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  1. Boating Perquisites - Version 3,429.5 Alarm, crew summoning ding-dong Anchor with associated chain and rope. Antifreeze Anti-vandal key & spare Baby wipes - loads Basic toolkit Batteries for LED torches & spares Beer Beer money Binoculars for seeing what is happening on the lock ahead Bread knife Boat hook Boat license stickers Bottle opener BSS stuff Bucket Burgee (optional) BW key & spare Camera Carbon Monoxide alarm Cat o' nine tails to keep the crew in order (& some soft rope) Chair Chocolate biscuits - loads Clock (for tunnels) Clothes & footwear & spares (note all may be needed in a single day) For cold weather For wet weather For warm weather For hot weather Cash - loads Coffee Compass Cooking Stove & fuel for it Corkscrew Cup-a-soups Cutters for use in weed hatch Depth/draft gauge Diesel Dipstick for diesel tank Dogs - minimum 2 max ~ 12 (edited) Duvet - 99Tog or better Electric Blanket (edited) Emergencies Action Plan (edited) Fan belt(s) - spare Fenders (for sleeping) - various , to taste Firelighters, box of, & spare First aid kit Floats for keys Fuses, spare Gang plank (for mutinous crew) Gas bottle spanner (must be reverse thread) Gas lighter thingy for lighting stove zip lighter blocks (edited) Glasses (optical) as needed & spares Gloves, nitrile, for dealing with weed hatch material which can be sharp. Grease - stern gland Guides - eg Pearson's, Nicholson's, Waterscape Hammers 2 - sledge/lump (edited) Headlamp & spare bulbs Heating system & fuel for it Horn Iphone or other pale imitation (edited) Jubilee clips, Stainless Steel, spare, in a range of sizes Jump lead - used on your domestic batteries if for some reason your starter battery dies Kart tyres on a few metres of rope as fenders Kettle "Keys" for eg water filler toilet pump out diesel filler Keys to everything & 2nd spare set (with keys individually identifiable) Leatherman/Swiss army knife Lifejackets (primarily for rivers) Lock key longthrow with roller handle & spare Lock key shortthrow with roller handle & spare Loupe & tweezers for splinters Magnet with string already attached. Maps Mirror Mobile phone & charging system Nappy pins 4 Nail scissors (edited) Oil, spare, engine Optimism - large size Padlocks - spare Paper & pencil Pins 4 (2 extra long) Pole, barge (Must be comfortable with spending long periods of time on the roof) Quaker's Porridge Oats - for use as a temporary adhesive/sealant only Radio (for weather forecast) RCR membership or similar Ropes, at least 3 (bow, stern, centre) but 4 (2x centre) makes life easier for some Sacks, plastic, black, for the storage of all manner of thing including Smokeless Fuel & Rubbish Salt (pinch of) for treating expert advice & traditional wisdom Saw Scaffolding pole, 8ft, preferably heavy gauge aluminium Scissors Slippers Sponge Stationary wallet, plastic, to keep paper stuff dry. Sticky Tape - sellotape, duct tape, easy-off tape, double-sided tape. (edited) Sun glasses & spare Sun hat & spare Tea Thermos flask Tiller bar and pin Tin opener Tinned food - loads (for emergency use) Tissue - loads Toilet paper - loads Torches (LED) & spare Towel (for travelling the Galaxy) Two-it (must be round) (edited) Umbrellas - 1 large 1 small (edited) VHF radio & certificate Vinegar for chips and wasp stings Walkie-talkies, pair Water Waterscape Boaters Guide - print Water hose Wellies (aka Wellington Boots) Wire - spare, electrical Wok plus two large wooden spoons Working toilet with more than adequate capacity Zip ties Zip (or other) fire lighter blocks (edited) Note that boats under 12ft in length may have difficulty in passing under low bridges when carrying the full inventory. Note that the alcohol may be for guests use only - or not.
    3 points
  2. 2 points
  3. No ...........the BSS doesn't certify anything about the standard of the boat construction. The BSS involves inspection of fuel and gas systems including air supply for gas appliances, mains electrics , fire extinguishers, fire blanket , prevention of pollution (from engine oil) .....and that's about it.
