the walls are high and I for one would like to try it. Get your boat puhed around in there and you could do some serious damage

Dont see how someone asking aquestion on this subject makes them a Lemming. Its not acase of panic, rather an attempt to get at the fact and , maybe save money in repairs at the same time .I have a Rover diesel car , doesnt mean i should treat my boat engine the same , not without checking the facts

Tony Brookes reply to the NBW statement and the comments on bio fuel has me confused. Having heard and read all sort of conflicting advice re this change to the fuel regs. I was told that the use of this fuel could cause problems with seals and the fuel should not be left in the tank for more than 6 months , for many boaters , my self included, who do not use the boats a lot , especially in the winter does this mean that we should only leave a small amount of fuel in the tank if the boat is to be left for a long time without use? Maybe someone can help as i am totally confused over it all

Having looked at the pictures of the boat a couple of points come to mind. First those windows I would think it would be very easy for someone to prise them open by putting a crowbar under them not very secure, also I would think they would affect any resale value somewhat. Also the boat is 4 years old , by the looks of it it could cost you up to to another 25k to finish it[including a paint job] this makes the boat 48k without your labour cost. If as others have said it is a budget shell then you may find it difficult to recoup your costs.There are plenty of good boats around at that price without requiring all the work that would be needed. good luck in your search

Just been told by her who counts Swans there are now 32

Seems to be a bit of confusion in these threads, we have an on line mooring which is owned by a local farmer., You can also apply for a mooring on line throughB/W, in which case the mooring belongs to B/W and you pay them for the privelage, in our case we have to pay the farmer for the mooring then pay B/W for the right to have the boat on their water. Most B/W moorings probably have better facilities than farm type moorings and so are slightly dearer, depending onthe locaion In all cases , i would have thought to answer the original query to moor on line means to moor the boats in a line along the canal bank

Dont feed the swans, they will get in the habit of wanting food and if you have a nice day and want to sit outside on the deck to eat they will not leave you alone. Where we live ,opposite the canal, the area above Kings Lock has 21 Swans living there. The mess on the towpath is disgusting and trying to walk a dog through them is rather scary. All because people feed them

Just noticed you post re buyig a boat. The boat you described as 1 2003 at that price seems a little cheap to me for that year,means it could be oe of the lower end of the market with cheaper/basic fit out.imo it is always better to look for a boat with an established name , although they may be older for the amount of money you have available they keep their value better. I have an idea of the broker you are mentioning and I would have thought had you suggested that the vendor pays for the the cost of taking the boat to the slipway and back and you pay for the survey, he should have been willing to put that to the seller., if the seller refuses walk away there are plenty of boats for sale. As also mentioned the advertised price is not always the price you will pay, Some people have an inflated idea of what their boats are worth. As to pump out versus cassette we have had both in various boats, at the moment we have p/o , I think the one thing to consider is how far away are you from the nearest p/o station, if you ate a good distance away then a cassette may be better for you. good luck

Cant tell you why you are having the problems , the only thing i can say is that we have a 4 cyl vetus in our boat [a 50 ft piper] it is a 1989 and the engine mounts seem to be the original, the boat runs very smoothly with no vibration but before we had this boat we had a 30ft and hada brand new 3 cyl vetus fitted to that, it was awful, it vibrated the engine felt lumpy and was apain to use, i asked the fitter who had installed the engine what was wrong with it and he reckoned it was because the new vetus mounts were made of a harder rubber so the engine was not flexing as muchso itwas more rigid. dont know wether he was corect but could it be becuause your new mountings are stiffer than the originals.?.

Seeing yor post re chaining your dog reminds me of an incident we saw a couple of years back. We were on the back of our boat and another boat went cruising by the other way as he came along I noticed a dog paddling like mad behind him, I shouted do myou know youve lost you dog, he turned round and said b----dy hell, i was wondering where he had gone!the dog was chained to the stern

The only thing I would point out there is that not all boaters have access to the internet on a boat{we dont] also some of the canal breakdown services have altered over the years, we used to belong to them until we had a coupling shear when we were away. the breakdown fitter arrived , told us the boat would havbe to come out of the wateras the shaft was damaged and , as it was a bank holiday we would have to wait until the following tuesday before they could get someone out to us, I found a local fitter who arrived and supplied and changed the shaft in the water.As you say local knowledge is good but ,in some cases, if you arestuck in the country miles away it may not be that easy to find. just a thought

Sitting here [bored] got me thinking. Would there be any way a contact register could be set up for boaters in different areas who were in trouble while out and about around the system. i.e if someone had a breakdown or similar problem they could , maybe, ring someone who lives in that area who may be able to gve them advice say where to get spares or if they had to leave ther boat the safest places in that area .I know the Piper boat owners club is trying to set up such a system but wonder if anyone else does it?

Would agree with your way of thinking re older boats and , providing you get , at least a hull survey on it you should be able to get a good boat for around that price somewhere around 1989. Always bear in mind that the asking price is not neccesarily the price you will have to pay. We have a 50 ft boat 1989 that we paid around that price and it is in excellent condition. BE careful of items like paintwork on older boats as a boat with faded/rusting paintworkm canadd another5to7k on to your price. Ours is atrad and we have no fuel smells from it, only prolem with a trad. is that usually only 2 peoplecan stand on the back, depends on how many people you intend to cruise with

orry

Well spotted

Looking at your post and the other replies, the one thing I would pointout is that if you took out an interest only addition to your mortgage then in 10 years you would still have to repay the capital. If you buoght a boat at say 60k, then after10 years it may only be worth 40k and you would have to find the difference from your house equity.In my opinion it may be better to at least be reducing the capital by a second mortgage. One other point is to try and find a boat with a recognised name, not one of the , initially, cheaper boats, as the well known builders boats hold their value a lot better, if you are looking for a long term prospect. good luck

Hi . you would need to come through Gt. Haywood. Stoke, down the T/Mersey taking in Heartbreak hill after the Harecastle tunnel. tfrom B/O/T to Middlewich would take about 3/4 days , there are a lot of locks. after Middlewich it is lock free.,apart from 1 small stop lock right through to Wigan,so add another 2/3 days. The trip through Wigan has a few locks and swing bridges sothis will slow you down so say Wigan to burscough will take you 3/4 days . All in i would think the one way trip could take up to 11 days, depending on how long you intend to cruise each day. also if you are intending to do the trip in March it may be as well to check witt B/W as the Harecastle tunnell may be operating restricted hours. It is a nice trip with some good mooring spots

Hi would imagine you would have difficulty in finding a live aboard mooring around that area .One consideration is to be a continuous cruiser,then check around the system as you travel,a few liveaboards on our mooring have done this. One other way is to check out the new marinas that are opening up some of them allow you to live on the boat, although they are not cheap, also check B,W. website to see if they hve any on their auction site, but you would have to take theseup straight away and maybe pay for the mooring without a boat for a while. good luck