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Crick show reports?


frangar

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I might have missed the thread but there doesn’t seem to be one saying how wonderful/terrible Crick show was. 
 

So did anyone go to Crick show? Was it worth it this year? Was it just the usual tat show with a few shiny widebeams? 

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40 minutes ago, frangar said:

I might have missed the thread but there doesn’t seem to be one saying how wonderful/terrible Crick show was. 
 

So did anyone go to Crick show? Was it worth it this year? Was it just the usual tat show with a few shiny widebeams? 

lots of youtuby reviews.... :)

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46 minutes ago, frangar said:

 Was it just the usual tat show with a few shiny widebeams? 

 

Who knows?

 

And who cares?

 

Frankly I couldn't give a toss, but O concede it clearly appeals to many - I just don't understand why!

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I only attended Crick Show once when most of the display tents were standing in two inches of water. I was helping to staff the NABO stand, but the only display which I found interesting was the Craftmaster stand, where I had an "informative" chat with Phil Speight. I never found the urge to go again, switching my loyalty to the Braunston Historic Boat Rally.

 

 

Edited by David Schweizer
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I went to Crick 4 times from around 2006 -2010. I always found it useful as I was fitting out my boat at the time and found lots of useful ideas in terms of both what I liked and what I didn't. I also found some useful things that weren't stocked at my local chandlers like low profile anodes for the hull sides. I saw them on a display boat rather than a stall and bought some direct from the builder. I've since seen them at a different chandlers but they weren't in general use at the time. 

 

Crick is always good for deals on rope too. 

 

I haven't bothered to go back since then but it's good if you're looking for ideas.

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34 minutes ago, blackrose said:

I went to Crick 4 times from around 2006 -2010. I always found it useful as I was fitting out my boat at the time and found lots of useful ideas in terms of both what I liked and what I didn't. I also found some useful things that weren't stocked at my local chandlers like low profile anodes for the hull sides. I saw them on a display boat rather than a stall and bought some direct from the builder. I've since seen them at a different chandlers but they weren't in general use at the time. 

 

Crick is always good for deals on rope too. 

 

I haven't bothered to go back since then but it's good if you're looking for ideas.

 

We went around that time too and found it useful to get ideas about layouts and stern types when we were looking for a boat to buy.

 

I remember the food being ridiculously overpriced but the times we went there was a good friendly atmosphere which we enjoyed. Once we bought our boat we didn't feel any real need to return.

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Several people have hit the nail on the head, It is really just a big trade show, with little to attract experienced boaters who already have a boat.  We already had our boat by the time that we went, and had ready access to all the materials etc. that I needed for a re-fit, so Crick was of little interest to us. Braunston, however, always has something different and the chance to meet up with old friends.

 

 

Edited by David Schweizer
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We went for the full three days, the first time that we haven’t done a single day visit.
 

On the one hand, it meant that we had more time to just bimble around, giving the stands a quick look and then going back for a more detailed look some time later. On the other, there seemed to be fewer boat related stands and those that were there seemed to be displaying a much reduced range of items. By example, the Midland Chandlers tent had ample space to walk around, Kings Lock Chandlery didn’t have much more than Webasto, fire pits and Hemel blacking.

 

About to the only interesting stand was one which was trying to drum up interest in hydrogen fuel for generating domestic electricity, and was displaying a unit to hold a couple of 13kg sized cylinders. It seems that this is intended to be roof-mounted, as hydrogen is lighter than air, and they don’t seem to have much research on whether / how much of an inconvenience this might be when the boater approached a low bridge. It was suggested that they were speaking to large marina / holiday hire groups, ABC being name mentioned, but that it was very much a chicken and egg situation.

 

Evening music was okay, the Queen cover band possibly being the worst of the lot, but there was plenty of very pleasant beer!

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From MJG, "I remember the food being ridiculously overpriced but the times we went there was a good friendly atmosphere which we enjoyed. Once we bought our boat we didn't feel any real need to return."

 

As of 2023: Hot dog £8.00, cup of coffee £6.00!

 

Glad I didn't go.

Edited by Ray T
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8 minutes ago, Ray T said:

From MJG, "I remember the food being ridiculously overpriced but the times we went there was a good friendly atmosphere which we enjoyed. Once we bought our boat we didn't feel any real need to return."

 

As of 2023: Hot dog £8.00, cup of coffee £6.00!

 

Glad I didn't go.

 

Just shocking.

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24 minutes ago, Ray T said:

As of 2023: Hot dog £8.00, cup of coffee £6.00!

 

C just asked who organises that, when I replied she said: *********#######*******

Let's just say she is not impressed.

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19 minutes ago, Ray T said:

Hot dog £8.00, cup of coffee £6.00!

 

Glad I didn't go.

Just to add £13 for 2 pasties, £3.50 for a ice cream and if beer is your thing £5.50 a pint.


 

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Electric boating, seemed to be the big thing this year.

Plenty of electric motors and controllers on show, both installed and on show.

8 hours of electric cruising needs 2-3 hours on diesel generator to charge lithium batteries.

One stall seemed to say that electric cruising could be done solely by solar panels, but you would need enough, 1575 W with a 10kw motor, in a 50-60 foot boat, holding 19.2KWh battery.  They did admit this would not work in winter, but then who winter cruises.

 

Bod

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31 minutes ago, matty40s said:

Did anybody see the absolutely shocking welding on the show winning Viking widebeam.

Didn't realise it was a Viking shell, from the pictures on FB thought it was Collingwood. Also see that it was built on spec and is now for sale at £225000.

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23 minutes ago, Bod said:

Electric boating, seemed to be the big thing this year.

Plenty of electric motors and controllers on show, both installed and on show.

