Mike Richardson

Alron was named by ALice and RON. We first met them in 1982 when we moved from Eggbridge Marina to Nantwich. Lovely couple, we used to travel with them as we had a 19ft Fairline and the two boats fitted nicely into narrow locks. Happy memories . . .

I have to confess that Kingsbridge isn't the fastest of boats. A Beta BD722 coupled to a 2 to 1 gearbox and a 13 x 9 propeller means we have several choices, We can run at a comfortable 1800 to 2000 rpm and average 2.7 - 2.8 mph which doesn't seem to hinder following boats much (We always wave on if someone wants to pass) or we can run a little faster at 2200 - 2500 which, while vibration-free, makes life less restful but does take us up to 3.1 -3.2 mph. On the Weaver I can just about get the engine up to 3400, so it appears to be the right prop. On one occasion even we had to go down to just over tickover to follow a hire boat the last three miles into Middlewich on the T&M. My GPS on that occasion was showing about 1.5 mph. We hired on the Mon and Brec some years ago, and that was the slowest we have ever travelled, mostly down to a lack of depth I think. So it's quite possible to travel very slowly indeed if you have the inclination. However, I always try to be aware of what's approaching from behind. I'd much sooner have the speedy boats in front of me,though, it's much less stressful.

82 next month, machinery (mine) getting a bit pernickety, so we made the decision three years ago to move moorings from Nantwich to a lock free stretch on the T&M. We can still do everything we used to do, but more slowly. We know we have to sell 'Kingsbridge' in the near future, but it'll be a heck of a wrench when it comes to it. We're still enjoying the boat, although the last year has been a bit of a trial after an operation for kidney cancer. We've only just been released from confinement by the Welsh five mile limit so we're hoping to get some cruising in before the end of the year. I'd suggest the OP goes for it.

We liked the small Norman cruiser we met sometime in the late eighties in Macclesfield, it had it's own external bar in the cockpit complete with bottles on optics. "Pobody's Nerfect", and I seem to remember an old Dawncraft seen at Middlewich. "Cirrhosis of the River"

Try Googling 'Hairy Worm'. I renewed the side seals on the top hoppers of my windows last year. ISTR they have an extensive stock of adhesive backed seals. Mike

I've renewed recently as well. Mike

Early in our boating days our 19ft Fairline came to an abrupt stop on the Bridgewater canal. Lifting the outboard we found about six feet of a thin ply canoe surrounding the leg. The prop and surrounding bits had gone right through the bottom of it. It was a bit like solving one of those metal puzzles that used to be found in Christmas crackers, twisting it one way and then the other to get it free. It was soggy and heavy, but thankfully the outboard was undamaged. Otherwise in later years we were stopped dead by an anorak (the clothing item) in Northgate staircase and a vintage builders rubble bag in the middle of Gosty Hill Tunnel. That was not a particularly happy moment.

Six years (1900 miles) with a 7.5 Honda on a 19ft Fairline DeLuxe followed by eleven years (2900 miles) with a Volvo Penta (Honda) 9.9 on a Buckingham 25 worked out, on average, 4.5 to 5 hours per uk gallon. Much the same diesel consumption as I get now with a 20hp Beta in a 35ft steel narrowboat. I concur with the comments about 2 stroke motors, I would avoid them, in the larger sizes they can seriously damage your wealth. Mike

You might care to sight along each side of the boat to see if there are slight 'bumps' where the curved bow section meets the straight sides. I know of at least three Liverpool shells with this 'feature' that have met challenges at Hurleston Bottom lock. I have personal experience of one of them . . . . It hasn't stopped us from covering about 7000 miles around the system since 1998 without problems, including the locks on the Cheshire flight which are marked as particularly tight. In all other respects our boat has been fine, apart from the 'floppy rudder syndrome' mentioned in another thread, which was fixed by renewing the bolts and welding. Mike

Philip, I've had a BD722 (20hp) in 'Kingsbridge', a 35ft Liverpool boat, since 1998. It's got 3800 hours on it and hasn't, up to now, shown any tendency to overheat. I have to admit it got up to about 88C indicated when I opened it up a bit on the Weaver on a very warm day, but for normal canal speeds it varies between 65C and 80C depending on the prevailing weather. It's keel cooled with a slightly undersized tank on the swim. I'd like an engine that runs at a lower rpm when cruising (1800 - 2200 for 2.8 - 3.2 mph, and I wouldn't like to spend much time with it at 3000+) but it's been a very smooth and reliable engine. I suppose that having said that I'll need to call RCR the next time we leave the moorings. Mike.