Robin2
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Posts posted by Robin2
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I believe the best way to think about is that two otherwise identical boats but with different engines would probably use the same amount of fuel at the same boat speed - because the same amount of work is being done.
However this assumes that both engines are optimally matched to their propellers at that boat speed - which is unlikely. There will also be some differences in the efficiency with which each engine burns fuel. In general one would expect newer designs to be better - but 1500cc Isuzu diesel was not designed for the same work as an equivalently powered Gardiner so I'm not sure how their specific fuel consumption compares. The graph on this page illustrates the complex relationship between propeller power and engine power.
In general with a boat the fuel consumption rises disproportionately compared to the boat speed. I don't know the exact relationship but it won't be too far wrong to assume that doubling the boat speed would use four times as much fuel. If you want to save fuel, go slow.
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Was the water that badly polluted?
:o Tim
He was just going through the motions ...
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Aren't they (pretend?) lifting rings? Presumably for craning the boat out of the water?
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Hi l expect this has been asked before but how many batteries should you need to have on a liveaboard ?
Looking at boats for sale they seem to vary from 1 starter/2 leisure to 1 stater to 8 leisure .
Also what inverter would said batteries need ?
Thanks 14skipper
I wonder did you mean "charger" rather than "inverter"?
The short answer is that 3x 100Ah is probably a minimum - after that it's down to what you can afford.
If you are normally connected to shore power and only cruise for a few days at a time you may get by with fewer batteries.
As Robbo said you should do a power audit and, if you are not on shore power you must work out how you are going to re-charge the batteries. More batteries may allow longer intervals between charges but then you need to put all that extra electricity back in.
It's also important to realize that you can get the electricity out of a battery more quickly than you can put it back in.
If you are thinking of having appliances that use a lot of power (e.g. washing machine or microwave) how are you going to power them? I only use mine when the engine is running. I would need a very large battery bank if those loads were to come from batteries only - and anyway I would need to run the engine later to recharge the batteries.
You will also find on this forum plenty of advice favouring cheaper batteries rather than expensive ones on the grounds that it is almost impossible to keep batteries properly charged without shorepower and if you are going to ruin batteries its better if they are cheap.
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The word "Pikey" has, yet again, been edited from my post.
If it happens again then I resign. I will not be back. At all. It's utterly ridiculous. This forum is now owned by a bunch of PC poofs.
Complete joke. Last chance.
PIKEYS nick things. Deal with it.
Shame the PC poofs don't also see it that way.
If you put the word "some" before your contentious statement you probably would have no problem.
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This is the best book by far - well worth the full price.
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If you want to do it legally, Viking Afloat at Whitchurch is cheapest! !
All of the diesel I bought from Roberts' last winter was perfectly legal. None was used for propulsion because Leopard was frozen in.
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This book might be useful. I haven't read it but I thoroughly enjoyed their book "sell up and sail"
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I think people often forget that the relationship between parents and children is very different from the relationship between children and parents.
Parents are "designed" to look after their children because the only way the parents' genes get passed on to the grandchildren is when the children are successful. This is illustrated time after time in the posts on this thread which show deep parental concern.
Children, on the other hand have what is essentially a selfish relationship with their parents. When did you ever hear a child say "No, don't by me an IPod, put the money towards your new golf clubs"? This is also natural because the essential thing for the child is for him/herself to be successful. Of course in pleasant families the children are selfish in a loving and pleasant fashion.
I have long believed that the parent child arguments of adolescence are designed to make parting easier for both sides.
All of which leads me to believe that once the children are grown up the parents should do what they want with the rest of their lives regardless of the children's demands.
Equally, of course, I don't intend to dump myself on my children if I can no longer look after myself in the future.
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I got quite upset this morning by a rather patronising gent I was sharing a lock with. So I'm hoping that someone will have some useful advice for me.
I tend to do the steering in locks - hubby does the actual locks. I can get in and out - no problem - even in a very narrow lock. This morning was a wide lock and I went in first, as normal, dead straight against the right hand wall.
The issue I had is the one I could do with advice about. Whilst waiting for the second boat, the water coming in through the lock gates (we were going up) inevitably moves the front end sideways into the centre of the lock. What's the best way of correcting this?
Generally we use the centre line but we didn't have a chance to do that this morning. What advice can you give me from a purely steering perspective, please?
Sounds like you did all you could be expected to do. Just say "sorry" as though you don't mean it and they can't very well complain.
ETA
Even better is to say "this always happens to me, what do you do to prevent it?"
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I can't help feeling that there was a good reason in the past when people went to a lot of trouble down dangerous dirty holes to extract coal rather than use the plentiful timber that was all around them
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I cleaned my fire out last year...and used the spare ash pan.
The one I took out...just APPEARED lukewarm....BUT..there were still some glowing particles right in the middle.
Always empty the ashpan before you poke or agitate the fire.
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Hi.
We are presently having a short sojourn at Swanley Marina in order to catch up on a few jobs. The fuel here is a tad expensive. We intend to set off for Llangollen in the next day or so and wonder if anyone can reccomend the best refuelling stop.
Cheers.
John.
The filling station at Grindley Brook has red diesel if you have a can and a trolley.
