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At 14' we did get thru the 'wide' locks off the Trent onto the canal system, ie onto the Fossdyke, but it was no-fenders- down and there was not a lot of room either side. This is the best place for our boat AND the OPs proposed purchase.

This is the up to date HVO picture for those that can find time for a read: HVO UPDATE – 16.05.2024 Activity on the sourcing and supply of HVO is currently the focus of the HVO Joint Working Group, made up from members of IWA, RYA, CA and British Marine and we met recently. The Group’s objective is to make ‘subsidised’ HVO readily available, at an affordable price to ALL recreational boaters and not just limited to the inland waterways – Cat A, B and non-tidal Cat C – as is currently the case. At present craft operating in tidal waters cannot benefit from Road Transport Fuel Certificates (RTFCs) two of which are applied to every litre of HVO sold to qualifying craft. Their value varies but they are currently worth £0.17 each, so a litre of HVO effectively attracts ‘subsidy’ of £0.34. Volatility in pricing is a real concern and does nothing to encourage boatyards and marinas to stock the fuel. A month ago, the wholesale price of HVO was only £0.12 (12%) greater than gas oil (red diesel) per litre, today that differential is more like 50%. This is believed to be largely down to fluctuations in commodity markets as fuel prices themselves vary, alongside the raw materials (or feedstock) which are quite separately governed by the agricultural commodity market. Manipulating the value of an RTFC would, in theory, represent a government ‘device’ for controlling this volatility but with their current low value there is limited room for (pricing) manoeuvre. Two years ago an RTFC was worth £0.42 so, with an effective subsidy of £0.84 attached to each litre of HVO sold, there was ample room to make an external impact. Those in the fuel industry are therefore suggesting that the time has come to revisit HODA (1979) – the Act that laid down our current fuel duty mechanisms: https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/oils-technical-manual/hcoteg31000. The HVO Joint Working Group are currently building a case for RTFC application to all recreational boating around demonstrating that the consumption of diesel fuel (and potentially, HVO should it be made affordable) is extremely small and will therefore have little effect on revenue for HMRC. In addition, we are pointing out that this sector has few other alternatives to decarbonising as the biofuels allocated to both the Coastal and Deep Sea Maritime sectors are inappropriate for recreational boat users. Furthermore, the sea-going recreational sector depend on reliable fuelling of their diesel engines, which may well still have a long life ahead of them, making scrapping an environmentally undesirable, unrealistic and an extremely expensive option. The emphasis on ‘reliable’ being a reference to problems with ‘diesel bug’ (and associated mechanical issues) exacerbated by the FAME content of mineral diesel on sale in marinas and boatyards. HVO sold in the UK is currently supplied by Neste and manufactured in Rotterdam. It is shipped to Stanlow (supplying Crown Oil and its agents and subsidiaries) and to Dagenham from where it is distributed by Certas. It has been mooted that, with the refinery element of Grangemouth closing down, Neste (or one of its competitors) should be encouraged to establish an UK HVO manufacturing plant on the site. Finally, taking the bigger picture, the limiting of RTFC-eligibility to vessels plying Cat A, B and non-tidal Cat C waters is having a negative environmental impact on commercial carrying on the inland waterways, where many craft are transporting bulk cargoes, on tidal rivers into UK towns and cities, where air quality is at a premium. The Rivers Thames and Medway being good examples as, indeed, could be the Rivers Clyde and Tay. Not only is HVO 90% carbon neutral, it’s NoX and particulate emissions are substantially reduced so there are consequently significant health benefits (apart from the obvious carbon reduction) to be gained where water-borne traffic interfaces with dense populations. DfT tell us that they intend to put out a Call for Evidence around maritime biofuel use but as yet they have offered no time scales. To this end the Group’s energies are predominantly focused on establishing usage data and general fact gathering in the believe that further, individual approaches to the Department, will only be referred to this upcoming consultation process. A new development (announced 16th May 2024) is that a green hydrogen plant is to be established at Grangemouth Refinery which is shortly to stop production and simply become a storage facility. In the Scottish Cross Party Group (for marine leisure and recreational tourism) we have been suggesting that Grangemouth – being well connected with the rest of the UK via rail and motorway on both east and west sides of the country – would make an excellent site for HVO production. This announcement goes more than halfway to achieving this, resulting in a product that was virtually 100% carbon neutral.

