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Roger Crown

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Posts posted by Roger Crown

  2. Don't arrive at Sharpness Lock without a CRT licence

    in General Boating

    Posted

    I have now had some email correspondence with Mr Lewis Kneale the Customer Operations Supervisor based at Sharpness Docks.


    I have been assured that at no point would a member of the public be put in danger.


    Apparently the new procedure was adopted on Monday morning, with the docks team being fully briefed at that time. It appears something may have got lost in the translation, CRT's stance is apparently very different from the version myself and the Pilot heard on Wednesday morning.


    For clarity I am posting below the current procedure as laid out by CRT


    The current procedure we have in place is;


    1. Message on Pierhead answerphone where it is clearly stated vessels will not be allowed onto the canal without a licence. These can be purchased via web/phone.ect.


    2. Vessels when booking will be asked for their licence number, where the team at sharpness will record the number along with the boat name, and index number (if present)


    3. If however a boat comes down on a tide, without a licence they would be allowed into the port, and would be allowed into the lock, this is where they would be asked to purchase a licence through the following methods, call the Gloucester office, call the Boat Licencing Team or log onto the online system. If for any reason we needed to clear the lock we would safely moor them on CRT’s berth to allow the customer time to purchase the licence.


    4. At this point if a boat refused to purchase a licence, in which they would require a valid boat safety certificate (unless exempt) and insurance to purchase, they would be asked to return to another port, when safely practicable to do so.


    In a subsequent email Mr Kneale made the following comment.


    As with any new procedure that is being put into place there is changeover period, in which there is a certain amount of familiarisation. I apologise for the misunderstanding but once again want to stress that no vessels, now or ever would be put at risk due to these new regulations. They have been conceived to prevent incidents occurring due to unsafe vessels entering the canal.


    I have also pointed out to Mr Kneale this evening that the information on the CRT website does not concur with the above


    Roger

  4. Don't arrive at Sharpness Lock without a CRT licence

    in General Boating

    Posted · Edited by Roger Crown

    Quite supprised by that.

     

    Even if they are no longer handling money, they should allow you entry to the lock and be able to take payment electronically even if only by lending you an ipad or use of a computer.

     

    The other option would be to place you in a safe holding area.

     

     

    Daniel

    I agree completely Daniel, that would be a logical thing to do, just a shame the actions put in place time and time again are not thought through.

     

    I would have thought a well planned trip would include ensuring you have the relevant documentation to be allowed to enter the waters you are heading for.

    Please read the OP carefully. If we had not had a licence, then up until our transit we would have been able to buy a short term licence at Sharpness

    Roger

  5. Don't arrive at Sharpness Lock without a CRT licence

    in General Boating

    Posted · Edited by Roger Crown

    Arriving yesterday morning at Sharpness from Portishead with the aid of one of the Gloucester Pilots we were greeted by the Lockie who announced that if we didn't have a CRT licence he can no longer provide a short term licence because they are no longer allowed to handle money and everything must be done on-line. He further stated that boats would be turned around and sent back down the estuary.

    Our pilot was a bit taken aback by the news and confirmed that the Pilots would be adding the stipulation of a CRT licence to their pre voyage conditions.

     

    This new procedure instigated by someone sitting in an office has the potential to endanger life, particularly for narrowboat crew. It is not illegal to travel from Bristol/Portishead without a pilot and every year many craft do go it alone.

    Ideally the transit needs to be arranged so that the wind direction is with the tide, the pilots certainly wouldn't entertain transit with wind against tide.

     

    If boats are turned at Sharpness on the whim of CRT then the consequences could be extremely dangerous. A well planned trip up stream could turn out to be disastrous when forced to go downstream with the wind now being against the ebbing tide.

     

    We could quite easily have been sent back, our new (to us) boat had been off CRT waters for a while and not licensed with them, fortunately we renewed online before leaving Bristol because we wanted a full licence knowing, or thinking we knew that Sharpness could only supply a short term licence.

     

    Just to add, the CRT lockies were not happy with the situation.