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When we got our boat last year, I did everything nice and properly, took out a winter mooring at massive expense, and proceeded to be frozen in for the majority of it so couldn't have moved even if I'd needed to
I've just received an email from BW encouraging me to look for another this year - the problem is, I'm not actually sure whether it's worth it or not - surely they can't make you move along if the canal is full of ice?
I share your doubts. I couldn't afford one last year and this year I think there will be better uses for the money. It doesn't bother me if there is no ice and I have to move around. I do plenty of spring summer and autumn cruising so my conscience is not bothered if I am a bit dilatory in winter. The important thing is to be near services if the ice comes - and that's irrespective of your mooring status.
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It just seems that here, people seem to have tempers shorter than my nob in November.
He's been quite generous really. Think how short it is in January!
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The local councillors need a good kick up the backside.
To do what?
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yes expecting Burnley to be as bad....
We get exactly what we expect ... Lighten Up
I had a very pleasant week? at Blackburn last year. I moored at Cherry Tree(?) and could cycle into town. Yes there was an armchair in the cut - but that was interesting although I agree it would be better out of it.
I have not read Peter Underwood's stuff about "Hiters" but I think his idea is that hirers try to do too much. You seem to be travelling at a great pace also.
ETA I am reading a PD James book "Innocent Blood" and the central characters put unwanted belongings in a cheap suitcase and throw it in the canal in London. Book was written in 1980 and it reads like that was a normal thing to do then. And I don't think anyone would put PD James in the "vandal" class!
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TUPE only applies after the business has been transferred, it will pretty much give the transferred personnel the same protection as if their employer hadn't changed. Anybody who is pushed beforehand should also be entitled to a severance package, as allowed by employment law. Of course, the people higher up the food chain are always in a better position to negotiate how expensive they are to get rid of. Any employee has the option of legal action or possibly tribunal if they feel aggrieved, but I think the maximum award at tribunal is £70k, which means that most directors will take the legal route, which will work out more expensive to the organisation than negotiating a "decent" release package - that's "decent" from the perspective of the soon-to-depart director, of course. If they had a shred of humanity, they would look at the situation, realise it's a charity and play fair.
That said, what would my position be? Would I care that much about the charity? Especially if I hadn't joined a charity in the first place? I suspect I'd have a steady eye on number one, and I suspect many of us would be the same...
(edited to clarify a poorly-made point)
which poorly made point did you edit?
Sorry - couldn't resist
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These things hold very little and cost a lot. I bought a galvanised bucket and painted it black with stove paint.
Don't keep your ash in the boat after you remove it from the fire, it can give off lots of fumes for several hours. Don't even keep it under the cratch cover, see clicky
Hmmm... I like to keep mine indoors so I get the benefit of the remaining heat. It also stops the ash getting all wet. I doubt there is much unburned material in the ash as compared with a BBQ. Also there is much more ventilation in a boat. And I have never had any sense of less than normal air quality.
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Help -- I use a 3 Dongle with my laptop top get internet access when onboard the boat. My ISP is Force 9 (Plus Net) who use "Squirel Mail" to send and receive e-mails. This is a bit restrictive and not as easy to use as Outlook express. I can use Outlet Express ok when at home on my broadband connection but can't seem to make it work with the Dongle. Is it possible to use Outlook Express with a 3 Dongle? and if so how??? Thanks. tosher.
Three requires you to send email via their SMTP server. I don't have my email running at the moment so I don't have the fine details. I don't recall having to change the server port as someone else suggested - but I may be wrong.
There is probably an option to select / change outgoing servers in Outlook Express (I use Mozilla Thunderbird which does allow this and works fine with Three). The outgoing server can be completely different from your email address(es) and the same outgoing server can be used with several email addresses.
ETA there is no need to have a Three email address to use their outgoing server. I think if you Google for Three SMTP you should get the details.
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And less effective. We've had this conversation before.
I found the self-adhesive MC stuff incredibly easy to install; cut to size, stick onto panel. I can't imagine how it could be any easier.
Tony
I don't recall the previous conversation and I can't find it with a search. Do you recall it and can you provide a link please?
What I like about the Thinsulate is that you can cut it with a scissors and also, because it is soft, you can cut small bits and jam them into places you have missed and into holes where cables run through.
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When I did it last year (remember there was a water shortage) there were three boats so I was on my own. Some of the gates (especially a new one afair) were very difficult to move. With one I was almost at the stage of climbing back down to the boat to get some rope for extra leverage (not sure what there was to connect it to). Most irritating was where some "kind" and unseen member of the public opened a second gate unnecessarily.
BW people helped for the bottom and top few locks which was a big help.
It was interesting to cycle down the towpath the next day and have a better look at things. Alas all the old industry is gone. It's amazing how close the canal is to Wigan town and yet seems totally out in the country.
And the Trencherfield Mill in Wigan has a ginormous working steam engine. Well worth a visit.
:o 
Seeking a part of a boat, but not knowing its name!
in Boat Building & Maintenance
Posted
I accept that I may be wrong but I can't envisage the use that you describe. I would appreciate a longer description. For example I don't know what a back end rail is or does.