Category: Narrowboat

BMC 1,800 alternator

Just taking the old one out and putting the new one in.

Couldn’t be more straightforward really.

Old one looked plenty dirty. I think the water pump leaked when that broke, meaning the engine compartment was very humid. This is reflected by the black gunk coating the mounting, blades and inner workings of the old alternator.

BMC Alternator

BMC marine alternator - old and new
BMC marine alternator – old and new

Plenty dirty, and a bit smelly.

I’m sure the pump leaked a fair bit of water onto the belt as well, this has sprayed off in streaks around the various fitting and furniture of the engine compartment.

TBH, it was only a matter of time before it stopped working.

Started it up this morning. It appears to have made no difference whatsoever to the charging.

More charge

25th Sept – As an update – Did a 2 hour cruise, with reasonable engine speeds and it seems to have had a longer lasting charging effect on the batteries.

12v Battery monitor

The voltmeter was showing this for around 3 hours. A two hour or so improvement on before the new alternator was fitted.

It indicates the battery bank is at between 12.5-13V.

Phone broke [Nether Hayford]

My Wileyfox, that all UK mobile-phone brand, had a problem with the tethering – my access to the outside world, which ceased working last week.

I sent it back, and am writing this using my old Samsung Galaxy Prime.

It can’t take pictures, it can’t do video’s. For this reason, I’ve not been bothered to do the blog for a good few days now.

Nether Hayford
Nether Hayford

Nether Hayford

Currently located here, in Nether Hayford. Perhaps a five/ten minute walk from the village centre.

Before, I stayed down near the bridge.

The train noises really f*ck me off.

I stayed in the knowledge this was the case.

Luckily with a boat, you can move house any time you want.

I can’t hear the trains at all now.

I like it here. That’s nice.

Fastening fairleads to my boat pt1

After having painted it, it’s now time to make sure all my hard work doesn’t get scraped off the first time I go through the locks.

I’ve already fitted this roof eye hook on the narrowboat.

Centre hook
Centre hook

This goes some way to reducing the chafing across the apex of the roof.

Most of the damage happens at the sides, where the cabin is between the roof and the bollards.

As it moves backwards and forwards with the boat, it takes all the paint off!

Fairleads

To stop this, we’ve got some ‘fairleads’, also called cleats, skenes and other things.

Stainless steel fairleads
Stainless steel fairleads

Fairlead is the most universal term. It simply guides the rope from the side of the boat.

Fitting the fairleads

As it’s going to take the weight of the boat, it’ got to be a sturdy fitting. Continue reading “Fastening fairleads to my boat pt1”

Final day painting and Gayton Marina

So.

Done all my painting now.

Moved into Gayton Marina to help charge the batteries up and fit a couple of things on the roof etc.

Pretty pleased to be out from under that bridge. It was cold and noisy. Spent two weeks in the dark having artics above, and trains to the back and side.

The dead sheep in the canal just topped it off.

I knew it was time to leave. Continue reading “Final day painting and Gayton Marina”