mbird

That's a good point Ian. I'd forgotten about the bathing platform sticking out the back!

I agree entirely Trevor, and fitted 2 units to TB for less than £1k. The gas lasted ages too, but in the new boat I don;t think the little Camping Gaz bottles would cope too well

With a breeze blowing you onto the bank, it is normally possible to get the bow of a boat out first, simply by putting a turn of the stern rope around a convenient post, and then engaging reverse gently. I had never seen this trick until it was demonstrated, and then I used it often in TB, and even taught it to hirers on trial runs. Unfortunatley not many people know it, which is why so many hire boats get scraped back and forth along the bank when trying to leave. It looks cool when you do it though, and once you have tried it, seems obvious! With steerable outdrives, though, I would have thought these make life a bit easier. I assume if moored side on to starboard, and wanting to leave in reverse, you would use the port engine with the wheel hard to port would you, in order to reduce the rate of turn and so not scrape the bow along the bank?

Hi Rod Yep, I learned that one too To my way of thinking, with an electric windlass that I can operate from the helm now, that should be even easier than on the bath-tub. It makes a huge difference when mooring stern on, even in a bath-tub that tended to be blown bodily sideways rather than weather-cocking that the new boat is likely to do. Thta's something I picked up from the RYA book I mentioned earlier. It states when trvelling ahead and turning, the pivot point is approx 1/3 the boat length from the bow, whereas it moves when going astern to approx 1/3 from the stern (though hull designs alter this considerably). We all know this from the swipes boat receive from inexperienced helms don't we . The biggest thing for me I think is being able to suss which engine to use when coming alongside, and to what effect. Before I get carried away with wind and tide, I need to be confident in calm conditions!

Far from it Rod From everything I've read, and advice given by various members, the consensus is definately that twin engines give much greater maneoveurability. What I need to overcome is the automatic reactions I have learned over the years with the bath-tubs, as the way these engines react with the duo-pro set up even when just clicking into gear is dramatically different to what I am used to, and that is part of the problem I think. Mind you, I have only attempted 5 moorings so far I just can't wait for the big thaw, so I can actually get out somewhere quiet and try to put into practise all I've read and been told. There is no doubt I am going to have to re-learn even the simplest of manoeveurs, but it's nice to have a challenge every once in a while!

I'd like to see him try that with a bit of wind and tide

Hi Barry I bought them online from http://www.plumbworld.co.uk, as they worked out a lot cheaper than any of the local plumbers merchants. I ordered a 25m coil if the 15mm pipe as I was replumbing the whole boat, and I think it cost around £30. The fittings are a bit pricey, but it still a lot easier to deal with than copper, and probably about the same price, given the cost of copper these days. I can't stress enough, though, they importance of making sure you put the metal sleeves into the pipe before you push it into a fitting. These stop the plastic pipe from crushing and so leaking. The other great thing about it is that you can also use the same fittings on copper pipe, or to join copper to plastic etc. It's dead easy to use, and even cutting it, with the special shears, is a piece of cake.

When I replumbed Tranquil Breeze, I went for the plastic pipe and Hep20 fittings. They are a doddle to use (as long as you remember to put in the metal collars at each joint), the pipe bends so minimising joints (an hence potential leaks), and the best thing is that it can expand 7% so any freezing doesn't split the pipes. If I was doing any plumbing at all on a boat again, I wouldn't hesitate to use this stuff, as it's far more forgiving than copper, and you don't need spanners to fit it. After replumbing ever inch of pipework, we didn't have a single leak - ever!

I am rapidly discovering this Jonathan! I had a large pair of balls for Tranquil Breeze, but only slender sausages on Serenity at the moment, most of which are rather flacid. I shall get a large pair of balls as soon as the weather warms up enough to go out and have a bit of a practice On a slightly more serious note, I had a read last night of a book that Red Rover kindly passed on to me, which is the RYA course notes to accompany the Motor Cruising course. It has quite a bit of info and good tips for mooring with outdrives, so I have a bit more of an idea now. According to this book, to moor side-on, it's best to approach as normal and get a line off the fron by lassoo (as you taught us, Jonanthan), then turn the helm towards the bank and engage a bit of reverse on the outside engine. Thats basically opposite to what I was trying, so I'll have toi give that a go.

