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It was common once to see (and hear) pairs of boats coming up and down the Marsworth Flight. The Bollinder's single hot bulb engines in the early motor boats needed to be reversed to give any braking effort. Since sometimes the engine would go out on the change, especially when running cold in locks, it was a wiser choice to strap the boats in. Often even boats with gearboxes would use this method as it's quicker, and gets the steerer on the side of the lock where they need to be.

You do not have to have sympathy for those having to move; you can be as triumphantly vitriolic as you like about it for so long as the removal is according to law. As I mentioned previously, I have personally done as much myself on occasion; I anticipate having to do so again. My issue is with authorities acting on powers they do not have, and succeeding because the County Court judges cannot see past the assumed probity of the authority, while the general public applaud for so long as it works in their favour. Lawful solutions to problems can be found, where there is respect for the law and the will to implement it. Richmond showed how it could be done; the EA is no stranger to even stronger legitimate measures. Those who cheer the short-cutting of the law are very short sighted.

The charger only position comes into its own when leaving the boat unattended on shoreline with, say, an oil filled rad set up to provide a bit of heat on cold nights, on a frost setting, maybe. If the shoreline fails, on normal setting the inverter will power the AC main from the batteries, running them down to, say, 10.5V if the rad is on, not at all good. Similarly if you are running a washing machine on the shoreline, set to charger only in case the supply fails.

Such targets are a large part of the problem that I am seeing, viewing that from a perspective differing from most. Setting aside all dispute over whether he serves a need, or does so safely, or artistically, or even lawfully, there is no question but that his operation has been generating ‘bad press’ from both landlubbers and boaters, not helped by the general appearance of his creations. It is this fact that leads to the popular reaction on what are then seen to be desirable outcomes – that it really does not matter so much HOW it was accomplished, the only important thing is that it was. When the popular reaction is that the end justifies the means, the authority’s choice of target [and there are very many more untouched ones out there] can be recognised as very astute. In the meantime, while many congratulate the successful use of any tactic against a deemed undesirable, it tends to be overlooked that the same tactic can then be successfully used in areas you would not wish it be. We have a system of government that relies on the rule of law; when that get shrugged aside we will not continue to live in the same social environment we currently enjoy.

just signed up for this rolling 30day contract http://shop.ee.co.uk/cart?discounts=AWDATASIM32&WT.mc_id=ON_MEC_A_AffWin_HotUKDeals&WT.tsrc=Affiliate#voucher_link Cheers Mark

Its about that time of year. Just a friendly reminder for all of us and as we seem to have several threads running from new boaters at the moment to advise them STRONGLY to buy a couple of detectors/alarms. They are cheap, they may well save your life. And check ya batteries. Tim

