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Because considering other people's needs and feelings before your own is a mark of being a decent person.

It may be for some but I equally think there are many deadly serious posts. I just saw the thread as the result of a slow news day on CWDF. I am sure there are folks on here who would take Ambridge to your playing of the Archers out loud. JP

Dog, free to a good home. Barks at traffic, barks at pedestrians, barks at grass, barks at trees, barks at birds, barks at butterflies, barks at the sun, barks at its own paws. Let me know if you want it and I'll nip over the fence and get it from next door's garden.

I was bloody furious. I had to swim across the canal in me y fronts to get it!

I probably am the pedantic minority of one. GRP started out as glass reinforced polyester in the 60s and 70s but it's use has drifted into the word plastic. The GRP we make boats out of however is not plastic. Look up the definition of plastic. It is a material that can be moulded at higher temps. GRP cannot be moulded. Wikipedia is wrong in saying it is a type of plastic. It's just everyone and his brother has decided the word plastic can be used for things it isn't...including Wikipedia. There is even one site on tinternet that says there are two types of plastic - thermoplastics and thermosets!!! Rubbish. Another clue is that epoxy laminates i.e. GRP but with epoxy instead of polyester are never called GRP. They are called epoxy laminates or epoxy composites. No, while the world may think GRP is a type of plastic, GRP is most definitely not a plastic as plastics are by definition mouldable above their softening point. GRP is not mouldable once it is cured. Now, the clever ones of you out there may say it is plastic before cure.......and yes, I would agree, the unsaturated polyester resin dissolved in styrene is a plastic, but once cured, it looses its plastic nature.... never to return.... and becomes a thermoset. In the 80s, the car manufacturers introduced glass filled polypropylene for bumpers. They never used the word GRP but they would have if GRP meant plastics. Plastics and thermosets have been my job for the last 48 years.? Its nice to be different.

Most of those are fairly antisocial, depending on the time of day you pick to do them, or if you run your engine nonstop next to someone trying to enjoy the peace and quiet without breathing diesel fumes all day. The problem with a radio on the hatch is that, because of the engine banging away next to you, it has to be loud so you can hear it. Everyone else doesn't hear your engine so much (it's mostly underwater and surrounded by metal), but the sound of your horrible taste in music (horrible, obviously, because it simply isn't the same as mine) can be heard for about a mile before you arrive and another mile after you've gone, which means we have to put up with it for at least half an hour. And why I should be forced to listen to someone else's choice of music is beyond me, which is why I don't like it in pubs or restaurants either. But I can choose not to go in them, you don't give me the choice. And if headphones inhibit awareness, what on earth do you think a radio on the hatch does? Noise is noise. I am also amazed that you haven't noticed that sound travels miles over water but believe it sticks like glue to the surface of your boat.

I've investigated some of the early history of Birmingham Corporation's waste disposal and also that of Paddington Borough, both of whom used boats to transport waste. Also to a lesser extent waste disposal at Wolverhampton and Manchester. Some of my findings were written in an article called Muck and Rubbish and published in NarrowBoat magazine Summer 2017 edition pages 32 to 38. I found it a fascinating and complex research subject, and also funny, especially regarding complaints from the public about the stench of rotting fish offal transported by boat through Birmingham suburbs in the middle of summer, to be spread on local fields. Or boats loaded with night-soil passing along the Bottom Road (no pun intended, with boatmen shovelling some of it over the side to lighten the load, and turning the cut into an open sewer. Added to this is the crooked goings-on of the boatmen trying to defraud the Council.

Thanks for sharing your experience with us. I can't understand why people go on cruises but your journey is interesting as its on a working ship of the type that help to make commerce in the world happen. Keep posting the pictures. Richard

Absolutely. If it ended right now, after only 3 days, I've had my money's worth.

ISTR a famous canal user telling her on screen husband to "Turn off that racket". The reply was something like "That's not a racket, it's Brahms, Brahms third racket"

Whereas nowadays those same boaters are considered to be Old Age Travellers.

DR P the GR P GP

I think this may have been superceeded too. I'm not sure it's as simple as Gunsmoke makes out. Different pieces of legislation define differently. In some cases the legislation only considers boats travellers where their travelling is business related. In other cases a Traveller (capital T) would need to self-identify as belonging to a Traveller community which most liveaboards these days do not. Certainly the Equalities Act 2010 makes things very clear in that only Romany Gypsies and Irish Travellers are protected. In any case, the Daily Mail reading members of the forum need not panic just yet.