Are you sure ???? According to the info I've read, using the Hi and Lo settings you should be able to get from 100 - 6400, although standard range is 200-3200.

No Perry, you are mistaken. They were airbags incase he fell on the ice whilst ashore.

Yes, leave it on Wayne. As has been said, the charger will just provide a float to the battery to keep it topped up, ensuring your bilge pump will have power. Also, fully charged batteries are much less likely to freeze than discharged ones.

Wow Perry. From a P&S, they are stunning photos

Some super shots there Col. That new camera is certainly making a huge difference

Glad you found them eventually Simon . The foot high signs to the viewing area must have been taken down . You still managed to get some good shots though I cannot believe the stupidity of some people. Why on earth would it be funny to kick stuff at a seal pup? It beggars belief. At least they are happy enough that they return year after year despite the efforts of some idiots to put them off.

Thanks for the comments guys. Perry, you have hit the nail on the head in that I think I am going to get some tuition so at least I can be shown the techniques needed and then will know what to practice. I am finding myself trying to carry out maneuvers the same as I would have on Tranquil Breeze, and it just don't work. I'm sure given time I would suss it, but it's a lot easier to get pointers from someone who knows to shortcut the trial and error procedure I think the biggest issue by far is how quickly things happen. Instead of the ponderous helm response and slow acceleration I have been used to, this boat reacts almost instantly to helm input and even when putting into gear at tickover. I have been caught out by bringing the boat in on one engine, putting that one in neutral, engaging the other and finding that straight away the bow is steered round just from the thrust without altering the helm position. It's nice to have a boat that reponds so positively to what I tell it to do, I've just got to learn to speak the right language It's nice to be totally unsuitable though

Great to hear you had a good time guys! I hope your name change didn't cause too much confusion Rod

Glad to hear SWMBO is feeling well enough for boaty stuff! A couple of great photos there too

Wayne, PM sent. Clive, oh very funny .

Quite so Pete, which is what constantly annoyed me watching Griff Rhys Jones in his program. The two man "canadian" style canoes are also much easier to handle when single handed if you turn them around so what would be the stern becomes the bow, as the positioning of the seats means you are then more central.

That's exactly what we did too. An Old Town discovery 158 for me and SWMBO and a couple of kayaks for the boys. The camera goes in one of those waterproof bags, and only comes out for photos

Hi All As you may or may not have read on other threads, my maneuvering skills with the new boat leave a lot to be desired, as I am totally out of my comfort zone. This may sound like a daft question, but it ocurred to me it may be possible to move a boat sideways with outdrives? I have tried it with very limited success and wondered if anyone else had tried it too. To explain, it is fairly obvious that with the helm centralised, if one engine is in reverse and one forward, the boat will spin. However, if you imagine the helm being hard to port, the port engine engaged forward and the starboard engine reverse, would there be a tendancy for the boat to walk sideways? The port engine will try to turn to boat towards the bank, and the starboard engine will pull it back. I tried this when leaving the WRC yesterday, and we did seem to creep sideways a bit, but also with some forward motion, but it did need a few revs on the reverse engine. Like I say, it may sound a bit daft, so I'd be interested in other opinions. If anyone has got any tips too on approaching and leaving moorings with twin outdrives, they would be helpful. Do you have a "trick of the trade" up your sleeve?

Hi Roy, Yes, I don't see why not. A rowing dinghy would be okay, though there were a couple of fallen branches we had to negotiate around last time. ps for some reason your last post was double posted Roy, so I deleted the duplicate.

Her's a couple of mine from 27th Dec. Just to alay any fears, I was NOT on the beach when taking these. They were with the 300mm zoom at maximum and all hand held, so not as sharp as I would have liked (the first one was at 1/13th shutter, so I'm surprised it's a clear as it is!).

That's very interesting Neil, as it shows just how quickly a waterway can become impassable. I understand there is now permission to continue in Canoe a bit further than Honing lock, but I don't think it is very far, making the portage a bit of an effort for little reward. I would thoroughly recommend hiring canoes or kayaks from Banks Dayboats at Wayford Bridge, though, and exploring by paddle. It is quite magical paddling along a stretch of water than no one else can get to, though we only hired for 3 hours, and with a lunch stop didn't get as far as the lock itself.