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Doug Scullery

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Everything posted by Doug Scullery

  1. It's not the first time I've seen that group blow up in such a way, and it's very much the same posters that get narky and territorial. There seems, among some mostly longer standing members, to be a feeling of "This is OUR group" and a possibly smaller group that feel like "This is OUR canal". A member that, while complaining about newcomers that don't share her outlook, referenced her 18 years (gasp!) on the canal has in an argument months ago told me to "F*** off and stick to your river section". It's definitely a minority on that page who have these attitudes, but they're a noisy minority. I think the we weird atmosphere on that page may stem from some of the veteran members not really understanding the difference between an 'Open Group' (something akin to this forum, where anybody can request to join and be joined up by any other member) and a 'Closed Group' (an invite only group that does not show up in peoples searches). I've been a member for a year or so and I suspect that at some time in the past it was a much smaller group of people who all know each other. Over time it has evolved into something bigger with a broader cross section of boating society. Some members seem very upset by this and their way of dealing with that is, er, let me try and be nice about this, ill advised.
  2. Any chance of a link/what were your search terms to find the right thing? The fuel pump is not something I've payed much attention to on my engine, am I right in assuming its a fairly easy part to take off and replace with something similar but different?
  3. I've definitely had ones that look like both of those (not the actual Coopers brand, but definitely ones that have a channel around the edge rather than the holes in the Delphi one). I'd assumed they do exactly the same job but direct the fuel a slightly different way, would I be wrong in that assumption?
  4. No, I can picture the ones you're talking about and it's not one of them. It's got a Yanmar sticker on it with various numbers, none of which come up with anything when I Google them. It does however have one of those QR codes on it, I will try getting a QR scanner app for my phone and see what comes up when I scan it. I can't find any photos of a similar looking pump online so I will try and get one myself to post here. Not an easy place to photograph, though, it might have to wait until daylight.
  5. I've definitely had Delphi HDF 296 in the past, I think the Fram unit has the number 296 in it's name somewhere, as well. I've never made a differentiation between brands, just bought whatever's available. Do you think I should?
  6. Interesting. It certainly isn't, it's the same CAV housing and the same generic (Fram at the moment, I think, but I've had Delphi and Mahle in the past) unit inside, which is what I've always bought from the boatyard. Are different grades of CAV filter available? Should I have been buying two different types?
  7. I mean the CAV filter between the tank and the pump. My engine has two identical CAV filters, one where you describe (attached to the swim) and then one after the pump bolted to the engine itself. I changed both after I had the diesel bug treatment put in, but I only bothered checking the first one for gunge yesterday, assuming that if the first was clean then the second must be, too. Sweet boat name, btw!
  8. So, a few weeks ago after leaving it far too long between engine services and allowing my fuel tank to become far too empty I discovered I had diesel bug. This initially manifested itself when the engine just kind of chug-chugged and stopped while I was charging the batteries. After that it was hard to start, took longer and required more revs than normal but it did run. I pumped all the diesel and gunk out of my tank, gave it a swill around with fresh diesel and pumped that out before having a dose of Marine 16 and 150L of fresh diesel put in and changing both fuel filters. It ran fine for a couple of weeks and then on Tuesday it seemed to happen again, it stuttered to a stop. Like before it was difficult to restart but did start eventually, kept trying to die but provided I gave it enough revs when I heard that starting to happen it would run like normal again. I took off the primary fuel filter assuming that my diesel bug treatment had failed and expecting to find it all gunged up again, that's where things got weird, it was sparkly clean, looked brand new, clearly not blocked with diesel bug. So, I refitted the filter, bled the fuel lines like normal and the engine, so far, has started and run like normal since. Anybody got any idea what's going on here? Is it possible I didn't bleed the fuel lines properly after my diesel bug treatment and there were some bubbles that caused the problem? Is it possible that that would take a week or two to become a problem? Seems odd to me. Any other theories as to what could be doing on here?
  9. I have a bench on my bow made of stuff that sounds similar to this, its not exactly falling apart but it has started to look pretty tatty round the edges. I was planning on replacing it with raddle painted marine ply, any reason I shouldn't do that?
  10. It never leaves the mooring, it definitely wouldn't make a good cruising plank. When out and about I carry a much shorter (6ft) double width (but not double thickness) plank which is perfect for most canal banks on the K&A. If going further afield or planning to moor on the edge of the Avon I have a 13ft single scaff board just in case, but since the snapping incident I'm reluctant to use it. I wasn't actually here when it happened (neither was anybody else, which is one of the scary things about it) but apparently it gave no warning before it snapped, I've no doubt that it could have been a horrible accident, putting a potentially injured person into a flooded river. It gave us both a real fright, hence the possible overkill with double thickness plank. I know that lots of boaters think using double width planks is unnecessary, but I like having it when I'm putting heavy or unwieldy things on the boat, and it makes a massive difference when being visited by non-boaty/outdoorsy types. I have some frequent visitors who are nervous about getting on and off the boat both for physical and psychological reasons, having something wide, grippy and solid feeling really helps convince nervous people that the boat is a safe place for them to be.
  11. Definitely interested to hear your ideas. I have wondered if something like these http://www.tracmat.com/index.php?page=shop.product_details&flypage=flypage.pbv.tabs.tpl&product_id=9&category_id=3&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=77 could catch on. They're made for driving 4X4's over and are available with a grippy sand type texture on the top side. They're definitely expensive when compared to the cost of an old scaff board, but they'd never rot, never collect water etc. Also, if looked at as an additional cost when buying a new NB it's really not that much. I (like many boaters) have an "I'd-get-this-built-if-money-were-no-object" boat in my head. It would have a tug style deck with some sort of telescopic boarding plank on detachable hinges (to allow it to be deployed from either side) on it, that way giving you more of a mounted drawbridge than a plank that needs to be stowed on the roof. Pie-in-the-sky stuff for me but I can see no reason why something like that wouldn't be plausible and I'm really surprised at how little variation we see on the boarding plank theme, especially on really well equipped/over equipped (depending on who you ask) up market boats.
