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.... and this is what happens when no one gives way... boats get stuck! Boats were log jammed outside Tooley's in Banbury. We were moored up, when two boats passed, neither giving way! After half an hour of tugging, rocking and pulling, washing up liquid was applied..... result! Got to say, people all pitched in, all with good humour, and the guy from Tooley's was brilliant!

As someone guilty of pretty much everything Pete accuses him of Id like to offer a counterpoint to his post regarding historic boat websites. I started my research 40 odd years ago as a kid, raised by ex working boat people my every spare moment was spent on boats, talking about boats and if I am honest dreaming about boats (steering our boat along a road like a car, turning into our drive and taking the boat through the entryway between the two houses like a tunnel and mooring it in the back garden... yes, I had that dream a lot). I had exercise books full of boat names, where I saw them, whether they were converted or not, along with little snippets of information uttered by my granddad or uncle about the boat if they knew it. I had the a5 ish size Robert Wilson/Alan Faulkner books as presents when other kids were having toys and games because I loved old boats and needed to know as much about them as I could. I could identify a boats builder from its name or the style of its bow/stern as easily as other kids my age could reel off footballers or pop stars, I still couldnt tell you who sang what song or when even now. As with most kids school exams and then starting work got in the way of my boating and the collection of information and in my own particular case numerous nervous breakdowns along with deaths in the family saw my information lost in house clearances and meltdowns of my own volition. But I still had that love, that deep seated connection to old boats and canals in general so I began to build it back up from a point of having lost everything, I had the intensely good fortune to meet and speak with others who shared that passion before I became as good as housebound and through those connections we shared and collated what we had and put the lists online as a means of spreading our passion. We knew we hadnt got everything right, we never claimed we had, in fact my website has disclaimers on its front page even now saying any mistakes are genuine and totally my fault and that if pointed out they will be rectified. About 2 and a half years ago I was in a very dark place, I was at the point of taking the site down and letting everything go but kind words on this forum and some amazing (to me) offers of help and support meant that the site not only survived but it is being rewritten, its a long job, not helped in the least by my own mental health being shite most of the time, but it is happening. People who have done the research hard yards are helping, I know I havent, mea culpa, not wishing to excuse it but I am extremely shy in person and the thought of actually meeting people and going somewhere new fills me with a terror I cant explain while at the same time making me feel wholly inadequate as a person, so its correct, I personally have not gone to the places where the information is held, not through want of desire or dedication but because I actually cant do it, for that I am sorry. The people who are helping rewrite the site have been brilliant, I wont name them unless they want to come forward themselves but they have not judged me disappearing for almost 2 years, or cut me out of the loop for being the flakey idiot I am and for that I am eternally grateful. So while the point Pete makes is accurate, as in my opinion he is about everything narrow boat related, it doesnt tell the whole story. Hopefully Ive shed a bit of light on what that story is, at least for me. For my own peace of mind I have to say that this is in no way critical of anyone nor is it written with any malice or ill intention, I just feel bad when I see it as me letting people down with my not wholly accurate information on the website, I am trying to be better. Sorry.

I'll Waze you up when we're close.

I can offer a slightly different view for if you mostly cruise rather than moor for longer periods. The first phase of charging to get back to 80% goes in fairly quickly - the batteries will take a high current at first, diminishing as they fill. After that, the charging current tapers off and it takes a long time to achieve a 100% charge. A decent cruise with reasonable alternator ought to fill your batteries, but even a fairly short cruise will get you quite a way up the percentage fill, with a tank of hot water as a bonus. After a short cruise, or a hour or so engine run alongside, you'll only need maybe a 10 or 20 amp capability to finish the job - so a couple of hundred watts could cope if used to "top off". Same caveat applies about the shorter, darker days though. Still, it might work quite well for much of the time and could very well easily cope with many a leisure boater's needs. Not right for everyone, but another idea to consider.

Bear in mind no matter how much solar you get, it more or less stops working completely in the three winter months, in my personal experience with several installations. Edit to add: So no matter how much solar you have, you'll need to be able to replicate its performance with fossil fuel in those three winter months when your leccy demand is highest.

"OK Dougal" "Wuff" "Navigate to home" "Wuff wuff"

Copy of the metro picked up at the station. Makes a nice wrack when it hits the fly, when you finshed with it you can used it for lighting the fire or if your a northern as loo paper.

In the black and white corner, weighing in at 168 lbs Iron Mike "The bruiser" boilerman. In the red corner, weighing in at 161 lbs and 5' 10" tall WotEver "The Waze Worshipper"

Hello Tumsh and thank you. Yes, there is a good deal of excitement involved but I'm not sure about how I'm going to manage. Copious amounts of wine, possibly ? Aha. Thank you, Rusty ?

Or know what a red traffic light means.

CSI tree huggers. Seal off the scene. Oh too late.

You eat Ariel - just cos it smells like fish doesn't mean it is fish !!!

