Tobymonster

If you like one of these privately advertised boats enough to make an offer, why don't you say to the seller you want to proceed through a broker. You pay their fees, (around 5 or 6 % +vat), which is what you would pay a solicitor anyway (probably but not sure!) The broker can then use their experience to see if there is enough of a paper trail to make the sale viable. The broker can make money on a sale they wouldn't of had, the seller gets the full asking price and you get some comeback through the brokerage firm and a nice warm fuzzy feeling! If the seller objects, then they have something to hide and you walk away.

Plenty of truckers do it to their homes so why can't you do it to yours? Anyway, the problem I foresee is that the effect will only be seen for about an hour or so, i.e. Dawn and dusk. Using dark blues and black will loose the effect during the night. Only random pinpoints of light will show which will make no sense in the dark and is when you want it to look at its best. Similarly, during daylight all you will see is the relief. The Perspex idea above would work, think of the low profile emergency exit signs where the light is at the top of the sign and illuminates the person running out the door. Lights around the edge would illuminate the relief as well if it was printed on the Perspex so you could see it in context at night with the stars. The trouble with this is that perpex will scratch as soon as it sees a branch, so you tranquil woodland scene will look like something like tracer fire above Baghdad! Backlighting the laser cut out will also work, it could also give a dim hue around the relief suggesting sunrise / sunset when it's raised off the background, with the stars set in their own full panel set on the boat side, again raised off to allow for wiring. This will make the whole as watertight as possible with only one hole needed for the electrics into the boat. So this means effectively 4 metal sheets will protrude from the cabin sides that may give access problems down the side of the boat. Be careful in tunnels as well! Hope this helps, TM

Waterproofing is far easier than fire proofing. A small box attached beolw the water line. Maybe attached to an annode or in the weedhatch. Of course, now I've said this on a forum you probably can't do this now!

Right then, to the next problem. Did it actually take 5 hours for your hot water to heat up? :0/

Thanks all. I have a day tomorrow so I shall call them to arrange to send a photo. There is absolutely nothing on the fridge itself stating what make it is, the only thing with a label is the compressor unit itself, which is a shoreline number. I shall see if the shelves are available under LECor King which will then give me some idea / confirmation of a model number that shoreline used.

Hi all. I have a 12v shoreline fridge that needs a new door tray and a shelf or two that have gone rusty. I've tried to find spares on the excellent espares website that managed to find me a drum spider for my Candy 10t washing machine, but nothing comes up for Shoreline fridges. Are there a made by a different company and just rebadged, if so does anybody know what factory they are made in? I got the fridge with the boat and I have no instructions either to give me any clues..... Cheers, TM

The skin tank will hold most of the coolant by volume. Buy enough coolant to fill up that tank. Don't go to Halfords unless you have their trade card, instead visit PartCo, Euro Car Parts or GSF where they sell antifreeze in 25ltr containers. Much cheaper, probably around £60. Pre mix the coolant with water and fill up the drained down system. As said previously, aim for 50%, but it doesn't need to be spot on, +/-20% will be fine. Not only does coolant prevent corrosion and freezing, it will also help in keeping the engine and it's surrounds cool in the summer, (if the skin tank is in good condition and not too small)

Good for you. I can only only say as I see, just like you have. I have inherited a trad stern and you have obviously gone out and bought a cruiser. I don't think that I'm judgemental at all, I was mearly implying with a bit of querky post that I don't have a crick in my neck. But you have told me I have. Twice.As for tidal river cruising, I genuinely do not know which is the safest. Can you tell me why before I get the plasma cutter out?

I've got a trad stern and I normally sit on the roof opposite the controls. This means I can see the gauges and operate the morse lever to change engine speed with my foot. This time of year a wind proof coat is all I need on my upper body, but I still in shorts, my legs are warm enough dangling down into the back cabin / engine room / utility room / workshop / shed or whatever you want to call it. If my neck starts to get stiff then I change sides, stand or even get a stool from the cabin and sit on that out of the way of the tiller, (although I must admit with the back doors shut it could get the impression that I'm standing). Strangely enough, I get many dirty looks when I assume my normal position, my friendly nods and waves to my fellow boaters on their cruiser sterns being replied with a look of pity whilst they on their jack jones, fully seated in the comfy chair*, alone in the wide expanse of their fully sociable 'patio area', the trophy dog that's even fecked off inside to cuddle up with mum rather than die of exposure! *is it the chair that's comfy or the many layers on the rump of the grumpy git at the tiller? Never could work that one out!

