DandV
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Posts posted by DandV
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Roof mounted centre lines come into their own in boat handling when "coming alongside" which of course is part of mooring alongside, as distinct to mooring at anchor, or mooring to bouy, or to a pole, or two.
But making a "boat fast" that is secured, against drifting away, roof mounted centre lines are inferior to using additional bow and stern lines, or if your boat has provision for it, springs from a gunnel level fastening somewhere near halfway down the length of the boat.
We used a soft shackle on a gunnel fender fastening, sometimes taking the roof centreline through it, to provide a spring.
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5 hours ago, Wanderer Vagabond said:
I'm also very much in the 'push the stern out and reverse off the mooring' camp for the simple expediency that if there is any crap in the canal that is going to wrap itself around your prop it is likely to be closer to the bank than in the middle of the cut. With the centre of the cut also going to be inevitably deeper you are also going to get better thrust when you do engage forward drive.
The general rule being, the more water around the prop and rudder, the better they perform. So getting them out into deeper water first makes a lot of sense in most cases. But wind direction, and current from bypasses and lock emptying all play apart. All very much like leaving a berth on a lumpy water boat, where think about how to do it first, and if others are involved, tell them of the plan.
I got into difficulty once taking a boat off a pontoon with very little room ahead, so getting the stern out first was really the only option.
But the overly enthusiastic crew member told to "let the bowline go" incorrectly assumed this always went with "and push off, the harder the better"
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21 minutes ago, Quite Ignorant said:
Thanks! So how about prop walk? Can you sort of go back and fourth with shifter and spin the boat (in the direction of the prop walk in reverse)? This is what I've usually called "back and fill" turns and can be either really pretty or really, really ugly in my experience in windy marinas.
My experience was that prop walk had near negligible effect when reversing.
The prime effects seemed to be water depth, the less the bottom clearance the more effect the prop had pumping water away, and wind.
As narrowboats normally float bow high, cross winds exert considerable turning moment on the bow downwind.
So back and fill it is, and with the help of an able deckhand, perhaps strategic use of lines.
In deep water, and with minimal wind, the rudder did have some authority once you had sufficient way on.
If you have one, providing steering assistance when going astern, is a legitimate use of a bow thruster.
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6 hours ago, PeterScott said:
This afernoon
River Ouse York
They were more photogenic in their previous red.
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Slithering, spinning, and sucking.
Sounds like some extraordinarily drunk boaters behaviour once ashore.
Not to be condoned.
But welcome to the forum.
Narrowboating is a less strenuous activity for many lumpy water boaters now just desiring less disturbance in the water to go boating on.
But once a real boater, always a real boater, only just requiring the boat, the water to float on, and the desire to keep combining the two.
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3 hours ago, Quite Ignorant said:.. Is much of that going to translate to canal boats?
Just about all.
You are used to handling the momentum of heavy craft. And doing boat maintenance, and stowing things where they are likely to stay in place.
And tieing the boat up securely, taking account of water movement, and fluctuating water levels. And to keeping to the right of oncoming traffic.
At a personal level, experience in moving in sympathy with the boat greatly reduces your chances of falling in.
What I found was;
The absence of a keel, and generally minimal clearance between the bottom of the boat and the real bottom, means canal boats tend to slither along.
This lack of a keel and their high length to width ratio, means turning develops quite high angular momentum, this needs very definite steering inputs.
Also steering is affected by the side clearance to the side of the channel. The "canal effect", especially when passing fine around the outside of a bend.
The propellor pumps the water out from between the bank, thus pulling the stern towards the bank, sometimes regardless of the helm.
Very disconcerting, especially if a boat is coming the other way.
Increasing power to increase rudder just exacerbates the effect!!
Every Saturday afternoon during summer, a considerable number of inexperienced hirers start out on their first canal boating experience.
Best to give them lots of room. But the vast majority return a week later as acceptably competant canal boaters.
It is a lot more relaxing then bumpy water stuff. Even if your boat becomes unmoored it generally can't get much further then the other side of the canal. And waves won't come over the side.
Enjoy.
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I am sure your cat will recover a lot quicker then you will.
Drama? What drama? Now when is my next feed? And then your knee to sit on?
I am delighted that you are both back together. It certainly would have been a harrowing time for you, and probably for your cat as well.
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18 hours ago, rogher said:
I'd expect there to be separate circuits from the two heat sources: One heated by the Eberspacher and the other by the stove.
They could be in the same circuit but that would mean the Eberspacher is heating up the stove as well as the rads.
The stove's circuit should circulate by gravity but the Eberspacher by pump.
If the two are put together you're likely to get an 'interesting' result.
Does it matter if the Eberspacher heated the stove as well as the radiators? The point is to heat the air space in the boat, and as both radiators and stove inhabit this space both will transfer heat to the internal boat space.
