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I've nearly bust my knicker elastic over the past few weeks after we accepted an offer on our house.............but its finally time to break out the champers We were so close last Friday to completing we took the decision to go and trail a boat we had looked at back in July. Yesterday we gets a call from our solicitor to say our buyers deposit has cleared.........today we gets the call to ask if we are ready to exchange..............yes please we say.............15 minutes later we gets a call to say contracts are exchanged!!! Whoo Hoo!! Offer made on boat - accepted.............and its out the water on Thursday for a pre-purchase survey..............if all goes well and we see no reason why it should not we will be living on this by the end of this month:

By that time, the big new marina just North of Cropredy should be open, and I am sure that it won't be full yet. Indeed, I hope it's completely bl**** empty, but that's irrelevant.

Echoes of Oscar. Clouds and linings. Having nearly lost her hubby, Mrs A was soon consoled by her bright new kitchen.

'Enthusiasts' are only able to work with the data they are given. I as an 'enthusiast' have a room full of books that I have read and absorbed the contents whereas you, as a 'researcher' have (presumably) a room full of documents and books that (presumably) you have read and absorbed. As an 'enthusiast' I have learned no less than you but I have relied on the skill and accuracy of the 'researchers' that have written those books whereas you are fortunate enough to have first hand documentation to learn from. When you disparagingly describe me as a mere 'enthusiast' you are not actually criticising me and my fellow 'enthusiasts' you are criticising your fellow 'researchers' for the inaccuracy of their work and yourself for not publishing and sharing your data apart from drips and drabs that you deign to impart. If you want us 'enthusiasts' to stop getting it wrong then publish your data or give it to someone who is capable of doing it. I get a bit tired of the imperious manner you adopt when you tell us how crap we all are. 'Enthusiasts' are only as crap as the 'researchers' who publish inaccurate information and 'researchers' who maintain their elitist stance by dribbling out snippets to prove 'enthusiasts' wrong, rather than expanding all of our knowledge by releasing the lot.

So, now that we had two pages teling us that blocking the air intake is the way to go (and almost everybody has accepted this as selfevident... ), how much damage would a squirt of co2 down the inlet do?

My fuel tap is a reet Sod to get to and usually means me standing in the bilge either side of the engine. A large wet rag in the air intake anytime for me, although I may be tempted to untie the ropes and chuck her in gear, give the slow down squad summit to shake their fists at!

Air cooled Listers are prone to this happening. I have personnaly experienced it (Jumper stuffed up air intake stopped it) and I know of 2 other boaters that have had it happen with Listers. Keep an eye on the sump oil level. If it starts to rise...........beware, this is when it will happen. IIRC there was an article in WW some years ago, warning of the danger of this.

If wood is decaying then it has been lying there long enough to become an established wildlife habitat so it's best left, in my opinion.

With a centre-corridor layout that is not true. My 33' 'semi-V' draws 9" at the side and 22" in the centre which conforms nicely to most canal profiles. It is a bit more 'tippy' than the average canal boat, it rolls a bit when you step from side-to-side, i.e. it is almost a proper, real boat! 'V' or 'U' is the best hull shape for shorter narrowboats. Even on the distinctly 'saucer shaped' profile of the K&A I can usually moor close to or within stepping distance of a remote bankside. On the same canal I usually cannot get the stern of my 24" draught flat-bottomed boat within seven foot of the side. Traditional, rounded, hull shapes may work as well or better on our canals. Flat bottoms produce the maximum cargo capacity and the greatest freedom of interior layout. When you are hanging on to the centre rope, wondering how you will get aboard, with the bow and stern both grounded seven feet from the bank you will wish you had a shallower draught or, better, a semi-V, (double chine?). Alan

Sorry that your son and of course you have been caused so much stress. My understanding is that a private boat sale is pretty much caveat emptor, I don't think your son will have much recourse to law unless he has documentary proof that the state of the boat was misrepresented.