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Unless the diodes have blown open circuit in which case they can most definitetly be considered a switching device that is switched off. I'll go back into my hole now Oh, before I go, to the other posters, BMEA regs might cover leisure boats, but if it's a residential boat then IEE regs cover them (not BMEA), and IEE regs absolutely do not allow GIs in there. It also means any wiring has to be done by a Part P qualified sparky who, almost by definition, will know jack shit about boat electrics and galvanic corrosion. And whilst I'm here, I might as well add that it may be true that switch mode PSUs will have a hard time putting a GI into conduction on a Nb with bare underwater steel, but look carefully at what I actually said, and what the website says, and look beyond your own bare steel narrowboat influenced nose. Not all boats are Nbs. There are other types of boat too. Switch mode PSUs, on a GRP or wooden boat, with bonded anodes (they must be bonded to comply with the RCD and to be safe) most definitely can stick a GI into almost permanent conduction. And before anyone tries, a GRP or wooden boat still has to be be earth/hull bonded. Some of you lot really can't be left on your own in safety

Someone give mjg some talc, he's squeaking again ;-)

Has it stopped raining?

The Rivers Only option is valid for 'River Waterways' defined in Schedule 1 of the British Waterways Act 1971, as amended. These are: Avon (Hanham Lock to Bath) Bow Back Rivers Fossdyke & Witham (Torksey to Boston) Lee Navigation (Hertford to Limehouse) Limehouse Cut Ouse and Ure (Goole to Ripon) Severn (Stourport to Gloucester) Soar Navigation (Trent Junction to Leicester) Stort Navigation Tees (Tees Barrage to Low Worsal) Trent (Shardlow - Gainsborough, including the Nottingham & Beeston Canal) Weaver Navigation (Winsford Bridge to Manchester Ship Canal) Boats with River Only Licences navigating between the River Trent and River Ouse via the Stainforth & Keadby Canal, Aire & Calder Navigation and the Selby Canal may do so at no extra charge providing they stay no longer than seventy-two hours on these Canals

Please, please, PLEASE, before you even think of this, do some considerable research about how many of the (presumably) BW sanitary stations in the areas you may travel to are categorised as "not suitable for self pump-out". In some areas it is most of them! I know it doesn't stop people still using ones that are so marked, but in my very firm view they should not. Many people will argue vehemently it should not be allowed at all. If you must do it, please make sure you do not add to the numbers of people doing self-pump outs that leave a mess, or cause other problems. Lecture over! Edit: At risk of seeming a real moaner, people have also in the past complained about the unnecessary use of that horrible "Comic Sans MS" font. I think I understand why, particularly in magnified form!

Apologies if piss takes above caused offense. In fact I think the BBC got their coverage right for the audience and the audiences perception of the royal family and the jubilee itself. I would expect that the decision to trivialise and marginalise the content of the occasion and the boats themselves in preference for a focus on the celebrities and 'ordinary folk doing stuff today' was quite deliberate. For the mass audience the boats were just a pretty but pretty dull scenery item for the actual event which was about them and their celebration of what was a national festival/party. It was about 'people like us' not the 'them' in the boats. Since the Diana event when the populist sentimentalisation and hijack/transformation of the monarchy into an emoticon of the suburban estate family started in earnest, it has become less and less acceptable to consider monarchy seriously. (Partly because to do so invites questioning and that involves challenging thinking which is not wanted). The queen is a blank cypher onto which a mawkish daily mail caricature is painted. Specifically she is mostly portrayed as the national grannie, whose role is to approve the celebratory antics of 'us' - more specifically a mass consumerist, sentimental narcissistic society. (No surprise that her rating among 'grans' is so high - they think she has something in common with them - which is ludicrous, she is a billionaire aristocrat driving a huge corporate edifice, not a 'grannie'). That society increasingly sees itself reflectd in the media mirror of careerist, intentionally superficial 'common touch' TV celebrities who interpret and trivialise any factual content. That is what they are for - to eliminate content, unless its emotional/sentimental, because its inherently 'boring' for an audience with an attention span no longer than an X factor winners song. For these people the 'content' of the boats and indeed the 'content' of the jubilee itself is to be avoided. Its the party and an entirely content free, vacuous 'we love her, she's wonderful and I am so proud to be part of this - being British - waved my flag' was the point. No thought required just emotion - we can all do that so that's what its all about and we are all equal at it.