The only disadvantage I can see is a more sluggish response.
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On 25/04/2025 at 08:36, magnetman said:
Surely any sensible Boat thief will go around looking for trackers and aerials before doing it.
I think what could be useful here is a simple mooring alarm for example an old button phone with the no.1 speed dial programmed to call your phone.
Contacts under the no.1 pad soldered to two wires which lead to normally open reed switch. This can be stuck to a 2p coin (modern shiny steel version) or a washer then to a window. A strong magnet on a piece of fishing line stuck to outside of window and line fixed to the shore.
There could be be adaptations including perhaps lengthening and combining the reed switch wire with a mooring line.
That way you get a call if the Boat separates from the mooring as the magnet comes off the 2p
/washer which is glued to the reed switch. Reed switch goes from open to closed and activates speed dial. I made one of these but nobody ever nicked the Boat.
ETA it should be a normally closed reed switch!! The magnet opens it then it closes when the magnet departs.
Order a NC reed not an NO type !
A Bizzard design?
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17 minutes ago, Unicorn Stampede said:
Yeah it was two stripped threads for us also! We our lucky in that out propshaft is quite easy to access and so apart from the cold water I was able to hold onto it and slowly shift it back without too much fear of losing it.
Our only other obstacle was ensuring we had got the flange holes enlarged properly. It took a bit of time because we couldn't get the flange off, so had to do it insitu... Not ideal but patience has hopefully paid off.
Re threading was plan B. I must admit though, I found the thought of enlarging the flange holes insitu daunting.
I am pleased, that you found out, though with time, and I suspect a sore back, it was still achievable. Not sure that my battery drill at the time would have been up to the task.
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We had the same problem. Two stripped threads, and we were on the remote Chesterfield canal with no boatyards and a tide way journey ahead.
From my youth I remembered that stripped threads in alloy were intrinsically linked with dyo motor cycle servicing, and probably nothing had changed.
Found out how to remove the coupling. The biggest problem was moving the propshaft back in really cold canal water. And then took the coupling into a nearby motor cycle repairer in Worksop. Picked the coupling next morning with four steel threadserts installed at £12 each. If they were good enough for the exotic motorbikes they were were working on I was confident they were good enough for the kuboto at full noise.
I did have to buy 4 new Metric fine thread pitch bolts from the nearby huge bolt warehouse, just beyond their powdered soup factory.
A lot lot cheaper, and quicker to acquire then a new coupling.
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Many times I thought I had mastered the technique of turning our boat in the tightest of turns, only to be undone the next time, by a less favourable wind direction or water depth. Or just I got it wrong.
But general principles were to start with as little forward momentum as possible.
Then helm over to about 40degrees, and then increase power slowly and at the same time increase the rudder angle slowly, to cause the flow around the rudder to attach and then stick to both sides of the rudder. Watch the propwash and the feel on the tiller for impending, or accomplished stall. It is quite evident, and can be quickly addressed by reducing the rudder angle before slowly increasing it again.
Once turning momentum is obtained, back off the power to reduce forward creep in the turn. And watch that propwash, and tiller feel for rudder stall. In some conditions it is suprising how much rudder angle can be obtained and then sustained before stalling if that angle is first gently obtained.
Nearly 60 degrees from memory. We shaved the stops back to increase the obtainable angle and we were able to use this extra angle to good effect.
And propwash? I was never able to confidently confirm which way the stern walked.
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We had a changeover regulator and the connection tails were fitted with non return valves.
After one succesful changeover and then bottle depletion we could not get through one of the tails.
The non return valve was frozen closed regardless of pressure from a full bottle and smacks with a hammer.
A replacement tail pre it's due time fixed it.
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11 hours ago, IanM said:
He mentions it in the video, it’s an exhaust scrubber for the main engine to save having to run on low sulphur fuel.
It is a big bit of kit to have to find space for, for other then tankers.
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5 hours ago, IanM said:
New update video from "What's Going On With Shipping?"
There appears to be a substantial retrofitted add on to the main engine exhaust system in the lattice tower extreme aft on Stena Immaculate
Any idea as to what and how?
Supa dupa exhaust gas scrubber so that the exhaust gasses can be used for inerting the tank vapour spaces maybe.
If I remember correctly Jet A1/Kerosene tanks are particularly hazardous, as without inerting the space is normally within the explosive range.
The vapour space in petrol tankage is normally too rich, ie above the upper flammable limit, whilst the vapour space in refined diesel fuels is normally too lean, ie below the lower flammable limit.
Tanker crew deserve additional pay, as this collision demonstrates the additional hazards cannot be entirely mitigated by the operations of the tanker crew.
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2 hours ago, IanD said:
The evidence shows that the Solong was on a straight-line course running on (working correctly) autopilot and defined by waypoints, which it had previously taken multiple times without incident --
The Set, and Forget, method of navigation, that Musk claims that Tesla has all but mastered for cars near everywhere.
