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Pillings Lock Marina added 2 new photos. Rubbish Parking! if these cars are yours then please try to park a bit better next time you visit us 2 hours ago | | | Diana Steadman Remove this please Mods if this is going to cause bovver please delete it.

A question for the panel. A friend of mine who has a motor yacht which is currently moored in the Aegean somewhere tells me that he was recently let into a secret by a Greek marine engineer. The advice is to stick engine oil into the fuel tank with a ratio of 1:300 when filling up. Just basic engine oil, not synthetic and obviously in before the tank is filled so that when the fuel is added, the oil is dispersed. The benefit is supposedly that the injection system benefits from the additional lubrication and is especially good for engines which are left idle for longish periods of time. Has anyone heard of this practise? Does anyone do it? Or is it just nonsense? I have no idea and my mate hasn't tried it yet so it's over to you guys! (And gals)

Greenie!

Hear's to Beacon Boats and all the happiness they continue to bring their owners. Hear's to Ally's business partner in the hope his recovery continues and he can find some solace in knowing his creative talents will be around for a very long time. And hear's to Ally, a woman who is not only smart enought to have made Beacon Boats happen but also strong enough to have supported the whole caboodle when everything seemed to conspire against her to try and bring her entire world tumbling around her ears. Take a deep breath, award yourself a big pat on the back and relax for a few weeks. Recharge your batteries, tie up the loose ends. There is a business out there who is desperate for an Ally in their camp.

Despite TDH trying to turn the thread in 'world of whine'! MtB

Not according to the link in #2

It's probably her car

What a lot of bull. CRT are not against CCers. They are against non compliant boats and piss takers using the canal as a statuc housing estate. If a boat and user does not comply with the law, then action should be taken. People cannot choose which law to obey and which not to. Well, they can but must then expect enforcement action. Now a debate over whether CRT guidelines are legal or not is another matter which only the courts can decide.

There's hundreds of little things that a surveyor checks, some of which are farily obvious, some which are fairly obvious once you're familiar with boats, and some which aren't so obvious, and some which you'd never think of checking but the surveyor would. For example, when we had our boat surveyed he picked up on the fact that the gas locker floor was needing attention and the cutlass bearing was worn - the first you might think of checking, the 2nd would require the boat to be out the water and you'd probably miss yourself. Since the gas locker floor was pretty much level with the waterline, it required dry docking again, so it ended up costing a lot of money - which we didn't pay for. If the cost of the faults picked up (which the seller agrees to have done or discounts the cost of the boat by) exceeds the cost of the survey then you have made money by having a survey and subsequently buying that boat. If the costs of the faults picked up don't exceed the survey cost, then its probably a very good boat anyway and you can be reassured that. Hopefully others can cite practical examples of unusual faults which a surveyor can/has picked up, but which you'd never think of checking yourself, partly because you've fallen for the boat and are starting to become emotionally attached to it. Also in our case, due to the age of the boat, our chosen insurers required a survey and valuation - so it needed to be done anyway.

Your thinking about buying a boat, let the seller think about it too! if he wants to sell it he will be giving you the options for a survey and to get the boat docked and the job done, are you using a broker or private??? as a broker should have the contacts to make it easier You have got more chance of finding a dry dock, dry dock it, survey it, negotiate if any surveyor findings, buy it???? then re-black, new anodes, then get a crane in to move it. There's a Marina near Watford that can lift widebeams on site, most boats from North end up there, I will try and find there name. Another widebeam for London, CCing ????

It is a total mystery to me why anyone on a canal would need anything more complicated than a printed map to know where they are. You move so slowly that there is plenty of time to find the last bridge or lock to be able to identify more or less where you are, Nicholsons guides which are based upon the Ordnance survey maps give additional details such as field boundaries, farms, overhead cables etc, which make it very easy to locate your position, why do you need anything else? If we continue along this "I need an app to find out everything" approach, Society will become totally de-skilled, although it seems to well along that road already!!

My opinion (others are apparently available) is that until you have had considerable use of a boat you won't know what you NEED (as opposed to what you think you WANT). The first thing to remember is that a boats not a 'floating house', you do not have unlimited water or electricity and that all waste (including toilet) has to be removed from the boat - it does not just flush away and thats he end of it. I'd strongly suggest buying a youngish 'middle priced' £30-£40k second hand boat that has got everything you think you need, after a couple of years and finding out what it has you dont need, and what it doesnt have that you do need, you can sell it (without too much depreciation) and buy the boat of your dreams. Boats are like cars - you can buy a brand new Ford for £30,000, or a 2nd hand Rolls Royce for £30,000, the difference is the build quality. Of similar (if not more so) importance is maintenance - if the Rolls Royce had been banged about and the engine not serviced, the paint flaking off and the brakes worn out it could in fact be a 'worse buy' than a very cheap but well maintained Skoda Spend some time. and then some more time planning, then plan again before committing. Ask questions - they have all been asked before and generally you will get a variety of answers so you can make your own decisions.

My first post was simply anti speeding on the canals only to be attacked from all sides ! Know how poor old General Custer felt now apologies if I upset 1or2 bored with this topic now , have to go . Unlike some,have a life outside the forum

Never had any of those either don't know what a travel pack is don't care so don't tell me