    2 points
  4. Just back from the boat. When I got there Olive had put her old charger on the battery and there were lights. I showed them both how to remove two failed halogen bulbs and check the supply. The halogens were 10 watts. Judging by the weight the charger was of the transformer type and a row of lamps/leds on the front indicated it might deliver 6 amps. It was showing 1 amps and 13.6 volts (measured) when I got there. I could not measure any significant permanent discharge. After trying a variety of tricks to get none of the modern Halfords "smart" chargers to charge (including my own that looks like Biz's) I gave up. By that time the charger was showing no lamps and 15.2 volts with a measured 0.8 amps. I think this confirms it is a non-smart charger and it is why it will charge but smart ones will not. This morning I looked up the data for Halford's chargers and as expected it was all marketing blurb and no proper technical specs. By extrapolation from the few figures given it appears that the chargers range in outputs from 2 amps to about 4 amps. There were no current markings on the chargers we had. There was also the "new" 115Ah Halfords leisure battery that registered 6.4 volts when I tested it. Again no Halfords charger would even show power when connected to it. On both the connected battery and the "new one" I tried connecting both the old charger plus a Halfords one in the hope that the old charger output would fool the new charger into thinking there was some charge in the batteries and work. All that did was to illuminate the "bulk" charge light on the Halfords charger even without it being plugged into the mains. My conclusion is as follows. The old original battery that I did not bother with but I was told it worked for some time probably had a degree of internal shorting so the charger never sensed that the battery was fully charged so it stayed in bulk charge and covered the loads. When that battery failed (probably shorted a cell) the new battery had far less internal discharge so the so called smart charger did fully charge it. Now, I am far from clear what they do at this point being "consumer, mass market items". They may just illuminate the "fully charged" lamp and turn themselves off or they may drop to a float voltage. I do not think the float voltage is enough to cover the load of the 10W lamps being on until after midnight so the battery gradually fully discharged and sulphated. The speed at which the voltage from the old transformer charger reached 15 volts (about an hour or less) tends to confirm gross loss of capacity. I think this may have been avoided if the "smart" charger was turned off and on again each day to force it back to "bulk" charge. In short I think its a very stupid charger ruining batteries. I have advised that the batteries be taken to a garage and charged with some beefy equipment. This may just knock some sulphate off the plates and reconvert a bit more. I have also advised that if the Halfords charger is to continue in use it MUST be turned off and on again each day but the real answer is a three stage "marine" type charger that will not turn itself off and will switch automatically back to "bulk"/"absorption" when a load goes on or the batteries discharge a bit. Although I do not like single battery boats because of starting issues in this case and with the use made of the electricity I think it will work once the charging and battery condition is sorted.
    2 points
  5. This post cannot be displayed because it is in a forum which requires at least 10 posts to view.
  6. I have no connection to Bimble, except as a very happy customer. The recent 'rash' of new members having electrical / battery problems and seemingly all working to a tight budget (which maybe explains the problems) the following may be of interest : The Bimble sale has 210w panels for sale for just £80. Add a controller and for not much more than a couple of cheapo batteries you have a solar set-up. 1 WEEK SALE 210W - Now from just £80 - for 1 week only. To clear some space in the warehouse we are having a 1 week sale on our 210W all black used panels, making them from just 38p/watt. http://www.bimblesolar.com/210w-allblack-used Or even these : 165W CIS Low Light Panels - From £99 We have stocks of 165W CIS low light panels in at a great price http://www.bimblesolar.com/solar-frontier-165w-cis I have the 170w version and they have produced a noticeable, measurable amount all Winter.
    1 point
  7. 1 point
  8. Yes, sorry' I don't have a baffle on mine....take it out.
    1 point
  9. It sounds like you have a restriction in your flue pipe or Chimney or put the baffle plate back incorrectly. Or you have a flue damper that is shut.
    1 point
  10. That is so wrong......you look to have a 'straight' flue. Get outside and remove the chimney and look down from a safe distance. If you can't see the fire then the flue is blocked. If you don't have a flue brush just put the fire out then use a boat pole to scrape the crud out. Note however that if it is thick crud you risk a chimney fire if it catches so no real alternative but a proper clean asap. I assume you have a chimney and cowl fitted and not left the chimney cap in place ?
    1 point
  11. Another method is too hammer two pins in at right angle to each other and padlock them to the chain, you then can't remove one pin due to the other stopping it.
