Tigerr
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Posts posted by Tigerr
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On 12/05/2023 at 09:26, peterboat said:
At the end of the day its a broad canal for broad boats not narrowboats and should be maintained as that
Blimey. There speaks a bloke moored in a deep sided canal I think, who knows the K&A like the back of someone else's hand.
The K&A is a very badly, cheaply built canal, profiled for rounded chine shallow boats, to make quicker profits for the various landowners en route. Not designed to last long, nor ever designed for 'moored boats'.
There are not many mooring places.
I spent 10 years on it. Even narrow boats of modern square profile don't get near the sides along most of it - because it wasn't designed for boats to stop. Stopped boats were losing money. If the landowners could have seen the future opportunity they'd have built them, but what they built was a freight travel sluice between the thames and bristol. A road.
Thats why mooring is such an issue. Technically you can fit a modern wide-beam into the central channel but only on a one-way system. It's a nightmare either meeting. or following a wide beam on this canal.
The main problem you will encounter is resentment and hostility from people trying to use the canal as a navigation, to actually go somewhere, regarding your gamed alternative housing solution as a social nuisance. Actually that's people like me.
You will experience the feeling of being unwelcome, and all that entails.
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Going to ned a bigger hammer.
Going to need a bigger hammer.
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16 minutes ago, Rocket Rob said:
How dare you bring this back on topic 😆
I was responding to the OP. Handn’t realised the whole thing had gone bonkers.
Enjoy your boating.
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20 hours ago, emma_naomi said:
Thank you all for your help and comments. It seems as though as long as we look after it there should be no further corrosion so I think we will be going through with the purchase.
If you like the boat, buy it, and start enjoying it. You will find all sorts of things go ‘wrong’. That is in the nature of boats, and sorting these things out is in the nature of the experience and learning that boat owning provides. It’s going to cost a lot more than you think, and some illusions may be eroded, but you will be having an experience. Good luck, and don’t worry too much.
I expect that baseplate is just like all the others - and likely better as its been epoxied and most have not.
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I have a dog, he sits on the semi trad seat. I nearly bought a trad stern but he wasn’t having it - he’d be around my feet and a hazard. I also like to be able to perch on the high seat with my feet on the other side seat for cruising comfort. the compromise is the engine being down in the hole which is increasingly inconvenient as gave advances.
But - for cruising with the dog - the semi trad setup is ideal.
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On 11/05/2023 at 10:29, PCSB said:
We're in no rush so could see what the Caldon has to offer, thanks for the suggestion.
The caldon is lovely, once out of Stoke itself. Particularly this time of year. There are some challenging bits - we managed to ground on a rock that took ages to get off in a narrow turn. The steam trains bit is very nice if you like steam trains.
But, a visit to the local shop just outside Stoke is an education in the reality of deprived areas, and probably familiar to anyone who went shopping in Poland in 1976.
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There are other threads to look at as part of your research.
It will cost multiples of what you think at the outset, and take multiples of time. If you are really skilled, have the facilities of a hard and workshop, van access, good tools and materials you won’t find in the DIY store - you could realise a dream. It could just as easily be a nightmare, before you even get the family on the water.
That’s why there are so many very badly fitted out boats on the waterways.
The idea of fitting out while living aboard, with family - is grim.
Then once on the water - well it isn’t an easy life. It’s not like it looks in the brochure. Think winter mud, everywhere, damp, stuff not working, toilet emptying, power issues, floods, neighbours with PTSD, etc etc.
I only did one year on the narrowboat - the winter was unpleasant. Cruising in the temperate part of the year only now. Doing work on the boat on the cut was just a nightmare.
Advice - buy a half-decent boat and spend a year on it. At the end of the year you and your family will know if this is what you want to do, and you’ll have a real idea of what you want from your boat. Then you’ll have done your research, and you’ll probably get not much less for the trial boat as you paid for it - but you’ll be able to walk away. Once you’ve committed to the fit-out project your options reduce.
Don’t assume you know what you are getting into, unless you’ve already been there. The confidence of ignorance is very expensive in the boat area.
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I would scrape off the cheap water varnish, and then either oil or varnish with top end like epiphanies. Lots of coats. I use a sharpened triangular paint scraper, re sharpening as I go. Much much faster than sandpaper, easy on the hands, and better surface prep.
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I used to have that engine, I think. On mine there was a travel pack generator as well at the front end. A couple of things to watch out for, based on my experience, which are a known issue with that generation of Beta 43:
The pulley setup at the front is heavy, over 25kg of iron. (newer version much, much lighter). If there's a travel pack it is also unbalanced - puts a strain on at startup which wears the front right side mount out. Makes a knock on initial startup strain. Check for any slack in the crank-stub, and also if there is any rubber crumb in the bilge below that mount.
Related to the above, the crank stub mount for the pulleys is only a thumb-sized stub. It can wear, so that on startup it spins before the pulleys, and that makes a knocking noise, until it all gets moving. Mine did that for a month, and despite inspection, appeared solid right up till the pulley assembly simply dropped off, having threaded the stub. Had to replace whole engine as cost to tow boat to specialists to take out, strip it down to remachine the crank was not much less than a brand new unit.
