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Single woman buys narrowboat to get on property ladder


David Mack

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4 minutes ago, MtB said:

 

One of mine has a 1.5" lever valve fitted into the filler pipe, on the inside of the boat. 

 

Much more effective than mucking about with locks on the outside. 

 

 

That is ideal but if the tank directly communicates with the cants or stern deck, which is common on narrow boats, it is not an option. The only thing you can do is fit a lock or alter the arrangement of the fuel access lid..

 

They do these things which block the access but I think they are easily knocked into the tank by a hammer. 

 

If you just welded in a tube say 8 inches long with an elbow on the end it would be virtually impossible to syphon fuel out without breaking the welds. 

 

Ultimately if you were determined enough you could just drill a 10mm (or larger) hole in through the top of the tank beside the filler and extract the fuel with a small electric oil pump. 

 

 

Having fuel tanks socially distant from the filler itself is quite wise. 

 

 

Edited by magnetman
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2 hours ago, Tony1 said:

 

I wonder if I could ask a favour? I have wondered in the past about whether it's worth fitting a padlock on the fuel filler cap. 

If you happen to have your phone handy on the stern, I wonder if you might take a few photos of your lock/padlock arrangement and post them here?  

If diesel prices start going up significantly, it could become something that local scrotes (or even boaters) think is worth nicking. 

 

 

Where did the diesel discourse come from? I am bemused.  Never understood woke, that is something I did after sleeping.

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18 minutes ago, magnetman said:

If you just welded in a tube say 8 inches long with an elbow on the end it would be virtually impossible to syphon fuel out without breaking the welds. 

 

Never quite worked out how anyone could syphon diesel out of a NB fuel tank.

To get a syphon going the lower end (into the receiving recepticle must be lower then the 'donating' end / fuel level in the fuel tank.

That would mean that the receiveing container must be below the water level.

 

I have always assumed that the crims would use a battery powered pump (my battery powered pump has a rate of 40 litres per minute and a lift height of 10 metres. So it doesn't take long to empty a NB tank).

 

I used  it on my boat when I got a load of water in the tank - it pumped out 200 litres  of water in about  5 or 6 minutes.

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2 minutes ago, Alan de Enfield said:

 

Never quite worked out how anyone could syphon diesel out of a NB fuel tank.

To get a syphon going the lower end (into the receiving recepticle must be lower then the 'donating' end / fuel level in the fuel tank.

That would mean that the receiveing container must be below the water level.

 

I have always assumed that the crims would use a battery powered pump (my battery powered pump has a rate of 40 litres per minute and a lift height of 10 metres. So it doesn't take long to empty a NB tank).

 

I used  it on my boat when I got a load of water in the tank - it pumped out 200 litres  of water in about  5 or 6 minutes.

 

The base of a NB fuel tank will usually be only just below the waterline so you could get a bit out by syphoning if the tank was full.  Probably fill a 20 litre carrier fairly quickly if you held or tied it in such a way it sat on the water. 

 

Never tried it myself but I expect the idea would be to take away what you can carry. If you go alongside with the boat then yes electric seems more sensible. 

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10 minutes ago, Alan de Enfield said:

 

Never quite worked out how anyone could syphon diesel out of a NB fuel tank.

To get a syphon going the lower end (into the receiving recepticle must be lower then the 'donating' end / fuel level in the fuel tank.

That would mean that the receiveing container must be below the water level.

 

I have always assumed that the crims would use a battery powered pump (my battery powered pump has a rate of 40 litres per minute and a lift height of 10 metres. So it doesn't take long to empty a NB tank).

 

I used  it on my boat when I got a load of water in the tank - it pumped out 200 litres  of water in about  5 or 6 minutes.

I never worked out why people syphon liquid by sucking. Blowing is much easier and more effective.

I guess some people like the taste of diesel

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1 minute ago, rusty69 said:

I never worked out why people syphon liquid by sucking. Blowing is much easier and more effective.

I guess some people like the taste of diesel

 

 

Whever a tractor ran out of fuel and needed bleeding it was easier to put a rag around the filler and then put your mouth around it and blow - a good blow job certainly stops you getting a mouth full of diesel.

 

 

 

Railway Station.jpg

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45 minutes ago, magnetman said:

That is ideal but if the tank directly communicates with the cants or stern deck, which is common on narrow boats, it is not an option. The only thing you can do is fit a lock or alter the arrangement of the fuel access lid..

 

They do these things which block the access but I think they are easily knocked into the tank by a hammer. 

 

If you just welded in a tube say 8 inches long with an elbow on the end it would be virtually impossible to syphon fuel out without breaking the welds. 

 

Ultimately if you were determined enough you could just drill a 10mm (or larger) hole in through the top of the tank beside the filler and extract the fuel with a small electric oil pump. 

 

 

Having fuel tanks socially distant from the filler itself is quite wise. 

