Karizma

I have a Mercedes c220d and needed to replace the rear brake pads - all was good until I had to push the calliper pistons in, to make room for the new pads - could I get them to retract using a G clamp - not a chance. Went onto YouTube and hey presto - secret 'maintenance menu' accessible by pressing a few buttons in a certain order to retract the pistons automatically! YouTube certainly better than the traditional Haynes car manual.

We travelled from Beccles to Reedham today with the canopy down all the way - had early dinner (16.30) in the Lord Nelson and then headed back 'Beccles bound' in the dark stopping at Somerlyton for the night to get shore power. What a lovey day on the southern rivers !

yes me too. Not tech'y enough to know how to do that !

Great photos Chris

Thanks for the details Griff. Karizma also has 2 tube heaters (not sure what wattage) in the engine bay, on a thermostatically activated 240v socket set at +2c, so thats about the same as yours. Again most of the 15mm pipework is plastic , but my calorifier is right up the front in the bow of the boat, so a little less protected than items in the engine bay. ........ and she's got a 'plastic' hull, so a little less protection than your 'woodie' ! Gives me some things to think about for sure ..... Cheers Steve

Hi Griff, do you drain the water tanks (fresh water / hot water) and pipework as well as switch on the frost heater(s)? How many heaters do you have installed and are they just positioned around the engine? or do they protect other areas of the boat as well? I'm taking Karizma out of the water this winter (for the first time since we bought her two years ago), and i'm starting to put together my 'winterising' to do list !

Chris, I certainly didn't do as much travelling as you, but we did: Beccles to Acle, Acle to Womack, Womack to Ranworth (where we met you), Ranworth to Somerleyton and finally Somerleyton to Beccles: This resulted in 32 ltrs of diesel and 16.6 taco hours = 1.9 ltrs per taco hour compared with your 3.36 ltrs per taco hour

Got all the way down to Somerleyton. Rivers were very quiet on the trip 'south'. Only 1 boat moored at Yarmouth YS as we passed! Safe trip home and see you next season.

Well done Chris - knew you'd be ok going up the dyke. Enjoy your meal at the White Horse ...........

We have the pleasure of mooring up at the side of Chris and Brenda at Ranworth tonight. Great talking to you both (.......before it chucked it down with rain!). Busy as always at Ranworth. PS: make sure you try Upton dyke tomorrow (as per your itinerary !) ........ you'll be fine Steve, Tracy & Cody (the dog)

wow, congratulations. what a lovely thing to do for this dog. I think Pozzick has just won the 'doggy lottery' (if there is such a thing!).

welcome to the forum and hope you get on the river as quickly as possible

nice - so who had what?

Yes certainly well deserved. Being our 'home moorings'; they have a great team there, who are always available when you need something.

My youngest son and his girlfriend is taking over Karizma on the Northern rivers, on their own, for the very first time in a couple of weeks, and although he's had a couple of long 'tuition' weekends out with us, I'm still a little bit nervous - not about his handling of the boat (I'm sure he will be careful and remember everything he's learnt), but how much thought he gives to making sure boats around him are also careful, and what to do if something unfortunate happens. I'll be taking Vaughan's guidance and printing it out for him to follow ......... hopefully he won't need it!

I have the same unit and you can buy the glow plug 'tool' off fleeBay (not much money) and certainly worth the purchase if you intend to service the unit yourself in the future mine was doing a similar thing to yours and I hadn't a clue but decided to take it out, take it home and strip it down. They are very simple units with not many parts and mine just needed a good clean out. Gaskets, filters etc are all easy to purchase off fleebay. mine now works a treat.

Excellent thread - always good to read and then compare with ones own installation. Agree with all the key points made on here and my experience is that we use our's mostly when connected to shore power (mostly for convenience with domestic appliances, knowing we'll definitely have hot water in a morning! and fully charged batteries), or whilst cruising to make a cuppa with the canopy down (as it blows out the gas hob ). Thanks again to all those for sharing their knowledge and experiences

thanks - will look out for it when next down on the river.

".............after mooring at the totem pole moorings" thats a new one for me (and I travel that stretch of river often being Beccles based), any chance of a clue / photo where that one is?

boats look fantastic - have a great day everyone - we'll try and arrange our diaries to join you all next time round.

some great info sharing from this post - I'm learning loads - keep it up please

great effort - looks really good.

I think I would have expected them to 'test' the system to make sure it was all ok. Certainly worth going back and asking them the question!

thanks for sharing, you've been on a tough journey. as always boats are full of surprises for the first 12 months ..........at least. I'm sure it will all work out fine for you. ATB.

we are moored up here tonight - recycle bins were emptied this afternoon, though they didn't pick up the waste that left on the floor, which is a real shame as it makes the area look a mess. Think the bins were better placed where they were before rather than on the quay side. one positive, it's noticeable that they are trying to tidy up all the waste ground area between the basin and the railway lines - looks a lot better.