Category: Engineering

Vlog 212: Serenity

Posted on April 28, 2020February 24, 2024 by David Johns

A little thing like a global pandemic and lockdown is not going to prevent further boat videos on this channel so I present the first in what may become a

Vlog 205: Broken, Bad

Posted on January 8, 2020February 24, 2024 by David Johns

After I had the narrowboat blacked at Stone I set off along the Trent and Mersey canal to head to my winter mooring. Unfortunately, disaster struck on the outskirts of the town when one lovely sunny Sunday morning, the engine made a peculiar noise which resulted in a horrible discovery…

Vlog 201: High and Dry

Posted on December 10, 2019February 24, 2024 by David Johns

After coming back down the Macclesfield canal (which I didn’t film, as it was exactly the same as going up as shown in prior vlogs, albeit in the other direction), I turned south and retraced my path along the Trent & Mersey until I got to Stone, Staffordshire. There I’d booked the boat into a dry dock for re-blacking. This video shows that process.

Vlog 178: Carbonaura

Posted on June 14, 2019February 24, 2024 by David Johns

At the time of filming this it was just over a week since the Crick Show where I had bought three new 100 Ah lead carbon batteries for my narrowboat. Having also bought some new wiring and dongle things to plug into my Victron inverter/charger, it was now time to pull out the old batteries and put the new ones in place.

Vlog 176: Crickity Crick

Posted on May 31, 2019February 24, 2024 by David Johns

I haven’t been to the Crick Show for a couple of years because it’s much the same each time but this year I wanted to book some boat tours and also buy some bits for my current boat – so I moored the boat again and headed off to Northamptonshire in the camper van.

Vlog 169: Hire Purpose

Posted on April 15, 2019February 24, 2024 by David Johns

I visit a narrowboat hire firm in Gilwern, South Wales, on the Mon & Brec canal. Amongst their fleet of conventional narrowboats they also have two fully-electric ones that don’t even have solar or a generator on board. So how have they managed this feat when it would be impractical elsewhere? Watch and find out!

Vlog 168: Positive Charge

Posted on April 7, 2019February 24, 2024 by David Johns

In this vlog I visit the “Pamela May”, a trip boat run by the charitable Droitwich Canals Trust. We see their current boat and hear about the excellent work of the Trust but visit Ortomarine, the company building the Trust’s brand new, all-electric powered boat.

Vlog 163: Grime Time Viewing

Posted on February 25, 2019February 24, 2024 by David Johns

The sun is out and it’s time to sort a few bits of the narrowboat that are looking less than prime, notably the paintwork needs a spruce-up and polish plus one or two tiny rust spots on the roof need attending to.

Vlog 161: Soap on the Water

Posted on January 28, 2019February 24, 2024 by David Johns

After getting frustrated with the cheap little twin-tub washing machine I had aboard the boat from the early days, I ditched it and bought a proper automatic machine.
In this video I explain what I think of it and why it fits the bill.

Vlog 138: Clean Sweep

Posted on September 2, 2018February 24, 2024 by David Johns

Last winter, I was disappointed during winter to find white grungy muck dribbling down the flue inside the boat onto the top of the stove. This was down to a badly fitting and broken chimney. Rather than buy an off the shelf replacement which might also not have fitted well, I opted to get a custom-made replacement.