Thanks Magnet - yours is a different engine - 35 not 43. Apologies for what appears to be an irrelevant post I have made! Good luck with the issue.
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You need to consider the real-world logistics of doing your own fit out. It's a huge job. Ideally you'd want to have the boat on land to do it, with a suitable area for materials storage, workshop, power etc. And lots of time - it might be 5 years before the job's finished.
Doing it on the water, you'd want similar space.
Doing it on the cut is not ideal - lots of logistical issues that make it difficult - which is why one sees so many half-completed or eventually bodged self-fitouts.
It's possible but quite a challenge.
It's going to cost a lot more than your estimated budget, and doing it to a level of quality that doesn't look like an obvious DIY project is going to cost a lot more than that. A handyman-level domestic DIY level of woodwork and fittings will age very badly on a boat - you need to use marine quality materials. Working in solid hardwood though is expensive and requires high levels of woodworking skill.
But if it's the doing of it that is your aim, not the finished boat as a goal - go for it.
If on the other hand you want a boat - go and buy a boat, get out on the cut now not in 5 years.
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44 minutes ago, howardang said:
Sometimes the tow can be even longer with the ideal for the tug to be on one wave crest and the tow to be on a following wave crest. For example, I have seen tows as long as 2000ft or more at times. That of course can cause complications in shallowing water and care mus be taken to shorten the tow and possibly reduce speed in plenty of time to prevent the catenary of the tow wire from dragging along the sea bed.
Howard
That was pretty much standard when I was on convoys too.
Not only long fetch wave mitigation but also separate the U boat targets.
Good advice for anyone on the K&A I reckon. Mind you that 2k tow is probably going through 3 locks, which takes a bit of managing.
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Useful OP.
I've a question - I am not technically literate, and the whole area intimidates me!
I use my iPhone as my wifi link, which works OK in the motorhome, and I can watch Netflix, keep up with social media etc. Much less so in the boat for obvious reasons. In the past I had a Mifi unit (sat in the window) and a separate data account but it was very expensive - maonthly contract but used for only half the year.
So now I have a generous data allowance on the contract with EE on the iPhone, and link to that.
If I get a 4G antenna and router - will this work with my phone, or am I going to have to set up a new data account to run the router?
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18 hours ago, Naughty Cal said:
Intrigued to know what you missed from the boat if you don't mind me asking?
What we missed, and the motorhome just doesn't deliver are:
- Going very slowly, and the steady unfolding of the view. Its about the journey not the destination
- Being very much 'in' the scene as opposed to looking at it - it's a sort of mindfulness pastime
- Just stopping, without having to plan at all - not to be underestimated
- The comfort and solidity of the boat, tinkering with the engine, touching up the paint, etc.
- The pleasure of locks, which are such satisfying bits of engineering, as are swing bridges etc.
The moho (as we say) does however deliver:
- Access to the beaches, clear waters and delights of places like Cornwall, Pembrokeshire, etc
- Outdoor seating space in the comfort of an awning, and bbq etc. Being moored up and enclosed on a grubby towpath isn't as pleasant.
- Being at the destination, rather than the travelling bit.
- A tiny car towed behind, means one can explore an area.
- Going abroad and exploring e.g. the forests of Germany.
My plan is to split time between the two from March to October, while we have the health to do so.
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Sold our lovely boat Compass Rose in 2019, due to family circumstances that looked like not much cruising ahead.
Bought a motorhome with the proceeds, on the basis it's more flexible. Had a fantastic time, still going strong, spending months down in Cornwall and loving it.
But, so regretted selling the boat. We'd made it our own unique space. I hope the new owners are getting as much fun as we had out of the idiosyncrasies of the toilet. Never failed to amuse us.
We've just bought our next boat and I'm delighted. Just sorting out the kit now, and then we'll be off to cruise the whole way round again.
Vaguely hoping to pass our old boat and wave but no idea where she's gone.
This will be the last time round for us so going to appreciate it all the more.
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Last week in London, we had smog.
There was a cold fog, no wind, and a really foul stink. Like being near a smokey chimney. I have not smelt it like that since the 70's.
Research published recently suggests that wood-burning stoves are responsible for about 75% of particulate urban pollution now that vehicles have been massively cleaned up, but wood-burners have somehow become normalised.
London is now full of people with word burning stoves, who think its an eco-choice, when it never ever was.
After every cold snap, there is a spike in breathing related health issues - an increase in inhaler use, etc. People die.
The particle pollution is not benign it is life-shortening. The more you breath in the less you live. COPD and lung cancer beckon you, but also other grisly stuff.
Boat owners are going to have to get real about pollution from smoky stoves and badly maintained diesel engines. Simple as.
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I have been looking for a boat for several months, having sold our own boat at just the wrong moment, before Brexit and Covid pushed prices up. Based on what I have been looking at, I'd get 25-30k more for our boat now!