Don't you just love these modern times of limitless electrickery and mobile tinternet? If that was truly the case then you would not have had to wait this long for an update on our travels. Apologies for the delay! If you're trying to picture Python getting stuck, here it is struggling at the Shireoaks set of locks. We stopped off at the Chequers at Ranby to deliver Chesterfield Canal leaflets and posters and left very refreshed. After Ranby we stirred up the bottom some more and found a couple of submerged objects and made it round to the Hop Pole taking the last berth for the night. The days comment was:- These Mile Posts are a long way apart! Today the skipper cooked lunch (Thanks Mick Cheshire). The trip then continued along the canal all 15 miles and 5 locks to where Python ended up in West Stockwith before heading out onto the Trent! 24th May Deja Vu The reason for today's title is that from the Chesterfield Canal there's only one way to the rest of the waterways and that's on the Trent from West Stockwith and in this case we're heading to Newark. Margaret and Dave had slept overnight at West Stockwith Marina. Dave doesn't do early mornings, but the dawn chorus were oblivious to Dave's feelings and duly woke him at about 3.30. Still, it was a glorious morning with the prospects of a good, fair weather trip up the Trent. The 'day' crew of Mick Cheshire and Richard Chappell arrived in good time and after a welcoming coffee, arranged an immediate passage through the lock onto a swift incoming tide up the river at 9.15. Mick is an experienced boater on the river and Dave and Margaret have also cruised it several times before, but it was a maiden voyage as far as Richard was concerned. Mick is very knowledgeable in the navigational aspects of the tidal river, but we did have the river navigation charts to hand for the details and the landmarks as we cruised along . A very different experience from taking John Varley to Mill Green! The tide carried us swiftly up the river and we made excellent time through Gainsborough, Torksey and Dunham. The cruise, whilst full of interest, was otherwise uneventful. Nothing else much moved on the river apart from 2 heavily laden gravel barges, some gulls, loads of migrant swans and the spatula turning the bacon in the frying pan! Hmmmm bacon, egg and tomatoes with dippy bread. By the time we had passed Fledborough the tide had turned, but this far up river, the flow had little effect in stemming our progress. We made Cromwell Lock by 14.50, Nether Lock at 16.10 and arrived to moor up opposite the Castle in Newark by about 16.30. Does this look familiar? We were met by Pete Ramsell and Eddie Lawton who was joining the crew for the trip to Etruria. Eddie's eyes lit up as, at the back of our mooring, there was a large marquee announcing 'Beer Festival'. It was a shame that it didn't start until the following evening. C’est la vie and all that. Python was now heading to Etruria, where we would be visiting our first festival of the year 2nd June To Etruria Python cruised from Newark-on-Trent past Castle Marina, where we had a brief stop last year, through Stenson, Fradley and Stone and then onwards into Stoke mooring at the Etruria Industrial Museum, which is next to a BW yard, for our first festival - the Etruria Jubilee Canals Festival. The festival involved the museum, where fine bone china was made, stalls selling food and promoting other canals and museums, music and of course working boats. There was a lot of rain, especially on Sunday, yet it stopped just in time for Stoke-on-Trent's very own Flotilla. More on that later. When we arrived, we put out our new A-frame, which has information about the Chesterfield Canal on one side and Python on the other, and also a banner that has a map of the Chesterfield Canal. We found that this attracted people over to Python and gave Eddie and me something to talk about to the public, cyclists and fellow boaters, e.g. Closing the Gap - restoring the last 8 miles of our canal. We managed to hand out quite a few Chesterfield Canal Visitor Guides, even though the weather was a bit dodgy, and invite people to the Chesterfield Canal Festival. On to Stoke's very own flotilla; the one in Etruria went exactly the same as in London. When setting off, the rain was rather quiet. It was the usual chaos that we experienced when we did the same last year at Braunston. We ended up being at the back despite our carefully laid plans and, on top of that, we got stuck opposite the diesel boat and museum with everybody watching us. Between Eddie using a pole against the bank and the people who run the diesel boat pulling us off, we managed to get going again and join the back of the rather bunched up boats. After carefully making our way up to Etruria's festival park marina to turn, we had to dodge in and out of moored boats to let the front of the flotilla come by. We eventually got to execute a turn to head back to the museum. When we came to moor the heavens opened and we got absolutely soaked. Over the weekend, we've got to talk to quite a few people and publicise the Chesterfield Canal, so Python has definitely made a great start to this year's trip. What's next I here you ask? Well this Friday we will move Python to Middlewich for the Folk and Boat Festival. Hopefully we will have better weather than in Etruria.

