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To return to the long-lost OP, I have now receiv2d a reply to my complaint: Cranfleet Lock Thank you for your email of the 16 July concerning your passage through Cranfleet Lock. Can I firstly apologise for the poor service you experienced. I quite agree with you, it is not a matter of opinion as to whether you need the skippers say-so before opening the paddles, it is essential and critical to the safe operation of the lock. We will speak to the volunteers concerned and address any training requirements to ensure they are acting safely. I am glad that your other experiences of our volunteers are good and so I hope this is a one off issue that we can quickly address. Thank you for bringing this to my attention and my apologies again that you had to. Regards Sean McGinley Waterway Manager

You know you are always welcome to come and get a floating boat fix with us one weekend.

Rather than new high speed lines that will only benefit a few how about reinstating and modernising the branch lines? HS2 is yet another london centred project. Improving east-west rail connections at various points up the country would help greatly. It's also bizzare that the cheapest fares are from london. E.g. It's cheaper to go from London to Glasgow or Edinburgh than from the East Midlands.

It may well be that you would wish to help me. However, I have no wish to be "helped" by anybody who isn't fully behind the idea that if the steerer of my boat says we do it in a particular way, that is the way we do it, no matter how much better he thinks his way is. In a similar way, if I am helping another boater, then I want the helmsman of that boat to make the decisions, rather than me making decisions for him. Let me assist you with parsing my opening sentence in my previous post, as you appear to be struggling. "Clearly" is appropriate, because it refers to the probability that you will stick to your views. The bit about them being wrong is a humorous aside. Others may have added a smiley. I prefer not to add smileys, as I always feel that flagging up a humorous aside with a smiley implies that you think that the reader may be too thick to see it as a humorous aside without a label that says so. Unfortunately, you seem to be incapable of any degree of acceptance that other people are entitled to do things their way, and your reaction to any suggestion that people should be allowed to stop a free-for-all where all-comers can do what they please if THEY think it best, is frankly edging into the abusive, with name calling, and remarks about captain's hats. Your views are clearly not shared by the majority, and they don't accord with the rules that CRT lay down for their volunteers

Bloody hell, a PC that draws more that a kW???!! Yes. Get a house...

I'll be off heading for Audlem with a pair tomorrow so plenty of opportunities to practice my locking technique and as I'll be towing and in ex working boats I'll have priority at all the locks with the rights to lock both boats through without letting anyone else lock through in between.

I'm so sorry that you are struggling to understand that my contributions to this thread is split into two seperate issues. Perhaps this link will help:

Another reason for using 18mm WBP or marine ply is that it is strong stuff and for external doors you do want something strong enough to withstand a bit of 'breaking and entering' from passing undesirables.

Yes, still seal it. Why tempt fate? 1mm less will be fine - your Marineflex will probably be that thick anyway

Yes that would be okay if you carefully seal the edges and paint both sides (at least, seal the reverse). 'Proper' marine ply is made from hardwood veneers and glued with a waterproof glue. The easiest way to tell the difference is it's £80 a sheet

At the very least, WBP ply. Better would be hardwood marine ply but that's maybe OTT as you're painting it. Ordinary ply, OSB board, Blockboard, MDF will all fall to pieces with damp. DO NOT buy so-called Marine Ply from the diy sheds - it's rubbish.

If your going to paint it. How about 18mm wbp ply.You can also attatch little square bits and trim to tart it up a bit.

Restoring branch lines is a rose tinted glasses idea. Many of the lines were already dying as they were speculative developments trying to cash in on growth market. Sometimes they just got it wrong or found that the best routes were already taken. A lot of the tracks are no longer available as other things have been built over them (although that does not stop HS2!) Much the same as restoring some canals. Furthermore, the branch lines, where they worked, depended on people using their horse and cart to to 'the last mile', especially in rural areas, where the predominance of closed branch lines are. You would have to find ways of building large car parks alongside the stations (as has happened in some outer metropolitan places) Another fear would be that they would then accelerate the concentration of employment into dense city areas with more people having ever longer commutes, whether by rail or road. Where do you get the 30 years from? I thought that it was under 20.