I'd expected prices to start to come down, but I think what's happening is that second home in Spain has become massively less attractive and that's still driving a lot of folk to look at a canalboat as an alternative.
At the other end of the market the housing and rent problem makes a boat a housing option, and that's supporting the market.
I don't see much changing on this until legislation hist diesel engines, which may drive a huge shift in the market.
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Essential on the K&A, and the Thames in a few places, but otherwise we barely used it in 12 years cruising the system. but when you need it - you really do need it!
However - really good tips - a hole to put a pin through on the bank is a good idea. It's crap waking p to find its in the water 10 yards away.
As is nailing old mountain bike tyres round the ends and up the first foot - this both grips the boat and stops the plank from scraping the paint off.
Mind you after a few years and one spouse falling off we invested in a ladder with a surfaced side and that was much more stable. It only takes a slight wobble to tip you into the cut on a dark winter night. I think 'Miracle Products 'do them.
The downside of a scaffold plank is that after a few years of non-use, when you come to use it it, it turns out to have rotted. I know this from experience.
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Yes - a dogfish! Lucky I was wearing gloves - and picked it it up far enough back. They have very nasty toxin loaded spines and give a really nasty sting!
I discovered that after I'd boldly gone where wiser heads wouldn't.
Interestingly it is now illegal to call them 'Rock Salmon'. (Trademark issues?). They are now called Huss apparently. Or 'Rock'.
You have to soak them in acetic acid before eating them as otherwise they taste and smell like old wee. Like many sharks they don't urinate and their flesh is full of urea.
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On 03/10/2022 at 18:43, Jerra said:
Sea bird colonies in the NE have been badly hit, also in Scotland. Over 1,000 Barnacle geese died on the Caerlaverock Reserve last winter, they won't have arrived back yet this winter.
I am in Cornwall, I have been wondering if the number of dead gulls on the beach is normal. Quite a few smashed up bird skeletons in the waterline. I thought maybe recent stormy weather had impacted birds out at sea.
Saved a small shark yesterday though! It was about a metre long, had beached itself in a shallow pool, in obvious trouble. Had swim gloves so was able to grab it and carry it to deeper water, moved it back and forth to oxygenate the gills. It wasn’t grateful and was all for biting my feet before it scarpered! I imagine it’s partial to seabirds too.
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Different strokes etc but I love the upper Thames and happily spent many weeks pootling about between Lechlade and Oxford. Kelmscott is magic - lovely mooring. Admittedly Babcock Hythe is a bit bleak, but Lechlade itself is a lovely place to stop for a few days. River is clean and perfect for swimming too.
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Beeston Castle is very good. But watch out for the herd of 'cows' in the field as you come off the canal. They give chase.
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1 hour ago, harrybsmith said:
What about getting someone else to do the maintenance? Certainly wouldn't be my first choice but if you make "the engine is in a hole" someone else's problem then all you have to worry about is every other aspect of the design and performance of a new boat...
A lot to be said for this approach!
It's not off the cards as I could have bought a couple of 'perfect' boats of the duck by now if it wasn't for the aversion to another engine hole!
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On 02/08/2022 at 17:54, robtheplod said:
Our Beta 43 with a f.....ng great hospital silencer is lovely and quiet if that's an option?
Is that in a room or a hole?
My Beta 43 in the soundproofed hole, likewise hospital silenced was so quiet people think we're electric. But if I lift the lid on the hole, the engine is a right din!
My challenge is I want a nice easy access engine in a room, no more holes for me, but I also want it as quiet as possible. I know I can mitigate exhaust noise easily enough but the mechanical clatter and roar, of eg the beta tug engine, was impossible to talk over.
To make it worse I also dont want a 'boatmans cabin' which I find a pointless uncomfortable affectation. Likewise 'tug' decks with poky beds under. Particularly as I'm 6ft, and my brother 6ft 2! hydraulic drive is my ideal but very rare on the duck.
I am resigned to a long search.
17 hours ago, cuthound said:Earplugs? 🤣😂
Ho ho ho! nearly fell of the chair! `top bantz!'
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1 minute ago, booke23 said:
On reading the title of your post, I immediately thought of Gardener which you've already seen. I'd say anything slow revving that has a silencer should fit the bill....some vintage engines have straight through exhausts and have quite a bark from the exhaust so you'd want to avoid that. I always think the Russel Newberry DM2 sounds refined and quiet.
Thanks for the reply. I'd thought similar. I know I can partly address exhaust noise, which leaves the question of engine mechanical noise. I guess I am looking for the lowest mechanical noise unit, so I can refine my search criteria. It can take a full day to travel, plus a hotel night in some cases, to go see a boat and anything that weeds them out is helpful.
South Oxford Stoppages
in General Boating
Posted
We're off next week and we have conflicting news that there's a lock closed, or not.
We were heading down from Cropredy to the Thames for a while next week, but some intel on the problem would be good. Cant see mention of it here, but my wife's getting stuff on he phone saying it's closed with no suggestions of when it might be open. Sorry don't know the lock number but I am sure if its an issue some helpful bod on here will know!