Leaderboard

The point is that, if the punishment/fine is a sufficient deterrent, then the vast majority of boaters might think twice before casually breakng the relevant laws/byelaws. If its "only" a £100 fine, or a £1000 fine with not much prospect of it being paid quickly (man of straw argument), then it doesn't really serve as a deterrent. If the deterrent is the loss of the boat, then it kind of focuses the mind. Of course, there's always a minority who do break the rules, and if/when CRT enforce against these, it incurs costs (not outweighed by the sale of the boat) but because there's less of them, less costs overall.

Here's ours. Bedroom under the raised tug deck leaves loads of room elsewhere.

I have a fairly good view of the London situation having lived aboard around the M25 for 2 1/2 years , spent time with the fledgeling LondonBoaters, retaining links and friends down there and now delivering boats down there all year round. There are lots of different subgroups within the London Moorers (new term sic), people who can' afford accomodation buying low value boats - (plenty of plastic cruisers down there now), people who can afford rents, but would rather buy and own their own "property"ie boat, people who are renting boats off "waterlords" - whether within CRT rules or not., People who have been CC-ing London for many years. etc etc. I have never NOT managed to moor up in London throughout this year, on several different boats. There does seem to be a good community spirit, whether it/they will last a seriously harsh Winter needs to be seen. There was NOBODY on the Little Venice waterpoint or pump out the last two times I passed through. I maintain that CRT should set aside bookable moorings in high season for passing boaters at premium spots - Little Venice, Camden, Paddington, Limehouseetc. There is money to be made here for the Trust - however, they are seemingly only able to issue fines(extended stay charges), not take money for bookings. I also think that London has gone past control as far as the present boating population under present licencing and enforcement conditions apply - something new is needed, a clear plan and guidance, with an acknowledgement that the Canals are part of the housing solution whether the NIMBY's like it or not- it just needs to be managed accordingly. Oh, and Engineers Wharf never worked as location wise it was always overpriced, and when the moorings auctions started to get inflated by ghost bidders on the occasions that boaters actually bidded...........

No greenies for you lol!

It all went horribly wrong, and his remote controlled boat ended up attending a rally without him!

The Smartgauge does not need to be told anything it is completely automatic. It may take a few cycles of charge, discharge to be accurate. It is not accurate whilst batteries are being charged, up to 10%. The Smartgauge will always tell you the SOC of your batteries but it is the SOC of the capacity the batteries have. Example: New batteries, 100 amp.hr bank fully charged the SG will show 100% Old batteries (same original capacity 100amp.hr) but now can only 'hold' 50 amp.hrs, fully charged to the 50amp.hrs the SG will still show 100% When the battery bank is really old/knackered and cannot even hold 50 amp.hrs then the SG may show onerous readings. When you took your volt readings , what was the amperage flowing.

I watched a documentary recently about the growth of cities and urban planning. In Mumbai the 'standard' of good sanitation is one toilet seat per 50 head of population. In recent times (2 decades) the ration has gone from 900 people per toilet seat to 600 people per toilet seat. The city government refuse to put any more resources into sanitation in the slums because they say it will encourage people to move there. Thus enormous health and environmental issues are unnecessarily created. Their strategy is not working, the slums are still increasing. People don't make the judgement 'I'll move to Mumbai because the sanitation has increased' they make the judgement 'I'll move to Mumbai because I can get work'. The parallels are immediate and obvious, the consequences predictable and avoidable. The cities which are avoiding the worst disasters of increasing population, for instance Santiago, do so by getting involved with the people in need. Those who try to impose solutions and work entirely with market forces are finding the problems exacerbated.

Dont confuse the old fella too much Dog House.

Have just taken delivery of a really nice Gardner Pennant. White lettering with a red outline on a Royal Blue background, 30cm x 60cm, double sided printing, which means it reads right from both sides. Top quality thing, very pleased with it. £30 quid. www.flyingcolours.org or 01423 860007. Sorry for slow reply.

Can you not use your own hand pump? Just remove the hose/pipe from the sump plug end and stick that in the oil? Just bought ourselves a little hand pump, 23 Euros (18 GBP) - made in Taiwan (curses, but of course!), last week from a car parts store: I tested it and it does indeed work. I also tested the original hand pump that seems to have come with the engine - once soaked/primed in/with oil, that too works - but not as well as the little Taiwanese thingy. Handpumps for this reason - that our sump plug thread seems to have torn, so we'll have to suck old oil up the dipstick tube until we get the plug sorted out. Kitchen towel works fine for mopping up the rest - put it in bin bag - up the chimney probably is a bit smoky & stinky. The white oil-soak mats (chandlers) seem OK, we have one under our engine now - they are 'weighty' so don't fly away at a breath of wind. The plastic tops of aerosol cans make good scoops for oil, and a cat little tray (pet shops) may help - what we've used for oil changes (when the sump plug worked).

Apparently there are quite a few boats on the K&A that do not have starter batteries. Good to hear that you are adding one to yours.

I like Aqua fit outs and have seen some of the bespoke boats at Crick as well as viewing the sponsored fleet. They clearly know what they are doing and are good at working with customers. I know that from personal experience whilst at Mercia. The key to good fitters is to understand the owners needs and advise accordingly. The worst a fitter can do is not advise a customer if they think a design idea is wrong.

I'm going to challenge you on that bottle. A voltmeter will show you a certain amount of information if the batteries have not been subject to heavy charge or discharge. What I mean is if the voltmeter shows say 12.0v and there is nothing switched on then it is probably worth charging up. While a simple voltmeter is quite an unsophisticated device I think it is misleading to say that it tells you 'nothing about your batteries' I've got cheap as chips voltmeters on my start battery, main battery and generator battery and they all do give reasonably useful information specially on the start and generator batteries which are at rest for long periods with no discharge - the voltmeter DOES show if the battery is self discharging over time. For power in from solar panels I would recommend a Watt meter as used by Radio Control plane fanatics will add link in a minute These things really are good They will give instantaneous amps, voltage, watts, accumulated Amp Hours and if you go for an 'Eagletree' version you can get a full data logger which will give you volts, amps, temperature in more than one place and other things measured every second for about a month before you need to download it onto the laptop quite cool. I used one to take measurements of my solar output when I was using a tracker made with a satellite dish motor. Also logged my fridge power consumption. Probably a bit anoraky for most people http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/DC-LCD-60V-100A-Balance-Voltage-Boat-RC-Heli-Battery-Power-Analyzer-Watt-Meter-/390932345418?pt=UK_BOI_Electrical_Test_Measurement_Equipment_ET&hash=item5b0562324a

London doesn't need 20,000 extra homes, it needs less people. The idea that London needs to keep absorbing more people as somehow necessary to economic success is ridiculous. It is time for some compulsory business relocation.

Move away from Boating !, HAHAHAHEEEHAAHA ! NO WAY , I would however get someone to come & replace my 'Toilet to Holding Tank' Hose !, and then obviously Have Boats all over the World, and a Sea king Helicopter with in flight refueling capabilities, and a bigger Donut storage facility !. But NO I wouldn't stop my life afloat 100% sure of that.

Unless you can define 'place', which apparently nobody can, then I cannot answer this question.