HS2 is going to be 30 years or more before it gets to Manchester. Do you really think that people will still be commuting to an office in a city to the same extent that they do now? We do desperately need more freight on the railways, but that needs a government that is prepared to make it financially viable, rather than carry on with the huge subsidies that road haulage gets. Yes there will still be a "rush hour", but outside of that the freight could easily be moved, either during the day or at night. I quite often travel from Crewe to Euston to link up with Eurostar (from St Pancras - why do we have to we still have to drag our cases half a mile up Euston Road?) and the trains are generally half empty, or less. OK so some improvements will be needed to some of our main lines, but that would be a fraction of the cost of HS2.

Though it may not greatly reduce journey times it will increase capacity a lot, so no more will the special person be sitting on the floor because he says he could not find a seat he likes...........

Bet the greyhound pub is loving the lock being shut! Might pop up tonight, only moored round the corner.

HP and BHP are the same, sort of. BHP is a sub-sype of HP. As mross says, BHP is a historic term telling you the type of device used to measure the actual output of the engine. In this case a brake. A brake is a wheel of known thermal mass with a band around it to create some resistance to it turning. The engine turns the brake and the brake band tightness is adjusted so the engine speed is constant. Then this is run for a measured amount of time, and the temperature of the brake wheel is measured at the beginning and end of the test. The HP of the engine can then be calculated from change in temperature together with the mass of the wheel and the length of the test. The output calculated in this way is BHP. Another way to calculate the HP of the engine is to measure the consumption rate of the fuel over the period of the test, and use the specific energy of the fuel for the calculation. This actually tells you the HP input of the engine rather than the output, so frictional losses inside the engine are not taken into account. Hence the BHP method is regarded as more useful amongst petrol heads, as their prime concern is absolute power output, rather than niceties such as efficiency. Nowadays engine power output is stated in kW, or some unit called a "ps", which I think is the same as a BHP.

See above But you must consider the 'newbie' who doesn't appreciate the unwritten parts of a post and just takes any comment at face value. For instance, he might read your opening post where you stated you can use an AtoB to take batteries from 80% to 100% in less than an hour and believe it.

I'm sure that Nick is quite a nice guy, but in my view there is little more dangerous that somebody who wants to join a group activity, but isn't prepared to accept the group norms. His tendency to start name calling where people won't play his way doesn't really do him any favours.

Stolen from the internet... yesterdays view.

I have just logged on and when I read that bit I immediately wanted to reply to explain why it was wrong but then I thought "why bother, he seems convinced that he knows all he wants or needs to about alternators, batteries and charging so why waste my time". Its others with even less knowledge that concern me. If we do not try to explain why certain statements are just plain wrong others could end up spending money they maybe do not need to or only hide faults that are still there.

If you decide to use resin, have a look at this manual. link The West System of boat repair is highly regarded

Looking at some of the "marine" engine manufacturers data it seems like the 2:1 reduction ratio is almost universal for some reason, what I mean is if you look at the engine range they almost always recommend the same gearbox ratio regardless of output. I think this leads to a tail wagging dog situation where for the lower powered engines the engine/gearbox set up dictates the fitting of a prop that is probably too small. It's been pointed out many time on this forum that especially with narrowboats you need to start with the ideal prop size and work back from there. As you say, heavy deep draughted boats usually end up with a high torque low revving engine but it doesn't have to be that way. Eg I know two Hudson owners one has a Gardner the other a Kubota. The design of modern narrowboats exacerbates the situation with short swims designed to maximise cabin space and engine bays just big enough for a 2/3cylinder motor.

Now you have defined London a bit better you will be fine. Once past Kensal Cemetry on the GU it's "normal".

What happens to the water level if you carve a carrot into the shape of a duck then chuck it in the cut?

One does not drive narrowboats...one steers. And no, he doesn't.

On the subject of "lock keys" and "gas keys", I'm comfortable with this terminology, as here in the North-East the traditional name for a spanner (of all types, open end, ring, box etc) is a "key", in the sense that it will undo a bolt. I believe the same usage is common in Scotland. A windlass here is a type of winch!

Indeed. Still probably more important to have a meaningful meaning than a correct spelling imo.

Another thing that reduces water depth is leaving lock gates open with the paddles raised............now your carrot peelings pail into insignificance so peel away pee away and dump engine oil away with washing up liquid shortly after.... Dont follow this advice please as you will be hung drawn and quatered under section who gives a *explitive here *subsection # ironic slam of the C&rt# Before u all kill me im joking your a bad man dumping your carrot scraps into the river and turning all the local wildlife into night vision experts. How ever will i poach fish now if they can actualy see.....and ducks......and swans......