Probably overshadowed by international news, but it is worth noting the most recent CCJ yesterday, in the EA’s fight against Alistair Trotman. Some background can be read on this Local website: - http://www.friendsofhurstpark.org.uk/UnauthMooring.html Now I appreciate that there will be many boaters who will applaud the result, but there are very worrying overtones here. The press release sent to the Richmond Society last night read: NO LONG-TERM UNAUTHORISED MOORING ALLOWED ON THAMES A landmark judgement today (8 November 2016) at Kingston County Court confirmed that the navigation licence fee payable by boat owners relates only to the right to pass along the River Thames, including anchoring or mooring for a reasonable time to facilitate passage. It gives no right to long term or permanent mooring. Two cases of trespass were brought by the Environment Agency against Alastair Trotman, owner of the so-cal...led “Slumboat” currently moored just downstream of Molesey Lock and three other boats illegally moored upstream of Teddington Lock. In both cases the court granted possession orders to the Environment Agency as owner of the sites in question. This means that Mr Trotman is obliged to move the vessels immediately. In the case of “Slumboat”, this is a barge with no engine and the judge ruled that for reasons of safety officers of the EA escort the defendant while it is removed, given the complexities of tides and currents. The logistics will be negotiated between the EA and Mr Trotman. The original “Slumboat” summons related to trespass on land alongside houses in Hampton Court Crescent and the adjacent Octagon head office. Having been issued with the summons Mr Trotman pulled “Slumboat” downstream on 3 November to the lock entrance area and subsequently through the lock to its present position near the boat hire business. Last weekend he manhandled his supply vessels through the lock also. In court the EA pointed out that this was a move of only some 100 metres and the judge allowed the reference on the possession notice to be altered to the present location. Mr Trotman’s main defence was that the EA is not a freeholder and therefore cannot bring a case of trespass. He argued that public bodies do not have access to common law and only have the statutory powers they are given by the state. This was dismissed by the judge who said that Land Registry documents show the EA to have title absolute over the lands in question and have the same rights of protection from trespass as any other landowner. The defendant also argued that to bring a case of trespass the EA must show that it requires the land back “for its exclusive possession” but again the judge ruled this irrelevant. She also dismissed the argument that the navigation licence gives a long-term right to moor. Mr Trotman asked for leave to appeal the County Court’s judgement but this was refused. He was ordered to pay court costs for each case, amounting to £710 in all, to be paid by 29 November. This is largely hyperbole of course – no CCJ can be a “Landmark Judgment”, as it is of persuasive value only, even amongst peer level courts – but the erosion of a basic principle of protection for the people against authorities created by Statute to govern them, is a worrying trend [if trend it is]. There can be no argument that there is no right under common law to anchor to the bed of a navigable river for any longer than circumstances might dictate as necessary [and the Thames Conservancy Acts specifically limited such rights to what might be deemed “reasonable”.] The legal question raised in the Trotman case is: what powers do the successors to the Thames Conservancy have, to enforce against mooring for longer than reasonable? The EA, in this instance, were not relying on statutory powers, they relied on the common law right of landowners [and there can be no dispute that for a natural person holding the ownership of a riverbed, they are entitled to bring action for trespass if their riverbed is interfered with, beyond what the public right allows.] Leaving aside the questionable esotericism of Mr Trotman’s argument as to the nature of the EA ownership, the point of law of real interest is whether a statutory body can exercise common law rights in the absence of express grant from the Parliament that gave them birth. At this level, thankfully, the judge’s opinion is of little moment to anyone other than Mr Trotman – but if it goes higher up the judicial ladder, and the tenor of the day is for authoritarian enlargement of powers, then that bodes ill for all of us.

Listen. I'm a layman. I explained it in layman's terms. You're all adding bells and whistles. I realise the bottom of the prop has the advantage because it is in water where there is far less turbulence and obstruction and I agree that left handed and right handed props will behave in similar and opposite ways. My propeller is a Crowther and at 17 x 10 prop walk is virtually non existent.

There is a lot of writing about it here https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Propeller_walk

Bolleaux to it: just get all excited, enjoy the handover, have a fantastic day, take in what you can and sort the rest out over the phone later!

Take photos - especially of those valves and items hidden away - photos of things in the OFF position then again in the ON position. "Everybody" has a mobile or a camera nowadays with a movie option. Charge up the batteries and let 'em roll. Even if you're not an ace photographer - the commentary will help. Point 'n shoot.

What cracking 'get out of jail' practical advice which I hope works to get the OP safely to her mooring where she can sort out a proper fix in slower time. Your input has been sorely missed, Nick.

And in my tool kit I have

In order to move the boat, I would try turning on as much load as possible (all interior lights, tunnel light, tv etc) and then start the engine and check the voltage. But if it stays up above 14.6v or so I would stop the engine and get someone out to test and service the alternator.

At least you've got a sort of plan..thats good If someone shows you oil changing make sure you understand cos wots simples to men sometimes isn't so for us women..I went on an engine course but still didn't feel confident to have a go when I had my boat. Don't go stir crazy...you'll be fine

There is of course, the slight, possibility that Mad-Max (or the puppy) didn't wake up during the night when they should have done. Edit for missing lette

It will/should be automatic, when the Victron combi senses 240v ac supply shoreline/generator, it automatically switches the boats 240v ac direct via the shoreline and effectively turns the inverter OFF and turns the charger ON. Leave the switch at the combi ON, the charger only position is almost redundant.

