Vlog 344: Otterly Delightful!
There are a small number of aluminium canal boats which are a hybrid of traditional narrowboat style mixed with river cruiser design. I went to see two of these and chat with their owners.
Continue readingStories about boats and waterways
There are a small number of aluminium canal boats which are a hybrid of traditional narrowboat style mixed with river cruiser design. I went to see two of these and chat with their owners.
Continue readingThis is the terrible tale of how a woman who’d always dreamed of living aboard a narrowboat on the canals has had her dreams – and almost the boat – sunk because, she says, she was mislead by the professional surveyor on whose advice she bought the boat.
Continue readingBoat life is much like owning a house inasmuch as there’s always something to be fixed or maintained or tarted up. Here’s a compilation of minor things I did around the boat over the last few months, including fixes after the boat failed its four-yearly Boat Safety Scheme examination.
Continue readingOver recent months I have noticed a number of unsightly rusty spots erupting on the boat’s roof. Some, I assume, are from bits of grit rubbing through the paint as I’ve walked over it; for others I have no idea as to their origins. All needed tidying up and the rust stopped in its tracks though so in this video I show you my initial attempts, which fall short of a full repaint.
Continue readingThe 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.
Continue readingIn October last year I headed along the North Oxford canal to Hillmorton Marina where they have a little dockside crane, suitable to lift an engine out of a boat. Over the course of the next week I scrubbed out a load of muck and rust from the engine bilge, treated it with Vactan and then primed and painted it before getting the engine put back in.
Continue readingOver the summer I noticed that in heavy rain there was a slight trickly of water coming down the stove flue. It appeared to be getting in underneath the chimney collar so I had to take it off, clean everything up, de-rust and re-seal. This video shows how I did it and how it was a bigger job than expected.
Continue readingNow back at Yelvertoft, my narrowboat gets taken out of the water so that I can tackle the rusty gas locker properly, using Fertan rust treatment followed by red oxide primer, bilge paint and then two coats of Intertuf 16 blacking for good measure.
Continue readingWith temperatures currently plummeting in the UK and at least a fortnight’s cold snap predicted with sub zero temperatures coming, it’s time to have a look at the main source of heating on my narrowboat, the Villager Puffin stove.
Continue readingAt long last the time has come for the excellent Justin Green of JG Marine to visit the boat and do lots of work on it including an engine service (oil, oil filter, air filter, fuel filter etc), add the Adverc charge controller, change the old engine mounts and much more.
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