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Chop! Rising Star

Chop!

Posted
Posted

Hi all,

I am new to boating, I live aboard a 60ft Crusier stern Narrow boat on the River Severn near Worcester. I have done for the last 7 months and have only just started taking trips having had various problems to deal with. My boat keeps overheating and there is always a lot of pressure in the small expansion tank. I have had some tests done on the engine and it doesnt seem to be anything major like the head. I have a 1.8 BMC engine with skin tank any ideas folks - Dave

Welcome Mossyd

 

Have you tried taking the thermostat out? Also check that none of the rubber knuckle type connectors has gone soft or that there are no air leaks on the pipe connections. Good luck, safe and happy boating.

Chop & Glenda

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spamlessuk Gongoozler

spamlessuk

Posted
Posted

Hello all,

 

Definite newbie here just about to embark on the road that will inevitable end with me purchasing a boat.

 

I have spent many happy hours lurking around the local marinas and boat yards compiling lists of boat types and fittings and prices(!) and it’s only a matter of time before I either get arrested or fall in, probably the latter as me and water seem to have a strange affinity.

 

I will apologise in advance for the seemingly endless daft questions I will no doubt be asking in the future.

 

Site looks great and from the humour it looks like I should fit right in as I am also a BIG fan of doughnuts which seems to be the favoured currency around here so that should help.

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Bettie Boo Experienced

Bettie Boo

Posted
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Welcome to the forum Spam,

 

Don't worry about the questions you ask, majority of folks will try their best to point you in the right direction, I know they did with me & others will just share some humor.

 

Daft questions? = Have a look at anything I posted back in October last year to....well pretty much to present.

 

Remember, there are loads of different types of boats, so when asking questions, it's best to give as much detail as possible

 

.....IE looking at a 60ft narrow boat with a 40hp Barrus Shire engine, is the engine big enough as I want to do the tidal Thames at some point?

vs.

 

looking at a narrow boat with a 40hp Burrus engine, is the engine big enough for the boat.

 

Now the first question will result in some reasonable answers as well as a few questions regarding VHF, anchors and such, using the second form of the same question will just result in a load of questions

 

BTW - don't freak out the first time you fill your water tank if you hear 2 or 3 ungodly bangs, apparently this is completely normal if you have a certain type of water tank; or the tap tap tapping you'll hear in the very early morning or late evening; again no cause for alarm, it's just your local geese looking for their breakfast. I've discovered they LOVE rice krispies & corn flakes, it's got to be better for them than bread and it's much cheaper than floating duck food

 

And finally yes, Doughnuts are a great source of currency around here (watch out for Paul though, he hasn't truly grasped the art of sharing yet), but Millionaire's Shortbread comes in a close second :)

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Phil Ambrose Veteran II

Phil Ambrose

Posted
Posted

Spam, welcome aboard. Bettie has offered good advice but forgot to mention that all things Donut should first be referred to me (check out my signature)

Once you have been here a while you will get used to us and get to know us (warts and all)

Phil

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Paul n Julia Gongoozler

Paul n Julia

Posted
Posted

Ok, Bettie Boo, here goes.

 

Hi ALL :)

 

We aren't new to boating, were aren't even in boating yet.

Are we those dreamers who see the ice cream queue on a hot summers day and decide we want to buy an ice cream van!! Forgetting all about those cold rainiy days between September and March when the ice cream sales slump!

NO! We are the dreamers who see a narrow boat chugging (I hope thats an allowable term) quietly up a canal in Wales and think wow! thats the pasttime for us. Then we have a quick look at costs and think ARGH!! We could buy a small house for that!!

 

Anyway Bettie, I just read your post above and thought why not jump straight in. I dont have any questions cos I can't even start to imagine what I should be asking, but I'm guessing I will think of some over the next few months, but in the mean time, i will spend sometime in amongst the posts here and google lots of searches and come up with a definitive yes- lets do it, or No Way !

