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Just offering a possibly useful link for tomorrow onwards? http://www.mysupermarket.co.uk/grocery-categories/popcorn_in_sainsburys.html A

To be norty and deflect slightly. I was crawling past a line of moored boats and as usual a few were displaying "slow down" signs. Would I make myself damned unpopular if I put up a sign saying "Don't bother to slow down as this boat is competently moored".

I wondered if this might be of interest to some on the forum I understand that at times there is a need for on site welding on canal boats so I have decided to offer a full mobile welding repair service as well as the retro side doors etc that I make I hope that this is an acceptable post I do find this forum a far better means of communication than some of the publications available I am sure someone will let me know if I have broken the rules If I can be of use to you please PM me or ring on 01604 511512 Thanks Martin [Kedian Engineering Ltd]

Hi Junior, I haven't forgotten you. I am just putting the final touches to a day tank which I will be able to lend you. We can then address the issues with the current tanks, clean them properly and checkout the whole system. With regard to the other problems, I will be able to sort those out as well. When are you back from France? Simon.

Check me out, bitches... I suspect a good deal of my total came from one particular thread though.

Phil may want the job, he may not - that's up to him. Since he never sent me a PM I guess not. I'm not really interested in a trademan's views if I'm paying their wages. I'd rather they just get on with the job. I'm not a traditionalist and I don't spend my time looking back to the past and trying to recreate a traditionalist illusion. If others want to do that on their boats it's fine with me as long as they don't expect me to do the same. I thought accepting differences in people's lifestyles was what diversity was all about? I embrace the benefits of the modern world and don't see anything wrong with that. I know that decent quality vinyl coach lines are perfectly good and will last as long as paint, so that's all that matters to me.

a good rule of thumb (from Tony Brooks i think,) when using an inverter, is take the 240 volt wattage and divide by 10 to give a rough 12V amperage figure, allowing for the inverter loss etc. so in this case 240W = 240/10 =24 amp, if its on for 1 hour that would be 24 amp-hours or about 4% of your 550AH capacity.

Junior, just be assured that everyone has to start somewhere and its these things that we are learning now that will be the advice that we give to those coming onto the forum in years to come. There is no such thing as a daft question if its one you need to ask. Stop beating yourself up over what you call novice things, everyone has to start somewhere, we are only just learning )

Put as much as you like in, wherever it will slot in. Yes you could put a ton into a single floor space (provided it would fit) with no risk to the boat structure. Steel is astonishingly strong. Just lay off the depleted uranium! MtB

Was it one of these 'Russian Wives' brokerage firms ? Sorry, couldnt resist, I tried and failed.

As I understand it CRT don't have to allow connection but can't unreasonably withhold it. So if the new company had directors who were part of the old company they wouldn't in my view be being unreasonable in refusing.

Does that include tipping Lycra clad cyclists into the canal?

Having read your post several times over now looking for some substance, this is about the closest I can get. Could you expand upon this comment please? In particular could you explain your reason for being at the meeting? Given your comment about 'common sense prevailing' I suspect you are not a creditor or anyone with much to lose personally, so I take it you are a Pillings staff member. I find your comment about the biggest disappointment lack of coffee and biscuits rather flippant too. Can I respectfully suggest you stick your input where the sun does not shine, too, given you have nothing constructive to say? MtB

Exciting times ahead... You are a skilled craftsman...and will undoubtedly handle it all fine..but bear in mind that you are doing the same jobs that you would do in a house..but in a match box... This is how I likened it.... Same jobs..but in a match box... Simply running a pipe through a cupboard may entail dismantling half the bed..and making like Houdini.. My own 'opinion'..and this is my opinion...is that the cruising season is short..and all jobs take a huge amount of time. I'm not sure if this is typical, but I have met people who purchased a sailaway..and it took 2 - 3 years to fit it out.. I always thought this was a shame as the joy of boating..is really in the boating. I don't think its good to just view it as handy accommodation because a lot of times in can kick you in the teeth and that's when you need the 'spirit of it all'. There has to be a love of boating...more than living on water.. I agree with what's been said..that you should hire and really look at what you may be faced with...(faced with meant in a nice way) You can fit it out to your hearts content..but at the end of the day..it's a long thin tube and anything you 'cleverly invent' has undoubtedly been done before. Thus if you look and look you may find that dream boat that is ready to go. When we purchased our boat..we had lists of things we wanted..cruiser stern..reverse layout...all sorts of things.. We looked and looked and then purchased a boat that had none of these because it 'felt right'... I 'feel' that.....'felt right' is a more leading factor... You will oneday find a boat that..'feels right'.... Good luck !