A great outcome, but I sincerely hope that you are going to learn from this experience. As said above, it time you learnt to swim. And ignore all others telling you about how clothes weigh you down, it'll give you the confidence to strip off and save someone else's life.

You have to do what you need to do if you're miles from anywhere and both ends are moulded onto the lead. But you shouldn't need to cut the connector off, they come apart just like a domestic plug. There should be two screws visible when looking end on - undo these to split it open and then you can wire it to the longer lead. The connectors can be bought quite cheaply in all boat/ caravan suppliers and even the larger B&Q stores. Could save butchering a perfectly good lead.

Whilst in a major supermarket and just about to queue up to pay for my groceries , I became aware of a major commotion around the self service tills. It became apparent that there was this wasp buzzing around the area, making the other customers scream and flee in all directions, waving their arms fratically and shouting that they were all going to die a horrible death. I walked up to the till, paid for my goods and was out of the mad house within minutes, bypassing all the huge queues at all the other checkouts which is quite normal on a Sunday. The hardest part of the whole process was to get a replacement wasp.

Come on, Bees produce honey, Wasps make jam! My kids know that......

I got into contact with Hallingbury Marina on the Stort when my boat was in there last August. They gave me a list of numbers of the surveyors they regularly have dealings with.

Those 'heater elements' are probably the thermostats. You can't remove the heater without unscrewing the large nut. If those thermostats are dry when removed then it does point to a leak around the base of the nut. As for the insulation using a wood chisel carefully at an angle that's as flat as possible to the copper skin will remove it quite easily. The tricky part is putting back on!

Sometimes the pressure relief valve from the hot water caliorfier drains into the bath - this is the set up on my boat. Is there a outlet quite high up on the bath, probably mistaken as an overflow? In my case, when returning to the boat after a period of time, with the hot water heating turned off and engine not used, there can be a surprising amount of water in the bottom of my bath, especially in the summer. This water is not smelly though, so in your case it could be down to some crud in the pipe from the hot water cylinder (if fitted) or it mixing with dirtier water sitting in the waste pipe.

No not those ones that are on the top of the main body - (item 25) The other O ring sits behind the simple circular one and seals the heat exchanger against the main body or heater body/water jacket to give its stated name. The heat exchanger pulls out from the main body - once out check the seal and cracks in the casing. Welcome to the forum BTW!

There is an O ring seal around the heat exchanger. Did you strip it down this far, or just to the two gaskets either side of the combustion chamber? ETA Item 13 on this diagram

Yep got one as well. £29.99 from EE with a 2Gb, 30 day rolling contract for £10 with T Mobile. You can connect up to 8 devices with it as well, not just the one laptop as you do with a dongle. Or putting another way, £39.99 and cancel the contract immediately.

Empty a family size bottle of (full fat) Coca-Cola into the kettle and ideally leave for a few days. If you look at the list of ingredients you will see phosphoric acid listed. It will probably be the last time you will buy certain carbonated drinks!

I've just acquired a new Porta Potti with starter kit of chemicals with it. Instructions were to use 100ml with 3 litres of water for the waste tank. Thing is, the bottles were 150ml themselves so a not enough for 2 doses and too much for just the one!

I took two starter and three 100Ah leisure batteries to my local metal recycler last Friday. Got £39 for a total weight of 98kg. Works out to be £400 per tonne or thereabouts.

Just a little update. I painted the bulb and the inside of the glass lens with one coat of light green glass paint from Hobbycraft. Turned out alright, a nice uniform green light that is visible from a considerable distance and equal to the light emitted from the other side. The before, after and fitted photos... We shall see how long the colour lasts though...

Thanks for the replys everyone. I shall get the glass paint and either paint the bulb or the lens. I did look around for other light units, but they were significantly smaller than the ones already fitted. I'm treating them as purely a decorative item so as long as they look right then that will do for me. They will only be on when going through tunnels and I certainly will not be travelling on any of the big rivers that require them as a condition of passage. They are difficult enough during the day let alone at night! I will as some stage wire them in separately from the tunnel light and may remove them when the boat gets it next paint.

Hi all, Currently my green navlight is faded and as a result shows a white light when illuminated. Now I know that they are not really required on most of the inland waterways, but as they are wired into the tunnel light, I would like to avoid possible confusion and blinding others when going through the dark bits. I can buy a new lense for £18, but I was thinking of using some glass paint available in Hobbycraft for £2.60! Has anyone any experience of using this and what colour would be best, I'm thinking dark green rather than a lighter green or the turquoise. Or do I just take the nav bulbs out either side? Cheers TM