More On Power

Thanks Alan for a very helpful contribution towards my post.

While on the subject of power consumption and usage, I was giving consideration to battery performance and installations last night and I didn’t mention how poorly installed batteries can have a big impact on their performance, I am not a battery expert but I know enough to make a good job of installing them and how they should be looked after, I often find that batteries in a cruiser style boat last for a shorter period than batteries in a trad, I also know that warmer batteries give better performance than cold batteries, hence the reason why we sell more batteries in the dead of the winter, batteries are better kept in a dry warm environment, also they give much better performance when using top quality fittings and cabling too, on my boat I was amazed when I bought the boat to see the cable size between the starter motor and the batteries and the alternator, now bear in mind that I only have two 135 Amp Hour batteries but the cable size is 3/4" in diameter for the starter motor and 1/2" from the Alternators, The battery terminals are the post and clamp on type and I have no issues with voltage drop in the charging circuit, the wiring on my boat is amazing and it is akin to something that you would see in an airplane.
You would be amazed at the amount of boats that we see in with the owners complaining of poor battery performance only to find that the charging leads are barely attached pieces of string cobbled together with terminal connector blocks and on battery lugs with a clamp that resembles something that was used in the 18th century, batteries lurking in the bilges, and swimming up to their necks in oily water, no wonder they give poor performance, not only that but its also dangerous!
I know if I spend a few hundred pounds on something I want the best return for my money so I make sure I look after things and batteries should be no exception.

Its been a quiet day again at Norbury which has been good as it has given me the chance to catch up with some much needed work that has been outstanding.

That’s it from me for another day
until tomorrow
Simon

The cost of power

The one thing that everyone wants on boats is free electric, well unless you have an 'eco' powered boat with solar panels and wind generators adorning every inch of the boats surface and moor in an open space to catch the sun and wind then I am afraid that there is nothing you can do except to generate it yourself using the tried and tested methods of a well maintained battery bank, and have a good method of charging said batteries, a good quality inverter to convert that power to 240 volts and if you can afford it a built in diesel generator which will either aid the charging of the batteries and also supply you with a decent amount of 240 volts, of course all this is less important if you are permanently plugged in to a shore line and rarely move your boat, but to do it properly costs money.

I lived on many boats since my first boat back in the late 80's, that was of course very basic and all I could afford was one battery and a Halfords type battery charger, if I was away cruising I relied totally upon the engines alternator to charge the battery and that was fine, when I Started living aboard I needed more batteries to cope with the extra demand that I placed upon the supply, eventually as my needs changed so did my boats and subsequently so did my power requirements, the last boat that I lived on had 6 domestic batteries, twin alternators, a battery management system, a battery management monitor(like a battery level gauge) a big inverter and last but least a decent built in diesel generator, I also had a smaller portable generator as a back up if everything else failed, needless to say that the whole system was costly but while I was away from shore power I enjoyed effortless power supply, I checked my batteries monthly for electrolyte levels, topped them up as required, I kept the battery terminals free from 'canker' kept the tops of the batteries very clean, all kept in a well ventilated area and most importantly I never ever let the batteries discharge below 12 volts, The batteries lasted for about five years and when the performance dropped to a level that I wasn’t happy with that is when I changed them for a new set.

My boating has changed massively since them days and now I only boat for pleasure but I still have the same disciplines as when I lived on a boat with regards to the batteries, just before I laid my boat up for the winter I carried out the usual checks on the batteries, levels etc and cleaned them and left them on my smart four step charger over the winter, upon visiting the boat recently they are all in excellent condition and ready for another seasons use.

we sell hundreds and hundreds of batteries a year, when we do a full engine service we include a battery check as part of that service as we believe it is an important commodity, If you look after your batteries then they will look after you and you should get a reasonable life span out of them, abuse them and be prepared to be let down by them when you least expect!

Its been a wet horrid today at Norbury, nothing exciting has happened, no boats have been seen moving so noting really to report about so until tomorrow.
Simon

It was a bit cooler this morning, but it soon proved to be another nice day. The wind is still a bit chilly, but I suppose it is only February... From the five day weather forecast I caught site of earlier it looks like we are in for a glorious week! Lets hope so anyway. The nice weather seems to lift everyones spirits... Although we do desperately need some rain.

A friend of mine took the following photograph at Northchurch lock on the Grand Union Canal. There is a stoppage on the Tring summit due to the lack of water a few miles north of where this picture was taken. The levels have been somewhat reduced by Waterways. It's amazing how clear the water has become as there has been no traffic pass through for a couple of months.



It's been another busy day here. We've had endless people looking at the boats for sale. Lorraine and Joyce have been busy in the tearoom again and Ange has had to give them a hand at times.

Mick has had his head down working on a boat outside the dry dock, although he did have to pop out to one of our hire boats at Market Drayton around midday.

That's it from me today. Simon's back tomorrow to keep you entertained.

Until then.

Best regards,

David

I just don't know where the time goes to. Today has flown by and I haven't got half the things done that I have wanted to!

It has been a glorious day here today although the wind has been a bit chilly. That has meant that Lorraine has been really busy in the tearoom today with the able assistance of Joyce. Ange and I have been busy in the shop too and there has been plenty of people in looking at boats. Let's hope that it's the start of a busy season.

The lads have been busy on our hire fleet today and we have turned three boats round.

I know it's short and sweet tonight, but I assure you it will be longer tomorrow!

Regards,

David

Diesel heating

I woke up in the middle of the night sweating... Not because I had dreamt something bad, but because the temperature; over night, was a lot higher than it has been for months. My fire is turned down on it's lowest setting, so I will have to turn a radiator or two off and benefit from "extra warm" hot water!

I never thought that I would say it, but you just can't beat diesel heating.