There's a coincidence, I have one in bits on my bench now. You need a regulator part number 8RG2120 which has a warning light terminal.

Just thinking out loud so to speak but is the bed damp or is it wet ? if its just plain wet then there must be a leak from above - window , any hatches in the roof or mushroom vents ? If these are the cause then they ll need sorting out once the cause is identified . Personally id consider this a priority because its affecting your level of comfort and has the potential to affect your health . If a mushroom vent needs sealing then , even if an ugly job is done temporarily , i 'd get onto that asap . If the bed is instead just damp with no signs of water actually dripping into it then it maybe condensation . Theres 4 sets of lungs breathing in and out on a 42 foot boat and when its very cold the natural instinct may be to shut all the windows etc . But , somewhat counter intuitively , this is possibly problematic and ventillation is the key to preventing the interior becoming damp . Maybe im barking up the wrong tree here and others can correct me but if its a leaky fixture above the get it sealed any way possible and if you an ugly temporary fix , tidy it up in the spring or before if the opportunity arises . Otherwise the issue may be ventillation and damp As i say , im just thinking out loud but the damp bed needs to be addressed i think cheers

15% of what? how was that testet? diameter, pitch, BAR, rpm, draft? no normal propeller have just 15% efficiency going astern. thats just bullshit.

That's the nub of the problem. Laws are essentially set up by rich people to protect their property. Any that actually work to the benefit of most of the rest of us have had to be fought long and hard for, and waving them goodbye for a short term or specific gain is likely to be a disaster.

Gland packing is generally either 1/4in or 5/16 square. It is important that you buy the correct one. Measure the diameter of the shaft and the outside diameter of the gland follower and subtract one from the other to find the correct size. You need to dig the old packing out before you re-pack with new packing. Last one I did I used an electric screwdriver and kept picking at it till I could feel hard metal at the bottom of the stuffing box all the way round the circumference of the shaft. If the packing is a little tight to push in give it a little tap with a hammer to thin it out a bit in one plane so it pushes in nicely

It isn't an argument, or opinion, it's fact. The bulk of CRT's funding comes from government. This money is raised through general taxation. Walkers & cyclists may also be boaters. Fact. Walkers & cyclists may be "friends" of CRT. Fact Walkers & cyclists may be volunteers or fund-raisers. Fact. Walkers & cyclists, if that's all they are, cause very little wear & tear to the canals except for towpaths. Boaters, if that's all they are, cause huge amounts of wear & tear to towpaths, locks, bridges, bank edges etc.. You cannot simply divide users of the waterways system into "them & us". All you do is create unnecessary friction.

oh, hasn't this been done to death? Apart from the old cliches about lycra, there's the difficult bit about them actually paying as much as any other non-boater. Given there are apparently so many boaters searching for the ever elusive free lunch (or mooring), why does this hoary old trope keep getting brought up?

Do you need navigation lights? My 'tunnel light' is broken as I realised when trying to turn it on a couple of weeks ago after dusk!

A point no-one has made so far is all boats need stuff fixing all the time. To find a boat with NO FAULTS when carefully examined is virtually impossible even if you buy new. New boat builders expect a 'snagging list' after delivery of a new boat. So it looks to me as though the seller has simply stopped maintaining it properly a year or three ago. Your list contains the stuff that has accumulated to fix the owners have not bothered with. They are probably the reason for sale in the first place! Any my point is, even if you get money off and have it all these things fixed, the boat will present you with a continuing stream of new stuff to fix, as will any other boat you might buy, and looking at the bigger picture, this is exactly the boat you have been looking for. A further point is as has been discussed, the real cost of nearly everything on the list have the potential to vary enormously depending on what is found on proper fault tracing. The engine 'noise' could for example be anything from a loose fan belt to a complete rebuild. The Eber could be anything from flat batteries to needing complete replacement. etc etc. So one or two of these faults will probably be a 'free' fix but a I bet at least one turns out to be a major expense. I think this boat is worth more to you personally than the average buyer off the street due to the specific layout. What price do you put on your time and effort and petrol continuing the hunt for another boat with the same layout, but without these detail faults? I say detail because they ARE all fixable for fairly trivial cost, unlike a rusty hull.

