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Post by Deleted on Aug 30, 2020 18:50:59 GMT
Well, it had to happen. Let me loose on 50k's worth of assorted engineering mechanisms and devices, and I'm going to break something. The boat has an unusual externally-mounted bow thruster called a sideshift, shown at about 2:40 in this video:
I haven't used it much because I was trying to initially learn how to steer the thing without aids (in case the aids failed). Well, it didn't so much fail as get smashed into a mooring. Then it failed. I wasn't using it so I didnt really notice until this morning. Things got a bit lively this morning with crosswinds between March and Whittesley (although thankfully the weed patches werent too bad). That wasn't a major problem in itself, but at one point I took my eye off the ball- or rather the helm- in order to deal with the deadly threat of a large spider that suddenly noticed crawling up my chest. In the few seconds I was doing the dance of spider-fear (which thankfully nobody saw), the boat was blown sideways and I was suddenly across the canal and struggling to get myself aiming the right way. Time for a bit of bow thruster, I though smugly, and engaged the device sharpish. Sadly there was no discernible effect on my bow position, and I realised that one of the several bow impacts of the last few days had almost certainly done for the poor thruster. Looking at it after I moored, the right hand propellor (as viewed from the rear) is dangling pretty much loose. The mounting points for it are all above the waterline so I'm not panicking about it leaking at this point (although they will need inspecting), and I've switched it off. I've probably covered the last 20 miles with it hanging off tbh. There is a marina a little after Peterborough called Oundle, so my initial plan is to give them a call and book it in, to have the whole apparatus taken off. I dont see the point in keeping it tbh, there will just be more repair bills in another month or whatever when the bow hits something else. I'm pretty gutted because its 3k worth of equipment, including a victron charger, two 12 v batteries wired to power it at 24v, etc. But I'm not sure they are robust enough for the CRT waterways. One other thing I've just remembered is that I joined the RCR a few days ago, and I'm wondering if a Silver membership would cover them repairing this kind of thing? Or at least making it fully safe from causing a risk to the boat. Ill give them a tinkle on the way to Peterborough tomorrow morning. If it saves me a bill at a marina why not?
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Post by Deleted on Aug 30, 2020 19:05:04 GMT
RCR are good at getting you out of trouble when it's a fairly simple fix (speaking from experience after my boat got stuck in reverse at the top of the Nene on my first day). Unlikely to cover you for the 'bow thruster' - just get someone to take a look at it and offer advice, then post here so a few knowledgeable folks can provide comments on the advice. Good luck.
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Post by Jim on Aug 30, 2020 19:24:48 GMT
Having looked at the video I thinks it's a Bad Idea for a narrowboat. An expensive fender, as you've found. Best sold for spares. Early days yet, you'll not need a "girly button" by the time you get to Cheshire. I reckon the main problem at first is overreacting on the tiller, boats are slow to move and slow to stop moving.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 30, 2020 19:29:33 GMT
RCR are good at getting you out of trouble when it's a fairly simple fix (speaking from experience after my boat got stuck in reverse at the top of the Nene on my first day). Unlikely to cover you for the 'bow thruster' - just get someone to take a look at it and offer advice, then post here so a few knowledgeable folks can provide comments on the advice. Good luck. Cheers blacksheep- I think asking them to remove it for me would be outside their Ts and Cs, but I reckon I could ask them to check the boat is at least to proceed. That said, I've already done 20 miles since I bashed it, so fingers crossed I'm ok to get to stanground lock and Peterborough tomorrow. Its a pretty niche piece of kit tbh, so they wont have seen many before, and certainly not on narrowboats. Nobody likes to see an expensive installation just whipped off and binned, but I feel certain it'll be clobbered again before too long, so I'd rather be shot of it now. I may get away with not having the boat hauled out, but I'll see what the marina say. Are there any boatyards or marinas you would recommend on the Nene to do some repairs? I'm having doubts about the amount of life left in my batteries as well, so I might look for a set of lead carbon ones
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Post by Deleted on Aug 30, 2020 19:33:50 GMT
RCR are good at getting you out of trouble when it's a fairly simple fix (speaking from experience after my boat got stuck in reverse at the top of the Nene on my first day). Unlikely to cover you for the 'bow thruster' - just get someone to take a look at it and offer advice, then post here so a few knowledgeable folks can provide comments on the advice. Good luck. Cheers blacksheep- I think asking them to remove it for me would be outside their Ts and Cs, but I reckon I could ask them to check the boat is at least to proceed. That said, I've already done 20 miles since I bashed it, so fingers crossed I'm ok to get to stanground lock and Peterborough tomorrow. Its a pretty niche piece of kit tbh, so they wont have seen many before, and certainly not on narrowboats. Nobody likes to see an expensive installation just whipped off and binned, but I feel certain it'll be clobbered again before too long, so I'd rather be shot of it now. I may get away with not having the boat hauled out, but I'll see what the marina say. Are there any boatyards or marinas you would recommend on the Nene to do some repairs?
