First trip update/Advice request

[owenk]

Thought I would combine a couple of thoughts.

 

We had a great first trip from Whilton Marina to north of Banbury. 15 locks yesterday and only really came on to rain in the last half hour of the day which is a perfect "ah we are moored I need a whisky" dynamic.

 

Thanks to Nighwatch for some last minute assistance with minor logistics.

 

A few questions though - sorry but here we go:

 

i) Boat went really well - handled nicely much more responsive than recent hire boat experiences. However do NBs tend to have a bias in terms of steerage i.e. if you leave the tiller alone do they invariably go off to one side (only a bit nothing drastic)? Thought it might be to do with trim to a degree - I think we need to counter balance the tanks which are all on one side so one shoulder of the boat tends to drop a little.

 

ii) Past Oakfield in Braunston, but no response to our indecorous noise - probably asleep! Very pretty boat though!

 

iii) Kept fire in overnight, first night!

 

iii) Can anyone suggest who I could consult in the Banbury area on a seemingly non-functioning inverter. Green light on - line in looks OK (well guess it must be or I would get no green light) - checked line in from batteries and line out to consumber board but no joy with AC sockets.

 

iv) Connected with above point, and VERY IMPORTANTLY does anyone know if I can get a 12V charger for an ipod Touch, or the boat will be on the market on Monday (joke)

 

v) Finally had a quite nasty fall off the gunnels wrestling with a gas bottle and the cratch cover - hurt wrist and shin quite badly, however it could have been much worse as gladly everyone else was inside and noone saw, so my dignity was unscathed

 

Seriously, thanks to all who have offerred advice and encouragement we had a great couple of days and are planning to be back on the water as soon as.

Edited December 6, 2009 by owenk

[Chertsey]

Question (i), Yes, it's to do with the rotation of the prop. Someone else will explain it all technically, but I thought someone should post a reply!

[bottle]

Question (i) as Warrior Woman says but sometimes the boat will travel straight it also depends on the depth of water under the boat, it will vary on the canal and speed. When you get a chance try reversing, the bow will go one way or the other. My boat always goes left at the bow, unless I want it to.

 

(ii) Saw you go past, very nicely as well but grandson and daughter had just arrived, so we were a bit busy.

 

(iii) Show off

 

(iii) again, if you have checked the line to the consumer unit and have 230V incoming then inverter is OK, if you do have 230V at the unit have you checked the mcb's the switch should be up, unlike a single light switch. (hope not teaching you to suck eggs)

 

(iv) No idea but probably Maplins mat help

 

(v) ouch!!

[alan_fincher]

Here's the answer I failed to post an hour or so ago when the forum decided it no longer wanted to talk to my computer.....

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

In my view, this depends entirely upon the boat, it's underwater shape, rudder shape, amount of leading edge forward of the rudder post, rudder post angle, etc.

 

Some will just keep going dead straight if you let go of the tiller - some forum members report being able to go inside for a pee,or to put the kettle on, (or evn both!), and to be able to come back to the tiller with no mishaps.

 

However with our current boat, although it handles very sweetly in most cases, releasing your grip on the tiller for just seconds results in the rudder going over, and a dive at the nearest bank.

 

I struggle to even put a coat on whilst steering without some difficulty. Some may say that just means I'm a crap steerer, , but on other boats I have no trouble at all, and the tiller needs far less constant minding.

[Keeping Up]

Some will just keep going dead straight if you let go of the tiller - some forum members report being able to go inside for a pee,or to put the kettle on, (or evn both!), and to be able to come back to the tiller with no mishaps.

Mine will always swing gently to the right if I leave it in gear when I let go of the tiller, unless something else affects it (wind or shallow water for example). But if I throttle back to tickover the swing is only very slight, and if I put it in neutral I have easily enough time to go below and put the kettle on. However after several attempts (and a couple of embarrassing failures) I must report that there isn't enough time to go for a pee unless I slow the boat right down first.

[Nightwatch]

Owen

Glad to hear all went well apart from the 'slip'.

 

On our boat we have an inverter. We have to switch on at the inverter in addition to another knob we have to turn to 'inverter' and this also clicks the other way to allow a shore supply to be connected to the 230/240v side. You may have a similar switch that you haven't as yet located.

 

Martyn

[owenk]

iv) Connected with above point, and VERY IMPORTANTLY does anyone know if I can get a 12V charger for an ipod Touch, or the boat will be on the market on Monday (joke)

 

Bumped this just in case it is an issue for anyone else - got one - £2.88 from an Amazon affiliate supplier delivered within 48 hours.

[John Orentas]

All manner of things effect straight line stability but I have found by experiment that the overwhelming effect is the depth of water on either side of the boat, it will always pull toward the side with the shallowest water.. Very few boats can be relied upon to keep anything like a steady course even for a few seconds without constant intervention..