floydraser

It's worth a lot more than that if it saves me and/or someone else spending money on the wrong gear. Thank you for taking the time to type it all out. Are you sure that's allowed? I'm surprised it got past the moderators. Sounds like a line from a song by Ramblin' Sid Rumpo..... Anyway, back to the main subject. The reason I said a two piece was that I thought it would be easier to leave it kitted up in the boat and therefore quicker to whip out for a bit of dangling in between jobs. Someone in the marina expressed a view that telescopics weren't so good? I would be interested in your opinion. The timing of this is due to the time of year. The kids have asked for Christmas present suggestions and as the man who has everything, I am difficult to buy for. I'll suggest the smaller bits to them for a start then add my own choices later on. For a decent main rod I look forward to going into a shop and trying a few along with a reel. I've seen Angling Direct in Wroxham and it will cost me a visit to the dress shop opposite with Mrs Raser when I go! The rod I have is a three piece 12 footer with threaded top eye for a tip. I used to have a swing tip but it must have gone with the other stuff. I got it out of the attic the other day and found one of the eyes was badly corroded. A replacement was a whole £3. I decided to push the boat right out and replaced all apart from the top eye, for £6. I wouldn't have bothered but for sentimental value. Thanks again.

Often stuff is now more expensive through them and It's worth shopping around. I also don't like the way they try and trick you into signing up for Amazon Prime; you have look very closely for the tiny text which allows you to buy something without signing up, then they try to get you again at the next stage! They got me once. You only get one reminder to cancel before they start charging you. And they've nicked the Rugby!

I think if you wrote a book and published it through Amazon, you may have a different view of that. Comedian David Mitchell express a view that he didn't agree with Amazon's business model even though his books are available through them. Publish through them is free but your book is not promoted anywhere. Once you start that you have to sign up to pages of American legal jargon and start paying commission.

I answered with "what a shame, we wouldn't want Amazon's profits to suffer would we?" but they don't accept replies. We could happily survive without either of them. Do Amazon have their own credit card by any chance? I packed up using Ebay to sell because they dumped Paypal and starting handling the money themselves.

What a contribution he made for us all. I'm sorry I never got the opportunity to meet him.

So I'm thinking about taking up fishing again. Every time I go to the boat, the fish are making rude, slurping noises in my direction to tease me. I packed up years ago and gave all the kit away apart from one rod. Does the team think I should get any particular piece of equipment apart from the obvious coarse fishing kit? I'll be fishing from the boat or from the bank near the boat. Mainly the Yare at BGM. No more up at sparrow's fart in the rain and sitting in mud for hours on end. I used to do that when I was younger, fitter and even more stupid. My kit was all hand-me-downs in fact the only thing that wasn't second hand was the bait. I've looked at Youtube and discovered I was never taught the basics properly which may explain my often empty keep net. I won't be after anything massive so I'll be sticking to something around 4lb line. I'm thinking a two piece rod so easier to store in the boat. I'm also thinking starter kit with everything in it, literally for a start. I am blessed with 7 Grandchildren and anyone similarly blessed won't need a crystal ball to see what will happen. So after one of them has pinched the starter kit I'll get myself a nice, shiny new rod and reel. And a good, long handled landing net? I already have a 12ft 3 piece rod given to me by my Uncle Len Stewardson from his shop in Rugby when I was about 12. No, it's not split cane! Any tips greatly appreciated.

I predict that a thread about the restoration of this boat is going to be one of the most popular threads on here for many a year! I love the comparison of the old and new photos - are they handles for winding the windows? The original upholstery looks very comfortable indeed.

As a business a potential buyer would look at the profit/loss/takings situation and negotiate accordingly. There's probably more value in the potential of the land and if I were the owners I would want to cash in for my retirement.

If someone lets me know when the auction is I'll give it a go. Plenty of funds left since I was outbid on the ex-Alphacraft yard. You never know, if it's Cruso & Wilkin I may get it for the "magic pound". But seriously folks, in reality I think whoever owns the land that Brooms sits on will want to win it. You could try hoping that an excentric millionaire bids for sentimental reasons.

I get that; I could see why anyone would get that impression. I've said this before about East Anglians: they are either outgoing and friendly, or hard work, and friendly. I always thought of getting Paul to smile as a challenge, I did manage it once. Nobody mentioned the filthy gent's toilet yet so I will. For all that, I would still go back if I wanted a good place to go for a meal. In the modern era with our high expectations of good customer service, some of these poeple would struggle to get employment if they didn't work for themselves.

Good heavens, what ever will "the last of the summer wine" do!? Three old boys who seemed to live at the end of the bar where you walked in. For me, they helped create a friendly atmosphere just by being there. I hope the new owners get rid of that chuffing step which always catches me out! It'll be funny to see it without a desk full of paperwork. Lovely pub but apart from anything else I think Michael and Paul deserve a decent retirement. I can see apartments being built in that area in the future but they would have little appeal without a pub that side of the railway. I could see it going the way of Windermere Marina Village if the investment was there.