 

 

How about just unscew the vent and suck it out of there

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On 02/02/2023 at 08:33, matty40s said:

License £105, insurance £33, coal £46, gas £47, diesel £30. = £251

That's an annualised monthly figure, with June bought coal.

It doesnt include any maintenance on the boat.

 

That's before clothes, food, beer, mooring fee, electric, car tax, insurance diesel, tv licence, broadband internet, mobile phone, etc etc.

Boat life is not cheap, but is an wonderful way of life.

 

You go through a bottle of gas a month? Or is that your yearly costs divvied up over 12 months?

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2 minutes ago, HenryFreeman said:

You go through a bottle of gas a month? Or is that your yearly costs divvied up over 12 months?

 

Some boats have an "Alde" gas fired hot water / central heating system which in cold weather can use up to 2x 13kg cylinder (£40 each) PER WEEK

 

I know of several people who have had them and have had them removed and diesel fired or solid fuel heating installed

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Just now, Alan de Enfield said:

 

Some boats have an "Alde" gas fired hot water / central heating system which in cold weather can use up to 2x 13kg cylinder (£40 each) PER WEEK

 

I know of several people who have had them and have had them removed and diesel fired or solid fuel heating installed

 

Ah, that makes some sense. I rarely go through two cylinders a year, but then I do appear to eat a lot of sandwiches.

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1 hour ago, Tracy D'arth said:

Where did the diesel discourse come from? I am bemused.  

 

I've no idea, but I'm jolly glad you pointed it out.  Hijacking a perfectly respectable thread like that.

I'm surprised they aren't demanding a ransom to give it back. 

 

 

Edited by Tony1
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3 hours ago, Tony1 said:

 

I wonder if I could ask a favour? I have wondered in the past about whether it's worth fitting a padlock on the fuel filler cap. 

If you happen to have your phone handy on the stern, I wonder if you might take a few photos of your lock/padlock arrangement and post them here?  

If diesel prices start going up significantly, it could become something that local scrotes (or even boaters) think is worth nicking. 

 

 

I think it depends on the design of the boat, I dont think mine would stop the determined thief, but as I'm on the boat all the time I'm not too worried. 

 

1 hour ago, Tracy D'arth said:

Where did the diesel discourse come from? I am bemused.  Never understood woke, that is something I did after sleeping.

It came from my expenses for the month, if only you had read all the posts you would know all about it :)

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36 minutes ago, Alan de Enfield said:

 

Some boats have an "Alde" gas fired hot water / central heating system which in cold weather can use up to 2x 13kg cylinder (£40 each) PER WEEK

 

I know of several people who have had them and have had them removed and diesel fired or solid fuel heating installed

 

One of the times we hired in winter on a boat with ALDE heating we managed to get through nearly three of those bottles in a week. We were toasty warm in the boat (no stove) though and luckily for us gas used was covered in the hire cost.

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7 minutes ago, LadyG said:

I think it depends on the design of the boat, I dont think mine would stop the determined thief, but as I'm on the boat all the time I'm not too worried. 

 

 

I think a more practical approach might be to use a glove and a rapier.

When I catch the thief in action, I slap him across the face with the glove, and demand satisfaction by means of a duel. 

The only potential snag is if he also has a rapier. 

 

 

Edited by Tony1
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1 hour ago, magnetman said:

It is quite a good approach if the person who originally builds the boat has the foresight to weld a steel pipe with an elbow on it just below the filler.

 

You can get fuel in but it is a bugger to get it back out. 

 

Not something anyone would do when building a narrow boat. 

One could retrofit this by removing the existing filler cap assembly then welding in a BSP tube with elbow on end and finishing the top of it with a BSP pipe cap. 

 

 

 

Mine had two elbows, but did tend to blow back if filled too fast. It was the result of what must have been a tank/bug problem, so my tank was on the port side uxter plate. At least that allowed part of the front fo the original tank to be cut out to ft a backwards facing exhaust outlet for quieter cruising.

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Just now, Goliath said:

meanwhile back to the OP;

are the bourgeoisere slumming it?
 

Of course they are ! Raking in some profit from letting out the ancestral seat (and some little houses for poor people) who'd have guessed ? 

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On 03/02/2023 at 22:58, Richard10002 said:

 

The fact that these developers are "allowed" to wriggle out of their planning requirements, and they are not enforced, is entirely the fault of councils/government.

 

This is exactly why Government/councils should take the responsibility for actually building the needed social/affordable homes, (council houses).

 

Until such a time, (which might be "never"), without the provision of homes by the private rented sector, (PRS), where are all the currently housed going to live.

 

In addition, given that, as things are gradually introduced to make the PRS less attractive, more and more private landlords will leave the market**, thus reducing supply, when demand is actually increasing, therefore increasing the rents for all those who need/want to rent.

 

** Not necessarily a bad thing for those who wish to buy, because it increases supply, thus making it easier.

 

 

1.  Many Councils would love to build Council house, but they don't have any money to.

2. The rules which allow developers to wriggle out of their commitments are entirely set by the Government.

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