Month: June 2023

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Canal & River Marina & Mooring Guide Map

I am working on a new page for our site, it all started by looking for a new marina for next year. We are very happy at Droitwich Spa Marina and would highly recommend it, but we would like to see some more of the canal network.

The new page started as a spreadsheet of potential marina’s, but it was hard to visualise where these were, so I created a google map from my data, that started to look useful so I added a few more locations, I now have hundreds ready to add and over the next few weeks I should have a good guide ready.

Below is a work in progress version and this will update as I add new places, but, you can also find it on our menu above as this blog post will age and not be so visible soon.

UPDATE: Thanks to some feed back from Canal World Forums I now have some data from the CRT and have imported this into my map, I am now editing the data to add street addresses, phone numbers and web sites as I find them. There are over 500 possible mooring sites to update so this will take a while.

If you have any recommendations please let me know I need:- Name of location, address and postcode, contact number and website URL. emailed to “dfloyd @ floyd.co.uk” (Remove the spaces)

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Solar Controller – Victron SmartSolar MTTP 100|50

Having used the Victron MPPT sizing calculator with the correct configuration for my 2 X 415W solar panels it recommended I use their SmartSolar MPPT 100/50, if you follow the link above you should see the calculation.

Victron SmartSolar 100|50
Victron SmartSolar 100|50

So I was now on the hunt for the best price I could find; I tried all the normal boating solar companies, but the prices are all very similar when I found on eBay for just £220.00

Midsummer Energy£357.00*
Dragons Breath Solar£285.61*
Midland Chandlers£339.16*
Sunshine Solar£300.85*
Nomadic Conversions (eBay Shop)£220.00*
*Prices Include VAT and where checked at the time of writing 07/06/2023

So the order was placed. Things got a little odd when I got a message from DPD, and it seemed they had been booked for delivery, but had not got the package, even after a few days this status did not change. I messaged the supplier via eBay with no response, but then an email from Royal Mail with shipping details arrived and a few days later it was here.

I must admit I was starting to get a little worried that it was too cheap to be true, but I have it, it is new and sealed in the box ready to be fitted in a few weeks. Now I need to find a similar bargain for the Solar Panels!

NOTE: In the package came a leaflet from Nomadic Leisure, the company that run the Nomadic Conversions eBay shop their main market seems to be Campervans and surprisingly on their online shop the SmartSolar MPPT 100/50 is £302.40

So it seems it is a good idea to shop around and try alternative sources like eBay. You may, like me, get a bargain.

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