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It is far cheaper to get the mods to change your forum name. a historic boat is only worth as much as someone is prepared to pay for it. £75k valuation to me would be for something that I didn't have to spend a penny on anything major for quite a few years. Too much sentiment getting in the way I feel.

Has anybody on the forum used Ecosheet? A search brought up nothing. It's stated as an alternative to plywood but it's a plastic material, 100% recycled and 100% waterproof. It's also available from my local timber merchant. I'm thinking of using it for a new cruiser stern deck, and possibly for new front and back doors. Price comparison:(8ft x 4ft x 18mm) Hardwood ply, £45.24 Phenolic ply, £67.50 Ecosheet, £58.68 There's a data sheet (pdf file) here: www.ecosheet.com/files/8513/6681/5676/Ecosheet_Specification_Sheet_v5.pdf

Even if it is advertising why should you care ?? Darren

Personally, I don't think we should be discussing this at all! Ok, two people have been disappointed in buying this boat. I don't think that gives the forum the right to do down the vendors. Richard

Yes this point crossed my mind too.The vendor is negotiating sales but getting the deals vetoed by the other beneficiaries. This may not be her fault but she is behaving unethically by concealing this fact (if this is what is happening) and refusing to communicate with buyers with whom she has agreed to sell. Is she a professional and disinterested executor or or a member of the family taking on the role? MtB

Maybe (for whatever reason) your original report was misplaced. I know there can be no excuse for it not having been done in all this time as BW and CRT engineers carry out a regular audit of what requires repair and then classify them to prioritise. Maybe knowing the gear was faulty is one thing but if there was not the knowledge of what you witnessed to back up the priority of repairs it may have been languishing. Did you report it again in year 2 with a stern word about why had it not been repaired after what you witnessed the previous year? Did you report it to the new organisation (CRT) in year 3 who are doing their best to work through and get on top of all the maintenance issues that have been allowed to go undone for so long? Perhaps we will see a new thread appear on this forum about how a boater has been injured by this lock gear. If it is the one the OP refers to then he will at least know he did his best to alert the navigation authority to the problem If it is the gear you refer to that you have "saved your breath" on for the last two years how will you feel?

Other half here -- does that mean I can cross "paint and polish engine" off the rather lengthy "to-do-once-actually-living-aboard" list?

Exactly! Broadly speaking, governments are motivated by a desire to remain as governments (or to credit them with a little bit more of a long term view, to remain as governments for a period of time, and to return to being government after as short an interval as possible). Those objectives are, first and foremost, attained by not pissing off too many people.. Governments piss people off either by doing something very specific that lots of people don't want them to do, or by doing a whole load of things that collectively make people's lives worse. The trade off for governments is that very often, the specifics that will piss people off run contrary to the run of things that will make things worse. As such, whether a government will do something is a balancing act between how many people will be upset by the immediate action, and how many people will be upset by the consequences of that action. In this case, clearly a small number of boaters would be unhappy with the loss of red diesel, but not really enough to make a difference. There would be economic outcomes, in terms of businesses folding, but not huge. Environmental impacts, but not huge. The question is "what arguments will work"; I would suggest; 1) You will make a few people annoyed, and less likely to vote for you. 2) You will not make anybody like you more (there is no PR capital in going along with this) 3) You will drive some small businesses to the wall (negative PR) 4) There will be an environmental incident that will be attributed to the change (negative PR) 5) There may be a reduction in boating activity, and in CRT income. CRT could fail (negative PR) 6) Doing this, with all its PR risks isn't going to bring in any revenue. 7) By not doing it, you are standing up to the EU (which plays well to your voters), even if you eventually give in. The government will fight this, because it makes sense for them to do so. However, the purpose of that fight is so that any negative effects can be blamed on the EU. We need to convince them that even without the EU bashing angle, this makes sense.

Ah, they feel they sold too cheap then... This can easily turn into an 'ego' thing with both parties refusing to 'give in' especially once one party feels the other has behaved badly. If you saw RUFFORD up for sale at the price you think they would actually accept, would you still be interested if it was say a marina offering it for sale and everything was de-personalised? If so, swallow your pride, hand over the money (perhaps make up a face-saving excuse, eg 'we actually got more than asking price for the house so can offer you a bit more after all'), and have the boat of your dreams... If you genuinely think you can buy better by waiting, and hate the idea of 'overpaying' even for something unique you really want, then better to wait. Just don't forget they aren't making historic boats any more.... MtB

i can't understand why anybody should confuse the fact that this is an ill worded, ill thought out petition with any idea that suggesting that means you have any support for the eU on this matter. I have no support for the EU on this matter, but still think it is a crap counter-productive petition, and certainly gives the impression that the person writing it doesn't understand the situation. I regularly disagree with Dave, but his analysis of the situation is spot on here.

Its a waste of time going to Army & Navy stores for the army type camouflaged Gortex stuff, they always tell you they've got thousands of em in stock but they can't find em.

When I first moved on I had a live and let live attitude, but am afraid to say it has now changed to evict on sight!

An air rifle pellet up its backside should do it. Darren

Cart are getting rid of the history on the canals. Selling off anything they can sell and turning lock beams into 'works of art' I certainly hope they don't get their hands on anything else to ruin