Mowjo

Thanks Strow! I thought I was sort of right even though I've only ever heard of one case where it did actually kill someone, but he had a pacemaker fitted so I presume something affected that, basically what I was trying to say is never underestimate your 12v system, it's not as harmless as we think, when I'm out looking for a new boat, I'm on No7 now, the first things I check are the engine, because if it's nice and clean the chances are the owner has taken a bit of care of it, the next is the electrics and in nine out of ten boats I've looked at they are sub standard or even dangerous, and believe me I've looked at hundreds over the years, I've seen everything from domestic solid core twin and earth to bell wire being used, how there arn't more boat fires I'll never know, when I bought my Freeman Dragonfly I found six joins in a three foot lenght of cable and one of the bits in the middle was a bit of orange extension cable,, Frank,,,

OK! don't ever say I don't try to help, kill two birds with one stone and please Alan and Grace, Pink and Black ones, I'll get my coat shall I ??

Jon needs one of those just to get through the yard! have you seen the size of those puddles when it rains??? Frank,,,,

Doug! many years ago when we were at Wayford, long before Jon got there, we had a guy called Colin that replaced all the rotten planking using old Pallets, he even used proper scarf joints in fact did everthing right apart from the pallet wood, the boat looked a beauty after it had all been painted and went on for many more years, perhaps he knew something we don't about pallets, come to think of it! you never see a rotten pallet! when I bought Blue mist 30 years back it had a lot of osmosis, I dug it all out and had hole in the gel coat the size of dustbin lids, not knowing any better even though everyone told me "you can't do that" I filled them all using car body filler, it was the pink polyester type, that boat is still going today under a different name and the filler I put on is still there with no problems, I learnt a long time ago that just because some has the lable Marine on it, dosn't always mean it's better, it just means it's twice the price,,, Frank,,,

There's loads of colours and size 2's on the site I put on, size 2 is Size 23" x 6" (58cm x 15cm) or Size 26" x 6" (65cm x 15cm) in the heavy duty ones,,,

I always use this company,, http://www.compassmarine.co.uk/PBCPPlayer.asp?ID=1308101

Iain! I think I'd better not mention that one my first real boat thirty years ago, I completely re-wired the whole boat right back to the engine, new fuse boxes, busbars you name it I re-fitted it, but as I had been used to the old black and red cables, and I was using the relativly new blue and brown wires, I somehow got it into my head that the blue was live, so I re-wired the whole boat using blue as live and brown as neutral, it was about a year later when I went to add a new bilge pump that I realised what I had done, but too late I wasn't ripping it all out again, I kept the boat for another five years then sold it via a broker, I pity the poor S*d that bought it I bet they did a bit of head scratching and cursing the last owner, Frank,,,,

Maurice! the reason I don't like the block is the actual screw, it tends to cut into the core wires, so you never reall gat a full connection,, They do these nickle plated ones, http://www.force4.co.uk/holt-marine-terminal-block-12-way-10amp.html#.VEaG5Bbtd-w And I've just discovered these, I havn't tried them yet but I have some on order,, http://stores.ebay.co.uk/A1-DISTRIBUTORS/CONNECTORS-WAGO-/_i.html?_fsub=2956756013

Andy's picture of a classic example of why I will never advise anyone on installing 240v, what surprises me most is when I had my BSS done a few months ago I noticed the examiner never even looked at the 240v when I asked why he told me it's not part of the examination, very suprised at that as it's the one thing guaranteed to kill you if it's wrong, if you check out auto elecrtic suppliers you'll find a whole range of different cable fixings, I clip all my cables with the correct size P clips about every nine inches and my mains cable is clipped every six inches, as Strow points out even the so called Pro's can do a bad job so when anyone ask's I always advise them to have them checked, most people don't even realise that in the right circumstances even 12v can kill you, I can't swear to it but I think it's the Ampage that can kill you not the voltage, apart from that dodgy wiring can and does cause a lot of fires on boats or in cars, so if in doub't leave it alone and get someone that knows what they are doing to do it for you,

Ah but we answer everything here! even if it's a stupid answer or remark,,

Peter! thats DIY auto pilot, I've done that on Barton, full lock and tied it off so I went in circles, I had an engine problem that only happened under load, it worked a treat and I solved the problem,,, Frank,,,,

Sue! they did a study years ago when someone asked why women were having better catches at mixed matches, apparently it's all down to a womans Pheromones, I think that just mens Fish prefere sexy women to us scruffy old men,, Frank,,,,

What happened no rain or wind here in Lowestoft, and I put off going to the boat because of the weather warnings,, Frank,,,

