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Long story short; Needed to take out a water filter tap from the kitchen sink. Realised it had been fitted I'm such a bodge way it wasn't as simple as take it out plus connecting pipes then reconnect pipes lift over. After many trips to the plumb centre a literally hours of work the remaining pipework is now fitted correctly together with no jubilee clips or leaks. So turn water back, still no leaks, very happy. But... The water pump keeps having to repressurise the system once or twice a minute. Nooooo! So the only things I can think of is: A: the pipe under the floor that requires the whole kitchen to come back out (already taken it out once to fix the previous bodge job, was not fun) has a leak in the join. But I can't hear anything, then again is could just be small. Or B: Could it be possible there is air in the system that would cause the pump to keep engaging? C: something else Any thoughts? I list sanity and brain power for this job days ago so I'm not sure what I should do next. Tears are very close I'm that fed up and beaten by this task.

Hello All, I am new to this forum and hoping to glean some useful buying advice / information please. I have wanted to own, and live aboard, a narrowboat for some years now (having enjoyed many holidays / long weekends afloat in the past), and have now decided (I think!) to take the plunge and buy my own vessel. I was just wondering if you could give me any advice, positive or negative, about particular manufacturers; specifically , I want to know if it is worth spending more money on what might possibly be an older boat but one that is apparently made by a better / more reputable constructor. I came across two similar boats that I was interested in on a recent internet search; one was a 2004 Liverpool Boats 57 ft with an advertised price of around £50k, and the other was a 1999 Warble 57ft with an advertised price of nearer £80k. Both boats were similarly fitted-out with good quality interiors, and both looked to be in good tidy condition. I understand that a 1999 Ferrari or Rolls-Royce will be worth more than a 2004 Fiat or Toyota, but what I don't quite understand is this - are they not effectively the same thing (i.e. 57ft of steel), but with a different interior? My simplistic approach would say that if I took my Toyota and got the interior done by the same people who do Ferrari interiors would it be worth Ferrari money? I guess not! ;-) I have been told that the quality of the steelwork (i.e. the preparation and the general fabrication skills) would be of a much better standard on the more expensive vessel, but I would assume that fundamentally they are probably both made from the same steel that might well have come from the same mill, so am I basically paying another £30k for some neater welding?! Please pardon my ignorance, as I am wholly new to the idea of boat ownership, but I would welcome any useful information or opinions on this subject before I either end-up wishing I had spent the extra money on a 'better' boat, or end-up wondering why I wasted all that extra money! ;-) Thanks in advance. Andrew.

Sorry for the question. Im 8 days old on the canals and know very little to nothing at all. 1) I put stern grease in as it was empty screwed it down until I felt some torsion, and then gave it a little twist 2) since then when I start the boat and put her into drive. the propeller does not propell and I have no control 3) After about 4-5 mins, the propeller kicks into life ("right at the critical moment Im about to crash into somebodies boat") 4) Then we are all back on and cruising " I have checked the weed hatch and its all good from what I have seen" " Do you think I have put too much grease into the propeller shaft and its just free spinning and not biting?" there is about 4-5 inches of water building up in its own chamber under the area of the stern area Cheers Guys !

I am asking for opinions please of a tentative business idea my partner has. He has recently retired as a police sergeant and is looking to combine his love and addiction of canals, by offering a service to other narrow boat owners. He has had a connection to the canal most of his life, going back to his childhood and has owned a narrowboat of his own for nearly 20yrs. Can you see a requirement/demand where you may require your boat moving for you to a new location, whether temporary or permanent. We know the problems of wanting to be one place but the car is in another and its such a hassle, going backwards and forwards. A further service offering, water top up, loo emptying, oil and fuel top ups, coal collection and general cleaning of inside and out. If there are any other services that you think may be of interest, please let me know. Thank you Gill

I'm relatively new to boating and a complete novice when it comes to engines. What I believe to be my Perkins engine on my narrow boat has started overheating and I currently have no idea where to begin. The engine runs fine for about 10-15 minutes before the temperature gauge begins to rise and steam begins to show on one of the exhausts. A little context and possible causes for the issue; I recently did some renovations on the kitchen as a result the water and boiler were both shut off I thought it may be possible that this had caused air to enter the pump and possibly the engine, it was suggested that the engine radiator may need bleeding but as I said before I'm pretty inexperienced so this could be completely wrong. Also when setting off recently I found the boat was wedged on a shallow shelf, in my inexperience the engine was pushed to high revs in order to get going, shortly after the engine begun to overheat. Ive included some photos of the engine in the hopes that someone may be able to identify the model and if someone with greater experience than myself has any suggestions on how to solve the over heating issue or could impart a small amount of their knowledge onto me it would be hugely appreciated. Many thanks

Our cat has gone missing for 3 hours now, he has a tracker. I've explored all the area the tracker last seen him. When I went on the search there is a dead animal on the tow path. What is this animal? The same animal but a smaller one was close by looking at the dead body. I fear what got this creature also got our cat

Hi all, this is my first post so please be gentle. Me and my girlfriend are about to buy a narrowboat. we know wat we are after but don't know which brokers to trust. Over the past year we have visited many of the well known ones and we sort of understand how it all works. But we have heard about horror stories! Can anybody give us advice on who is the least likely to take us for a ride and who we need to avoid. We know we want to go with a broker as we don't want all the admin and potential risk, but we don't know who to trust. I might be being a little paranoid, if so then tell me that! Haha. Any other advice about brokers would be extremely helpful. Thanks everyone. Jamie

Hi, im new member here. I´m Kenneth from Denmark. I have a Thornycroft BMC 90-1.5 Diesel, in my boat. The engine runs great, but leaks oil from the crank behind the flywheel. This engine have no oil seal. Is there anything i can do to make it stop leaking? Is there some kind of an oil seal kit that could be mounted? Sorry for my bad English :-) Greetings, Kenneth