Good manners maketh the man, an oft forgotten saying today.

As bread's been mentioned... just got to tell about something I've found. I bought a silicone bag for breadmaking, you just pour all ingredients into the bag, hold the top tight, and start mixing the dough. There's no mess, you kneed the dough quickly because you're not continuously trying to get the sticky mess off your fingers. Plus when it's kneeded the dough is left in the bag to prove. When proved tip the dough out into a loaf tin, wait while it's rises, then bung in the oven. There's hardly any mess to clear up in the kitchen. This is one of the best things I've bought, it's so easy, and quick. The bag just needs a rinse when done, and left for a few mins over the tap to drip dry. Cost just over a fiver! Will make a great Christmas stocking filler for the 'bread making person' on your boat! https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07115MPXS/ref=sspa_dk_detail_1?psc=1&pd_rd_i=B07115MPXS

Oddly enough I find steering with just the engine noise, watching the world go by, an almost cathartic experience.

I don't think you have thought things through. You want to be able to hear your music others want to be able to hear the birds etc. Your suggestion of ear plugs doesn't allow them to do so. However if you used headphones you can hear your music without preventing the majority (going by the number of boats I pass that don't have music playing) enjoying the canal as they wish. You seem to be looking for every excuse as to why others should bend to your will rather then how you can be thoughtful of your fellow man.

I am beginning to think a campaign where everybody as soon as they hear loud music puts their finger on the horn until the boat is well past might be a good idea.

Just dried out in the Excellent Langley Mill Boatyard drydock, and look what I found attached to the top of the skeg. If it's not obvious, it's a "fishing" magnet, with a stub of rope left attached. It's not mine, and I have no idea where it came from. There's been the odd clonk from the rudder, which I attributed to wear in the bottom bearing, but it seems more likely that it's from this. Don't go magnet fishing around steel boats, people, they will steal your magnet. MP

This Summer, CRT arranged for contractors to carry out dredging on the Weedon pound (Whilton to Stoke Bruerne) principly at the Northern end from Weedon itself to Whilton. Some tree work has happened on the Bugbrooke cutting along with the underwater obstruction being removed. Concaform Marina was dredged as well as they had threatened to stop paying CRT fees as boats could not get in or out without major difficulties. When other marinas asked for the same - they were quoted 3k a day for dredging and told "the levels on moorings are NOT our responsibility"(even though they charge annual moring fees for these). Brand new tugs, hoppers and dredging platforms from Rothens were craned in at the start of July for 8 weeks works - Rothens were doing the tree work, a new contractor the dredging. The water level in the pound was about 4-6" down during this period - presumably due to the hot weather and lack of rainfall along with the works going ahead..... I will return to this. The dredging contractors workforce were virtually all agency staff - unable to steer boats - but expected to- and probably not been on a canal before - never mind worked on its improvement. Anyhow, after 8 weeks, the "other" contractors pretty much abandoned the kit and Rothens (or 1 guy from..) had to fetch it back to get lifted out. The water levels have not improved on this stretch since the works finished and rain started again. Day after day the levels stay at least 4" below normal. Yesterday , on getting out, we had a cruise to Whilton and back, just because due to work, family etc we havn't cruised much this year. At every bridge hole from Dodford to Whilton, we ground to a go-slow, as we have done for years, there is even a big CRT corex sign telling syslists, walkers and fishermen all about the dredging next to Bridge18 - where the silt and debris almost stopped us. In fact, there has been no dredging of the bridge holes at all - even though some of the wonderful dredged sections start feet away (Bridge19 for EG). The old bridge 20 hole has been the same for years. As we came back from Whilton, the real reason for the low levels in the canal became apparent. The offside stakes/mesh with silt behind has been constructed at a level that is just OK with the canal 4" down, if the water levels were put back to normal, the canal would be level/above the new banking, and all the silt would get washed back in. This is for almost the complete stretch from Bridge 19 to, the second stretch just before the Dodford LTM is not as bad, just a few areas are lower than the proper level. My point is, why make a big song and dance about dredging, if 1. you arent going to manage it correctly 2. you have to lower the level of the canal over the whole pound - compromising navigation -because of 2 short stretches where contractors have performed abysmally (also because of 1) When other boaters cant get out of their moorings (at Debdale, or near Gayton), or coal boats cant ply their trade(Grand Union towards Warwick), you really have to question what is going on.

