Staffordshire to West London

[AndyV]

If you can get to Tamworth or Lichfield I can run you to the boat.

[ARouseAfloat]

If you can get to Tamworth or Lichfield I can run you to the boat.

That's great, I'll keep in touch over the next couple of days

[Victor Vectis]

Thanks Matt, will certainly bear you in mind. Well, didn't exactly go to plan. Ended up stuck outside the Tame Ferret pub in Hopwas as the battery died and couldn't get her to start Sunday morning. So, back to London for me and I'll buy a new battery and take it up at the weekend. If anyone is passing my boat and reading this please keep an eye on her (blue 35ft cruiser stern just past the pub, under the bridge on the left). Cheers everyone

Too late to help now, but.....

 

If you can get hold of a jump lead connect it between the +ive of your leisure battery/batteries and the +ive of your starter battery.

This should get your engine started, provided the problem is a flat starter battery.

BE CAREFUL THOUGH. Don't touch the jump lead onto anything else that might be connected to the boat's electrics, or the hull, apart from the +ive battery terminals.

[ARouseAfloat]

Too late to help now, but.....

 

If you can get hold of a jump lead connect it between the +ive of your leisure battery/batteries and the +ive of your starter battery.

This should get your engine started, provided the problem is a flat starter battery.

BE CAREFUL THOUGH. Don't touch the jump lead onto anything else that might be connected to the boat's electrics, or the hull, apart from the +ive battery terminals.

Funny you should say that...I walked for about an hour to the local town to try and get some but alas, no shops were open that would have sold some as I had exactly the same idea! No worries, there is no major rush to get it back and I have 2 weeks off over Christmas so I'll take the dog and have a chilled out cruise, locks dependent of course.

[matty40s]

Funny you should say that...I walked for about an hour to the local town to try and get some but alas, no shops were open that would have sold some as I had exactly the same idea! No worries, there is no major rush to get it back and I have 2 weeks off over Christmas so I'll take the dog and have a chilled out cruise, locks dependent of course.

You need to get to Rugby at least before 5th December, there is a railway bridge between Brinklow and Rugby which is being rebuilt and closing the canal and towpath until 20th January.

[Peter X]

Funny you should say that...I walked for about an hour to the local town to try and get some but alas, no shops were open that would have sold some as I had exactly the same idea! No worries, there is no major rush to get it back and I have 2 weeks off over Christmas so I'll take the dog and have a chilled out cruise, locks dependent of course.

Please bear in mind what I said in my earlier post, that you need to get past that closure just north of Rugby by 5th December. [i've just seen that matty40s is writing the same] That can be done from Tamworth in a weekend once you've sorted out the battery problem, then two weeks over Christmas is all the time in the world to reach London. If you want some help with that, I'm looking to go boating then and would fancy coming along for a slow trip down the GU.

 

It should be less eventful than last year when I spent Christmas on Emerald Fox's boat on the Rochdale Canal, surrounded by floodwater.

[ARouseAfloat]

Please bear in mind what I said in my earlier post, that you need to get past that closure just north of Rugby by 5th December. [i've just seen that matty40s is writing the same] That can be done from Tamworth in a weekend once you've sorted out the battery problem, then two weeks over Christmas is all the time in the world to reach London. If you want some help with that, I'm looking to go boating then and would fancy coming along for a slow trip down the GU.

 

 

It should be less eventful than last year when I spent Christmas on Emerald Fox's boat on the Rochdale Canal, surrounded by floodwater.

Cheers for this, I'll aim to get to the boat over the weekend with a new battery and at least check the charging level. Am aware of Rugby and it was my aim to get past there when everything went wrong so will get there all being well by the following weekend. I'll be happy when I get to the GU as while I don't know the top end at least I'm on the home stretch. Happy if you want to come for the trip over Christmas ?

[Peter X]

That's great, I'll pencil the trip into my diary. I know the part from Rugby to Stoke Bruerne well, and I've been down the GU from there to West London once (last month) so we should be fine subject to the batteries and the usual worries (the boat breaking down, unplanned stoppages, freak weather etc.).

[Peter X]

It turns out that the stoppage just north of Rugby is not quite so bad as the winter stoppages summary makes it look, the fine details are here:

https://canalrivertrust.org.uk/notice/7393/bridge-42a-railway

Basically it is closed 5th Dec to 20th Jan, except that it'll be open one hour per day from noon until 1pm to let boats through, except that for 24-28 Dec inclusive it will be closed all the time.

 

What this means for you of course is that if you don't get past there before 5th Dec you still have until 23rd Dec to squeeze past at lunchtime. Please let us know how you get on sorting out the battery problem, and what your starting date and place for the Christmas trip is likely to be. I'm happy to join you somewhere near a station like Tamworth or Atherstone if that suits you better in the light of the above, and you might like to have crew for the 14 locks between Tamworth and Rugby.

[Peter X]

Re-reading the topic a thought occurred to me. I'm only a beginner with engines, but isn't it the case that a failure to start doesn't have to be the battery?

Especially as it appears you had started the engine and done a decent day's boating the day before, perhaps the oil level could be low? Have you checked the dipstick?

[Peter X]

Bump!

ARouseAfloat, how are you getting on? Have you resolved the battery problem, do you still plan to move down the GU over Christmas and if so am I invited as crew and when and where? I sent a PM last week with my phone number but have had no reply, please get in touch.