 

Looking forward to making lots of friends along the way

 

Paul n Julia (yes we are a couple it's not some weird codename :))

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Bettie Boo Experienced

Bettie Boo

Posted
Posted (edited)

Hi Paul n Julia,

 

Welcome to the forum smile.png

 

I'd suggest along with googling, and loads of reading of past threads here, take a walk along a tow path near you, speak to the boaters find out what they feel are the pros & cons (and in some cases costs), but remember a lot of the information you receive is simply that person's circumstances which may not be anywhere near yours. Also, take a few days and go to some brokerage firms and look at all kinds of boats that fit in your budget, from doing this you can decide what size & style boat best suits you both.

 

I spent many happy hours on http://www.apolloduck.co.uk/ when we began our search and research

 

Best of luck to you both

 

ETA - proper spillen of a 4 letter word!

Edited by Bettie Boo
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YamYam Community Regular

YamYam

Posted
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Seconded, lots of humour can often be misconstrued when written down but having a totally different meaning when said as banter in a pub. Hope that makes sense, trying to multi task watching Prime Ministers questions as I type this

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Phil Ambrose Veteran II

Phil Ambrose

Posted
Posted

Seconded, lots of humour can often be misconstrued when written down but having a totally different meaning when said as banter in a pub. Hope that makes sense, trying to multi task watching Prime Ministers questions as I type this

Your choice of TV demonstrates what a fine sense of humour. LOL

Phil

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pads Explorer

pads

Posted
Posted

Nervously typing this,

 

Hello we're new to boating, well narrowboating anyway.

 

My wife and I (both 55 plus) have had enough of the rat race (or was it the rat race has had enough of us) and we have finally bought a boat.

 

Now, following a difficult purchase, we are "almost" ready to hit the water and boy have we got questions!

 

So we're hoping for some words of wisdom to our probably stupid questions and figure you'll all get a laugh in the process too.

 

Paul, Di, and the dawg.

 

 

 

 

 

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Phil Ambrose Veteran II

Phil Ambrose

Posted
Posted

Hiya Paul, Di and dog (we have a few on here) glad you found us, nothing to be nervous about, we don't bite (much)

You will find everything you want here, advice and answers to all your questions because in the membership there's a great depth of knowledge.

You will get what you may think is sarcastic replies but it is only our sense of humour, banter if you like so don't go getting put out.

There is plenty of humour and "in jokes" that you won't get at first but once you get to know us you will chuckle along with us.

Now a question to you, what sort of boaing have you been involved with as you indicated you have had some albeit not NBs.

Phil

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Bettie Boo Experienced

Bettie Boo

Posted
Posted

Hi Paul, Di and dog and welcome to the forum.

 

All of what Phil said ^^^ are wise words. Don't worry about asking questions, most have been asked in one form or another by us novices so the "old experts" have their answers at the ready tongue.png

 

Are you on a Widebeam by any chance? We could use a few more of them around here to even up the difference between skinny and wide ninja.gif

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Phil Ambrose Veteran II

Phil Ambrose

Posted
Posted

Hi Paul, Di and dog,

 

Welcome, Watch out for Phil if you mention "donuts", He (and Paul) seem to have a built in detector system that wakes them up at the sound of anyone posting the word cheers.gif

You rang? Need any help with that paper bag?

Phil

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Bertpadlock Gongoozler

Bertpadlock

Posted
Posted

Hello All

 

My name is Cliff

 

I have just brought my first narrow boat, she is a 62 trad, made by Stoke on Trent boats in 2003.

 

I have sold my house and am going to live on board starting in about Sept.

 

I am looking forward to the lifestyle of a boat as i don't like the bricks and mortar life, and have always loved life by the river, I have hired narrow boats before and loved the time spent on them.

 

Hope to get to know you all and will be taking her out for trips so I may bump (pardon the pun) into some of you on route.

 

I am moored up in Hertfordshire.

 

I do have some questions about life on the canals and will make myself look silly with questions on the other forums.

 

Regards All

 

BP

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