     

    Roger

     

    Edited to note a copy sent to Richard Parry

  9. Epoxy Blacking

    in Boat Building & Maintenance

    Posted

    Hi all

     

    I've no experience of epoxy hull coatings. I understand that grit blasting the hull prior to 1st application is a must.

    I can see first hand (boat out on hard standing 1st time in 5 years) the benefits of the coating system. My question is, what is the procedure to prepare and re-coat the hull to give the same protection for the next cycle. Does new epoxy stick to old? etc

     

    Thanks

    Roger

     

  10. Isuzu / Volvo Penta / VDO Tachometer Gauge - hour counter not working - fixed!

    in Boat Building & Maintenance

    Posted

    Hi, I have recently done this mod on a friends boat. The engine control panel is mounted externally on a Semi-Trad stern.

    I mounted the Arduino in a cupboard behind the the panel and fitted the display in a small enclosure fitted to the side of the cupboard so it easily readable but out of the weather.

    I used standard cables, the total distance from the VDO is less then half a metre.

     

    Roger

  11. Fitting a temp gauge

    in Boat Equipment

    Posted

    Funnily enough I was admiring your boat as you reversed into the quay at Saul this morning. I'm moored along that pontoon run. Spent the half turm running up and down getting used to the boat and gaining confidence quite new to this, it's our first boat.

    We had what could have been a serious problem where the wiring harness was on the engine, I assume work by one off the previous owners, the live wire chamfered through the engine body, the engineer who came out said that the engine then acted as a electric radiator (speaking to the fire brigade yesterday, unrelated he said the same), boiling up the water quick, we was only going for under 20 mins, which in turn blew the filler cap and body off with a bang causing steam everywhere in the engine, by which time the engine had cut out.

    From showing initial signs what we thought was white smoke coming out to it all going off was all in a few minutes, while going through a bridge so my eyes would have been looking where I was going.

    When I go to the boat next weekend my job is to go through and reroute the main harness off the engine and sort a few cables out and any corroded connections.

    Luckly enough looks like no damage has been done, we got back to the marina and moored up under our own steam.

    Sounds like you have had a lucky escape, glad everything seems ok. That said it may be best to get it all checked over again when you have sorted it, no disrespect intended, (I have no idea of your skills) but your engineer guy could be invaluable to your future care free cruising.

    Roger

  12. Fitting a temp gauge

    in Boat Equipment

    Posted

    Hi

    A temp gauge is really useful to monitor the engine in different circumstances, in other words to show when problems may be there when cruising say on a narrow canal at lowish revs and then giving a bit of throttle on a deep wide canal.

    I'm guessing you had a quick overheat situation which caused your panel to show a warning light and buzzer to sound. In that case a gauge is of little use as it all happens so quickly, you would have to be watching the gauge very closely to see the rise in temp before the alarms went off,

     

    Answer to the initial question is no, it's not difficult to fit one.

    Saw you around a bit while we have been on the G&S

     

    Roger N.B. Fizzical Attraction

    • Greenie 1

  16. Eberapacher fault 31

    in Boat Equipment

    Posted

    Hi Julian

     

    Think I have to agree the unit needs returning to the service agent, they will be able to diagnose better.

    Hardly likely to be a "shoddy job " as you infer. They are unlikely to fit a dodgy air motor.

    Ebers are a bit of an enigma at times, if you are comfortable dismantling the unit yourself then it could just be a bad connection as suggested in your opening post.

     

    Quote "Ebers are a bit of an enigma at times" wow leaving myself wide open here lol, now where are those moderators :-)

     

    Roger

  17. Eberapacher fault 31

    in Boat Equipment

    Posted

    External influences to failed air blower motor is usually too high an intake air temperature, due to the heater not drawing it's air supply externally. Although this is usually a problem over a good period of time. How many hours has the unit done?

  18. Fridge regas Manchester

    in Boat Equipment

    Posted

    Don't know what happened? Typed the query, clicked Post, seemed to take a long time, then a post with nothing sad.png

     

    Further to my recent fridge query where it seems it has lost gas, I was looking for somewhere in Manchester where it could be regassed and a leak fixed. I like the idea of little back Street workshops, but anywhere would do. I'm in Stretford M32, but distance up to say 40 miles is fine.

