Gordon

Those of you interested in old broadland photos and postcards may be interested in a book called The Broads through time by David Holmes. This shows a then and now picture on each page, many of the old ones are postcards. There is a picture in there which is taken from virtually the same place as the one Lori has posted. It shows a Wherry moored in fromt of the hotel with a horse and cart beside it. Moving away with the wherryman quanting and the sail at half mast is the Wherry Meteor. No indication of date though. Just to make life even more interesting Loris picture shows the left hand side of the building unobscured. The one in the book shows a tree obscuring the building to the left of the W Also the tree on the right hand side on Loris picture is right up to roof level, in mine its up to the window level but not obscuring the windows yet. Still does not give the date but suggests Loris is about 10 years younger than the one in the book, and the fact that it shows a very heavily laden Meteor leaving the quay might be a clue to a wherry buff. Anyway recommend the book

This reminds me. When I lived at Dunwich in the 50s and early 60s we found on more than one occaission highly suspect items washed up on the beach which we marked and advised the police about. We also heard on many occaissions loud bangs which the locals usually reckoned were controlled explosions of ww2 mines or other bombs on the beach. Anyone know if this is still happening

Hi Linny Suggest you have a word with those nice people at Ludham Bridge boatyard. Always very helpful and when I lost my mudweight they were able to offer me a good choice of weights and were able to get the chosen one in very swiftly

Yea I remember it Lori. As recalled in my early broadland Memories on Carol@s wonderful memories web site. http://www.broadlandmemories.co.uk/page36.html We stayed in a houseboat owned, I believe by the hotel in a delightful little backwater behind the hotel, very early 1960s I also recall a small thatched holiday cabin near the houseboat. I will fish out some photos when I get round to it, won't be for a day or so though.

An impossible challange I would say Clive. Jonny, Stunning was not the word I used when I first saw it, hence I took the photograph, I had to wait 30 years to learn the story behind it. An interesting story though and someones special dream, which tragically they never saw through. For your information Clive that was photographed from Seaway 5 hired from you in 1981! The challenge now for forumites is. Where is it now, who is going to take a new picture ? according to Peter on the NBF it went to Canvey Island after it left Burgh.

Another view

This was inspired by a thread on NBF about Charles Green Kits. I realised that I had seen and photographed this boat in 1981. For more info suggest you have a look at the thread on the "other side" It might bring back memories for someone. Sorry about the picture quality it is photographed from a projected slide

We have been there for eight years now and are very happy with all aspects. Now where did I put the moorers loyalty card?

Just a thought, albeit everso slightly off topic as the title does specifically refer to engines. Lets not forget the other areas on a boat that can be damaged by freezing, namely the domestic water and the bog.

I will not enter that particular debate but if you want your mudweight with a smile and genuine gratitude I suggest you go to Ludham Bridge, I lost mine down South, gave them a ring and they had one waiting for me when I passed a couple of days later.

Can we clarify this issue please . From the above and from what I have read I believe there are two totally separate issues 1< The Bio content causing issues with water absorption and the "bug" This must be a real issue to many private owners who keep a full tank and top up with say 20 or 30 litres two or three times a year. Is this a big problem, will it be overcome by fastidious annual changing of the filters ? say once a year. 2, Lack of lubrication to fuel pump etc. Looks like there is a simple solution to this from the notes above. But how serious is it again will it mean major panic in an engine that only does 100 or so hours a year. The thread title refers to "blowing up" does this refer to a potential catestropic failure or are we just talking about a new pump in about 10 yrs after if gets erratic or smoky. There was a comment made about the engine running on its own lube, if that is a consequence it is a serious business and Blowing up is a valid term. I have never seen a diesel engine do this but have had direct conversation with two people who have seen it and it is scary. One was on an old Lister generator motor and the other on a new Ford Ranger due to a turbo fault. I believe it is a brave person who sticks around to try and stick a rag in the air intake of an old engine spinning at twice is normal speed. and indeed in the case of the lister it was ineffective and was only stopped by emptying a CO2 extinquisher into the intake. An instruction was issued at work after that was that " If an engine runs away so do you." So anyone got any idea of the magnitude of the issue please?

