Chris Lingwood

No question! I would even be hesitant about not sharing a house for the next two or three years. It would be very easy to get cut off from all your friends. Mine all left at the end of last year anyway so it didn't make much difference to me.

I amost certain it is part of the ventilation now, seeing as the certificate has notes about mildly insufficient ventilation. I've managed to get a bit of a better solution now which seams to have fixed the problem without being a bucket. My nieghbour just fitted a new stove and had a bit of pipe spare just big enough to go over the outside of the colar. Since its a bit higher up I can put the legs of the hat outside the pipe and squish it much further down so the highest point of the pipe is higher than the lowest point of the hat. It needs some tidying up and a couple of self tappers to help keep it on but it seams to have done the trick without looking silly

I've semi fixed it now in a decidedly non permenant way. Jamming a bucket over the top allows ventilation and seams to keep out the rain...but I do now have a bucket on my roof......which will probably fly off sooner or later in the gale force winds we are enjoying today. In my defence she's only around at weekends...and who am I to argue with two years of bed side tradition!

I was topping it up because I'm not really sure how big the tank is. So I guestimated the maximum I should put in, and just incase it was way too much added it in bits to make sure I didn't do anything too bad to the tank. I'm not convinced the flap looks straight down into the tank though, there is definite black plastic under there..although admitedly I've not actualy held the flap open for very long I'll have another look!

As far as I can tell I've no way of knowing if the tank is getting full! The only indication I seam to have is that it gets progressivly more stinky, but thats also because I've been topping up the blue as I go along. There must be some sort of indication short of it starting to back up through the pan! As far as I can tell my system is just a hatch which drops straight into the tank (although you can't see down there...I don't think!) Its been over a month since I emptied it last, but I've not been using it very often because I'm at a marina. Its a 8 hour round trip to empty the thing because they've not got a pump out there

I can honestly say I never thought of that, I won't be doing it again I can tell you. I've shared with a fair few people more experienced than me and not one of them has mentioned it...very strange!

ah right! I've never used a narrow lock but I can see how that would be a much bigger problem in them. You'd have to be incredibly unlucky to do that in a 14ft lock though. You'd have to have the boat diagonaly across the lock so the side fenders wouldn't really matter. I'll definitly keep that in mind though.

They should have had planning permission by now. Sounds like they got turned down then if its still like that. Shame really as it would have been really nice. They were intending to live on heron but had to sell her to pay for that. I hope it does get going, otherwise they have just wasted a hell of a lot of time and money!

I bought heron from down there off a nice couple called Steve and Hayley, they used to moor it up around bathampton. In fact if you are around there they are trying to open a widebeam cafe but were having planning permission problems. you might have noticed the blue widebeam moored on the corner with display cabinets inside. As far as pinchign wood goes I've been only taken the stuff which BW have already cut down on the sides of the cutting. I've no need to start trimming trees! BW anihilate any tree which gets too big/rotten for its own good and leave it in nice managable piles

Do side fenders seriously sink boats? The only way I can think of this happening is if they get caught on something going up. I would have thought that either the rope would snap or it would get dislodged before that happens. I suppose if theres two of you in a lock or you get it caught on a ladder it might not. Mind you I've only got plastic inflatable fenders which squash at the least provocation! It is just important to take up the ones on the wall side? It just seams like a good idea to have them between boats if you are paired up. I think he is just anti tyre inside the fenders because its cheaper than rope. One question is nagging me at the moment, exactly how would I attach them? At the stern theres pleanty to tie things onto http://www.dingle.nildram.co.uk/barge/24687_3.jpg so i could probably tie on a long button At the bow however as you can kinda see on this shot http://www.dingle.nildram.co.uk/barge/24687_2.jpg theres only the T peice right at the point of the bow and nothing else untill you get back to the roof rails. I guess I'd have to mount some fixings on the wooden bits. I suppose if I could get a tip cat with another mounting chain in the top center I could attach it to the T then use the side fixings just to hold it in place.

Really? I didn't know that! I'd best sort myself out with some then. Having a look at how you make these things its probaby a bit too adventurous to try and make one of the big ones, I might try my hand at the smaller ones later on, but they don't cost a great deal. What fenders do you think I should be having then? You can see the bow best in this shot http://www.dingle.nildram.co.uk/barge/24687_2.jpg I would have thought some kind of corner fenders for the back would be a good idea a u fender at the front and a tipcat at the back in the middle? And say....6 nice rope side fenders? I was going to make myself some corner fenders out of old tyres but a guy at my marina said you weren't allowed to as they gum up the locks when they fall off. Is there any truth in that?

but surely then the drip would be on MY face

I've currently only got abotu 6 ugly blue plastic squishy fenders down the side of my boat. No bow or stern fenders. I could do with a few more hear and there. Is it fairly straight forward to make your own? It cant be that hard and it would give me some more things to do in the evening. Plus I've spent an absurd amount of money on stuff lately and this way must be cheaper! I've found this http://www.floatingbear.ca/RopeFender.HTM which tells you how to make the little fenders (handy as mine are rubish). But I could do with something on the bow and stern so I don't scrape it so much on the nasty concrete when I'm attempting to moor up (I'm still pretty new to this driving thing and 60 foot is a long way!) Are there any good books or guides on the internet that I've just missed?

I think you are most probably right. It is in almost exactly the right place for that. I had a look at the collar again this morning (after sleeping with a pan in the bed) and its got a fairly heft amount of paint around the join (possibly with a weld underneath) so its not really going to be leaking through there.

