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Hi My winch will only free fall if i go up front and undo the clutch never done this as i have a 90Kg weight on chain, i just press down button at the helm until the sound changes when weight hits bottom, I have a painted mark on the chain when weight retracted as i dont have a auto stop. I had a Vetus winch on my previous boat which required me to walk up to bows to use it no good for letting go when stern on mooring unless third party present to operate it I like to let go before I touch the bank to keep me from touching/knocking the bank at night. You will need a container under the bows to hold the chain, winches wont work with rope unless you are there to hold the rope pressure on the drum. I would be reluctant to use a mud weight without a winch, best thing since sliced bread!!. they keep the doctor at bay. John

Hi If the PRV is being screwed onto a tapered fitting on top of the tank use 3 1/2 turns of PT tape wrapped in clockwise direction, it is good practice to direct the outlet side via a pipe to the outer hull or bilge as when the release valve opens the small amount of water will not stain or wet any surfaces you want to keep clean. John

Hi Back in the 70's when automatic choke's stated to be fitted, drivers didn't know/or didn't set them before starting they then would flood then call us out, by the time we arrived the the flooding would have evaporated we then pressed the throttle then turned the key!! Walla it would start, some would ask us what the magic was that we used. Since then it's been down hill all the way since green issues started. We had a similar problem with diesels, when emissions started people that had diesels and just drove around town would clog the exhaust up and fail the emissions. We then had to thrash them in low gear around ring road to clear the particulates partials. Diesels dont do well in short runs at slow speeds. John

Hi Floyd my 2.4 Accord needs a plug change every 100,000 miles according to Honda. Only done 46,000 so far , thinking to get a small electric car as the Tesla is working out well with no issues, I like the ability to switch the heater on from the phone so it is nice and warm when we drive it away. John

You dont have to stop the flow just restrict it the tide pressure would hold it down against the bridge abutments until the tide changed then it would pop up and swing open. John

The trouble these days with diesel cars is they are so complicated to combat the emissions they have become more unreliable with more things to go wrong. When diesels where agriculture they had little to go wrong providing the fuel was clean. Now you need AdBlue plus the fuel plus a expensive exhaust system lots of add ones all to get the emissions down and a few more miles to the gallon plus a 0to 60 time that equals a petrol engine. I have all ways had a petrol car for private use. Diesels in boats are reliable as they are just basic no emission control or 0 to 60 rubbish. Petrol car is cheaper and more reliable on the whole than diesel and easier to repair and service. John

IIf they had a floating barrier at the new bridge to restrict the in coming tidal flow to let more water drain down to Braden then when the tide level goes down the gate/barrier would swing open letting normal flow out. A hollow box with water in lower half to maintain it up right connected on one side with rope!!! then as incoming tide comes in the gate/barrier would swing shut restricting the in coming tidal flow. This would be cheaper than dredging and quicker there is a ship repairer close by who I'm shore could fabricate it. John

Hi by going to a main dealer you get all the latest info/settings. The down side is, there hourly charge is higher and any repairs they do is to bring the vehicle back to as new condition. A typical example is when you go to have you brake pads replaced they will want to replace the discs as well, this is often not required as a few scores on them wont effect the stopping power. By going to a local garage they no this and will often only replace the pads at a quarter of the price. you dont always need the disc's replacing. Its the same with other item's like door mirrors your local garage will be happy to fit a second hand one where as the main agent wont. You pay's your money and get what you pay for(mostly). John

Hi Cabby I use two lengths of plastic hose enclosed in foam sheath with a rope at one end these sink down vertically well below water line and will stop me over topping when tides are over topping the bank/Quay heading they take up very little space as they are only 2 inches dia and two foot long plus rope and stop the hull from scratching long enough until tide drops. John

When i had my new boat CE certified i had to have three bilge pumps one auto. one electric Mobile one and a manual operated one adjacent to the auto one. if the boat sinks while you are not on board it's not life threating, if on board you have two additional pumps that are manually operated. John

Hi you could fit the new type black stick on flexible ones. John

Hi Meantime perhaps if you ring the yacht station they can tell you, i have only seen them wide open with the water rushing through as i waked over the foot bridge to the pub. They have hydraulic rams to operate them. John

Hi Janet they only do this on the ebb tide that's why they have double gates, plus the tide at Lowestoft is after Yarmouth.. John

They use to open the lock gates at Oulton Broad to drain Waveney faster into Lake Loathing, any body there noticed this happening this year?. John

Hi Meantime Coldham Hall is on the Yare not the Waverny. John

The word Halfords is the clue, Go to a proper Electrical source Wards at Brundel is a good start, What is your boat or life worth? to protect it from fire. John

This happens nearly every year at the Locks and Beccles and along the flood plain all the way along the Waveney as far as Scole. John

Hi perhaps two many planning staff with not enough planning work to keep them occupied. John

Halfords are NOT your local friendly helpful independent Garage, they are a country wide get rich crowd. John

Floydraser Again that is supposedly unlawful providing you you use genuine parts BUT I always tell my customers to go to main agent for warranty period just in case they get a warranty fault it saves all the has ell for them, then return when warranty is finished. unfortunately with these longer warranty periods they get in the habit of going to main agents for servicing until they get a quota surely for brake pads discs' as well as pads when all they really need is just pads they soon return. Unfortunately many dont hence the number of independents decreasing. John

Grendel Yes had this problem many times, Mercedes in particular. Supposedly unlawful BUT!. John

Hi One advantage with a main dealer is they get to know what models have the same problem, where as and independent dosn't get this repetitive problems. But for straight forward job's servicing, brake replacement etc, they are much cheaper for the same high standard of work. plus you often can speak to the person who worked on your car. Un like the main dealer where you only have access to the reception. John

Why would a day boat need to plug in they are charged over night at a cheap rate and have the battery size to last all day, plus would a day hirer be competent to plug in. the electric points here are to encourage over nighter's to plug in and not run the engines to heat water/charge their battery while moored. Reserving the mooring for day boats from 10am to 5pm could increase foot fall and increase the turnover at the local shops. Seems to work well at the Ship and Ferry. John

YOU MUST NOT release Elson blue fluid into the river or similar toilet treatment, only pure!! untreated human waste. John

Hi diverter valves only work on a pumped toilet, LeeSan have good diagrams for this on there web site. John