gbclive

Agreed, a rare example of my expectations being exceeded 😊

Now straight forward to pass by on the towpath side. However, the bulk of the tree remains jutting out from the offside.

The first two boats have just squeezed past the tree and the contractors or still beavering away in the rain and failing light. So hats off to them and it’s looking good for tomorrow.

No sign of the Calvary yet. I spoke to CRT - apparently no notice required yet “as the contractors will arrive on site to sort it within 4 hours”. I fear this one might be the first of many over Friday, Saturday and Sunday. My guess is that the issue is the sodden ground and this one simply fell over in relatively benign conditions. Update… the contractors are on site and work is in progress. However, it’s a big job.

Fallen Tree blocking the Coventry about 1 mile past Streethay Wharf towards Fradley Junction. Or 0.2 miles SW of Brookhay Bridge Apparently CRT aware but nothing notified yet I believe. The locals guesstimate (hope) it might be open later this afternoon or this evening 🤞. Il’l try to remember to update any developments.

I think the big difference is that WaterNav can be downloaded in advance with necessary data and thus works offline, whereas I believe opencanalmap requires an internet connection to work? But I may have got that wrong😏.

Thanks for the info Arthur. The iPad version seems to still be at v 1.6.4 from 7 months ago.

If it gets really hot, I cut out pieces of foil type of emergency blankets and stick them to the inside of windows facing the sun with bits of electrical tape. It’s a bit of a faff, but the foil is cheap as chips and translucent enough to still be able to see out, although it’s like wearing sunglasses in doors, so not good in the evenings etc. My understanding of why this works so well is because of the greenhouse effect whereby the incoming short wavelengths of visible sunlight pass through the glass which is transparent to it. This heats up objects inside the boat (or car, or house). These objects then re-radiate longer wavelengths of infrared heat which glass is somewhat opaque to, so the heat is trapped inside. I use the foil gold side out which reflects enough the incoming radiation to make a significant difference. Example of the foil, £10 for: Bramble - 10 Large Multi-Purpose Insulated Foil Emergency Blankets Individually Packed - 210 x 160cm

An update on the shoal 0.5 miles north of Stafford Boat Club on the Staffs & Worcester. Ie between bridges 96 & 98. I passed the area this morning and had a brief chat with the team who had just finished dredging. Apparently, there was some oil contamination in a sample from the outfall on the off-side, that was the source of the silt. Perhaps that was the reason for the considerable delay in dredging? Also, I never saw any nav notice, did I miss one? Anyway, I hope this is good news, especially for any deep drafted boats.

Sorry, I’ve edited my reply to correct the reference I made to CRT, should have been RCR. As you know, the original app stopped working a number of years ago after an IOS update and the app icons are very similar. A slightly different shade of blue and a slightly larger W on the newer version. It took RCR about a year to re-write the code and then some further time to debug, but they do seem to react to issues that are reported.

I’ve just checked on my iPad Air 2 with IOS 15.7.3, which is up to date, and WaterNav v 1.6.3. Seems to be working fine. Personally, I’ve found the the reworked version by RCR to be pretty reliable.

“A friend 😏” asked Knox-Johnson specifically about LiFeO4 chemistry batteries. The underwriters confirmed no issue as long as it was professionally installed. I suspect some / most so called professional installers would be unwilling to get involved with a hybrid system unless a B to B charger was installed between the LA and the lithium. This of course adds significantly to the cost and complexity of the install. Note that the policy docs do not specifically mention battery chemistry.

OK, a little more digging and a little more info. This YouTube video at 8min 25sec mentions the voiding note that comes up when opening the FrogStar app. However, I did find a post in the “12 volt boating group” forum on Facebook, that suggested Frogstar might give the OK if the installation sparky contacts them before hand to explain the proposed settings and the reason for. There is no doubt that Frogstar are aggressively undercutting the UK market, but they have only recently expanded the range to include LiFePO4 Leisure Batteries. Life Batteries have an establish record of supporting Hybrid installations. So… I think that before buying from FrogStar, it would be best to contact them by email for their current position and file the reply as a record. My instinct is to use Life Batteries, but FrogStar are considerably cheaper, so I’ll keep an open mind.

I’ve been considering going hybrid for some time. The impression I have is that Mark at Life Batteries is supportive of the hybrid system and will actually help in setting up the BMS depending on your particular situation and your preference for how much of the capacity you want to utilise. He is also known for standing behind the warrantee, even when someone has done something daft. On the other hand, Frogstar, who also have a good reputation, unfortunately state that their 10 year warranty will be invalidated if you change any of the BMS settings. So I plan to go with Life batteries to supply a 12v 200AH Bluetooth LiFePO4. Not the cheapest, but overall seems the best choice to me for a hybrid system.

If you use pins which have a metal loop near the head, use a spare long pin as a leaver. Insert say a 1/3 of its length through the loop, then with its pointy end braced against the ground, pull repeatably up sharply up on the other end using it as a lever. This gives a mechanical advantage and gets the extraction started so it’s usually easy from there. The longer the pin, the greater the potential leverage that is available. Another benefit of this method is that it’s a very quiet way compared to using a mallet when trying to do a stealthy early morning departure without disturbing any neighbours😏. If stealth is not a factor, tapping the head of the pin in various directions prior to levering out usually makes things even easier. One point of caution, heads of pins can become very sharp over time from hammering. edit - sorry Cheshire Cat beat me to it and was much more succinct😏.