Normans, Freemans, another steak and chips, breakdown, rescue and curry.

Mirror Painter

Mirror Painter

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The following is just a ramble about boating and probably best ignored:

Was on my tiny boat yesterday. There have been fleeting moments over the past year when I have considered packing in boating and spending more time on taming the garden and decorating the house. Those moments have been fueled by the horrible weather and subsequent difficulty in using the boat. Yesterday I replaced the red ensign which was snapped off by a tree branch on Friday then did some further spring cleaning. My neighbour showed me around his Mk2 Freeman 22 which was very nice. As a kid I used to cycle from Slough to Windsor to look at the Freemans and would dream about one day owning one.

Then went for a trip to the lock to empty the toilet cassette. Life is a little more pleasant since I discovered the lock has a place specially for that and I don't need to carefully drive the cassette thing home and gingerly empty it in the downstairs bog anymore - yuk.

The weather was so nice and there were so many solar powered pretty ladies about I moored at the pub and had a steak and chips lunch for the second time in three days. Don't tell the wife that I'm buying sirloin and grinning at pretty ladies. Walked in to town and bought an ice cream which I ate on the back of the boat while feeling sorry for all the non boat owners. Then DISASTER! The engine wouldn't start. A nice chap in a canoe tried to help but he had to go when his wife came to collect him. Then a small crowd of advisers gathered. We established it would start if the throttle linkage was held fully open but would die at low revs. Neighbour with the Freeman was also at the pub and recovered me to the mooring. N.B. He was quite keen to tow but I had well received the advice on this forum about rafting together, which we did with no incident.

Paced the bank fuming about the engine until another neighbour invited me to share a home made, (boat made), curry with him and his family. Then before dinner time accepted an invitation from a visiting couple to have a look at their Norman 20 ( I think it was a 20). It was immaculate, really well thought out and amazing how well the space was used. If I ever did 'upgrade' from Moxon I think I'd like a boat just like theirs. Outboard too so none of the perils of stern drives that you've told me about. Back to neighbour's bit of bank for curry, wine and laughs. Engine induced bad mood much lifted.

Woke this morning and watched the swallows taking flies off the water. Then tried to start the engine which fired in to life immediately! Repeated that successfully a number of times. Although I am very careful about fuel age and contamination I have concluded there was a bit of carp in the carb. Hope so anyway.

Drove home this morning to the family further excited about when the Assistant Captain, (my five year old son), has his first overnight boat trip with me this year and pondered whether the Mrs would enjoy boating more if I had a Norman 20.

The couple that owned the Norman told me how much fun the local boat club was so I've applied for membership this morning. May need that blazer after all...
 
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:) Boating is ace, isn't it? Hope the engine is ok...

PS lovely as the petite Moxon is - yeah, Norman 20 (or bigger??)... I think so :)
 
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If you still want a Freeman I know of one in a Barn that can be bought for about £1500. It's almost ready to go only having suffered from lack of use. Of course it isn't pristine but at that price it's a steal.
 
Byron - is it diesel or petrol? Call me a softy but there's something about a 40 year old petrol system and my mechanical ability that shouts NO!
 
The Ford unit is a little gem! Pure Ford Cortina, perhaps crossflow if a later model. Cheap bits, lusty performance with 60 real horses inside, and a doddle to repair.

Just ensure the fuel pipes and carb are in fine fettle, and the distributer cap/ rotor arm & leads are new every three years to avoid sparks!!

Get a bilge blower too, and run it five minutes before starting, and all the time you use it as insurance...
 
No Regrets said:
The Ford unit is a little gem! Pure Ford Cortina, perhaps crossflow if a later model. Cheap bits, lusty performance with 60 real horses inside, and a doddle to repair.

Just ensure the fuel pipes and carb are in fine fettle, and the distributer cap/ rotor arm & leads are new every three years to avoid sparks!!

Get a bilge blower too, and run it five minutes before starting, and all the time you use it as insurance...
Click to expand...

My Freeman is running a pre-historic Ford Anglia petrol engine... and not being overly mechanical, I have still managed to changed obvious parts to keep her running fine. Although this week she is being treated to a bit of love from Terry at Bray as she seems to have a little miss-fire at present... this culminated in her packing up when heading for the exit at Bray yesterday.. got slightly worried when she continued without power towards the static Grand Gin Palaces but I managed to fire her up again, break down, fire up, break down, fire up.. etc etc, I finally kept the revs up high enough to feather her back to mooring. None of the other more experienced boaters who were watching my troubles at the time seemed too concerned though, which is probably why nobody asked if everything was ok or if i needed assistance? :-)

Apart from that, she runs for a good couple of hours on a single gallon of fuel at cruising speed on the Thames which is fine by me and the accountant.

Still in love with my little Freeman and the beautiful river, so one day when I have spent another 300 weekends down at Bray working on her she will be worthy of the illustrious company that she keeps. :-)

p.s. What is a bilge blower?
 
A bilge blower is a fan that is meant to blow petrol fumes (which are heavier than air and so can concentrate in the bilges) overboard.
 
Moxon said:
Byron - is it diesel or petrol? Call me a softy but there's something about a 40 year old petrol system and my mechanical ability that shouts NO!
Click to expand...

You wouldn't want a diesel in a little Freeman. People do put them in but nothing beats the quietness of the little ford engine and very economical as well.
 
The engine is in the cabin and has a door on the front which we also open... often we run her like that when there are no kids on board to keep her nice and cool... she is rather elderly..
 
"Call me a softy but there's something about a 40 year old petrol system and my mechanical ability that shouts NO!"

I am now so scared of owning my Boat, I'm going too get rid and buy a canoe!
 
It's all good , just get a bilge blower fitted.

I can think of several bangs over the last few years on the river that would have been averted by one of these.
 
Great ramble Moxon, well worth a read. I am relieved that I am not the only boater whose house and garden have been a little neglected in favour of the boat.
 
I had a lovely Freeman 22 mkI once, I still love seeing them out on the river. I now have a 27ft Madeira with a diesel throbbing away under my feet, but the comforts of a fridge, hot water and shower make up for no longer having the Freeman.
 
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