Leaderboard

If a boater considers a towpath to be too dangerous a place for him in 2017 then perhaps boating is not for him/her

Wish all fixes were as quick, easy and cheap as this one! Uncovered the dashboard relays and tried the leg still the same no downwards movement. Swapped the relays over it would then go down but not up. Changed the dodgy relay which by now was getting hot and we now have up and down movement. So a £2.60 relay had us immobile! We have changed them both for good measure.

Certainly sir, anything you want

It has learned to hum, what if it learns to whistle

I have those thoughts often. Because of you, right now I'm thinking a wooden boat wouldn't be so bad...

My experience is completly different. Our first shareboat had a Electrolux (now Dometic) 3 way fridge. Excellent cooling and very economical on gas. Best of all it was silent. Pity they are no longer recommended are suitable for installation in boats (the manufacturer can't tell the difference between a sea going yacht, which can heel over enough to move the flame away from the evaporator, and a canal boat which can't in normal circumstances). The only issue we had in 10 years, was a reduction in effectiveness after about 7 years, caused by the refrigerant crystallising. Much to my surprise the engineer at the boatyard where we were based, took the fridge out of the boat, inverted it and shook it about a bit. Once installed back in the boat it worked perfectly again, and was still working when we sold our share.

Getting hawny over Tawny!!

Ten minutes too many for our liking. Mind you it takes ten minutes just to dig your way to where our batteries are hidden away so it would be a longer process still for us! Not worth the hassle when sealed batteries last us long enough.

But we are not talking about the alternator fan - we are talking about bilge-blowers being used to give additional alternator cooling.

I'm afraid I'll be giving this a miss this year. I can't drive for another 2 weeks yet following surgery so I'm home based for a little while still. No boating either! Dave

Now BE HONEST...what do you mean by POOR maintainance? Even ever having to look at ONCE and put water in a battery is once too often, as a human race we simply dont live long enough for it ever to be a worthwile useage of our limited time. Most people seem to have to pee about with such batteries. I do think as Stegra says that agm batteries may be worth a punt sometime in the future though as prices have come down.. what say you?

Any boat you get lots of useage and enjoyment from is the right boat. There must be thousands of boats all over the country that are the right spec, but never get used.

Have to go against your Granddad on this one, first girl I went out with, love at first talk, still together 19 years later, first motorbike I owned Husqvana 400 cross, 4 years of my youth spent on fields and farms she could take me anywhere, wish I still had her (nothing I ever rode came close to how that bike felt), My first survival knife Marto-Brewer Explorer/Explora Survival Knife (that knife is well known as one of the best ever) almost impossible to get hold of now traded it for a 410 in 1984 :(. My first air rifle a HW77k best air rifle I ever owned still classed as one of the best reliable no matter what. Maybe I was just lucky but none of the above items are rose tinted glass objects, you can look any of them up and people will tell you of how amazing they were, these days I have learnt to appreciate what I have and not be so quick to jump on to the next model.

Flamingo at Cosgrove Lock this afternoon.

I don't usually comment on products or our customer's boats, but as this is the first I've heard of it..... I'm not sure how the "only used half the amount expected" claim arises. We were supplied with a 25ltr container by you and the owner of the other boat after you had both specifically requested that we used the product on your boats - to which I (reluctantly, I admit) agreed on the basis that if you supplied it I would put it on according to the manufacturer's instructions but at your risk. I commented at the time that it was a relatively unknown product, and new to us so I could not in any way make any promises as to its performance or suitability. Prior to application I spoke with the supplier about application and queried the quantity as on average I'd expect to use over 25ltrs of Intertuf on two 60 footers. As per their advertising I was told a little went a long way and they were very specific that we should apply thin coats otherwise it doesn't cure properly; a minimum of two and preferably three, applied by paint pad or roller. The stuff dries very quickly (a major selling point on the supplier's website as I recall) but it was explained to me that if it is put on too thickly it skins over and doesn't cure properly. Fair enough, and we were very careful to follow that advice (including making sure there was no puddling or pooling against strakes or the wear edge, and both boats boats were given ample time (I'm talking days) to dry after three coats had been applied. If I remember correctly the owner of Chyandour was a little unhappy because we were "late" finishing the job as I wouldn't put it back in the water on the day we had hoped for because the temperature had been low over one of the drying days. The first boat we painted was quite pitted (commensurate with its age) and we used just over half the supplied container of paint, so I was concerned at that point that there may not be enough left to do your boat. However, the hullsides of Grace are in excellent condition and very smooth (the Intertuf had done its job well) so it is fair to say that Grace used less than we expected but for that reason alone and it certainly has an adequate film thickness according to the instructions and advice given to us at the time. The stuff is about as runny as water but actually ridiculously easy to put on with a paint pad. I need to talk to a colleague but I think we put an extra coat around the water line on boat boats. Any hard/brittle coating such as Keelblack will quickly be ground off a rubbing strake whereas a soft material like Intertuf will just scuff. This "feature" of Keelblack also concerns me in terms of application over old hull paint (despite what the manufacturer's say) - if the outer skin is rock hard, but the paint behind it is soft (i.e. bitumen) to my mind it's bound to fail when bumped. Think eggshell on a boiled egg..... It's interesting that, presumably without knowing the condition of your hull, the supplier saw fit to suggest we were to blame by not using enough paint. Do you know if he took any thickness measurements? I'd be interested to know when he visited you as I'm unaware of any contact from them since we painted your boats. Is one side still shinier than the other? When we painted yours the weather had gone suddenly from cool to very sunny/warm and the side more in the sun (port side) had dried shiny whereas the north facing side was matt as per Chyandour. I rang the supplier again at that point and queried this and was told they had no idea why it happened, but it was a known cosmetic issue and didn't affect the performance of the product.

NBTA only give out one sticker, for the towpath side.

What's wrong with having a RBOA sticker in the window?? Much more sensible than an IWA one or heaven forbid a NTBA one.....come to think about it you don't see many ACC ones these days........

Liveaboard boats, like houses, need a washing machine. We are lucky in that we have a huge walk through airing cupboard. We keep the engine in there too. These look interesting but I think they are not readily available in the UK yet except from specialist importers https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=small+wall+mounted+washing+machine&client=firefox-b&biw=1280&bih=580&tbm=isch&imgil=U0EGo3v54TrOIM%253A%253BS11Aw8wwazKtnM%253Bhttp%25253A%25252F%25252Fwww.homecrux.com%25252F2012%25252F08%25252F24%25252F592%25252Fmini-is-worlds-first-wall-mounted-washing-machine-that-is-ultra-light-weight.html&source=iu&pf=m&fir=U0EGo3v54TrOIM%253A%252CS11Aw8wwazKtnM%252C_&usg=__-wxb0l0rKUdZdA_NourdjVsxKMM%3D&ved=0ahUKEwibkNmNto7OAhWLCMAKHSWLC9UQyjcIXA&ei=F-yVV9uoEYuRgAallq6oDQ#imgrc=U0EGo3v54TrOIM%3A ................Dave