DONT FORGET TO CHECK

As the weather gets better there are one or two things everyone should be checking , as the weather has been so cold i have had an increaseing number of phone calls from my coustomesrs and other boaters sayiny there engines are over heating , this is mostly down to a lack of water in the heat exchanger /header tank due mainly in part to boater who live abord comeing home from work and starting the engine , to charge the batteries and as its been so cold most have neglected to do the basics namely checking the water and oil one a week , even though its been cold the poor old engine has got hot and boiled some of its coolant away and over the weeks has resulted in overheating , as long as the cooling system is topped up there should be no long term damage but this is not a promiss , the asic checks should be undertaken at least once a week during the winter and every day during the summer remember your engine is the hart of your boat without it you have no power and repairs may take sevral weeks so check your engine get in a habit wot ever the weather and if in doubt ring me for advise it cost nothing .

NOT ALOT

Nothing to say as everthing is on hold only the very brave are out and about as the weather seems to be still very could , although today was almost balmy , and i broke out into my first sweat of the year , all thats seems to be happening is that boaters are coming out slowly from there winter slumber am expecting battery problems and the usual round of problems after lay up, the best advise is to wake the boat up slowly if you havent been down for a while , dont expact everything to work , if you are going to run the engine make the usual checks before starting , and run her for a good long while not for just 20 mins or so but a real good run get it up to temp , also remember check ur stern gear and grease the tube as this would have been subject to ice and will leak if you run in gear so keep an eye on it and all will been well , dont be worried as everything will need to expand a little and then everything will settle down also allow your batterys to have a dam good charge , if you have been on a land line this is a must to get the batterys off float and absorbing amps .

Dusk at copper mill lock

Just a lovely shot boats laid up for the evening bitter cold though hope they all got there fire well stoked

FROST ICE AND STERN GEAR

As we have been through one of the coldest winters so far in the last 30 years , You must be aware that the ice thickness on the surface of the water represents 10% of its depth with the other 90% under the water , and as boats will be laid up for some time either in marinas or out on the cut , please ensure that before you set off on any trip after the thore that you run the engine in gear for around half an hour , as any grit in the bearing or cutlas alone with the grease and water will have been affected with the cold icey conditions and although all will seem fine at first if your stern tube has any wear in it , it will leak so run the engine warm up the shaft and re grease before setting off , this is just advise and advise costs nothing happy boating .

Black jacks Lock

Thought id share this with you all near black jacks mill the other day on the grand unioun canal herefieldthe winter i think we will allways remember

wot the hell

Saw this at kensel rise today and the lady who ownes it is lovely had a problem though it had a partial sinking all ok now though all bar the insurance work

RUSHTON & HORNSBY 2CLY OIL ENGINE

This is a rushton and hornsby 2 cylinder oil engine fitted in a converted butty , which i serviced the other day ,i recently had the starter motor overhauled during the summer ,the engine istself is in good order and starts with little effort , during servicing it is necessary , to remove the block chest plate to clean the oil filter gauze this if done to the letter should , be done every time the oil is changed and only ever use SA30 oil nothing else , also strip and clean the Governor and re set the tick over then you should have many hours of pleasure listening to its unique sound no two of these engines sound the same and i love em like i adore all engines .