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Running engines


Peter Thornton

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We’re moored by Blake’s Mere - near Ellesmere, one of the beauty spots on the canal.

 

The boat next to us ran its engine for a hour or so this morning, We then ran ours for a while.

 

The boat the other side of us ran theirs this afternoon and this evening the next one along had their 2 hours.

 

I know it’s never going to happen, but wouldn’t it be wonderful if we all charged our batteries at the same time?

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1 minute ago, Peter Thornton said:

We’re moored by Blake’s Mere - near Ellesmere, one of the beauty spots on the canal.

 

The boat next to us ran its engine for a hour or so this morning, We then ran ours for a while.

 

The boat the other side of us ran theirs this afternoon and this evening the next one along had their 2 hours.

 

I know it’s never going to happen, but wouldn’t it be wonderful if we all charged our batteries at the same time?

Yes I’ve often thought that. But it’s never going to happen! 

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1 minute ago, Peter Thornton said:

The clue is that we are at particularity nice spot, where boaters like to stay a few days ......

Ah, I see - I always sail early from those because there always seems to be folk running their engines... :D

 

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13 minutes ago, Peter Thornton said:

We’re moored by Blake’s Mere - near Ellesmere, one of the beauty spots on the canal.

 

The boat next to us ran its engine for a hour or so this morning, We then ran ours for a while.

 

The boat the other side of us ran theirs this afternoon and this evening the next one along had their 2 hours.

 

I know it’s never going to happen, but wouldn’t it be wonderful if we all charged our batteries at the same time?

 

You could always try talking to the other people and organising such a thing. You never know!

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Used to be one of my favourite spots, much as Tixall was.  I don't bother any more as the noise drives me mad.  Never understood why anyone would want to moor up somewhere for the peace and quiet and then spend most of the day listening to their engine, very often pumping fumes into someone else's living space.

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5 minutes ago, Alan de Enfield said:

Pretty pointless is you regularly spend days at a time at the 'Meres'- its almost a 'green tunnel' of trees along there.

True and the last time we were there it was raining stair rods and the towpath was a quagmire some beauty spot.   

 

I just thought the boat name was nicely ironic, I do like an ironic name.  There's a blogger on the net who has a boat called "No Problem" now that has to be the pinnacle of irony.  

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Just imagine how dreadful it must be for the poor fishermen on the canal bankside who've found a nice, quiet and peaceful spot to while away the hours and every so often a noisy canalboat comes past to destroy the peace, you think you have a problem?:unsure:

 

If we've going to complain about each other, wait until the bankside residents start complaining about your smoking chimney's. I have to say I'm passively indifferent to other people running their engines, if it were to annoy me, my boat can be moved:rolleyes:

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most times engines are running for a reason .now one runs them just for the sake of it do they ,,,if so then my thoughts on it have been wrong for years the rules on running your engine is there .but to be honest i have never took much notice of that one if i am not upsetting any one and i am in the middle of nowhere .i have also gone and explained to the boats around me that i need to run it. most are fine one or two said dont forget 8 is the shut of time 

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2 hours ago, Peter Thornton said:

We’re moored by Blake’s Mere - near Ellesmere, one of the beauty spots on the canal.

 

The boat next to us ran its engine for a hour or so this morning, We then ran ours for a while.

 

The boat the other side of us ran theirs this afternoon and this evening the next one along had their 2 hours.

 

I know it’s never going to happen, but wouldn’t it be wonderful if we all charged our batteries at the same time?

Just out of curiosity, when you heard the other engines being run, why didn't you run yours at the same time? If everybody did the same you'd achieve your ideal result.

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1 hour ago, Wanderer Vagabond said:

Just out of curiosity, when you heard the other engines being run, why didn't you run yours at the same time? If everybody did the same you'd achieve your ideal result.

 

Engines running whist moored drives me nuts too. I NEVER need to run my engine when moored.

 

Sometimes it seems to me that some boaters just enjoy running their engines for no reason at all. Worst of all is when I find a nice quiet remote place to moor then at 6pm some inconsiderate boater arrives and moors right next to me and leaves their engine running for two hours after stopping. What's all that about then?!?!

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The most ridiculous thing to all this is 1 horsepower is 740 electrical watts. Thats 53 amps charging your 12v battery. Running a 30 odd horsepower engine at only half a horsepower is madness. Why cant someone invent a simple diesel to 12v electricity machine, they would be a millionaire overnight.

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5 minutes ago, rogeriko said:

The most ridiculous thing to all this is 1 horsepower is 740 electrical watts. Thats 53 amps charging your 12v battery. Running a 30 odd horsepower engine at only half a horsepower is madness. Why cant someone invent a simple diesel to 12v electricity machine, they would be a millionaire overnight.

 

I have one of those, which is why I never need to run my engine when moored. 

 

 

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2 hours ago, Mike the Boilerman said:

 

Engines running whist moored drives me nuts too. I NEVER need to run my engine when moored.

