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Don't like to be the bearer of bad news but that panel was only supplied by Lister for a short while. All the lights and various other electronics were housed in a sealed box. They were never much good and I'm surprised you have one that's lasted this long. That's why Lister only supplied for a short time. Personally I wouldn't trust anything the panel is displaying. I've changed a number of these over the years and replaced with a simple hard wired panel.

Before my time here, Paul C did a great job leading a project to develop a Wiki for CWDF. It was comprehensive and contained a lot of information but regrettably I was unable to help finish what he & the team had started. At the time, one technical hurdle (if memory serves me correctly) was that it didn't have direct integration with the forum software due to software limitations. This meant that users would need to create separate user accounts to access the Wiki etc. It was essentially contained separate to the forum. Unfortunately, as it stands, it would be very difficult to reinstate the Wiki project as it was. Though it may be possible for me to extract some of the content and add to a separate section within CWDF, powered by the same software we currently use for the forums. This means it would provide a more integrated / joined up user experience. I'm keen to gather opinions/feedback on whether or not you'd like to see something similar to a Wiki whereby members can contribute content (e.g. guides & tutorials and information of historical interest etc) to help further improve our online resource in relation to waterways & inland boating. Please vote in the poll but feedback/suggestions welcome.

I am a sole trader and limited company, and until recently had an employee (as a sole trader, not via the company) so I could bring some facts here, but I would hate to spoil a good argument with something as trivial as facts so I will just keep quiet and carry on with the bottle of cider 😀

Are there many 'sole traders' who have employes. One you employ people you have to Register your 'Business name and address" (Note : NOT COMPANY name) with HMRC as an employer, take out employers liability insurance, set up a pension plan for your staff, pay holiday pay, deduct income tax and NI at source, pay a minimum wage, issue contracts of employment, be responsible for their training and development, and keep up to date with employment law, amongst other things. A sole trader is totally reponsible for all of the companies actions (hence the name) - you are the ONLY person who can make decisons, employing staff is such a time consuming faff that it leaves little time to actually run the company let alone do the actual work you set up the company to do. I am glad we closed down the businesses when I retired in 2005 - it was becoming a nightmare even then.

Looks like plenty of work trimming back. How long did that take and what did you use?

What a load of uninformed twaddle.

Here is an extract from the registration of one of my PLBs. Bought secondhand, when transferred it shows the history of previous owners / boats it was registered to. Another PLB is identified for 'Land Use'

You are correct - I was trying to simplify things by using 'frequencies' I should have said "you cannot register a US PLB in the UK because they use a different prefix / format of the 15 digit Hexadecimal code so ensure your PLB is marked as suitable for UK registration" My understanding is that each country has its own prefix series (similar to the internatinal phone dialling codes) so the satellites know where to 'send' the message.

I dont think I did but no worries.

Sorry you asked as well just chose the wrong post

I wave my magic wand, and, hey presto!

I don't think there's any reason why someone operating a business with employees can't refer to their business as a company. Unless they register it with Companies House, it doesn't affect their status as a sole trader. I think they can call it whatever they like - it doesn't necessarily have a legal meaning, it just implies you don't work entirely on your tod. I also can't see how it can give anyone an "impression" of anything, unless theyvare naive enough to believe that any business with Co Ltd after it's name is guaranteed to be wonderful - after all, the whole "Ltd" business is used as a scam by huge numbers of small building firms (and a few big ones) in the country. That's how entrepreneurs get rich (see collapsed energy companies for details!). At least a sole trader takes the responsibility for his business on his own shoulders.

Lack of understanding

I put fresh oil in mine before winter and run it once a month for 20 minutes. I use a small Pela to suck oil out of the dipstick and cut the bottom out of a plastic milk bottle which I hold over the filter as I unscrew it. You get pretty good at it as you do it quite often on a cruise! I don’t get much spillage

You could have made them 0" wide... 😉