    1 point
  12. Waeco 12v, about £500, but 6 months after you've bought it, you'll have forgotten what it cost.
    1 point
  13. Me too. I'd get a Waeco. I'm saying no more until I'm convinced this topic isn't a wind up.
    1 point
  14. It's unfortunate that you didn't join a few weeks ago, if so you'd know that there have been several threads recently on battery problems from people who think they've done all they should have done but nevertheless their batteries are goosed after a short time That is all the posters on this thread have been alluding to. Please try not to take it as some sort of personal insult. It isn't! Anyway, regarding your original question, chances are the bollard does have an RCD. However there is also the Boat Safety Scheme to consider. This requires that a shore power connection to a boat does pass through a consumer unit which preferably includes an RCD, in the boat. If you choose to wire an immersion heater direct to the shore bollard without passing through a consumer unit, be aware that you are doing something that is not acceptable to the BSS. IMO it's not particularly dangerous but there is always the, admittedly improbable, issue that if you invalidate your BSS (or your RCD certification) and then something bad happens, you will be right in the poo. My advice is that if you are going to bring mains power onto the boat, do it properly. It is not hard to do it correctly.
    1 point
  15. But I do like the idea of a polished stainless steel Can
    1 point
  16. It would be on demand with a Morco gas instantaneous hot water heater.
    1 point
  17. 6 years ago a wonderful dog came into our lives, Maisie a Golden Cocker Spaniel . She had been a breeding bitch for 8 years and was being retired. We had recently lost our previous dog and felt we could give Maisie a home. Maisie did come with some issues having spent so long in a kennel environment, everything revolved around "circles" due to her having lived in a relatively confined space. Don't get me wrong the breeder only bred first class Cockers and all his dogs are well loved. In the time we had Maisie she became well known as "The Tank" because she could and would run through anything and her dislike of small dogs (she'd had enough of puppies) meant that any small dog who had the temerity to approach her in the wrong way was treated to "a Maisie moment" Having said that she was so laid back she was horizontal and so well behaved. As time passed she became blind and after falling off the quayheading a couple of times we had to take steps to prevent that. She then became rather deaf which did make life a little difficult but we and she coped, she navigated by nose. Finally Maisie developed a mammary tumour which we had removed a couple of months back. All seemed well until Maisie had a stroke on Friday night and suddenly she was unable to cope, her quality of life had gone right down the gurgler, she was unable to walk properly, could not defecate unless I held her back end up and sadly having seen the vet we decided that her time had come. But in true Maisie fashion as the vet delivered the injection she was calmly chomping on a Gravy Bone (she loved any food) RIP Maisie, gonna miss you loads. Phil
    1 point
  18. I was talking to the Coastguard at Yarmouth some time ago about that and he said its a problem because only the coastguard could hear the call when someone close by could be of more use and then when the Lifeboat is launched they have problems talking to the casualty as well. Mainly a problem with boats that go out up to about 3 miles for the afternoon. On most rivers and canals it probably dosent make much difference.
    1 point
  19. This post cannot be displayed because it is in a forum which requires at least 10 posts to view.
  20. Crew sorted although they need some training lock wheeling. Charity for the year sorted (see Link) https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/BCNS2017 This year something different on board Carpe Vinum, I started all grain brewing and blending spirits last year, So I am going to setup a mini bar on a mini boat, hopefully with 5 x 19 litre kegs of all grain beer, each one will be on tap so we will literally be a floating bar. So far the beer list includes the following Blueberry Double IPA (from a brewdog clone recipe) come out nicely around 7.5% Passion Fruit IPA around 6.4% summer single hop ale 3.8 % More to add just deciding what else to brew, I have managed to clone the renowned PUNK IPA from Brewdog, a very hoppy beer so may do that too 5.7% Plus on the spirits side anything from Spiced Rum,Bourbon, Brandy, Flavoured Vodkas, Gin, Schnapps, Sambuca and more. Now obviously I cannot sell this for even charity purposes as Mr Inland Revenue would be after me like a shot. However if anyone is interested I will be handing out samples of the above on the day, if you feel obliged then a donation to the above charity would be appreciated and welcomed. So as our theme is pirates, don't forget to shout out to the grog boat as we pass and good luck to all and lets have a great weekend.
    1 point
  21. Just a bit of safety advise, when you're drilling or grinding always wear eye-protection, many people never do and always get away with it until......... Peter.
    1 point
  22. Technically you don't own a car if bought on HP, or if you have bought under a Personal Lease or Purchase Plan, but you still have to insure the car yourself.
    1 point
  23. Or do you mean "Outrage"?
    1 point
  24. This post cannot be displayed because it is in a forum which requires at least 10 posts to view.
  25. I seem to remember that I had to attend the quarter-sessions (many moons ago) for the consideration of my application to become a licensee - thought maybe entry into the inner-sanctum of the forum hierarchy would be similar.