Apologies for kind of stating the obvious, but rather than ruling out any specific things like diesel or petrol outboards, it might be worth drawing up a sort of scoresheet for each of the important factors in your decision, bearing in mind how you want to use the boat- so at least you have all the deciding factors laid out on a single page in front of you. Eg petrol has the big problem of not being readily available in marinas and canalside locations, but there are plenty of boat owners who seem to run petrol generators quite often, if only for an hour or two. So its clearly not impossible to get hold of petrol (there are plenty of petrol stations on roads near to canals)- but its just another hassle factor that you don't have to face with diesel. On the plus side, petrol outboards are quieter, and they seem a lot cheaper than diesel- maybe half the price- and on a cruiser of 20 years old or more, the engine might need major (ie expensive) work not too long into your tenure- and its a tempting thought (for me) that £2.5k might solve that problem at a (four) stroke by getting you a newish 20hp petrol outboard that could be trouble-free for years. But there is another problem- where to store your 'reserve' petrol supply? The tanks on outboards are very ungenerous, and if you plan to do a fair bit of cruising you may need a petrol reserve tank (which will have to be carried to the boat from whatever garage you can find near the canal). If you go diesel, the fuel points are on the canal bank, so no carrying jerrycans of petrol along muddy towpaths- the only thing you lift is the fuel nozzle. On the outboard vs inboard question, the idea of being able to just lift up the whole engine to get rubbish off the prop (which you might have to do every day or two) seems very appealing compared to trying to reach down and under the back of the boat to clear the prop on an inboard engine. But I also read once here that outboards have been stolen when boats have been left unattended for a few days, although to be fair theft doesn't sound like a frequent/major problem. The other big negative with outboards pointed out above is that they don't give any kind of useful charge to the engine, meaning that (esp in Winter) you are relying mostly on a generator to charge your batteries. On the other hand, if you only move once every 10 days in Winter, you'll have to run your engine anyway to do some charging regardless of what boat you're on, so maybe a petrol outboard-plus-gennie 'combo' does'tn look so wasteful for that kind of cruising lifestyle. One of the frequent pieces of advice that been given here is to go look at some boats in person before making any kind of final decisions. It could just be that you fall in love with (and get a great deal on) a cruiser that has a petrol outboard, and its just possible that if there enough positive scores in other areas, the drawbacks of the petrol outboard might be outweighed. One thing I must do is stop reading this damn forum though. Every time I think I know what I want, I see a thread that starts me thinking again.... If they catch me on vulnerable day I can see myself ending up buying an ex-ship's lifeboat in bright orange with a pedalo to drive it.

When you come round a corner and find 5 cyclists across the road overtaking is totally impossible. Have you ever been to the Lake District and seen some of our back roads? Incidentally you are confusing who said what. I used the 2 hours one hour example purely to show if a journey is slowed there is more pollution. It was I think (I haven't looked back) Sir Nibble who was talking of his commute. That is a point which interests me. If it is unsafe for a car to pass a cycle with a gap of less than 1.5m because a large moving metal object might harm them then surely they shouldn't pass large moving metal objects any closer (for the same reason of course).

I am no expert but deffo check seperately if you can. Just flutter yer flippin eyelids and some sexist, mysoginist or whatever we call em bloke will lift em out for you ?

Are you sure someone has not just drained the pound ?

Or it may not have one and the pump is full of the crap the filter would have caught

I suspect uncare in the community has a lot to do with it.

Beta Panel Immediate Action Drill Locate the big multiplug on the loom just behind the panel itself, separate it and reconnect it. Cures 75% of odd occurences: keep it clean and tight. It won't necessarily cure your problem, but it's a fine place to start and a good thing to rule out before you go somewhere more complex and expensive.

Butadiene

I dont think you understand the interest side of things. For instance you couldnt pay me to go on a cruise ship it would be the last place on Earth I would want to be. My x wifes hubby was an officer on the qe2 and is now an officer on a different ship and we have an open invitation to go on a cruise for literaly pennies, we have never and will never take it up. I spent my time at sea on an even more interesting ship with a big gun on the front, there is footage of it in gale force off iceland when I was onboard I discovered on you tube only last week. Now that WAS interesting, but a cruise ship......no bloody way, this trip the op is taking knocks the orrible cruise ship trip into a cocked hat but it wouldnt do for us all to want the same. It is a great idea and they know its better for many than a cruise ship and price it accordingley.