Thanks everybody. I was just being cautious and didn't want to discover there was a miracle boaty oil available after I had spent my money. I'll stick with SAE 20 with a decent brand name. I don't mind change but I know old engines are not always so broad minded. One sniff of a modern synthetic and they hit the self destruct button.

Wood is alive. Don't use immature wood as it won't understand what you want it to do. Don't use teenage wood, it'll be awkward and do the exact opposite of what you want it to do. That's why boats are built with matured wood; you can reason with it and get it on your side. Sometimes. Good luck. Prefer metal myself.

There comes a time in every man's life when he has to change the oil in his boat engine. I am seeking advice on what oil to use. The engine is a Thornycroft/Leyland/Standard /Triumph/Fergy Tractor jobby. OE.160 Oil recommended by the original instruction book: Mobil Delvac Special – Shell Rotella 20/20W – Esso HD20 – BP Energol SAE20 etc. Looking like SAE20 then? The bottle of Morris's SAE 20 tucked in the engine would suggest that's what is already in the sump. The oil pressure comes up quickly and looks healthy. So should I stick with SAE 20 or has oil technology moved on and produced a better alternative? I won't be doing it until next year but someone round here was selling off excess stock the other day. Thank you in advance for all the helpfull advice.

Somebody please tell me Edward Woodward was a nice bloke....

Excellent. Well done and thanks to all those involved in the preservation of the forum. I am very confident the future of the forum is in very good hands.

It's very reassuring to read that you, Ian and Polly are not going anywhere. The forum would be much poorer without your contributions. Well done and thank you.

He clearly didn't intend keeping it until they had grown into to adults.

Not off subject at all, welcome any contributions. I keep thinking this thread has the wrong name as the Denham Owl is not strictly a Harvey Eastwood. I didn't know that 3 years ago when I arrived on the forum. It's a Santa Caterina Mark IV if anyone cares. She was never a hire boat though. Flip back a page or two of the thread and there's stuff about how I've traced the records. The bunks in the forecabin (or should that be forward stateroom?) are only youth sized due to the original owner's preferences.

I nipped over again on Monday with a view to staying a couple of days. First thing I noticed was that the water was as lower than I had ever seen it before. Not as low as some of the pictures I've seen but very low indeed. The Owl was actually aground and listing to port. It was a very weird feeling! Combination of the low water and the chuffing great lake which had formed in the cover due to the recent heavy rain. I hadn't thought to take my spare bilge pump and pipe so I had to stand there with the manual jobby while it syphoned. Then it was dark. Damned nuisance these short daylight hours! Then once again, despite a favourable forecast, it rained. Aagh! Cover on. Nothing to do then so had a beer, something to eat, then stripped out the internal panelling to inspect the starboard deck supporting timbers, or what's left of them. Videoed it and that was that. Tuesday was nice and bright but the underside of the cover was dripping with condensation so I had to get my waterproof coat on, crawl to the edge to undo the elastics and roll it back. Oh look, frost! I thought about the poor lady who bought the boat to live the dream in Scotland, only to find it leaked like a sieve. She would have had to do the same every morning and then go to work. No wonder she gave up, brave lady though. I've trimmed down the tools I made for the deck and so I cleaned out the slots ready for resin. My slot funnel worked a treat! I had moved the pillows and spread some old towels out on the bed to catch any resin that made it through the deck but they weren't needed; although some did get through I was able to wipe it away before it got anywhere to make a mark. I was pleased to see it come through though; I know I will have sealed it when I've finished. I need to modify the funnel as the slot tends to close up. I'll add some bits to enable me to squeeze the slot open while pouring. And although it worked fine for liquid, the slot wouldn't be wide enough for fibreglass matting so I'll use heavy duty tape along the slot edges for that. Back to the starboard deck timbers then. The neighbours wouldn't have appreciated the noise of my multi-tool at 22.00 the night before so I cut away some rot with it around late morning, then measured for new supports. Lunch. I had planned to have a look at the diesel supply, but stopped after draining the water separator, which didn't contain any water! At that point, around 13.00, I made the decision to come home a day early. I had done all the important stuff and there was a smell of resin around the rear bedroom (sorry, stateroom). The British Seagull is now here and looking good. It's nothing like the piece of scrap I was expecting. Everything there including a new plug and the mounting. As expected though, no spark. Rare on a BS anyway! So this is where one turns to Youtube. Points cleaned and set, ignition module tested – perfect. But no spark. Tell me you all knew this and I was the only one who didn't: If you remove the plug and spin the motor with an electric drill at around 1500 rpm for 5 minutes, you get a spark. Yep, works. I'll be cleaning out the carb today and having a go at starting it later....

Actually, just this very day I have learned how to restore the spark on a Seagull, using an electric drill, but I'll save it for my restoration thread.

Er, best forget the Seagull then...

I've now got the British Seagull from the auction. You're more than welcome to use that for now; no bodywork at all!

We keep getting lovely sunshine and occasional short, sharp and heavy showers and we're 30 miles from Sywell. I'm confident he should have a great time. Fingers crossed.

I had the Denham Owl craned in by Tingdene at Brundall. Not up to date with modern standards of customer service. If I wanted it craned out I would look elsewhere.