Recent content by Dave_Seager

Some lock do have chains. They were originally used for rowing skiffs as their crews could not reach up to the bollards when going upstream. The main problem is that they are usually green and slimy and can be completely submerged when the lock is full, especially if the river level is high.

The metal bowl is commonly used as it is a simple, screw-on replacement for the glass bowl. The following is from the 2005 documentation: "Check all fuel filters (including drain plugs) located inside engine spaces are marked or recognised as fire resistant. If not marked or recognised as being...

Another common item is changing from glass fuel filter bowls to metal. It is not particularly difficult nor expensive but it irritating as you cannot look for water any longer.

Since this is on the Thames forum, you would also need a difference Environment Agency licence for a hire boat.

It is not strictly true that the current increases with speed. A motor also acts a generator producing what is knows as back EMF or a voltage opposite to the power supplied. Thus a motor with no load will consume more current while it is spinning up than when it has reached a steady speed...

Another consideration is the effect a moored boat will have on your view of the river. If you only have a 10m river frontage then one cruiser will probably block your view. At least if you use it for your own boat you remain in control.

According to the EA page you quote the maximum draught is 2.0 m up to Staines and then 1.7 m as far as Windsor. The lock sills may be deeper but that is of little use if you run aground between the locks.

Presumably, if they can schedule times for safe passage then they can schedule when the bridge will fall down and solve the problem.

It is red boards all the way on the Thames at the moment.

Presumably the professionals understood the tide tables. Remember, the charted depths at based on Lowest Astronomical Tide.

I wonder how the Environment Agency came to be the owners. I would have expected the boat to the property of the insurers after they had paid the original owner for a write off.

Perhaps it counts as TWOC.

The danger is not just from the risk of leaks but from overfilling a cylinder. There must be headspace in the cylinder to allow for expansion to avoid the risk of its bursting if the cylinder gets warm .

Friends of ours asked the Whitchurch lock keeper about it yesterday and were told that it was due to nuisance and littering. Some people cannot help being a nuisance but littering baffles me. Presumably they go there because it is an attractive place to be but then spoil it for themselves and...