 

Sometimes it seems to me that some boaters just enjoy running their engines for no reason at all. Worst of all is when I find a nice quiet remote place to moor then at 6pm some inconsiderate boater arrives and moors right next to me and leaves their engine running for two hours after stopping. What's all that about then?!?!

I think that some boats use a 240v generator and probably use it to power a washing machine? That’s the only real explanation I can think of.

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4 hours ago, Peter Thornton said:

I think that some boats use a 240v generator and probably use it to power a washing machine? That’s the only real explanation I can think of.

And at mealtimes the microwave & cooker, which is why they kick off in an otherwise peaceful evening. Then to power the DVD player & 42" TV... 

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7 hours ago, Mike the Boilerman said:

 

Engines running whist moored drives me nuts too. I NEVER need to run my engine when moored.

 

 

I ALMOST NEVER need to run my engine when moored and I hate doing it on the rare occasion I do feel I need to. It seems like a waste of fuel and as much as it might inconvenience other boaters it inconveniences me even more as it sounds and feels a lot worse inside the boat than outside.  If I feel the need to run the engine, probably due to a day of little or no cruising and a poor day for solar, I will normally cruise for a couple of hours even if it's raining.

 

Last night was our 2nd of two nights at Castle Quay, Banbury and because the voltage was down to 12.3 by late afternoon, due to almost total absence of solar yesterday, I did feel the need. I considered changing plans and cruising an hour or two in the direction of Cropredy but decided not to because...

 

1. Until quite late in the day the weather was crap and,

 

2. If we had done that I would have had a very short day of cruising today, wanting to stop in Cropredy tonight, and thought I would probably end up having to run it tonight instead as the forecast for today wasn't offering much in the way of solar either (though hopefully better than Sunday).

 

So on went the engine for an hour from 6pm to 7pm and this morning the voltage is still 12.3 so I'm glad I did, albeit I hated doing it. But at least I wasn't alone, the boat opposite, and possibly others too, was running its engine at the time I started.

 

 

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2 minutes ago, Arthur Marshall said:

And at mealtimes the microwave & cooker, which is why they kick off in an otherwise peaceful evening. Then to power the DVD player & 42" TV... 

 

Not in my case. I leave the microwave in the boot of the car (only use it when we're in the marina) and cooking is gas. We also opted not to use the 24" TV and DVD player last night to save a few AHs. The batteries were only needed to power a coup!e of LED lights, the water pump and, most importantly, the 12v fridge. Don't want my sausages from https://thepigplace.co.uk going off!     

 

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6 minutes ago, Lily Rose said:

 

I ALMOST NEVER need to run my engine when moored and I hate doing it on the rare occasion I do feel I need to. It seems like a waste of fuel and as much as it might inconvenience other boaters it inconveniences me even more as it sounds and feels a lot worse inside the boat than outside.  If I feel the need to run the engine, probably due to a day of little or no cruising and a poor day for solar, I will normally cruise for a couple of hours even if it's raining.

 

Last night was our 2nd of two nights at Castle Quay, Banbury and because the voltage was down to 12.3 by late afternoon, due to almost total absence of solar yesterday, I did feel the need. I considered changing plans and cruising an hour or two in the direction of Cropredy but decided not to because...

 

1. Until quite late in the day the weather was crap and,

 

2. If we had done that I would have had a very short day of cruising today, wanting to stop in Cropredy tonight, and thought I would probably end up having to run it tonight instead as the forecast for today wasn't offering much in the way of solar either (though hopefully better than Sunday).

 

So on went the engine for an hour from 6pm to 7pm and this morning the voltage is still 12.3 so I'm glad I did, albeit I hated doing it. But at least I wasn't alone, the boat opposite, and possibly others too, was running its engine at the time I started.

 

 

 

 

Actually I had my fingers crossed behind my back when I said I NEVER run the engine when moored up. This only applied to my liveaboard as I have the Whispergen for battery charging when solar is off the menu. On the other boats I have to do the same as you! All my hot water is from the Morco water heaters so that's another reason I don't need to run the engine when other boaters do. 

 

How long are you staying in Cropredy? I'm not there this weekend but might visit during the week and could buy you a pint.

 

 

 

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2 minutes ago, dogless said:

There is no need to feel guilty.

Running engines to heat water and charge batteries is normal, and sometimes we don't want to move.

Worse things happen.

Our engines will sound much better than my banjo practice, traffic and train noise.

Rog

 

You haven't heard me playing my violin yet. Next time I'm moored near you and you startup your engine, I'll start my violin practice. That'll learn ya!!

 

But more seriously, I find an engine droning for possibly hours on end about equally as disturbing as close motorway noise. Train noise is intermittent and I actually quite like it. Musical instrument practice is fine too. If someone fires up an engine nearby, I'll untie and cruise off especially if its a noisy one. Boat engine noise varies a LOT.  

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