dmr

At the position of the front bulkhead, is the curvature visible above the waterline, or, less likely, does it only start below the waterline? and how much has it curved in at the bulkhead, and how far to the rear of the bulkhead does the curve actually start? You can see where this is going and its clutching at straws, it would be a difficult and unusual job, probably outside the comfort zone of the boatyard, plus some welding with the insulation in place. ..............Dave

You are correct, I've known a couple of people who have planned to do this but they probably had quite long well decks to start with, or maybe hit the same problem as you. We have a long front deck so everything is straight by the time it gets to the cabin, though we are nearly 71 feet already so won't be getting stretched. Ive seen a few boats extended at the back by welding on a sort of extra long cruiser stern ............Dave

Lighting a scented candle is about the best thing . Odorloss used to be ok but I think its got less effective. Tried yeast powder with no success. Bio washing up liquid was no good, but am going to try again with a much bigger dose. Silky was okish but failed totally recently....was that the hotter weather or because last two pumpouts have been not too good (boatyards)? Need to find a CaRT pumpout machine and do one ourselves....we can do much better than most boatyards. Too many variables to draw conclusions. ..............Dave

We've tried various options, some with more success than others, but its all a bit random so have not drawn any conclusions yet. Other posters have claimed perfect results with various things. I suspect some forum members are oblivious to smells, or are possibly the same folk who have batteries that last 15 years . I am starting to suspect that the bacterial culture in each tank is different, and can also change over time, maybe a visitor to the boat really upsets things, so what works one month might be less effective the next. The there is the summer-winter thing too. Had a tidy up recently and there were various tank treatments that we had tried with poor results, each with some left in the bottle. I poured the whole lot into the tank and it worked brilliant. I suspect that most work if you put lots and lots in but that gets expensive. ..............Dave

Sounds like you are not a traddy type, and put functionality above boat aesthetics, but when traddy boats have a handrail its done in flat bar rather than tube, or maybe bar with a very slightly rounded top. It looks really good but is probably not as nice to hold and more expensive. ..............Dave

You did the manoeuvre at old turn very well, especially as the hire boat coming out from the Farmers really got in your way. Nice picture of my boat and my dog sleeping on the front! ...............Dave

A splitter/cutter does not really stop the rain getting in. As I said earlier, it helps keep the smoke out of the steerers face, another purpose, and some would say the main purpose, is to stop the exhaust from hitting the roofs of tunnels and bringing down a load of crap....and yes, this is indeed a real problem My boat has got somewhat smokey over the last year and so I have a pretty good idea of where the exhaust actually goes, and its relatively rare for it to go into my face. .............Dave

As discussed in another thread, the number of boaters who would want a boat like this is small and most likely getting smaller, and so for a 1996 boat this looks overpriced. I would offer a fair bit less and then wait a while and see what happens. Trouble is there just might be somebody else who wants a boat like this and wants it now. Selling mainstream stuff is easy, selling the more specialist stuff is a bit more complicated. Does it have a reverse layout? If you drove it backwards that would be a lovely cruiser stern ................Dave

As you know, it takes us about 5 or 6 months each year to do the K&A end to end and back again, that feels about right, maybe a little slow. I would think 6 to 8 weeks would be the absolute minimum to cruise and appreciate the K&A. I suppose for Nick, and many other visitors, a much shorter visit has to be accommodated and I can see that if the objective is to cover 20 miles every day then the K&A might be a bit irritating. Is Nick exaggerating or is it really that full at the moment????? Its never that busy in winter and just like us, a Lot of K&A boats go off exploring in summer, so there must be an awful lot of visiting boats that just look like Cmers. Its a little sad that Nick has not enjoyed it and has made some rather negative posts. For many boaters getting to the K&A is a big trip and they are easily deterred by bad publicity, we meet so many who would never go because of what they have heard about it. Still, it leaves more room for the K&A people. .................Dave

Are you sure about the clear exhaust and articulate size? Its an interesting idea. My engine has got quite smokey and I was going to clean the injectors? maybe its better for me to leave them dirty. AS for your other points... The "baffle" is called a splitter or cutter and should direct the exhaust to both sides rather than towards the steerer, but I do find it much better to have a totally open exhaust pipe. Very few canal boats have wet exhausts. Going through a tunnel, especially Northwards in Harecastle, with a roof mounted exhaust can be unpleasant, but the exhaust from other boats is just as troublesome if they are in front. ................Dave

Yes I do worry but..... With a roof mounted exhaust chimney most of the exhaust goes harmlessly skyward, standing on the back of a modern boat, or next to one, with the exhaust just behind me, wafting up past my face, is more concerning. As for following a boat through a tunnel, some of the smokiest boats i've ever seen have had the engines under the back deck, though I accept they are probably old engines. Have spent the last few days on a boat with a Kelvin K2 and, except when accelerating hard, it has an exhaust cleaner than many modern engines. .............Dave

Pay attention! The boatyard that you didn't stop at is ABC chandlers and hirebase, the coalyard that you stopped at is in fact the boatyard. Not only was it only 65p but it was fame free too! They also run a diesel boat and I believe they sell 4000 litres on every trip, thats a lot of diesel on a canal where the boats never move ...............Dave

I do agree with you here. Its not easy to pick numbers but 200 a year would be more sensible, however that change would have to include some sort of roving mooring permit option and at very low cost for those with grandfather rights. and....., if you really are going past all those boats at tickover (1mph) and doing at least 4 locks, then your looking at a 21 hour day .............Dave

I have heard that it was done by "druggies" who were totally off their heads, and that it was done with just a handsaw. So next time I want to make a really neat cut in a thick bit of timber im gonna have a little bit of whatever they were on first. .................Dave

How on earth have you come to this conclusion????? Times have changed, there are more liveaboard boats (and of course this includes you for some of the time) and almost no urgent carrying of cargo, so moored boats maybe have a little more significance that 100 years ago. When mooring on a shallow sided canal like the K&A, with the bottom edge of the boat just touching the bottom, then slightly loose ropes at about 90 degrees is a sensible technique and what I usually do on the K&A, tight ropes just don't work in many places. We could discuss this but that should be done in a new thread. However a lot of K&A boats do moor very badly and many have stupidly undersized pins. I am really surprised that you crawled from Hungerford to Bath, I think you might be exaggerating a teensy bit. Try to get into the K&A mindset and you will enjoy it more. I usually find the long pound largely empty, and Devizes bottom to Bradford not that busy, BUT, 90% of my K&A boating is done in the winter. This is also maybe why I see hire boats as mostly going much too fast, because in Winter its almost all Stag and Hen hires. The K&A is popular, although it hasn't really done it for you, it really works for a lot of people and thats why its busy. There are limited visitor moorings, its mostly shallow sided, so mooring in sub-optimal places is a necessary evil. The local boaters are actually pretty good at mooring in these bad places in an effort to leave the visitor moorings empty for visitors, so I don't like your suggestion that "folk shouldn't moor there". Also there are quite a lot of local boaters who are pressing for dredging at the banks and extensive installation of armco. This would spoil a lovely rural canal so don't give them any ammo!!!! And, your 'udson is about as deep as us, so even with no moored boats you probably wouldn't go that much faster. I still find the extensive offside moorings on the Shroppie much more tedious than anything on the K&A and...go on.... even you must admit that most of the Avon down to Bristol is absolutely fantastic. and as a final bit of mischief, the increased enforcement and "20 mile rule" is probably making things worse on the K&A.....the "western enders" are now spending more time on the long pound and eastern end (and enjoying it) which is leaving more space at the Western end for new liveaboards, including huge widebeams, to move into. ............Dave