8 hours of electric cruising needs 2-3 hours on diesel generator to charge lithium batteries.

One stall seemed to say that electric cruising could be done solely by solar panels, but you would need enough, 1575 W with a 10kw motor, in a 50-60 foot boat, holding 19.2KWh battery.  They did admit this would not work in winter, but then who winter cruises.

 

Bod

 

I think I can guess which stall that was, and if so their numbers don't add up, just like they didn't when one of their guys left the forum in a huff when challenged about them a couple of years ago...

 

A realistic power audit for an electric narrowboat for a typical day of normal-speed cruising (including moored boats and locks) comes out around 14kWh for propulsion -- this is not just calculation but is backed up by real tests on multiple boats (e.g. the Ortomarine trial and others). The biggest solar array you can get on a narrowboat will yield about 7kWh/day on average in summer, which is half a day's cruising -- to fill in the gap you need to run a generator for about an hour a day on average (or two hours every other day, or three hours every 3 days if you have a big enough battery bank).

 

Note that this ignores domestic use, like induction hob/electric oven/toaster/microwave/fridge/freezer/washer, which such boats are inevitably fitted with, which is typically another couple of kWh/day. And then the typical static power drain for the inverter and things like MPPTs/router is another couple of kWh/day -- so now we're up to maybe 18kWh/day. Yes I've looked into this in detail, while not wearing rose-tinted glasses... 😉

 

Of course if you go slower than most diesel boats then you use less power because this goes up as the cube of speed, but most people (except "dawdlers" -- see other thread) don't want to travel at "passing moored boats" speed on the open canal. Or if you only travel a few hours per day -- or all day every few days -- then solar alone might keep up in summer (but don't forget the domestic power).

 

But pretending that you can use an electric narrowboat and cruise like you can on a diesel boat and only need solar in summer is being economical with the truth, to say the least... 😞

Edited by IanD
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1 hour ago, IanD said:

 

I think I can guess which stall that was, and if so their numbers don't add up, just like they didn't when one of their guys left the forum in a huff when challenged about them a couple of years ago...

 

A realistic power audit for an electric narrowboat for a typical day of normal-speed cruising (including moored boats and locks) comes out around 14kWh for propulsion -- this is not just calculation but is backed up by real tests on multiple boats (e.g. the Ortomarine trial and others). The biggest solar array you can get on a narrowboat will yield about 7kWh/day on average in summer, which is half a day's cruising -- to fill in the gap you need to run a generator for about an hour a day on average (or two hours every other day, or three hours every 3 days if you have a big enough battery bank).

 

Note that this ignores domestic use, like induction hob/electric oven/toaster/microwave/fridge/freezer/washer, which such boats are inevitably fitted with, which is typically another couple of kWh/day. And then the typical static power drain for the inverter and things like MPPTs/router is another couple of kWh/day -- so now we're up to maybe 18kWh/day. Yes I've looked into this in detail, while not wearing rose-tinted glasses... 😉

 

Of course if you go slower than most diesel boats then you use less power because this goes up as the cube of speed, but most people (except "dawdlers" -- see other thread) don't want to travel at "passing moored boats" speed on the open canal. Or if you only travel a few hours per day -- or all day every few days -- then solar alone might keep up in summer (but don't forget the domestic power).

 

But pretending that you can use an electric narrowboat and cruise like you can on a diesel boat and only need solar in summer is being economical with the truth, to say the least... 😞

And then there are rivers......

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1 hour ago, IanD said:

 

Note that this ignores domestic use, like induction hob/electric oven/toaster/microwave/fridge/freezer/washer, which such boats are inevitably fitted with, which is typically another couple of kWh/day. And then the typical static power drain for the inverter and things like MPPTs/router is another couple of kWh/day -- so now we're up to maybe 18kWh/day.

And what about water heating and the space heating for those chilly days in the boating 'season'?

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19 minutes ago, pearley said:

And then there are rivers......

Yes there are, where you need *much* more power going upstream...

 

11 minutes ago, David Mack said:

And what about water heating and the space heating for those chilly days in the boating 'season'?

I deliberately didn't mention that, because it makes the numbers look even worse...

 

Water heating can easily be done by having the generator connected to a calorifier heating coil -- if you have a high-yield coil (which is not standard, but is what I'm doing) then that 1 hour per day of generator running will also give all the hot water needed. Or if you're not moving there should be enough spare solar power to provide this via an immersion heater.

 

If you need boat heating -- not in summer, obviously -- and you haven't got spare solar power then you also need a heating system, and a diesel boiler is the usual way of doing this since you already need a diesel tank for the generator. Definitely not solar either... 😉

 

The numbers for "solar-only" just don't add up, except for the case of not much cruising, slowly, in summer. For anything else -- longer cruising days, several days in a row, "normal" speed cruising, rivers, autumn/winter -- there just isn't enough energy available from solar, and a generator is needed -- plus some other heating method when it gets colder. And in winter solar won't provide enough power even if you never move at all on an "all-electric" boat.

Edited by IanD
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I like Jame's you tube vids.

 

Seems like a genuine guy and his boat (a Springer) 'Sloe Patrol' is just great.

 

His review of the shiny Crick boats is worth a watch.

 

 

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6 hours ago, Bod said:

Electric boating, seemed to be the big thing this year.

Plenty of electric motors and controllers on show, both installed and on show.

8 hours of electric cruising needs 2-3 hours on diesel generator to charge lithium batteries.

One stall seemed to say that electric cruising could be done solely by solar panels, but you would need enough, 1575 W with a 10kw motor, in a 50-60 foot boat, holding 19.2KWh battery.  They did admit this would not work in winter, but then who winter cruises.

 

Bod

 

 

Proper boaters, obviously.

 

No-one else. 

 

 

 

 

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