    1 point
  26. Axe(s). If single handing a nappy pin with a short length of rope with a loop to slip over a dolly in windy days to stop the boat escaping whilst mooring. We also have a bow line like this too.
    1 point
  27. Can't be. He's in Slade prison.
    1 point
  28. I was only pointing out how to award a greeny to posts in general. Dont you lot drag me into your bickering
    1 point
  29. You have mixed the brief bit about my previous set of Vartas, where I didn't go into the charging regime, and the more detailed bit about my current Trojans. The charging regime I describe relates to the Trojans, nominal capacity 450Ah, down to 50% twice a week. Prior to getting the Smartgauge and the Trojans, I have always charged, (mostly), when the voltage has been down to 12.2v, and charged at 14.8v until tail current is less than 2% of capacity - usually 2A to 4A, so I'd guess that's what I did with the Vartas. I'd say that, with the Vartas, I used about 300Ah a week, discharging twice to 50%, so 200 x 50% DoD cycles in 2 years. I think I became a bit more profligate with power when I got the Trojans to dmr: I've been equalising about once a month for a few hours since I got the Trojans in May 2015 so, unless I'm doing it wrong, I've been doing it right my charger has an equalisation mode at 15.5V, so I can't get to 16.2v to smileypete: I don't get to see my batteries bubbling away as they are on the counter, under the cruiser stern. I can see one, which has always bubbled away when I've looked at it. I took the SGs for the first time in a long time a couple of weeks ago, after a charge to low tail current, and a few hours of equalising. The cells were all over the place, varying from 1.236 to 1.262. If they are sulphated, and recoverable, my life is too short to "mess about" any more. If what I do isn't good enough, I've decided to give up trying to lengthen the life of my batteries, and accept my fate of new ones every 2 years. I suspect Mike might be joining me
    1 point
  30. This post cannot be displayed because it is in a forum which requires at least 10 posts to view.
  31. Fit a circuit breaker before and after the controller. Switch off panels then battery; switch on battery before panels. BUT READ THE MANUAL for your MPPT first.
    1 point
  32. Numax are good and 74 squid ish or a bit less delivered from ebay sources. I am thinking of them next. My present cheapos are now nearly 26 months old and still fine although capacity is markedly reduced they are Brit marine from Sawley marina and were 74.50 each and are now 89 each and they are good for the money. I liveaboard 24/7 365 the difference is I charge every day and have solar. Its pointless buying Trojans or big name big brands as they die just as quickly as cheapos if you dont love em to bits and read them a bedtime story and look after them.
    1 point
  33. This post cannot be displayed because it is in a forum which requires at least 10 posts to view.
  34. Don't panic, I believe it is now quoted as the principle reason why almost nobody anywhere now views this site!
    1 point
  35. This post cannot be displayed because it is in a forum which requires at least 10 posts to view.
  36. I'm far from convinced this is the case. You overlook the fact that CRT regularly put forward some proposal or another, often employing third party consultants, and using large amounts of time and money for surveys and open meetings. In several of these I have been involved in the proposal either gets completely ditched, or at least 80% to 90% ditched, with very little of the original intent left in the end result. I actually think there is a great deal of support for the "by area" model of charging, (though I concede if I owned a wide-beam I might not support it!) Do i actually think "by area" charging will be an unwatered down outcome of this review? Probably not, based on past experiences. Do I think it will actively discourage people from filling up canals with boats to which they are ill suited? Almost certainly not. If you can afford £80K to £150K of boat to make your home, you will almost certainly not be deterred by licence costs maybe 50% higher than for an equivalent length narrow boat. Would I support it as a fairer system regardless? Probably, though my mind is far from fixed on the subject, and I will follow any reasoned debate on the topic, before taking a firmer view.
    1 point
  37. I was using "state" of the canal in a very general sense. OK there are clearly a lot of so-called boaters with no respect for the rules but CRT don't help themselves by failing to maintain the canal in such a manner that there is more elbow room, so to speak. The last time we cruised the K&A I concluded that this is a deliberate ploy to squeeze the liveaboards off the canal but if that is the case, it isn't working. The lack of decent overnight moorings combined with the anarchic attitude of many liveaboards combines to make for an unpleasant cruising experience. If all canals were like the K&A I wouldn't have a boat.
    1 point
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