BR! getting stuck under qual headings is exactly why I keep a couple of spare fenders, I have two dumpy ones that I put out stern or side on, I started doing it after I saw the rubbing strakes ripped off the side of a boat, Frank,,,,

I phoned a friend, and it's a boat,,,

My Judi is better than my Son in Law and me and we are both ex match fishermen and won quite a few matches between us, but on the Broads she outfishes us every time, I scaled my kit back to around six rods and poles, my son inlaw has a shop load of stuff, between us our kits cost thousands, Yup! you guessed it, Judi uses a £5 whip from Lathams and nine times out of ten catches more than we do, if only I could get here to put her own bait on and take the fish off, I might actally have time to fish,, how many women do you know that can land a 20lb Pike on a £5 whip, she did at Wroxham last year, needless to say son in law and me stopped fishing and told her it was just luck, not that we were jealous or anything,,, Frank,,,,

Andy! it was more of a woman thing, as soon as we bought the boat the first thing Judi said was! I don't like the toilet someone else has used it, but she also said that about the almost new cooker and fridge on her, not bad £1200 out of pocket in just one sentence, but hey ho! thats why we love them! I think,,,, Frank,,,,

Peter! as a kid I was always in Dads shed making stuff from old bits of wood, most things way beyond my capability's but I'd always give it a try, Dad would walk in look at me and just say, "Your Pi**ing in the wind again" I think I was in my 20's before I knew he meant I was trying to do something with no chance of succeeding, I often proved him wrong but that saying still makes me smile,, You mention bucket and chuck it, I've been trying to be good but the Devil made me do it! How come no-one has mentioned peeing in the sink?? you lot normally manage to take things to the lowest level! and no! i've never done it! but the state of some of the toilets i've been in I must admit I've been tempted,,,Ones in some marinas seem the worst and you all know what I mean, I often wonder what some peoples loos are like at home, Frank,,,,

I wondered what the difference was, I call them Dump Throughs, I had one on the Hampton I think the seals were worn and boy did that thing stink the boat out, I had to open the door and windows then spray to get rid of the smell, even the it stank all the time, luckily the holding tank was half in the floor so I converted it to a Jabsco, all I had to do was make a plate up to cover the hole and drill a small hole in the tank for the waste inlet, one thing I learnt is that stainless steel is a b****r to drill, but the conversion was a good choice, when I had the boat out I was going to fit a seperate hull inlet for it as the hose run was too long, I could have got the inlet and stopcock directly behind the tank, but as I decided to sell the boat I didn't bother, but don't tell Trevor that! Frank,,,,,

Hi Andy! I have seen that stuff but never tried it, I always used to use the normal heatshrink but now I've switched to the adhesive one so I get double protection, like you I won't have terminal blocks anywhere on the boat for the reasons you said, it's the first thing I check for when I get a boat, I even change all the fuse boxes over to the blade type or the ring terminal ones, the only problems I've ever had were caused by the screw clamp type or the ceramic fuses corroding, no I only use the blade type, I'll use a terminal block as an emergency repair but change it over as soon as I can, my trouble is I keep finding them hidden away under bunks and often tucked into the roof for the lights, another habit I have is if I find more than one join in a cable I rip it out and re-cable it, I'm probably a bit OTT with my electrics and check them once a year, but better safe than sorry I think, I've seen too many boat, car and house fires due to dodgy wiring,,, Frank,,,,

OK you lot! enough of the cra*py smart remarks, get back on topic, and if anyone tells me to bog off i'll let Cedric loose,,, Frank,,,,,

Iain! it's not the thread it's the Loo paper bin,,,,

Eric it's been a bit hight for the last week, spoke to Jon at Wayford last week and he said on one day they had a months rain, at our Marina the water is up 6" to 9" above normal,,, Frank,,,

This was the deodoriser thing I was trying to think of http://www.brianwards.co.uk/toilets/maintenance/jabsco-toilet-fresh.html, Dave! the problem with mine was it was a two or three metre run from the stopcock to the loo and it was the water left in the pipe that stank and would be full of black bits which I've been told are dead bacterior, never had it on any other boat and I've always used Jabsco twist locks, like you I'd turn the stopcock off and give it a few pumps to get the water out, but the pipe run from the loo to the stopcock was always short, so I think the answer is either fresh water flush or make sure if river water the pipe run is as short as possible,, Frank,,,,,,,

Alan! it's usually me making the noise, I'm aways up to something apart from that it's usualy pretty quite and relaxing there, quite often we don't even bother leaving the marina and spend the weekend there, one thing I would say is if you decide to moor their ask David not to put you over by the new workshop in the new section, I think I may get a bit noisy there once it's up and running, the good thing is if you let David know he will move you if another mooring when one comes up, Frank,,,,