  12. Legally no, but in practice many do so yes. Same. TBH questions like this are a can of worms and this thread will now turn into another multi page argument much the same as the ones you've already been reading.
  13. The recent tragedy in the dry dock in Salford has got me thinking about planks. I have two friends (both fit, working age, experienced boaters) who have injured themselves quite badly falling between their boats and the bank, one badly twisted her knee and the other broke a couple of ribs. I have thought for a long time that the old scaff board, which appears to be pretty much narrowboaters standard, is really a bit inadequate, especially taking into account the time and money people invest in getting other aspects of their boats "just so". I have a 6 foot plank made out of two old scaff boards covered with chicken wire which I use when on canal, but when we first moved onto our river mooring we were just using a single 13 foot scaff board. That was until the floods last year, at the point when the river was almost the same height as the bank (so the plank was supported only at the very ends, one on the gunwhale one on the ground) it snapped while my girlfriend was crossing it. Thankfully this happened when she was over the ground as opposed to the gap between the boat and the bank so she just landed on her feet on the ground, but I shudder to think what would have happened if she had been over the water at the time. I have since build a much more sturdy 10 foot plank, which is not only two boards wide but also has a third board down the middle underneath as reinforcement. I have also put chocks (for want of a better word) on it that prevent it slipping off the gunwhale and have a (removable) paving slab at the bank end to prevent it floating when the land floods (caused some problems last year). Also, for anyone that's interested, I've had great success fixing bits of tread cut from old mountain bike tyres to the underside of both planks with fencing staples, the knobbles on the tyres are deep enough that the staples can't scratch the paint. I know it doesn't look like it matters in the picture but please bear in mind that that is Pheobe's bad side, her other side is much smarter. So what do others use?
  14. Ooh, local merguez sausages. Colour me jealous.
  15. And he will be a man in his 60's who knows everything there is to know about boats because his family took a couple of narrowboat holidays when he was a child. I've met him so many times.
  16. Apparently there are now signs there saying that it's a 24 hour mooring.
  17. I see this as completely standard, in fact I'll often be no more than an inch or two from boats I'm passing. I'm reminded of a cruise I went on a few months ago with a very enthusiastic friend of a friend (who I think was more used to being a passenger on less competently steered boats) keeping me company at the tiller. Every time I moved close enough to a boat, or the bank or whatever, for him to reach it with his foot he would start "fending" with his legs, this had the effect of course of pushing the stern out from the boat or bank therefore pointing the bow at it so I had to basically steer against him. It was incredibly hard to convince him that, no, I wasn't actually going to hit anything and really made me want a semi-trad where passengers are penned in in front of you where you can keep an eye on them. I actually really enjoy making "precision" maneuvers on my boat, turning/mooring in tight spaces or swinging the stern into small gaps on lock landings etc. to pick up crew, and for me the only way someone can be too close is to actually be touching (and provided speed isn't involved that doesn't really bother me, either).
  18. I'd love to know more detail. I know the old Stothert and Pitt site (saw him moored there a few weeks ago, is that his sweet Land Rover camper that was parked next to the boat?) and have thought for a long time that it's insane those buildings are being used for nothing, I just have no idea what it is he is putting so much energy into protesting against. Attractive old warehouse buildings right next to the river in the middle of the city being used for absolutely nothing. They were squatted for a while five or six years ago but other than that I'm pretty sure they've been empty for years. They were moored next to some new build apartment buildings. There's a landscaped area with steps leading down to the waters edge with some benche and whatnot. There are wooden posts every couple of metres along the waterside that kind of look like they could be mooring posts, but don't really function very well (if that was their intended function). Opinions are divided among local boaters as to whether the space was designed as visitor moorings or some sort of flood defence.
  19. It's this that mainly interests me, what exactly is he trying to achieve/raise awareness of? Also, that Crest Nicholson site, are they really "mooring bollards"? If they are they're the worst bollards I've ever tied to (for those unfamiliar they are 10"ish square wooden posts sticking up a foot or two out of the concrete), I moored there quickly to run to Homebase for a bag of coal once (desperation will lead a man to do terrible things), certainly wouldn't want to overnight there.
  20. I just found it hard to follow. It starts by talking about a protest without explaining what the protest is about (does get back to that later though. Kind of.), talks a little about how he's rigged up a system to use water from the hot springs for his showers (interesting to boaters but seems pretty irrelevant) and then moves on to what appears to be an unrelated incident further downriver. It all just seems very vague, I'm interested to know what's going on but anyone not already clued up about this needs a whole lot more context.
  21. Curious to know peoples opinions on this very strangely written article http://virtualmuseumofbath.com/2013/06/10/weir-protest-barge-shifts-position/
  22. My old insurer (Towergate Mardon) said only if the boat being towed is in danger, my current insurer (Westfield) says no problem at all.
  23. Ah, I see what you mean. So I can have big bolts through the sandwich that I fit and maybe just a tiny bolt through the rudder just to hold the whole lot in place. I like it.
  24. I'm gonna do the mole grip thing as a quick fix and then do this as a longer term solution. Any tips on underwater drilling welcome, currently weighing up hand drill vs flexi drill shaft.
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