Bridge 190 which is the second crossing to the east of Silsden, is crossed by a public footpath, which is also part of a long distant named footpath the Millenium Way, The local authority will have brought considerable pressure to bear on to C&RT to restore this bridge, especial as it is part of a named route. Footpath officers have immense power if they decide to invoke it, but that costs, so they don't often use the power. I am aware of a famous incident where the M6 was closed, one Sunday morning, because the highways authority were dragging there feet over reinstating a footbridge over the motorway and the local council footpath officer started to fence the path off across the motorway, interestingly the bridge was restored in double quick time after that. The fact it has been restored to original, rather than as purely a footbridge, is probably a good thing as it saves our heritage. If you have difficulty operating any structure one must inform C&RT preferably in writing or as an email as this helps the local waterway manager justify spending money. Moaning on here will not get it fixed, well not quickly in most cases. -- Cheers Ian Mac

Why, are they competing with the Scots?

As a rough guide, multiply the current of a 240v device by 20 (ie double it and add a zero) to get the equivalent current at 12v. But as mentioned, heating devices often have thermostats so they will not necessarily draw the rated current all the time.

Hmm, that's interesting. I've just received a heads up that the credit worthiness rating of both QMH and PLM has changed.

No. you're correct. 240 / 240 = 1 240 / 12 = 20 For any given power as you drop the voltage you increase the current. To add to the complexity you need to add in any power conversion losses. If the appliance is 240V and is 240W then it will take 1A from a 240V supply. If you want to run it from a 12V supply you'll need a power conversion step and this is usually done via an inverter. An inverter is not 100% efficient. If we assume 90% efficient then the inverter will require 240W + 24W to perform the conversion. You will now draw 264W / 12V = 22A. Also remember that a boat 12v power supply isn't 12V but can vary between 10V (very flat) to 14.4V ish (fully charged). To add to the confusion batteries don't act like buckets of power. When charging not all the charge you put in gets stored and when you take the power out the amount you can take out depends on how fast you take it. Look up Pukert's equations if you want to confuse yourself.

Often wondered why we still, in the main, all have to be at work between 0730 and 0900. But we leave at differing times. The morning rush to work is slightly more congested that the evening get away. We trade world wide now, there are time differences. There's no need for anyone to get from A to B fifteen minutes sooner. Martyn

HS2 is 'needed' because the current lines are overcrosded due to commuting. Commuting is a 19th century solution to a 19th century problem. We are in the 21st century and should be looking for 21st century solutions. If we reduce commuting then the need for HS2 evaporates. Tis simples but you try and explain that to a poltician

And there will continue to be online moorings. They may, however, no longer be as cheap as they once were. In the past, mooring prices were set in a somewhat formulaic manner, according to what facilities a mooring had, and marina prices were usually higher than towpath prices. This method of setting prices didn't recognise that some people prefer to moor on the towpath (basically, the price reflected tangible features of the mooring, rather and omitted intangibles), and it didn't recognise that whilst some people like to moor on-line, excessive numbers of on-line moorings are not universally popular with those who boat past them. Over time, the provision is shifting slowly toward more marina provision, and less on-line provision (and more overall provision), which benefits those who found mile upon mile at tickover tedious. Moorings are (by a less than perfect process) starting to find a market rate. As towpath moorings become scarcer, the rate will naturally increase, until they are close to marina prices. As this happens, those who have on-line moorings as a cost-based decision will move into a marina. Those who really want to be on-line will pay the higher price for a mooring with less tangible benefits, but which is what they want. The arrangements offered by CRT for off-side moorings are; A) EOG fee from boaters Mooring Agreement, priced at 80% of the full-occupancy EOG fees.

