crazycat

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Yes you may be right in some area's I'm from Droylsden my two best mates work for British Waterways on the Rochdale 9 and we grew up together, I'll tell you now they have been "bricked" by some little Tw*ts who they thought were friendly..don't preach to me on this I know the score around this area, if you doubt me we should get together in the Strawberry Duck and travel to town together..honestly the kids are 50/50 around the area, they don't worry me I'm one of em, but some unknowing family could be targetted, you know how it goes...you know the Bobby round there !!!

We did the Ashton only last Sunday we had major trouble on the Rochdale 9 due to one lock not closing (the one at the Union pub) we eventually cured it by jamming the boat pole down the centre between the gates to help it seal a little, but due to all the water being passed during our efforts the pound above lost a lot of water, when I entered the pound I picked something up on the prop...weed hatch off to find a full size double bed electric blanket wrapped around the prop. 1/2 hr to get it off. it seems due to the low level of water we had picked all the s**t up off the bottom...the rest was plain sailing, but they are tough locks alright. Passing under Ancoats lane and on past Man City ground (sorry we were going clockwise around the ring) was troublefree...usually any yobs hang about between lock 7 and up tp lock 18 and at the Strawberry Duck pub at lock 12, we actually tied the boat up at the Duck and our local mates came to see us for a beer, we had two youths with a pit bull giving us some ugly looks, and i would imagine if we were a couple getting on in our years they would intimidate you, but if they tried it with us 3 we would have kicked there sorry asses in and drowned the little shits. All I would say is keep all your belongings inside the boat, and doors closed if poss, don't chat to anyone other than the over 40s and just pass on by. this is just a typical inner city area but no worse than many others i could name. Have a good trip..oh and apparently my mate at BW has fixed the trouble at lock 87 it was a traffic cone on the cill.

Hello to all Myself and 2 friends have just been around the Cheshire ring, we are back home now but we have all got a funny sensation of still being afloat, if I sit still I can still feel a side to side movement...it's so strange can anyone add anything on this occurance ???

Hello I am a little puzzled here about the size of wire to be using on the 12v lighting throughout the boat, I have checked out the size of cable by using a graph guide from a site given to me on here and worked out I will need to use 6mm sq so that the voltage drop is kept down, however I have been doing a spot of shopping at the Chandlers and purchased 2 types of down lights, one is a halogen single bulb and the other is a LED. both are obviously made in China or some place, and both have the cheapest rotten wires coming from them, in fact on one the cable is exposed. You cannot gain access to fix with the 6mm so what the hell do you do ???

Hello again I wish this rain would stop I can't get anything done !!!! OK batons...what is the usual type of wood ?? just plain softwood ?? and what size is best (depth and width) I thought it would be best to ask a friend before going out and purchasing a load of wood only to find it's not the right stuff...know what I mean

Hello Can anyone advise me of a good supplier of oak faced ply in and around Lymm in Cheshire, and what is the best 18mm ply for use as flooring, there seems to be lots of types and price ranges..Thanks

Bloody disgusting they should be keel hauled the yobs

Martin You sound like you could be of help to me on the build of my boat, yes they have deep gas lockers but what do you mean holes below the waterline?? and is it right about the bilges running through the boat ? I suppose I can alter that to make it a dry bilge Yes ????? and what's this about a long pipe connecting from front to back ??

Mrssmelly..What do you mean "through bilge" this is interesting, and it does have a chequer plate front deck, after all I have heard bad about Harborough this old boat is pretty sturdy if not very pleasing to the eye

Can you nice people please firstly Identify the builder of this 1977 boat and then explain a little about this diesel heater (are they of any use..or too old to be of use) Thank you all

Thanks guys I knew you lot could sort everything out..really brilliant work I feel pleased with my engine now...but this battery is knackered I'll have to go get one to turn her over, can I be so cheeky as to ask which battery you would suggest, the one last used was a marine 110 amp

This is the Lister 3 cyl can anyone tell me if it is the SR3

Hi Phil R Yes it's an air cooled I think SR3 and i have noticed that the 3 decompressor levers have been broken off (shit) I could get my pipe grips on them to press the valve if all fails...we shall see. You say self bleeding .. well that would solve my problem, I just hope there is some fuel bobbin about in the tanks Oh and I have another engine issue, it seems there has only ever been one alternator fitted, this was as mentioned previously, but by todays standards surely i need to fit another to charge my leisure batteries...what happened in the past then, did the one alternator charge all the batteries ???

Thanks Mac That was really helpful I can see what you mean about the 1" batons and I will do the same, did you say the walls were in 8x4 panels because you later said the 4' panels were 2 to a wall panel. to be honest on the galley side it won't matter because the equipment will cover it all, but on the other side there will be a longer open run to view. Cheers

Thanks Chris That was very useful and I am sure we will get her chugging ah ah

Thanks Churchward That has made me feel a bit more confident, and i was told by a local that a really good diesel fitter had gone over it and had de coked it a year past, yes the pull thing must be the decompressor to stop the thing...thanks

Hi This is only my 2nd post and it's a question again, we have just got our very first boat, it's an old 50ft ex hire in need of a lot of work, but we wanted it like that. It has a 3 cyl Lister engine which we have been told is or was a runner, as we speak we have the battery on charge and we wondered if you very kind people could offer any advice on trying to start her, for instance fuel ??? is there a primer ? and what about the controls, one thing looks like a choke or is it a kill ?? obviously one lever is engine accelerator and the other but be forward and reverse, but which iis which, one has a ratchet thingy with teeth is that the throttle?? We have been told that Listers a bomb proof and generally if they turn over and have fuel they will run...any help would be appreciated. Carol

Hi to all Well we have finally managed to get hold of a very old 70s boat it may need a lot of TLC but we don't care it's our baby, I wondered if you nice people could help explain a couple of things which we cannot get our heads around on the lining and re fit part, the boat has a glass fibre top which is in very good order for the age, it has wooden cross members curved to the profile of the roof..should we attach the bulkheads to these for rigidity? Also how the hell do you go about the part where the cabin wall lining upper meets the lower lining at the gunwhales, there is the obvious step or gap, and we shall have gas pipes to think about, what is the normal practice in this area?? And finally (well for now) we are going to line it out in oak faced ply, when we do the roof what is the usual practice ? do you cut the sheet to end at the joint with the cabin side and use a trim to hide the coming together of the two ?? Thank you in advance Carol

Hi Paul and Kath Your new boat looks just like the one I am thinking of purchasing, me and my fella have limited cash and have been offered a 70s boat which has a sound hull and has a fibre glass top with wooden front and rear entrance, I have been told it's a Harborough marine build. from your pictures it's just like your boat, I will look forward to watching your progress which will be ahead of ours. cheers carol