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grahame r

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Everything posted by grahame r

  1. I thnk you'll find that your generator will have to earn its keep a lot more than you expect.
  2. Why not divert your wee into the big holding tank? With no flushing water it will take ages to fill and a pump out every few months is all that is needed.
  3. Have you asked your wife's opinion on this? My wife also has mobility problems and is a nervous steerer. Ten years ago when her mobility was better and she could operate the locks and we had a wide beam we found that a bow thruster allowed me to position the front of the boat precisely enough for her to able to get ashore safely. Now that we have a 60ft narrow boat she is happy to steer through the locks having the security of the bow thruster available if needed, especially if there are bypass wires. The "learn to steer properly" argument is fine for the macho boater but in the real world of people wanting to boat into their senior years a bow thruster can make all the difference
  4. If the canal is wide enough don't be afraid to ask to moor alongside, most people are very accommodating and may even swap to the outside to allow your father easier access ashore.
  5. Two good suggestions, I'll be in Gloucester Docks next week and will also look into the West Epoxy System.
  6. Ahoy, I think Ron is more suited to the domestic market. Hope you're surviving lockdown, don't suppose it affects you any more than it does us!
  7. Whilst our boat is of steel construction we have a lot of exterior wood which is currently in good condition and I'd like to keep it that way. Can anyone recommend a good varnisher? This seems to be a bit of a black art so I'm looking for an experienced practitioner. We are based on the Gloucester and Sharpness but being retired would be happy to travel assuming the Government will allow it. Thanks in advance.
  8. Thank you all for your enthusiasm in answering my question. Tippiness is probably a good synonym for my understanding of "tenderness" When we first launched our boat we needed about a tonne of ballast to get her sitting correctly in the water. All of the ballast was required at the front. We are in the happy position of having an 8 foot front cockpit with easy access to the baseplate over the full width. The original ballast used was of a low density and currently covers the whole of the base plate also taking up a lot of space in the side lockers. I intend to replace the low density ballast with pig iron ingots and retrieve our much needed locker space. Having looked at all of your arguments I intend to try ballasting at the sides, leaving the centre of the base plate unballasted. It is not a big job to move it if it makes the tenderness worse. We appreciate that narrow boats are tender compared to our previous boat (10 foot widwbeam) I am just hoping to make the best compromise I can. Thanks again.
  9. Would a boat be more stable (less tender) with ballast postioned primarily around the perimeter or with the ballast positioned close to the centre? Assuming the boat is already level side to side (no list) and acceptably head up in the water. Thanks in advance. Grahame
  10. Tats, is this an end of garden mooring? your garden? are you the land (and tree) owner?
  11. Are you planning on living on the canal side (constantly cruising) or in a marina? If this is your first boat then a marina for a few months might be worthwhile while you get the hang of power supply etc. If in a marina, simply plug in the landline into the bollard and the Victron will look after your batteries. If you are constantly cruising then running the engine regularly will also charge the batteries directly fro the alternator(s), but insufficiently unless you are cruising 5+ hours a day. Additional charging can be by simply running the engine whilst tied up but charging this way will never get the bateries back up to 100% which is what you are aiming to do. Attaching a generator to the Victron will make a much better fist of charging to 100% but you really do need a good battery monitoring system to keep you informed of the state of charge, Everyone has a view as to the best Battery Monitoring System but hopefully I won't start a riot by saying that a "Smartgauge" (reasonably priced and easy to install) will give you a good idea of when the batteries need charging and a monitor to tell you the charging current and therefore when the batteries are approaching 100%, as described by Alan de Enfield, post 3, shouid suffice. Petrol generators have to be treated with respect. Apart from sizing, as descibed by BEngo in post 2, they are potentially very antisocial if not properly silenced and dangerous, don't even think of putting one in the engine room and remember that all engines, if not being used for propulsion, are banned between 8pm and 8am. Sorry crossed with AdE's reply, same message different words! I'll butt out!
  12. On rivers where a by weir is flowing, leaving exit gates open (upper or lower) at all times of year seems to me to be a good idea. It's certainly common practice on the Lea and Stort and advised on the Avon.
  13. This post cannot be displayed because it is in a forum which requires at least 10 posts to view.
  14. You You seem to be becoming obsessed with smelly feet lately. Perhaps there's a new tenant on April Island who has become a frequent visitor who suffers from this afflication? Our days of enjoying Waitrose bargains and putting the world to rights most evenings are long gone so I think it's probably not me. We had a reverse layout cruiser stern widebeam which was very convenient, now have a standard layout narowboat which is also perfect and Sue now often stays in the saloon whilst cruising, we almost always use the rear door, so I'd agree with the majority of contributors that widebeam reverse layout and narrow standard layout seems to work.
  15. I think the word "continuous" gives the clue that he was referring to the central 16 locks at Caen Hill. The presenter is Dan Jones, not Dan Snow who would probably have done a bit more research and been more precise in his assertions. Overall we enjoyed it.
  16. In your original post you mention Spencer, is that Spencer of Spencer and Victoria fame at the Boatyard? If so, he know's everything about everything and certainly has the diagnostic software to tell you if the unit is faulty and the experience to bleed the system properly. Enjoyable as it is to pontificate on this problem, winter is coming!
  17. This is the best advice in this thread. Unless you have a lot of narrow boating experience, you are really not qualified to specify your ideal boat and no one else will ever be qualified to specify YOUR ideal boat. A couple of years living aboard won't make you an expert but at least you will have an appreciation of the essentials. If you are thinking of a new build then £100,000 puts you in the sensible/economy class, another couple of year's savings may allow you to build your kitty to afford the extras which you may currently consider to be the essentials.
  18. I didn't say I wanted to re-calibrate it, I had read MtBs previous comments and checked my Smartgauge which was reading about 0.3V low. I contacted Smartgauge and they replaced it without quibble, the replacement being correct. I am, however, curious to know if there are any secret ways of affecting the SG readings as claimed by MtB and others, just a naturally curious mind.
  19. Let's hope there's a Julian Assange out there who is willing to spill the beans.
  20. How does one go about re-calibrating a Smart Gauge?
  21. I'd agree that Peukert Factor is not relevant to Consumed Ah however changing the Peukert factor has an immediate effect on the SoC reading. My BMV is currently showing an SoC of 90% ( PF set at 1.25) changing the PF to 1.1 changes the SoC reading to 82% and changing it to 1.4 changes the SoC to 95%. This seems counter intuitive as me sketchy understanding of Peukert Factor is that the higher the factor the greater the discharge at higher loads, a perfect battery having a PF of 1, I'd therefore expect that a higher PF would show a lower SoC. The time Remaining is infinite as the solar is ensuring a positive charge. Do we have any mathematical/physics geniuses who can explain this in English?
  22. Surely Castle Marinas' income expands.
  23. Yes, I have the panels on the port side going through one Voltage Regulator and those on the starboard going through another. The theory being that with the curve of the roof there will normally be a difference between the two and if going through one Voltage Regulator the whole system will be pulled down.
  24. Is the Aux LNB actually connected to twin LNBs on the Vuqube or is it there for a future upgrade? If you have a twin LNB equipped dish then just connect the 2 LNB leads to the 2 inputs on the Humax and you can record one channel whilst watching another, Make sure you buy a large recording capacity Humax box as the recordings build up quite quickly and also that you need the dish operating for timed recordings. Sounds obvious but ........
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