Recent content by V1701

FWIW as a 50 odd year old I spent 2 years living on an Albin Vega (27) but I only got away with it because I'm 5'7" so sould stand (just) in the saloon. It was camping though & I was in a marina with good facilities. If that's all you have to spend go for the Macwester for sure, the semi...

They're in Plymouth, or near there, already and don't want to stay there because it's "a bit rough". Personally I like Plymouth, it's where I ended up when I joined the navy at 16 in 1982. Or more accurately across the river in Torpoint but we frequently ended up on Union St. I also quite like...

You're almost certainly correct (that the battery is ok). A fully charged, rested battery in good condition, should read 12.6v with no load on it. Bear in mind fridges are very hungry so if you only have one lead acid battery, say, it's not going to power the fridge for weeks without some charge...

You could try oxalic acid, e.g. this. Used to be able to buy it in powder form & dilute it yourself, not sure whether you can any more... Beaten to it...

I had exactly the same symptoms, all that was needed was to replace the lip seal which I was able to do without removing the pump itself, it's just behind the impeller. I got a service kit from Germany here, only used the lip seal and replaced the lip seal from the kit with the same off Amazon...

The trouble is (and I can understand it, having your family not just yourself to consider) the OP wants the marina to tell him that they can live aboard and also wants to be in an area he/they don't consider to be "a bit rough"...

You can get third party insurance without jumping through many hoops from the likes of Basic Boat, just make sure you get one that covers wreck removal which some of the others don't. Not that I'm suggesting you'll wreck it, go out in calm conditions to start with. As others have said if you can...

There are marinas that have that approach but they're not going to tell you that that's their approach is what we're saying. I think you're asking for too much to fall into place here - firstly that the locale itself is acceptable to you (I'm not sure that you wouldn't consider Gosport, Port...

IIRC I got eighty odd quid for one I put on ebay about 10 or 12 years ago. There's one on there on a 99p start no reserve at the moment...

Hmm, if you think Plymouth is rough you'll think the same of some of the other options, so find somewhere (with a marina) that you're happy with and see if you can book a winter berth with them. Don't mention living aboard just be quiet and don't make it obvious. If you do ask about living...

I don't think you'll get anywhere trying to bill the surveyor unfortunately...

Lots of narrowboats have Barrus Yanmars fitted, they come in two flavours - Shanks & Shire depending on ancilliaries fitted...

With the wind in the north and at that time I think you'll be fine. Been quite squally lately but forecast looks fair...

ACF50 is about the best penetrant I've come across, I'd apply that, leave for 24hrs, then apply heat to body as already suggested. Those mini blow torches are useful for this sort of thing. I'd be surprised if it still wouldn't budge but not heard of galling before. If it's that, well, it would...

Soz should have said probably ok if hooked up to vacuum and sanding by hand should be wet. I wonder if there are any places where they'd not be happy with sanding at all, in which case what would you do? Fortunately the PO of my boat put on Coppercoat...