Although the "Axiom prop shape" has changed a bit. I personally think that the shape parallels the development of the propellor since 1836, and is now at 1914, or thereabouts ....

If it's my boat in a lock then either me or the OH ARE in charge. If you do something that might cause damage to either us or the boat then I'm afraid whoever you are you will find in no uncertain terms that it's not going to be a good idea. My boat....my rules. Ive no doubt upset a few people over the years but that's life. I'd rather be in control of a situation.

The mapping system on the National Library of Scotland is much better allowing todays satellite view to be shown partially or in full. Plus many other series of maps are available. http://maps.nls.uk/ This the tunnel west end: http://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/#zoom=16&lat=52.4466&lon=-2.0310&layers=6&b=1

About the biggest thing you are allowed to 'dump in the cut', is your boat. Provided its licenced.

I think some of that guidance - even deployment of laser guided missiles - is now done from drones guided from an air base in Texas.

http://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/#zoom=16&lat=52.4464&lon=-2.0277&layers=6&b=1 Slide the transparency button at the bottom of the left hand panel to show more or less transparency.

I don't care whether I am a nice person or not in the eyes of those who would interfere. The bottom line is that when I work my boat the way I want, everything works out OK. As soon as somebody starts meddling and doing things their way, it works less well. If you can't see that there is a need for somebody to be in charge, and for it to be clear who that is (rather than having two people believing that they are in charge, or nobody knowing that they are in charge), then your involvement in the operation of a lock is a risk. If my boat and family is involve, it becomes an unacceptable risk that I mitigate by ensuring that such individuals are not involved.

Sorry Nick, but that is utter tripe. Yes, of course there is an expectation that the paddles will be opened.... Just as soon as the boat is in the best position for passage! Allow that the steerer will have a preferred way of transiting (ride the front gate, ride the back gate, hover in the middle). You or I may have firm views on which is right, but it isn't our call when it isn't our boat. We prefer to ride the front gate in tickover, so if the paddles are whipped up before we are settled, we get thrown about, and really the idea that you whip the paddles up and be prepared to drop them if there is a problem is just plain silly. Far better to avoid the problem in the first place.

I expect the lockie will point to which side he wants you (usually the same side as the operator's hut) as you approach, come to the side above you once you're in and (if you haven't already) ask you to pass a stern line behind the riser and hold it to keep your back end in place. He'll then check your CRT number to ensure that your licenced, operate the lock for you and send you on your way, usually with a cheery wave. Of course, sometimes they may be having a bad day, and perhaps less than compliant boaters may get short shrift then, but my experience has always been positive. The only time I've had anything much different to that is when there was a local area power cut, when he appeared to get help from everywhere to help operate the lock manually, which was no mean feat!

Person loses everything due to own stupidity, expects everyone else to pay for mistake. You sure she doesn't work in the banking sector?

I can see why some might not be inclined to help this poor woman, I agree what she did was beyond stupid, but to have no sympathy? Someone has lost their home and pretty much everything they own, even if it's their own fault how can you not feel sorry for them?

When my boat sank, no end of people rallied around and helped me out, without asking my for any money - including professionals who could have charged £1,000s. Crowdfunder is simple a modern way of organising that. I feel very happy for you that you've managed to reach such a ripe age without making any stupid mistakes or needing anyone's help to rectify them. Or maybe that's not true and you're just being nasty about someone who is in trouble.

SHHHHHHH! Don't tell everybody, if you do they will all moor there and will walk to the top of Coombe Hill to see views like this. (not the best picture in the world but I loved the light in the sky)

Good to see you've done a power audit, but I'd question some of the figures. In particular, the phone charging looks nonsensical. And what is within "heating"? And why is it 70W? As for hairdryer.......hmmmmm. Given the above inaccuracies, I can't see any forwards calculations based on these - for example solar amount needed, or battery bank capacity - being meaningful. Also over-specifying by 100% is not an appropriate winter adjustment - basically during winter, the "average" factor is 10% of peak output, ie you'd need to ON AVERAGE overspecify 1000% (or maybe +900% depending on how the figures are interpreted) but during winter, there's some days where you'd basically not get any power off solar. Think, drizzly cloudy winter's day where it rains (or snows) most of the day, and is dull and cloudy when its not raining. And then there's some winter days when its about 12degC and sunshine. (Although of course, sunlight is weaker in winter than summer due to the seasonal effect).