I'm in the middle of ordering from Tesco at the moment, at a new place for me, 'Stoke Golding Mooring'. Go to https://canalplan.eu/cgi-bin/canal.cgi Enter a start place, and a finish place (incorporating the place where you want your towpath delivery) At the bottom of the page click 'Calculate Route' At the bottom of the next page, click 'Export This Route' Once the file is downloaded, open it, it opens as a spreadsheet The spreadsheet should tell you the postcode. Simply 'add a new delivery address' to your Tesco account, using the postcode. Name the delivery address (personal to you for the next time) There'll be a text box for you to add delivery instructions: Hope this helps....

Good find, Jennifer! That'll put home made pizza dough back on the menu. Ordered one - eBay though, eh!

Careful. He might be a Ninestone cowboy! ?

I'm sorry, I retract my former statement. If you're listening to Glen Campbell you clearly have some mental health issues, so you carry on.

Practically all problems with Webastards are due in some way to low voltages. On start up the heater plug has to get up to full temperature within a set time and the unit has to see a clean burning flame or it will shut down. The white smoke is unburnt fuel, so it has a supply. Don't try too many failed starts before getting it checked on a computer as you can wipe the fault memory which makes diagnosis difficult. I usually connect the unit direct to a fully charged battery close by, if it then works you know its an electrical supply problem. And if its a truck set unit it will need to always have a higher voltage than a marine set unit. It is alterable with the special lead and a computer.

Superb. Thank you sharing.

The term ''wood burner'' seems to be in general use by folk who are new to it, ''I hear it all the time'' when they probably mean multi fuel stove. Heat from a flue pipe can be reduced considerably by bandaging it from head to foot with overlapping cut strips of a Fire Blanket. Mummyfie it. Curtains too can be made from fire blankets if they're a bit too near a heat source for comfort.

Did these radio playing boaters set out to annoy the majority or are they just really annoying people all the time? Let's have a poll, who likes inane racket on the canal and who doesn't?

Maybe they have complained, but you couldn't hear them over the sound of your music? ??

A pal of mine has a twin axle camper which lives in and has fitted it with a "NESTY" solid fuel fire, it is tiny but keeps him plenty warm enough Phil

Bob , you are my Hero.

We are continuous cruisers and do use Tesco’s for canal-side deliveries. We use postcodes, of the nearest houses, pub addresses, bridge locations, again with postcodes. Always putting a note that we are on the canal, or will meet them in the car park. The delivery drivers have always been very helpful, and polite. I have had problems with quality, or wrong product being picked, but a phone call and the items are credited. One driver told me that it was best to allow substitutes as when they are delivered these items are pointed out first, and they can be rejected. Tesco say in their blurb that the longest shelf life available will be sent, and I have not had any problem with the likes of eggs or bread. Have only ever used Tesco’s so cannot speak of other supermarket deliveries, but would and do recommend them.

No cage = fox's delight! ? ? ?

Plenty of very much larger organisations have been compromised so don't be too critical. It is not a case of whether a site will be compromised but when. It is possible to mitigate the risk but it is impossible to prevent it.

Certainly a better far more interesting option than one of those horrific cruise ship monstrosoties, enjoy.

Those are daft questions, and reflect more on the questioner than anything else. If you're living in something that's about to sink, you are vulnerable to becoming homeless. You are therefore a vulnerable person. Absolutely nothing to do with anything of a medical nature. People tend to live in the nicest dwelling they can afford to be in. Ergo, your residence is a rotting hulk held together by plastic and tarps, it's the best they have available. If somone is sleeping in a hedge, that's the best they can find for the night. If in a tent in the middle of winter, ditto. In a mansion on the South Downs, much the same. If you really don't think there is a housing problem in this country, you are either extremely rich, in your sixties with no children or simply keep your eyes and mind firmly shut against reality.

Oh look another "expert" who sat there watching and, probably, having a giggle at someone else's misfortunes and then posts it on a public forum as much as to say, "I could have done it. This is too easy. Why can't anyone else do it?" I just hope I never have to meet any you "experts".