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Thanks for all the comments. I am not very scientific, so I will go for the measured glug method. Martyn

People get very exercised about blacking. If you never black your boat again it'll take ages to dissolve - not suggesting you shouldn't bother but even where you've got rusty bits it can wait a few months, and where it's solid black it's mostly cosmetic. It's nice to have a shiny back hull at the start of the season but lots of people think that so spring is a busy time on the slips and docks, which are probably quiet at the moment. Doing it yourself is not difficult, just hard work, but it does give you the opportunity to pressure wash, scrape and derust it yourself so you know it's been done to your required standard. Edited: double post.

My grandad died in a German POW camp.......... He had a heart attack and fell out of the guard tower.

I'm lucky in that my boat reverses very well (for a NB) and in deep water can even be steered with high levels of sucess. A large rudder blade helps

It's no bad thing to want to master the vessel you're in charge of. The gates are obviously being damaged as a result of not being in total control. It can happen to anyone of every experience. It is tiresome, especially to single-handed boaters, to have to open both gates, but I think it more tiresome when a lock won't empty or is very slow to fill, through leaks. I am one who would open only one gate, in future I will try and remember that there's no money around to fix them.....just like that. I am also dead against any large commercial use of the canals because I believe the locks would be hammered. Every so often you'll hear the canals dropped into debates when transport and goods are being discussed. Any opinions on that? Maybe elsewhere.

If you hit a waterskier on the way down, the Selby lockie should give you a lollipop. We're going to head back up to York either Tuesday or Wednesday & play 'Dead Animal I-Spy.' One cow is worth two sheep or three fox or badger sized animals. Rats & dead fish don't count. The winner gets first choice from the cake trolley at Betty's.

Hmmm I bought some diesel from a yard this summer who, when asked what price per litre, just gave me a price (about £1.20 IIRC - we are talking Thames prices here!) Once I'd bought my fifty quid's worth (topping up our stupidly small tank) he then asked me what proportion I was declaring at. I suspect this yard is selling at a price where they can just about turn a wafer-thin profit at 100% propulsion. This would mean anything less than 100% propulsion declared by the punter represents the profit margin. Once the sale had been concluded I think this yard calculated backwards to see how much they made from the sale and apportion the duty. Interesting approach, possibly simplifying things for them. Regarding the thread title "sh!t fuel - ghastly price", I suspect the OP is on shaky ground stating Kate Boats sell sh!t fuel given that no other Kate Boat diesel customers have surfaced with the same problem. Far more likely the sh!t was already in the OP's tank and got stirred up by refilling it. I think dissing them like this in public is pretty unfair when the OP has only assumptions and no proper evidence. From my limited dealing with them Kate Boats seem like a decent firm and have a good reputation on the cut. Comments on here telling them how they should run their business are out of order in my view. It's their business and their choice to turn away potential customers who want to declare awkward splits. I expect they have decided the staff time that gets soaked up selling diesel to the Awkward Squad is better spent looking after the main business, the hire fleet. Mike

Throughout their history F.M.C. Ltd. operated two boats named MALVERN. It was not unusual for F.M.C. Ltd. to re-use both boat names and fleet numbers of boats they had disposed of, but they never re-used both boat name and fleet number together on a second generation boat. The first MALVERN was built for F.M.C. Ltd. by Harris, Netherton and was completed in July 1928 as an iron composite fore cabined horse boat. This was the second horse boat to carry the fleet number 166 and was B.C.N. gauged as 1423 (13 September 1928) then health registered as Birmingham 1512 (05 October 1928). F.M.C. Ltd. sold MALVERN 166 to Samuel Barlow Coal Co. Ltd. on 28 November 1942. After a varied and interesting history MALVERN 166 became a motorised pleasure boat (under cloths and retaining its butty stern as shown in Mr Hogg's photographs), the conversion to a counter sterned pleasure boat taking place in 1987. The redundant stern end, complete with cabin spent some time in Roger Fuller's garden before being attached to AUSTRALIA. The second MALVERN was built for F.M.C. Ltd. by W.J. Yarwood & Sons Ltd., Northwich, the hull being completed / delivered on 17 November 1947 as a composite motor boat. The boat was cabined and completed at Saltley by F.M.C. Ltd. / 'British Waterways' and entered service in September 1949, nine months after F.M.C. Ltd. sold out to 'British Waterways'. This MALVERN carried the fleet number 360 and was health registered as Birmingham 1634 (16 September 1949) and was never gauged. MALVERN 360 is the boat still operated by British Waterways as a maintenance boat in the North West. I think MALVERN 360 is the last purpose built F.M.C. Ltd. motor to still be operated by British Waterways, closely followed by GAILEY (built as a horse boat and converted to a motor in August 1937), although I am sure that British Waterways still own GARDENIA which is on a business lease to the London Waterbus Company and may well still own MENDIP and SHAD at the Boat Museum, Ellesmere Port (although one could then argue that they still own all of the craft leased through their heritage boat disposal programme).

Is that a widebeam narrowboat struggling to keep up?

Nah it's these two: I always read mayalld's posts in an Arthur Putey voice.

I don't follow any blogs as I do not find them that interesting and don't wish to know about the daily detail of someones life or interests similarly I don't use facebook or twitter but as pointed out above I just don't click on the links. I am tempted sometimes and for instance looked at the blog for NB Waiouru However regardless of my own or any one else opinion of blogs I can't see why people shouldn't be allowed to create and maintain a blog if they want to and as Alan says it is a vehicle to keep in touch with friends and family. So I don't mind people doing what they like with a blog even though i am not interested in reading them much.