Mooring in UK canal marina

[Audlin]

Hello all,

Does anybody have experience of keeping a steamboat in a canal marina? I'm referring to a Frolic 21 style boat, rather than a steam narrowboat.

I'm in the middle of the UK and my local waters are canals, and whilst I would undoubtedly trail to different places on occasions, I'm wondering whether keeping a boat in a local marina during the summer months would allow more use of the boat on short trips.

Does anybody do this, and if so, any pros/cons?

Thanks,

Chris.

[Mike Rometer]

From my small and in-exhaustive researches, you will at least need to pay the Canal license fees and the marina charges. Better if you have a tame canalside property with mooring rights. Other than that there seem to be plenty of slipways (there are three local to me), the canal fees can then be reduced, though if the slips are Private there may be a usage charge.

[Edward]

Dear Audlin ,

The costs of the canal/inland waterway licence can easily be worked out so you can decide whether your planned usage warrants a full year licence or a series of short licences to meet your requirements .
The marina costs are more difficult to work out as each marina has its own range of prices depending on facilities available/used . The only way to work them out is by visiting lots of websites or making lots of telephone calls .

An option which might be attractive , but not all marinas will offer it , is to park the boat on its trailer in the marina and use the slip whenever you want to go for a steam . Bob McMillan did this on the Wey for several years and was very happy with it as it saved trailing along some fairly small and busy roads and made each trip much less burdensome .

Regards Edward

[Audlin]

Thanks for your replies. Agree that property with mooring is the way to go if possible!

With respect to keeping the boat in a marina, any thoughts on the practicality side of it? I.e. keeping the boat in a marina means I wouldn't need to recover the boat on a trailer, which should save quite a bit of time. However, if I need to wait an hour for the boiler / funnel to cool down before I can put a cover over the boat, then there is no actual time saving - I might as well have been recovering the boat during that time?

Cheers,

Chris.

[Edward]

Dear Audlin ,

Without knowing what sort of boiler you have in your boat (or will have ) one can't give too precise an answer but I would have thought a wait of an hour to let it cool down a bit would be much more than would be needed.
If you plan your return to the marina correctly you will arrive with a quiescent/dieing/dead fire and only a fair had of steam . Spend a few minutes tidying up , oiling the cylinders, ashing out , getting the car and trailer to the slip and you will be ready to blow-down the boiler (provided you're not planning on steaming again in the next few days) By the time you have recovered the boat and driven to your parking area things should be cool enough , or perhaps I should say things shouldn't be too hot , to put the covers on . That's if you're keeping the boat on its trailer at the marina or trailing back to home . if your keeping it on the water you will not need to hang around for long before you can put on the overs .
I think the only way you will be able to find out which option is best for you is to try each and then come to a decision .

Edward.

[Audlin]

Thanks Edward.

Cheers,

Chris.

[fredrosse]

If you remove the stack and plug the boiler outlet with a cap of some sort (I use a common sheet metal duct cap), then the boiler heat is bottled up, air circulation stops, and any small remaining fuel in the firebox stops burning. If the covers for the boat can be kept about a foot away from the boiler casing (and hot engine/piping) there will be no temperature problems, and everything will cool down slowly.

One note of caution, if the boat has a fairly tight cover, and there are some remaining embers within the firebox, then there might be some formation of CO, a very bad gas. No problem a day or so later, as any CO would be gone in less than a day even with the cover in place. Removal of the boat cover would also immediately dissipate any accumulated CO, but it might not be a good idea to go looking for that missing camera (or flask of personal refreshment) by going under the boat cover shortly after closing up the boat, if there is a chance of some remaining fire. Of course if you operate with liquid fuel, then this potential problem would not exist as the fire can be definitely shutdown.

[Audlin]

Thanks Fred. I'm involved in some railway stuff, and cooling them down slowly is a key priority there. But then, we don't have to put a cover on them or tow them home on a trailer!

Cheers,

Chris.

[Gudmund]

There are suggestions of allowing the boiler to cool enough to take the funnel off and put on the cover.
Have you thought about a boat with a canopy? This catches all the soot that goes up the funnel, helping to keep the boat clean, and, in our British climate, keeps the rain, and occasionally sun, off.
Gudmund

[Audlin]

The main reason for thinking about a marina is to save the need to trail the boat for each trip, however I would undoubtedly need to trail the boat on some occasions. I imagine a canopy must add weight and windage when towing?

Chris.