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25 minutes ago, ditchcrawler said:
I don't know if you can all see this
What I find surprising is that for me the impact damage to the tanker seems suprisingly limited. I would have expected the kinetic energy of 9000 tons travelling at 30kph would have penetrated far deeper into the side of the tanker. Even enough to break the tanker into two.
This begs the question as to whether she was in fact still travelling at 16knots 30kph at impact.
Perhaps with an impeding collision, she hit when in full astern.? Perhaps like the Aratere, the bridge watch did not know how to disengage autopilot but knew, or worked out, how to change the propulsion settings?
Actually it seems most of the containers were empty, so perhaps only about 5000tons?
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There have been two shipping accidents in our part of the world, involving auto pilots.
Neither was a failure on the bridge to keep a lookout.
Both could be ascribed to lack of knowledge on the bridge on how to disengage autopilot.
I am not suggesting that this was the cause in this collision, as at this stage, there has not been any evidence of the container ship altering propulsion settings.
The first here involved our only rail ferry Awatere on departing Picton for Wellington.
The ship had just returned to service after a steering upgrade.
Unfortunately training in how the new system operated was inadequate.
The autopilot was engaged by pushing a single button. Shortly after departure it was engaged to steer the ship to the first way point, directly ahead at the harbour entrance.
And then, either intentionally, because nothing had changed, or accidentally, the button was pushed again, whereas the autopilot then set it's course to the second way point, One, that at that time, was directly through the hill just off the starboard side. Inspite of frantic endeavours to disengage the auto pilot and stop the ferry, it grounded. Fortunately on very benign ground and was thus undamaged.
Nobody had been shown the ways to disengage autopilot, including just to push, and hold, that single button.
The second event resulted in the loss of our Navy hydrographic and survey ship Manawanui whilst engaged in survey work close in shore in Samoa.
At the end of a run heading towards a reef the ship refused to steer away, even countering efforts of the bow thruster.
No body had disengaged the autopilot. Training and procedures were found to be deficient.
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8 minutes ago, Graham Davis said:
Cough! Cough!Well getting to WALES is the bit about going out of our way when in England
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On 08/03/2025 at 03:04, PeterScott said:
Val and I planted daffodils in the corner just behind the green fence in the foreground of the first photo. Way back in September 2013, after Whio was trucked back from Milton Keynes, because the Aylesbury Arm still remained closed after structural failure of a lock. We had about about a fortnight in the basin before our booked flight back to NZ.
How quickly the Basin went from being in the countryside to being in high density suburbia.
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32 minutes ago, David Mack said:
Indeed! Some of us may disagree with the political views he expressed on here, but nevertheless we still liked his knowledge and experience of boating and non boating stuff, his humour, and his approach to life, and would be happy to share a pint with him in person if the opportunity should arise.
We wish him well.
If ever we get back to England for a trip, MrSmelly would have been one of only a group of people that I would have gone out of my way for, to share a pint. And one of a very much smaller group of people that I have not met before.
In spite of a difference of political view, I think he would be great company with his experiences, observations and humour.
Although with kidney problems I would think he would probably now have to forgo the pint.
Get well Tim. All the best,
Don
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1 hour ago, Ange said:I was a member of the moderating team at one time and I know how difficult their job is and the balance they have to reach between freedom of speech and abiding by the forum rules and guidelines.
I take my hat off to the moderators. An ongoing and largely thank-less task, with always a chance of copping abuse.
And I wish mrsmelly all the best in his current challenges.
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I do love these winter photos.
The bare trees, low sun angles, and occasional frosts and snow give the landscape a complete other dimension.
Something I have not witnessed in the UK for a very very long time. Last winter there for me was 1975/76.
I have a photo of me punting on the backs in Cambridge in winter wearing my lovely Gloveral duffle coat.
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1 minute ago, LadyG said:
I understand Ebay keys are not reliable as the CRT keys, a debit card might be the answer.
There must be a way of extracting Donations.
We can send a man to the Moon, we ca solve this problem?
Perhaps send out a new dated electronic dongle with each registration renewal and the doors, rubbish compound gates etc programmed to accept dongles dated within the last thirteen months only.
A million questions narrowed down to a few, for now :)
in New to Boating?
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Fire sprinkler systems are normally fabricated from "black" steel pipe and remain water flooded without problems for decades.
Any oxygen is quickly depleted from the initial charges of water and internal corrosion then stops.
System monitoring for any pressure loss, minimises requirements for ny make-up water, with its attendent dissolved oxygen.
But if you ever drain such a system down, the water certainly is not pristine, varying any where from bright orange, in newish systems, to near black in old systems.
As smart alecs have discovered after triggering such systems by breaking the sprinkler glass bulbs.