Moorings at Audlem. Are you planning on heading on beyond Audlem or just winding and heading back in the Nantwich direction? If you are heading on south then the location of the next winding hole is irrelevant, but if you are heading back north then it is worth being aware that the last winding hole before the flight is just below the Audlem flight and the next winding hole is above Adderley, so you either need to do the whole flight twice or be happy reversing in one direction from as far up the flight as you go. If you are inclined to go up, it is worth bearing in mind that Cox Bank two locks down the flight is a nice mooring spot, as are just above Audlem, just below Adderley, just above Adderley and in Market Drayton (where you can also wind). For Audlem itself, the Nantwich side of bridge 80 is good, then the visitor moorings just before the flight (we have never had trouble finding one). Technically, there are moorings above the first lock but I have never seen the point - it is usually wet, muddy and overshadowed so if you are going up you might as well go at least one lock further - since very few people ever moor in that pound it is always possible to use a rope for the reverse direction. The moorings above the next lock (two locks up) are very pleasant and the lowest effort if you don't want to do long reverse stretches. There is also a water point just below the next lock. One lock further up are the main moorings, outside the Shroppie Fly and Audlem Mill. The visitor moorings here are on both sides. There are more moorings one lock further up, which are a good option if you are heading on up the flight but less so if you are reversing. After that, you are pretty much doing the whole flight. Food. Since Mike took over at the Shroppie Fly I have not had a bad meal or a bad pint. It is higher end pub food and very good it is too. The safe bet and very unlikely to disappoint. The Bridge is definitely pub grub and pub atmosphere. Nothing wrong with that at all, but perhaps not Sunday Lunch. The Lord Combermere always used to be the high end place for food. I have not eaten there since it re-opened under the current management. It's more of a risk, but perhaps some Facebook searching would give an indication. I would like it to do well and if it is decent I will probably split my choices between there and the Shroppie Fly, but still waiting for a verdict. Not for Sunday lunch but worth being aware that the takeaway in the village is excellent (vaguely Indian but also pizza amongst other things!) and there is a very handy Co-op. The butchers is great too, and the chippy has always been good. Parking. There are options, but drop me a PM if you want to know. Alec

Ah but, you have reverted to inland waterways. Ignore them, as we know series hybrid come out on top. We are on about lumpy water, where it is a race between parallel hybrid or non hybrid. On lumpy water you will be using the power of the engine. So running it efficiently. The gain from parallel hybrid will be restricted to slow voyages. On normal speed voyages, there is no gain. In fact, direct drive would probably come out on top. I say the vessels with most to gain are large motor yachts which may dawdle between anchorages. They would then sit at anchor on battery power. Most lumpy water boats, I can't see benefiting from hybrid. It might explain why lumpy water boats have gone straight to alternative fuels. Anyway, it matters not. We all know the best option is a proper Gardner in a proper engine room!!!

Gaming computers are generally very power hungry, add that to your Starlink and your electrical system will need to be very robust (both 12v storage and, the means to replace that used every day) Are you looking to have a boat built or buy secondhand ? You may find it difficult to get a secondhand boat set up with an electrical system that can support your needs. The boat design/fit-out may not even be configured such that there is room for the number of batteries you may need. Solar can play a big part in the Summer, but for 3 or 4 months of the year will do virtually nothing, so you will need to consider having a boat with a generator. Your internet needs can be met so now look at a boat that is either suitable to be modified to your needs, or, is already electrically suitably equipped. Lithium batteries (expensive) may/will work better for you than Lead Acid (cheap)

Onwards and upwards, we had a few quiter, sunny days at the yard so decided to get on with a few more bits of steel , the second chine plank at the stern has gone in and we have also got the counter on, as well as a length of 3" guard iron, which was donated by a local boater. We are once again, battling the gaps in the weather to complete further templates etc as its all just a bit too wet!

