redgirl

You will regret it if you don't. My suggestion is, live and breathe boats as much as you can before you buy. Learn about your engine and basic boat maintenance. That way you won't go to pieces in the first few days if anything goes wrong. When I bought 'little progress' everything went wrong in the first week but I had done my homework so I managed without too much difficulty. As they say, nothing ventured.....nothing gained!........do it!!!!!

This lovely weather sparked an impromptu trip on my boat just to feel the sun on my back for the first time this year. This got me to thinking about canal festivals. I am around Herts so know the local ones, but can anyone recommend any really good ones outwith Herts that would be worth a trip in the car to visit?

My pump kicks in when tap is running, It hasn't been 'kicking in' when nothing is running.

Hi, yes the bilge runs along the edges. The bow and stern were open to rain for years and the decking drainage was really blocked. I have had cratch covers made now and 'wire brushed out' the drainage so that will keep the rain out. I just can't tell how many gallons are in the bilge..... I did think about finding a hiking party on the towpath and getting them to stand on my stern and get the water flowing quicker. No...doesn't go off. My boat is really difficult to access all the plumbing! pain in the neck.

thanks for that. yes, i have a dehumidifier but my invertor isn't big enough. Will try and work something out. I feel slightly better now knowing that it took you weeks to get your bilge dried out! I am sick of leak chasing!

Now that is possible Haggis. Any idea how I could unblock it? I must add that I have only one inspection hatch in the boat and that is inside the boat at the stern.

Need some advice. i bought a Diy project recently. 50ft boat with a through bilge. It had a lot of water in the bilge when I bought it but as the decking drainage was all blocked with leaves etc I guessed it could be 10 years of rainwater. However.....after several water tank fill ups and the bilge never emptying i found that I had a big leak in my inlet pipe in my water tank, and a few gallons of water has been flooding in every time it has been filled (probably for years) I fixed this a few weeks ago. However underneath the watertank is still very wet (not pooling) and my bilge is emptying slowly into the stern, although after about 3 weeks is not empty. My question is....How long will it take for the water to make it's way down a 50 ft boat to the stern? I have balasts and goodness knows what else down there! Also, Am I expecting too much to expect the area underneath my water tank to be dry now in this damp weather? I am half thinking that I have another small leak in the base of my tank but the water is not really going down. I really don't want to completely empty my water tank for a few days to test this theory if I don't have to. Any thoughts??? (edited to rectify grammer and spelling)

It's still open today. The new bridge is starting but not quite yet! I talked to a couple of people from the site and they were vague. Water is accessible at the moment!

Thanks for those links....I was looking for some rope side fenders....saved me searching

thanks. That's interesting. Will look into that further.

Hello all. I am shopping for a new stove and back boiler for my boat. I am thinking of going for a 'boatman', as I am happy with the stoves. I haven't ever used one with a back boiler, though so if anyone has any experience of running a back boiler off a boatman, I would be happy to hear what they have to say. Happy to hear if anyone has any other stove/water boiler that they would recommend. Please note, that I am on a budget! regards Tess

So did I for a while. The penny didn't drop for ages.

Hi, I have done a lot of tiling and I now (after a major disaster) mix my PVA with water as a primer to the wood. Just a suggestion.

Woss goin' on? I'm all confused. Have we found/located/know the whereabouts of the boat? Are we still looking?

Happy New Year to you too Caz....Let's hope that 2012 brings you lots of nice things. I, personally, would like for 2012, a nice early Spring and a nice dry bilge! All the best