Nope, just Wubbl-ewes.

My favourite road guidance is this from 1929.

I've been ordered to leave my fleas at home, they are so disappointed

As David points out - It's less about the HP output, and more about the torque. This is slightly off topic, but has a parallel. My farmer landlord speaks of modern tractors with disdain. They are 100+ HP monsters that need revs and many gears, and can still get stalled when working the ground. He loves his old three pot 45hp tractors with their five inch stroke and three and a half inch bore - they would slog. But as size means everything to the modern farm - we have tractors that can cope with many attachments working at once over wide swathes but last just a few years after which they are worthless. And if they breakdown due to some electronic component failing, the repair bill would be in telephone numbers. His modern 110hp air conditioned beast had a cooling fan fail. It's a hydrostatic fan that kicks in with engine temperature. The replacement part was close to £500, and treble that for fitting as half the tractor had to be dismantled to access the parts. Three radiators had to be removed after the front cowling was off; engine cooler; oil cooler; and air con. Fortunately we have been able to drill and bolt the fan to the assembly making it a fixed fan. Cost - £80. He's currently restoring a 1968 MF 135 - little beauty. County fairs up and down the country will have their agricultural section, and there you will see farmers and others showing their 'as working' and restored examples, just as rallies have their ex-working boats. Just the same with motorcycles, cars, and commercial vehicles. The everyday has been superceded, and as we grow old we see folly in many things creating a longing for a simpler lifestyle and what went with it. Some hardships have gone, but so much else with them.

Who pays the employees phone contract when the app consumes all their data, wouldn't be using it on my personal phone for company business.

It's a gamble. In recent years, I have become firmly of the belief that primer and top coat should come from the same source; you have bought a "paint system". However, in most instances, people do get away with random combinations. As for Hammerite, 20 years ago they made really good paint, but as with many brands, they have re-formulated their paints to meet current Health and Safety regs and what sells as Hammerite now is not the same stuff and I don't use it any more. The one exception is that I do use their Special Metals Primer, which is intended for aluminium and various other non-ferrous materials; quite please with that, which seems to be a water-based paint.

I'd say that worrying about a possible gearbox failure is well down the list of priorities when choosing a new boat. If the subject boat ticks lots of other boxes, its gearbox type is unimportant provided that it is currently fully operational!

African or European?

Now I find that comment bordering on the unacceptable. You asked a question that was impossible to answer because you gave virtually no details. You also declined to give answers to the questions I posted so to be better informed in the absence of further clarification from you Alan felt it might be a good idea to see if you had given more info in the past. That is far from stalking, its trying to be helpful and maybe protect you from yourself. For myself, when you declined to clarify I just gave up and noted you as a - well you decide how your conduct looks. Especially as it seems this is the second time you have failed to answer valid questions and provide more information. We still have no idea exactly what this "hatch to the engine" is or how its fitted. For you to get the best advice we need the best information. What is obvious to you on your boat and looking at it is far from obvious to us on the end of the internet. If you think that you may need more help from the forum in the future It might be a good idea to make an apology to Alan.

Are they also banning disposable nappies? Does that mean no small children are allowed in BWML marinas?

A Shetland toilet? Doesn't sound like a comfortable place to sit and cogitate - wouldn't it get a bit windy around yer Orkneys?

The evenings and the night are still a bit cold, and I don't think that there will be too many nasties hanging around yet to do silly things for their sick enjoyment and cause problems to boats and boaters. Peter.

Hi Tove, I could have taken bets on how long it would take before the knockers came out!! all I can say is you plan will work once on the compost heap at the allotment the worms will do their work!! also you can buy these systems for houses that have composting worms in them I saw the article in a hospital waiting room. So the blurb said you put all the kitchen waste in them as well and one day all houses will be built with them you wont have a flushing loo as they will be banned. The blurb showed a years waste afer the worms had done their stuff would hardly have filled a dustbin for a family of four after a year, and the waste is just put on the garden. Think of the reduction in water use and all those savings on your water bill? roads not getting dug up as often the country would save trillions. Anyway I like the look of my villa better than the airhead so thats my vote Peter

I wouldn't want a composting toilet myself but I don't see how you can argue with Julynian on this. If he likes his composting toilet and it suits him then that's that. You can say that you think cassettes are more practical (and I would agree), but I don't understand how you can tell him he doesn't like his composting toilet and he's just saying he does because he owns one? Anyone can say that about any peice of equipment. Perhaps we just like cassette toilets because we have them? If he's lived with it for a couple of years then he must know whether it suits him by now - nobody needs 10 years to find that out. I'm sure one day there will be a better solution than the cassette (don't say pump out anyone! ) - at the moment as far as I'm concerned composting hasn't got there yet, but I'm sure things will improve and yes the wheel will be reinvented! After all, there was a time before cassettes and I wonder when they were conceived whether there were some who said it was a useless reinvention of the bucket?