For those that know me well, will know that I have been involved with canal carrying for a good number of years, and over those years I have transported hundreds of tonnes of coal (and other cargoes) by canal all over the country. I used to love nothing more than settling down for a winter's evening with a roaring coal fire and I even used to have a fire alight during the summer to boil kettles and cook dinner!

Leaving the National Waterways Festival in 2011 with Clover and Fazeley
loaded with 40 tonnes of domestic bagged coal. Captured by Marie Sumpter.

When I was in the process of buying the Ant; some years previously Simon had fitted a Bubble diesel stove along with a back boiler feeding the radiators and heating a calorifier along with a backup heating unit in the form of an Eberspacher, I was seriously considering removing the stove and fitting a conventional multifuel stove. I decided to live with it for a few months. I quickly realised the benefits (no dust, lumping coal around, emptying ashes) and two years on, I love it. They do take a bit of "setting up correctly", but along with a yearly service and "clean" diesel you just can't beat them in my opinion. They must burn with a "blue" flame. A "yellow" flame is a "dirty" flame. This can be caused by a number of factors, mainly due to the fact that the fire isn't getting enough oxygen which is normally caused by the holes in the burner pot getting clogged up. This causes a carbon build up and the fire will just not develop the heat that is required. It's lovely to go out to work and come home some nine hours later and the boat is still lovely and warm and you have plenty of hot water!

I'm not so keen on Eberspacher's (Mikuni's/Webasto's) as a main heating source, but I find my Eberspacher very handy in the summer months to heat the calorifier and during the chiller mornings and evenings during the early spring and late Autumn just to warm the boat through. These heaters were originally designed for use in vehicles and therefore were designed to run on (clean) white diesel. I must say that I haven't had a problem with mine coking up, but I do service it on a regular basis and I also put Exocet fuel additive in my diesel tanks to prevent any contamination.

A lot of people ask me if diesel heating is more expensive than coal. I don't think it is, but it all depends on the system and the heating source. As a general rule of thumb, an Eberspacher/Mikunui/Webasto uses about 1 litre per hour whereas a Bubble stove uses a lot less. I rarely turn mine above number two on the regulator and I use about 20 litres during a period of seven days and that's running all day for seven days a week.

You can't get away from the smell of real coal though. So when I bought the Ant it was a MUST to fit a coal fired range in the back cabin. A roaring fire makes boating delightful in the cooler or damp/wet weather. You can keep a kettle boiling on top of it for endless cups of tea and a casserole or joint of meat in the oven to keep you warm inside too!

One things for sure - I will never get cold on the Ant!

Until tomorrow.

David.

Topsy-Turvy world

It’s a Topsy-Turvy World

If you want proof that the world is upside down, then turn to page 24 of the Towpath Trader section of this month’s Towpath Talk.

There you will find the Norbury Wharf full page advertisement standing on its head.

Why?

Well the reason is spelled out (the right way up) at the top of the page where it says: “In an upside down economy you can rely on Norbury Wharf to keep things on an even keel.”

The truth is that when prices are going through the roof, bankers are paid millions for getting it wrong and the rest of us have to suffer the consequences, including soaring prices, I think we are doing our bit to make it easier to ride out the storm.

Turn the page the right way up so you can read the advertisement properly and you will see our (FAME free) red diesel is still 77.9p a litre, and we think that’s the cheapest at a boatyard anywhere on the waterways. If you know differently lets us know.

And you will see that we are offering 110 amp-hour batteries at £64.95 each if you buy four. We also have good prices on 135 amp-hour as well.

Follow the link on the page to our website and you can see our deals on hire-boat prices (18% discount on one of our 10-berth boats) and our new-concept day-boat.

Competition features in Towpath Talk

We like Towpath Talk as it gets to readers other magazines don’t seem to reach and we are delighted that they are featuring our latest competition to win a day for ten people on one of our day boats – see page 93 – all you have to do is send us your favourite family recipe for a food of the past, along with the reasons you remember it so well. We will pick the one we like best and include it on our café menu with your name attached.

If you can’t check out a Towpath Talk you can get details of the competition from our website www.norburywharfltd.co.uk and follow the link to our new e-magazine Norbury News

Whilst on the subject of Norbury News you can also follow us on Twitter @NorburyNewsNow as well as join our Facebook page here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/45878996169/

What a fantastic day it has been, neither me or David have wanted to be in the office today as teh weatehr has been superb, the forecastors got it bang on today for our area and its been very warm and trhe sun has been out all day long.

Its been a busy day today as expected, boats swapped over in the dry dock and the wet dock, me David and Simon put the Day boats back in the water and Simon has been getting them up and running and finishing off the last couple of niggling jobs on the steel work and engineering, after pressure washing Fred cleaned up the car park so that we have plenty of room for our hirers and customers.

Thats it from me now until next week, I hope you all have a good weekend.

Simon

wet n windy

It started out wet and windy and its carried on being wet and windy all day, it hasn't been cold but and it hasn't really rained heavily but the bind has been blowing around here today, its also been grey and overcast all day, so all in all not the nicest of days.

Its been a quiet day today, not many people around although I don't blame anyone for not venturing out side, the yard has seemed quiet as well, Bernard has been in working on boats down the dock and around the yard, Fred has been in doing similar, Matt and Simon have been in and so have Steve and Arron yet they have all had their heads down and have been cracking on with their jobs, do not get me wrong I am not complaining about the lads working, it just seems as though they have kept out of my way, and I haven't been in a grumpy mood!

Tomorrow is going to be a busy day, we have Ember to dock, we have Steelaway to put in to the painting dock and we have the two day boats to re launch after their winters rest on the bank, so we will all be busy first thing.

Until tomorrow
Simon