Hi This seems a profound mystery. Trying to think from scratch Is the water leaving the shower tray or does it fill up and not drain away? If it does drain away it will have to go somewhere my thought is keep poring it in till you find where it is draining to you will eventually see or hear it. It will have to be either the bilge or out of a disconnected pipe. As already suggested a bit of food coloutr if you are uncertain) If it doesn't drain away then you must be looking for a pump if it is a diaphragm pump like we have on Woodland Dawn you will hear it making more row than the Perkins however it it is an impeller pump it will be a lot quieter and its reason for not performing could be power not getting to it , motor or impeller siezed or just spinning without turning the impeller. As I have said before on this forum the most useful bit of kit on a boat is a cheap multimeter it will answer all sorts of questions you cannot see electricity it aint like fuel or water without one you have no way of even starting to find an electrical fault. Revisit the switch if it you think it might be something to do with the shower. Is there power there ? this might need a second long peice of wire to find the earth from several feet away. If there is no power it could indicate a fuse fault (more likely bad contact than blown) Turn the meter onto a current range put it across the switch without pressing it , if you get a reading it will indicate that there is something drawing power ie a pump you cannot hear or one that aint pumping. Finally although the first two tests ought to negate the need disconnect the leads and test the switch on the resistance range. Remember boats are damp places and electrical connectors can corrode and give al sorts of faults Finally if you havent already done it look round the outside of the hull and look at all the deck fittings, work out what each one does ie sinks deck drains etc and see if there is one that could be a shower outlet, I am sure it would need to be above water level (for a couple of good reasons) and hence the need for a pump Good luck, oh and one question I cannot answer is why would a boat need a shower or even water for that matter I thought the rules were quite clear don't wash and drink beer.

Reminds me of a project a colleage of mine built. He was given an old chest freezer. He modified it for brewing and or storage, the project involved installing a heater in the form of a light buld and a thermostat arangement. By means of which he could control the temperature over a huge range from freezing cold to about 20 degrees.

My money is on a lucar connector that has relaxed with age and festered over the winter. Least I hope so for the sake of the owner's money Just off the top of my head not sure if there would be an ignition feed to the tach maybe just alternator feed and earth, it is also very unlikely that it would be a fuse unique to the tacho and other things would be out of action i.e temp guage and maybe charge. Again if a fuse was involved my money would be on corrossion in the holder rather than blown. On the issue of tachos, whilst if it is there I would want it to work, but given the choice between a tach on an engine that did not do above 2.5 K and a chocolate teapot I would consider the teapot to be more usefull

Hi Biggles, The discussion so far has suggested a mechanical tacho. Have you in fact verified that this is the case. It could be electronic driven off of the alternator, sometimes from an extra wire soldered to the rectifier. You may be simply suffering from no more than a corroded connector that just need cleaning up at either the engine end or the tacho end.

Dave That varnish looks magnificent. Yes I have a feeling that all that epoxy has got to come off.l My fear is as strowager says that it will harbour the moisture. Fortunately the polyester resin I used to bond in the repairs has soaked into the wood and is really strong It is a case of what I thought was a good job finished now requires hours more work Thanks for the input guys

Over winter and spring 2008/9 I gave my mirror dinghy a birthday. Having replaced a square in the floor towards the aft end I then decided it would be a good idea to give the whole floor a coat of epoxy resin. "last for ever thought I" The dinghy spent 6 months of 2009 outside covered with a canvas cover. After some heavy rain a small amount of water got in remaining there for a couple of weeks at the most. I was surprised to see that the resin had been attacked in places when the water had stood and was reduced to white powder There were a couple of similar spots on the deck as well. The mirror has spent the last 12 months in my garage at home and today I was full of enthusiasm to have a closer look at the resin. The inspection revealed some opaque patches and closer inspection suggested that it was away from the wood Chipping and scraping away reveals that I can peal the resin off even where it appears to be stuck. So the question is did I make the mistake of resining over varnish, even though it was roughed first, and what to do next I have scraped/pealed it off from the lowest part of the hull ie inside batten as far as the thwart The resin it still looking good behind the thwart I am reluctant to try to remove it all as it would take hours and hours. Any idea why the resin was attacked and did not stick?. Have I got to get it all off and varnish instead. ? Was it bad luck and can I get away with just re-resining where I remove the old stuff. The resin was a new tin of SP 106 The temperature was cold at the time and I put the boat cover over it with a 60 watt bulb burning for a couple of days. Boat was nice and dry having been in the garage for some months and the resin dried hard and was three months inside after the resin was applied Possibly difficult to answer but has anyone any ideas please