OK, how's about a quick explanation of a typical system like yours in more familiar terms and then look at the immersion heater issue? The Eberspacher heats the domestic hot water by pumping heated water from the central heating circuit through a sealed coil (usually the upper one) inside the hot water tank (or 'calorifier') - the fresh water and the heating circuit water don't mix. There's a similar lower coil heated by the engine coolant when you're running. This means that you get the top half a tank of hot water by running the Eberspacher (upper coil) and a full one from the engine (lower coil). The immersion heater is a separate 240v electric heating element, usually supplied by shore supply only. So, you have 3 independent methods of heating water. The immersion heater is probably a 2kw element, so it'll use 2 units of electricity per hour of use for hot water only, but it will have a thermostat so it will cut out when the tank is up to temperature. The Eber will cost about 1/2 litre of diesel per hour to run, but that will also heat your radiators. If it's well set up, it should take an hour or so for half a tank of water and a warm boat. When you're running your engine, you'll probably have a tank of water in less than an hour and this is kind of a freebie if your cruising. The hot water tank tank might appear quite small, but typically it will have a mixer valve on top. This mixes tank water at about a very hot 80c with cold to give you pleasantly hot water at the taps, so essentially your stored hot water goes twice as far. The immersion heater is quite a simple circuit and the element is cheap to replace (as long as it unscrews from the tank ok) so I'd not lose sleep over that not being tested. It sounds like your surveyor has looked at your boat whilst it had no shore supply, so he would have no choice but to do the 'not tested' thing. If any of that is teaching granny to suck eggs, do forgive me, otherwise I hope that clarifies things a bit for you Froggy.

Agreed . You liked the boat enough to go to the expense of a survey . The stove will have had a crack in it when you looked over the boat . Does the hull get a good report from the surveyor ? Does the engine get a good report . If so , i'd say youre doing well so far . These are the fundamentals of your boat & if they get positive feedback from the surveyor thats great. Perhaps list the faults from the survey . Potential faulty alternator Faulty eberspacher ( which model do you have ?) Stove beyond repair Knackered batteries Try to ascertain costs involved in replacement and perhaps offer to split it with the owner . You will at the very least appear a reasonable buyer . Unfortunately , the costs of boat ownership are occasionally high and that has to be accepted . IMHO id say if you get another £500 - £1000 off the purchase price i think you ll have done well . You dont HAVE to replace with another Morso , other less expensive options are available . Replacing an alternator will cost , yes , but not excessively so ( i think - best try to find out which type it is and have a google or ask back on here ) . As for the eber - these things can be hit and miss anyway . Mine didn t work whenni bought my boat but i stripped it down and fixed it and its been fine for 2.5 years now so it needn t cost the earth to fix . If u have D4 or D5 W (or WSC) theres a pukka video on youtube showing how to do it . All in all , i don t think this series of faults represent sufficient reason to walk away as the survey has cost you money which will need to be spent again on the next possible boat . If the hulls good , the engines good ( get it serviced asap ) the layouts good , it " feels " right , then youre winning so why walk Cheers

Froggy, You have already commited to buying this boat and being prepared to pay £33k for it. It is possible that you don't have the choice to pull out without incurring a much higher cost, i.e. your deposit and survey fees, than it will take to correct the items found in the survey. Check the terms of the purchase agreement you presumably have signed. Ultimately I really can't see anything here that fundamentally affects a sale with a value of £33k. Inform the broker of the findings of the survey and ask them to demonstrate that the Eberspacher works. It really is a very simple task. My view of it is that if it is advertised as having a certain piece of kit on board it is up to the seller/broker to ensure it works and is safe at point of sale. Same goes for the stove but batteries are expendable items. Try and get some leverage with the broker but I really can't see any reason why you shouldn't be entering into a discussion from any other point of view other than how to fairly complete the sale. It's certainly what the broker will want. JP