     

    Many thanks

     

    Richard

    Hi Richard

    I have used a company from near Stockport, fridge engineer and does work with 12 volt units (not all do)

    CITY SERVICE 0161 476 0161.

    Good service and reasonable prices.

    Roger

  23. Electrical charging question

    in Boat Equipment

    Posted

    If you can run to an reasonable voltmeter as well then with a bit of research on your part the other users will have a fair idea when something goes wrong.

     

    Get a laminated card with the alternator's regulated voltage on it, its rated output, and the tail current you are happy to accept as indicating charged batteries.

     

    Let it be known that:

     

    1. The ammeter should be reading close to the alternator's rated output when revving immediately after first start of the day.

    2. Just before the last shut-down of the day the voltmeter should be reading close to the regulated voltage with less than 10 amps flowing.

    3. If the ammeter is not reading the stated tail current with no electrical things running the engine must be kept running above xxxx rpm until it does.

     

    If 1. is not met in all probability there is a fault (faulty alternator or loose belt).

    If 2 is not met the alternator is probably faulty (although a wiring connection may have gone resistive).

    If 3 can not be met then there is probably a battery fault developing or the user needs to curb their electricity use.

     

    You will probably have to slightly adjust the values to allow for the wiring of the particular boat.

     

    Edited to add: The important thing for the OP is that the other users always get the batteries as fully charged as possible rather than discharge them too deeply. This assumes the battery bank capacity is more or less matched to "typical" electrical loads. It would not matter too much if one idiot ignored it because the next users would probably get things back and then have a say.

    With all due respect Tony, most share boat people just want to enjoy their time on board for the short few weeks they get. Your instructions are straight forward and simple but some people will find them confusing and daunting. Not everyone has a leaning towards the technical. A simple device where one presses a button that shows that they should start charging at a certain level and stop at another level could not be simpler and almost stress free for all users.

  24. Electrical charging question

    in Boat Equipment

    Posted

    I'm gritting my teeth in anticipation whilst typing this question.

     

    I have watched the heated debate regarding Smartgauge versus BMV with some amusement. I'm quite happy to let you heavyweights slug it out but I've got a related question I'd like to ask.

     

    We have a share in a boat and between us we've managed to kill a set of batteries in nine months. The previous set lasted three years so either our habits have changed dramatically or we have a fault that we haven't noticed early enough somewhere on the charging circuit.

     

    I had the alternator tested by Middletons in Manchester (recommended to me by the late Tim Leech) and it has been given a clean bill of health.

     

    That caused me to think that maybe the belt was slipping or there is a bad connection and no-one has noticed. I'm not sure we want to spend £180.00 on a BMV so I was thinking of a simple Ammeter with a suitable shunt.The owners are not technically minded so something that simply shows whether we are charging or discharging is probably all we need. Given that the Alternator is capable of pushing out 100 Amps I'm thinking that the resistance of the shunt would be quite small.

     

    My question is if the shunt resistance is small will the length of the cables and corresponding resistance of same mess things up.

     

    To site the gauge ideally, the cable runs would need to be 2 metres long.

     

    What haven't I considered.

     

    Thanks

     

    Andy

    Surely on a share boat the simplest solution would be a Smartgauge, all crews can see easily if they need to charge or not. Plus the voltage indication on each bank gives a basic notion as to if the alternator/s are working. It's also a bit scary if a syndicate cant afford £180 to help maintain their boat.

  25. Eberspacher fault codes

    in Boat Equipment

    Posted

    I'm pretty sure F1 is more recent than F5

     

    The following from an 801 modulator manual

     

    With the heater switched on, press and hold key until the display shows ‘dA’. The blue LED will briefly illuminate. Release the key. After a short time the LED flickers momentarily during diagnostic data transfer then goes off. The display shows FO followed by its fault code then automatically scrolls through any previously stored fault codes, up to a maximum of 5.

     

    Hope this helps

    Roger

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