Sounds like it still ought to go back to the people who rebuilt it. As for run away which this does not sound like I have had two , second hand, accounts of this. One was when I was an apprentice, a colleague test ran a standby generator powered a 1940 - 50 ish vintage Lister. This fine old engine ran at a terryfying speed and despite the noise my colleague attempted to stop it by suffocating it , it flattened the air filter ate the rag and kept on running. He them emptied a fire extinquisher into the air filter which calmed the beast. We were then issued instructions from the powers that be that in the event of a similar engine run away we were to to the same, ie run away and make no attempt to stop it. The second case was about 8 years ago and involved a colleague with a virtually new Ford Ranger, the guy realising what had happened closed the door and watched from a safe distance. The theory was this was due to turbo failure and I was slightly concerned because I had just bought a Mazda car with what I believe was the same engine . It is however I believe a very rare occurrance

Ken Knowing your boat I suspect you had the same problem us us, coat after coat of thick grey anti slip paint pealing in different layers. Like you I scraped all the loose flaking bit off sometimes it came right off to the gell coat and sometimes to the previous layer. After I got the loose stuff off as best as I could I then used a product called strippit, designed I believe for anti fouling. I bought it at Norfolk marine. I chose this for 2 reasons, firstly because it does not attack gel coat and secondly it is cheap, about £15 for 3kgs. It does not attack 2 pack although it can discolour it. It is a slow job because I had to shave it off in order that it did not either splash other boats or polute the water. Leaving it overnight< a damp dewey night is ideal it will be all loose and bubbly in the morning and I was able to get right back to gell coat and replace with a single layer of interdeck, which is showing no sign of pealing at all. Just getting mucky and scratched though. Careful of paintstripper though if your boat is not painted in two pack, if I remember correctly yours has been repainted.

Ah good point , I have never really thought about the difference in hold depending on how the thing is presented to the mud. This will probably start a whole new chain of debate on the forum Certainly there is nothing but gentle presentation when it is held on stainles shrowd cable, I am assuming an electric winch would also lower the weight is a fairly sedate manner

That sounds completely different to my trailer winch set up which has forward and reverse ratchet and winds up and down in a highly civilised and safe manner. I agree with the bit about dangling the weight over the bows and get round that by having about a foot or so of rope spliced to the weight which gives a safe if muddy handle to lift it that last few inches onto the deck

Yes I guess that a hand winch would be particularly difficult on an Elysian with a bad back as having no well as such it would be a hands and knees job, not easy, anyway have a play on WD and you will see how easy to turn the winch is,

Newf Hi being a cheapskate I have fitted a trailer winch, seens more than adequate for dragging the weight out of the mud. It will not last for ever but who cares they cost next to nothing. Just one thing though, the galvanised wire will only last a year so change it for stainless steel shrowd cable if you get one I believe you moor at Rickos, if so have a look on Woodland Dawn, behind the dinghy shed. Feel free to wind the weight up and down.

I reckon the simple answer is a cheap inverter, something like this. http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Inverter-12v-230v ... 53e2464cb9. Check the consumption of the TV first though as I have no idea what they consume and whether 150 watt is enough. The days of internal transformer type supplies have long gone and as you say they are all switch mode things giving a variety of outputs. I use a Tescos DVD player on the boat , £14.95 and when I got it home was miffed to see that it was 240 volts in so I bought one of these types of things except it was £3.95 new on ebay, it works fantastically with the DVD http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/CAR-PLUG-DC-AC-PO ... 3f002801f3

Hi Colin and welcome to the forum. I had a similar problem when we bought Woodland Dawn, Calypso 28. I suspect ours was caused by years of hirers jumping onto it. In our case tere was a visible split in the top . It is a 2 layer structure and I believe it is designed to drain, in our case it caused water to drip onto the engine after it had entered the crack. This I suspect contributed to the subsequent demise of the starter and then the alternator. As well as a crack in the top the bottom layer was also tearing away in a couple of places. I suspect this was caused by an earlier repair attempt whereby somesone had poured half a pint of resin into the crack. The repair I did was by sawing all round the inside to separate top and bottom and then laminating three of four layers of glass matt inside the top. It was when I attempted to separate the two halves that I discovered the resin. lots of sawing and muttering. It was this wad of resin that had transferred the force tearing the inside layer It was then a matter of glassing it back together. Annoying thing is I have looked at every other Calypso I could and have never seen this type of damage again. Hope you get it sorted OK