Well this thread...and the other one about the pageant..... has at least confirmed my views about who I would like to share a beer with and those who I would cross the road to avoid....... Cheers Gareth PS Petition signed!!

We did get an appreciative clap and lots of smiles when we passed some moored boats on our way back from the Calf Heath banter. It did make me rather chuffed - I like the idea of focussing on positivity. PS according to my spell checker positivity isn't a word - it offers me positivist, positivism, positive and pomposity. I'm feeling too lazy to consult on-line dictionaries but feel fairly certain that positivity is a real word!

I had a leak at the pump out valve (oooh...matron) The hose from my tank attaches to a 'tail' that then screws into the brass gunwale fitting... I have....a rubber sealing ring at that point. Although I had installed it really screwed up tight..I guess the movement of the boat and a slight rubbery rotation of the hose made it unscrew.. I kept getting pumpouts where it would seem to not get everything out..or be difficult to get a seal. I did not get any fluid in the boat though. I screwed it tight again...and put some extra sealant around it...and now all is well..

When passing boaters in their tin sausages that have previously referred to GRP hulled craft as "tupperware" I always try make as big a wake as possible, in the hope that the chip will be unbalanced from their shoulder.

When I bought my boat..its was 12 years old.. Time enough...you would think...to iron out any problems.. One day...we left the bedding stacked slightly higher than normal...as we had been turning back the bed. When we returned...the bulls eye had nicely burnt a line across it...it was only a miracle that we did not catch fire ! I also recall...about 3 years ago...a boat at Napton...where the bulls eye had focussed the sun onto a can of spray left to one side of the cabin..and the boat was gutted.. I 'think'..(actually thoughts may vary)...there was talk of a BSS addition being made about bullseyes...at the time..? Hmm..yes I recalled a conversation here : http://www.canalworld.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=38171&st=20 I painted mine white...and white...it shall remain !!!

not really, I liked the life, on the rivers. I think I'd do better on french canals. (maybe when Im 90) NOTHING in life is a mistake. It's just a learning process. Without the experience I would not be the person I am today. and that is also the reason Im writing a book about it. People poo poo those who have anything negative to say about living the dream on the cut. those people who quietly tuck the tails in and slink off, unheard of. they are the failures. those who "didnt make it" what nonsense. At least they succeeded in trying it and have the guts to admit it's not for them. There's nothing wrong with people who dont enjoy being on the canals and decide to leave. I applaud everyone who gives it a go. Hurray for those who love it and also hurray for those who dont but leave the experience a more knowledgeable person, maybe more tolerant too.

Hello The amateur boatwoman by Eily Gayford. Can anyone please help me? In my search for photos or other info covering the time the girls spent with Cissy & Albert Sibley.Cissy (Ellen Harrison) was my Brothers Godmother & Grandads Sister.I have photos from my childhood & teen era when they retired from boating & moved to West Drayton but would love some from their boating days. When Aunt Cissy became frail & moved to a warden controlled place a lot of photos ect went missing.

whilst @ a funeral in Linslade today I was chatting to the Step Son of Alf Wright.he remembers the can ,app Alf had two one each side of the fire place in the lock cottage. One held the paper,spills ect for lighting fire the other the poker e.c.t A story & peice of my family history now saved & on record. THANK YOU SO MUCH Terence