Some old electric motors (and generators) are works of art, especially those with big exposed commutators. I have ponderred that if we have to go all electric that trad boats could replace their old JP3's and Kelvins wtc with vintage electric motors in the engine room. I don't know how much efficiency would be lost, compared with modern motors, if they could be run with modern electronics (dressed up yo look suitably vintage).

I’m sure some would enjoy diving in to the motor room to change resistors and such stuff. Flux capacitors and all.

Electric motors are nothing new, Im surprised there ain’t a whole load of vintage electric motors being put in boats, an engine room could have the diesel engine chucked out and perhaps put some 🤷‍♀️ 19th century electric motor in instead. We could call it the motor room. electric motors have been going longer than the diesel engine??

It's not common because proper marine diesel generators are quite expensive. You're talking a minimum of £5K before it's installed and installation is at least another grand. Apart from that the only pitfalls or problems I can think of are potentially a lack of space in a some NB engine rooms. If you do decide on a diesel generator then look at 1500rpm units rather than 3000rpm. https://www.northern-lights.com/

This all looks pretty normal apart from the maximum voltage - unless you have AGMs, it's about 0.2v too high which sealed maintenance-free batteries won't like. It's a setting on the MPPT, change the bulk voltage. BMV faults are mainly the shunt end, which you can buy separately - if installed in a place where it gets wet, the RJ11 socket and cable corrodes so the gauge (where all the brains of the unit are) don't get any power or the voltage readings are wrong. Never seen a failed gauge. Before replacing the shunt, it's worth spraying the RJ11 in WD40 and unplugging/replugging a few times. If it springs to life, even intermittently, replace the shunt and cable.

Alan said "It is not the best person for the job who is appointed but the one who ticks most 'equality' boxes.", you then quoted that exact phrase and then said "I share [some of] that cynicism." I simply gave the usual list of what people who talk about "ticking equality boxes" mean by that phrase... 😉 Since the only possible "equality box" that could have been ticked here is "female", this looks like pure misogyny from Alan, and by extension from you. Or is there some other "equality box" you were thinking of? P.S. Easy to say "booting someone out to make room" -- who would you suggest? Presumably somebody in CART management who serves no useful function, you must have a long list... 😉

I can have it anyway I wish! And I can certainly have mixed feelings. on the one hand they’ve bought someone in wake things up but on the other it’s an additional expense rather than booting someone out to make room. I didn’t read anyone call her a black lesbian,

It was a Mitsubishi on a Volvo D2-40. He says that because the alternator is connected to the starter battery using a charge splitter the alternator is protected. In regards to BMS and stuff... overcurrent protection is provided by an existing ANL fuse rather than an expensive quicker T class fuse. He notes that if it was a parallel system it would need the T class. Chose low cost bistable relays to control the current rather than FETs as he claims the old school tech is better here. The next article written by someone else, "considerations for installing lithium-ion" This other bloke basically starts by saying he does not agree with almost all of this. He says he does not agree with his reasoning on using relays instead of FETs, he then goes on to talk about hybrid just strapped together in parallel are naughty according to ISO and America. and later talks about using a B2B charger. He talks about the need to have a higher amp BMS than your expected load. He says using multiple lithium batteries in parallel can cause problems with going out of balance, and recommends that although this is the case two batteries are the most logical should one BMS go boobs up. He mentions that you can not just use a voltage sensitive relay on a standard alternator. My thoughts... this bloke is a lot more where I am. Also when you think about it, most "off grid DIY lithium" builds fire can obviously be dangerous but more often an inconvenience. On a narrowboat it can kill but will almost certainly ruin your day, but out at sea like these guys do with their boats a fire can kill you just by leaving you stranded in the wet salty stuff. By the way, if anyone has never read PBO, it is worth a read now and again. I used to buy it in my GRP days. It is very much a DIY magazine like the old practical mechanics used to be, but for plastic boats. Although there is a lot of narrow boat magazines now, we have nothing that compares to PBO. For instance in their 100 tips issue.. tip 1, buy a boat you can afford right now and do not take out a loan as even if it is a complete project you will learn a lot doing it up. I don't think we will ever see that in narrowboat mags that seem more intent on showing us how the other half live.