I'm having doubts about the amount of life left in my batteries as well, so I might look for a set of lead carbon ones No I only moved my boat a day on the Nene. Others have far more knowledge than I. They will be along shortly.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 30, 2020 19:37:42 GMT
Having looked at the video I thinks it's a Bad Idea for a narrowboat. An expensive fender, as you've found. Best sold for spares. Early days yet, you'll not need a "girly button" by the time you get to Cheshire. I reckon the main problem at first is overreacting on the tiller, boats are slow to move and slow to stop moving. I'll be honest, the very first time I saw the bow, with those propellors sticking out in front, I started to have doubts about their longevity. Being a total idiot and forgetting that my boat has a reverse gear did not help, but that whole apparatus was kind of doomed from the start. A while ago I thought about installing a water filter as I mentioned a few months ago, and the batteries and charger might be just the thing to power that. But to be honest, I'm already going 'native', showering every second day, getting strip washes using a bowl, etc. And the less said about laundry the better. I'll be wearing animal skins and a spear by the time Winter comes.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 30, 2020 20:19:39 GMT
If that side shift thing is externally mounted on a narrow boat it's toweringly ridiculous.
Too exposed !!
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Post by Deleted on Aug 30, 2020 20:29:48 GMT
Sounds like a very bad idea to me - I bet the previous owner had buyer's remorse over that one, I wonder how much it cost? Quite a lot I should think. If you want it removed I imagine you are looking at dry dock time.
Your batts are going flat after all that cruising? Oh dear.
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Post by Trina on Aug 30, 2020 20:55:10 GMT
We had a 'girly button' which I hold my hand up to making me lazy.I got into the habit of using it to push me off the sides to get into a lock(whenI couldn't hover like I prefer to do).We got a hole in the tube & had it capped off.There are times it could be useful,but Paul likes a challenge.I hold my hand up,I miss it but cope without it.There are times it could be useful when the the wind really isn't my friend.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 30, 2020 20:58:13 GMT
Sounds like a very bad idea to me - I bet the previous owner had buyer's remorse over that one, I wonder how much it cost? Quite a lot I should think. If you want it removed I imagine you are looking at dry dock time. Your batts are going flat after all that cruising? Oh dear. I think its a device fitted much more often to GRP boats, and on the EA waterways, with generally a bit more space, it probably worked pretty well (although I think I saw a repair bill in the boat documentation, so it may have already taken a bashing once). I think the total cost is around 2.5k, which is one of the reasons I'm sad to bin it. It has its own pair of batts in the bow, and its own 24v 16amp victron charger, which I was told only ever to switch on when cruising, or if the solar was very good. I've very rarely had it on, so thats not the reason the main batteries are a bit lacklustre. They are Trojans, but I have a feeling they may be the original set (or the 2nd set) since the launch in late 2015, so they may be due for replacement. As an example, I cruised all morning, and had solar for much of the afternoon, and they seemed pretty well charged, but a few hours running the fridge seems to get them down to 12.4 or 12.3 volts. I just would have expected more from three 100ah batteries than what I seem to be getting. If I've cruised half the day I'm expected the fridge will be ok to run overnight, but its not really happening. If I leave the fridge running I'm down to 12.5 or 12.4v by maybe 7pm, and I switch it off so as not to drain them too much. And thats without switching the CH on for the odd hour, which I will want to start doing soon. I'll get some readings over next few days to try to illustrate how they are behaving, but I fear the bottom line is new batteries in the next few weeks.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 30, 2020 21:02:44 GMT
If that side shift thing is externally mounted on a narrow boat it's toweringly ridiculous. Too exposed !! Yes, even to a complete novice like me it looked very exposed, and unfortunately my incompetence has made short work of it
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Post by Deleted on Aug 30, 2020 21:10:57 GMT
We had a 'girly button' which I hold my hand up to making me lazy.I got into the habit of using it to push me off the sides to get into a lock(whenI couldn't hover like I prefer to do).We got a hole in the tube & had it capped off.There are times it could be useful,but Paul likes a challenge.I hold my hand up,I miss it but cope without it.There are times it could be useful when the the wind really isn't my friend. I'm not ashamed to say I was in touch with my girly button at least a few times, especially when reversing - which at the moment seems to happen in an entirely inconsistent way every time I try it, although the windy conditions might partly explain that. Its a jolly nice feature to have, and especially in high winds, but this particular design is maybe not ideal for a narrowboat
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Post by Clinton Cool on Aug 30, 2020 21:44:50 GMT
In my view a bow thruster is almost completely useless. Not completely, one could be handy when you wind in a strong...wind. It can be a bit of a nightmare trying to turn round with a strong following wind. So much so that I don't even try any more. Instead I'll jump off, hold the bow rope, push the stern out and allow the wind to blow it round. Easy. A bow thruster would be handy in these conditions but otherwise, no use at all.
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Post by duncan on Aug 30, 2020 21:46:51 GMT
Sounds like a very bad idea to me - I bet the previous owner had buyer's remorse over that one, I wonder how much it cost? Quite a lot I should think. If you want it removed I imagine you are looking at dry dock time. Your batts are going flat after all that cruising? Oh dear. Start at £2,759.95.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 30, 2020 22:52:41 GMT
You are very limited for slipping on the Nene.
You may get a crane out at Jackson’s Stanground - cost and availability I couldn’t tell you.
Buckles have an elderly crane at Stibbington but I have never heard of them pulling punters out at random off the river.
You are correct that Oundle have all facilities - they have a big gantry crane, 12 years ago it was £300 to be lifted out and dunked back in, what it is now I couldn’t tell you. What I can tell you is Mark who runs then boating side of the marina is sound, you will have to go through him contractor wise, Robbie the chap who does most of the work at OM it’s a decent bloke.
After that Clive Hodgson at Ringstead/Blackthorne does slip boats in a floating dry dock but is usually booked weeks/months in advance
Billing Marina don’t have anything in the way of maintenance facilities these days - none of the boat clubs will entertain slipping for non members.
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