Use something like Carpenter's Powerstep under the carpet. It is the same kind of stuff as Cumulus (polyurethane crumb) but much denser (not so squishy) and 9mm thick. Excellent tog value for insulation and not much dearer than Cumulus. Might be worth having a moisture barrier as well. The main purpose of the underlay under hardwood floating floors is to stop the "clatter" twixt hardwood and subfloor if there are any voids. There are lots of options to the thin plasticky ones, but they would be ok. They tend to have a combined moisture barrier built in. I would try to find an engineered wood with a multiply back, rather than a solid. It is more dimensionally stable with the big variations in humidity on a boat.

weve had people fishing today..long daft poles that reach rite accross the canal to our boat....i suggested today that the fella oposite us came round and sat on our deck with a very short rod and id make him a brew..he was less than polite with his response.....to my serprise he was even less greatful when i ran my engine in gear to help push the fish toward his hook.........

There are two situations impacting on the OP questions – standard business contracts where such are voluntarily made, and situations where the authority has no empowerment to either make charges or demand licences. The situation with older ‘historic agreements’ is actually that there has been [mostly] no need for any agreement, the situation is that of limits to historic empowerments. Current CaRT legislation does not allow them to demand that boats outside of their jurisdiction must have licences. The private owners of a marina may, however, make possession of a boat licence a pre-requisite for entry – they have every right to impose this and any other requirement they might dream up, as a condition for entering into a contract with the public. Where CaRT have entered into agreements with prospective new marina builders, they have made sure that insistence on such a clause as requiring boats to be licensed, and including ‘connection charges’, was part of their own ‘price’ for facilitating the project. They have no other power to insist on the licences, nor for ‘connection charges’. Consequently, it is idle to suggest that they could/should make these demands of all existing marinas – because with them there has never been a contractual agreement; there never needed to be, and there is no present need. CaRT are, as a consequence, powerless to impose terms as to contracts where none existed. Where contracts are in place, neither sides to the contract are entitled to unilaterally amend the terms of those contracts. CaRT are bound by the terms of the British Waterways Board (Transfer of Functions) Order 2012. Of specific import to the questions asked is: 4. (1) Nothing in this Order affects the validity of anything done (or having effect as if done) by or in relation to the British Waterways Board before the transfer date; and anything (including legal proceedings) which on that date is in the process of being done by or in relation to the British Waterways Board, so far as it relates to any of the transferred functions, may be continued by or in relation to Canal & River Trust. (2) Anything done (or having effect as if done) by or in relation to the British Waterways Board, so far as it relates to any of the transferred functions, has effect, so far as is necessary for continuing its effect after the transfer date, as if done by or in relation to Canal & River Trust. [ http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2012/1659/contents/made ] So far as liability to disclosure of contracts, it is notable that by reason of the fact that not all of BW functions were transferred, and because BW were removed as a name from the FoI Act subsequent to the Transfer Act, CaRT lay claim to exemption from the FoI Act relating to almost anything that the public might be interested in, certainly, although contentiously, with anything to do with British Waterways - and in respect of private deals with third parties could legitimately claim protected interests anyway.

Bridal way - is that an off-road route to the church? I'll get my coat!

. Onanist! [quote Judging by his surname, quite possibly.

I was wondering WHY would anyone bother doing this it just seems too complicated. if it means you can do more with a physically smaller unit then maybe its worth it.

If you have the dog, take it to someone who can read its microchip. eg local dog warden, vet, etc

The best advice I had from a very well respected boat builder was, "don't buy a new boat as you're first boat, buy a secondhand boat similar to what you think you want & try that for at least a year or two to see what you really want." I bought just such a boat & the boatbuilder shook my hand & congratulated me on a fine purchase. I've never wished to purchase a new boat since. A 67'' x 12' boat is not an easy vessel to handle, & even a journey up from Braunston to near Brum would take skill, planning and patience. On the whole narrowboats are much more suitable for navigating the majority of England's inland waterways if that's what you wish to do. Don't take take the above as gospel, just my experience. Cheers, Brian

or swap a pump-out toilet for a cassette one...... or swap an Hudson boat for a load of firewood....... (not that anyone would be that daft - firewood is quite expensive these days).