I must admit I share some of that cynicism but maybe she will shake it up a bit. Fresh approach and all that. It’s more disappointing to read that she is an ‘additional’ director, meaning they’ve not ditched anyone to make room but have added to the list of those highly paid, I now see even less chance of them broken paddles ever getting fixed

Someone upthread mentioned using the cabin shaft for this. One of those blindingly obvious Good Ideas only blindingly obvious after someone actually says it. I tried it yesterday for the first time and it worked a treat. No more wet trouser knees from kneeling in the grass, yippee!

I use a long handle paint roller, had a lady ask me the other day what I was using as she had just moored and had a wet muddy knee.

The mention of descaling makes me think this is not a brand new item. My money would be on something that shouldn't be being in the macerator... Wimmins things are favourite for this type of problem in my experience but could be wet wipes etc...

The background is this: many years ago, an elderly gentleman, passing along the towpath, paused at our engine room. He stayed there, looking down, for several minutes. I asked him if he was interested in engines and he said, yes, all his life. He then said 'That is a side hand-start. A special adaptation. We did not make many of them.' He knew exactly what our engine was: a Gardener 2L2, Admiralty order, special adaptation for use as a harbour generator set for the Hunt class of destroyers. 1942, or may be 1945. He was absolutely right of course. He liked the fact that we had retained the Gardener radiator. 'It makes the engine look right', he thought. I told him that when we bought the engine it had the generator as well - it had come from a travelling fair. That was a substantial piece of engineering but we did not know how we could use it so we left it. But kept the radiator. I showed him the arrangement of stop taps we had incorporated to control the water cooling system, and he was quite kind about that. Over a cup of tea he told us that he had been with Gardeners all his working life. He told us lots of fascinating things and when he came to leave, he said that he had his old Gardener tools in his garage, he would never need them again, and if we would like them he would, if he had time, drop them by. Well, we thanked him for the kind thought. But later that day, under the gunwale of the foredeck, was a box of tools. Quite simple ones in the main, adapted for specific purposes unknown to us. We could not thank him because we did not know his name or where he lived, so we decided to stay on at the mooring in the hope that next morning he would come by again. But he did not. When after 20 years we sold the boat - one of the worst days of our lives - we left the Gardener tools with the Gardener engine. Except this one. This is a precision tool seemingly designed to grip something of very small section and open it out. One handle is marked 'Pat No 496,031 (complete spec)'. I am not an engineer, I haven't a clue what it is for but I would like to know. In memory of a kind gesture. Any ideas?

When you agree the price with a buyer, you can reasonably expect it to reflect the condition as reported in your survey. If the buyer closes to arrange their own survey, it should narrow the wriggle room for any discussions on a reduction in price to only those not mentioned in your survey.

Hi. Thought I'd check if my plan to reinstall radiators on our narrowboat seems sensible. Thinking of 4 radiators, removing thermostatic valves that are on them at present and replacing with lockshield valves at each end. Running 22mm plastic pipe between rads with 15mm tails into lockshields. Filling radiators with mix of water and anti freeze via weird little plastic tank in engine room and bleeding radiators until they're all full. Sound sensible? Appreciate any thoughts that may help Regards Ste