Its probably best to note that I didn't do it By a chimney collar I mean that big plate with a bit hefty tube through the middle thats traditionaly used for poking the chimny from your fire through the roof. On top it has a metal hat (you know the ones shaped like a chinamans hat) with those springy metal legs, they normaly find themselves on top of.....chimneys! Quite why they used chimney bits for ventilation directly over the bed I'll never know! The plastic tube idea is pretty good. I'll get a cheap bottle of water and have a go next time i find myself near some shops.

hmmm...clamping...intersting! Didn't think of that. I can think of on imediate problem though. At the top I could clamp to the rail...but at the bottom....hmmm not alot there. I suppose i could try and wedge it in some way.

Whats the best way off atatching a digital tv ariel to my lovely boat? I've got an indoor one at the moment but its a bit of a pain constantly moving it around to get different stations. I'm sure I'll probably end up cutting/drilling holes in something but I'd rather not! The boat looks like this. http://www.dingle.nildram.co.uk/barge/ I suppose i could get a mate to weld a small bit of pipe to the front and just poke some screws through to hold it in but that would be a bit of a pain.

I have a chimmeny colar (110mm diameter) with one of those little hat covers on to help ventilate my bedroom. Unfortunatly its directly over where my girlfriends face is when she sleeps. Que heavy rain and the poor little lass gets drips on her head! As I'm sure you will appreciate the fact that my side of the bed is fine is little consolation, although it more than makes up for it for me! Any ideas as to what I can do about this slightly daft design? I've already got a note on the last safety certificate saying that I don't have sufficent low level ventilation so I don't really want to restrict the air flow...just the rain! I've tried squashing down the vent, but it didnt really help. Al I've come up with so far is griding the top part of the colar off and screwing a mushroom or something over the top (into probably incrediby tough steel). I don't really like this plan!

I've just started on a Phd so technicaly I am still a student! Its admittedly not quite as tidy and smart as in those pictures, it could do with the paintwork touching up in a fair few places and the roof needs a repaint. Fun for the spring me thinks! As long as I look after it I should get back what I paid for it, shes pretty big at 60foot and well laid out so I shouldn't have any problems. Also the square walls and flat roof make SO much more extra space. Especialy when you compare it to some of the otherones we looked at. Good lord they were shoddy! I'm not really intending to buy a house in this country either, you pay a fortune for rubish ones nowadays. I'll live aboard for a few years then move abroad somewhere nicer. The thing I'm finding the biggest pain at the moment is heating the thing. I've been scrounging wood off the banks of the canal but you don't half get through it fast! I've only the stove for heating aswell, it works really well, when its got wood I am enjoying living on it, theres nothing like opening the hatch in the morning on a beatiful day looking out over the basin and feeding the ducks and swans. It is pretty similar to your boats gary, but mines a bit more square . It was built by GM Engineering in 72 then extended by 20ish foot in the 80s I believe. Then gutted and repaited and battoned to sailaway condition in the late 90s, then sold to the previous owners who took a trip or 12 to ikea and fitted it out to what its like now. I think they ran out of money trying to start a widebeam based cafe so sold it to me

Another reason is modern oils are designed for modern engines with their absurd tollerances and different materials. Oils have 2 relevent properties viscosity: how thick it is with its obvious considerations film thinkness (i think thats how they define it): if you squish it, how thin will it go and still make a good libricant. Old engines obviously don't squish it in the same way due to their less precise nature so need different properties to new engines. Theres also the burnt on crap/sludge/rubish seals argument of course.

I decided this summer I wanted to live on a boat. I've always loved boat and its a heluva lot cheaper than getting a flat. Two months later I moved onto my brand new aquisition! I surprised myself by how fairly easy it was to find a mooring and the boat itself. Granted it took a month and a half to find, but within two weeks of seeing the advert it was moored up 300 miles north of where I bought it ready for me to get aboard. She's pretty old (built in 1972) but the surveyor was quite happy with the state of the steel and the fit out is brand new (well a year old) quite modern and exactly what I was after. It was higher quality and more suitable than boats we saw for 15-20k more. http://www.dingle.nildram.co.uk/barge/ I'm pretty chuffed AND I'm only 21.

Cheers for that on the oil. I've just got to find some now! I'm used to this kinda thing what with driving a mgbgt, although bits are much easier to find for that! I've not got much to go on with the scrape either. I'd be surprised if it was the chain too. I've not tried it since so it might just have been a bit of crud caught it something or other from when I filled up the tank. Its not been done for about a year It sounded like a bit of metal resting on a spining something. Hard to say though. I'll have a look this weekend if I ever get any free time!

Hello there! I think I'll start off with the simple question; What oil does my bmc 1.5 want for its service? I bought a manual of ebay which seams pretty helpful but doesn't really give a straight answer as far as oil goes. Now for the harder, perhaps impossible to answer question! I noticed was getting a touch low on deisel last weekend so I chuntered over to the pump, about.....200 meters. All was good! But on my chuntering back I noticed a distict scraping sound coming from the engine area. I used the engine as little as I could untill I was moored and I've not had a chance to look at it since. I think my first plan of attack will be to give it a good service. Its due one, I've no idea how old the oil is as I've only had it about 2 months, its probably got no antifreeze in it either. I'm pretty certain the scrape wasn't gearbox/prop related as it did it in neutral. Assuming nice shiney new oil doesn't do the trick what else would we be thinking? I'll have a go with the old screw driver on the ear trick but a list of suspects would be useful I'm thinking, alternator/water/oil pumps, belts, chains (for valves? or is it a belt?). It sounded very metalic scraping, I don't like metalic scraping!