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If the inside was painted white then it was probably a liveaboard cruising in London. Jen, ?

The french do have automatic locks. if it all goes wrong and your boat sinks a little icon comes up of a french person shrugging his shoulders.

Not going to wholly disagree but feel there should be some defence. Tried a few when in dry dock there a couple of years ago and they are what they are. Social centres in an economically depressed northern town, along with their characters and chicanery. I went in The Star more than the others and remember a group of OAPs on the lash from Eccles using their tram passes for a good booze up. Apparently a regular thing as they were all well known in there. Cheap beer, no hassles, couldn't argue. As for The New Crown in Newton Heath, again the same. Let's face it, none of the pubs near the Rochdale approaching Manchester or the Ashton out are going to be an idyllic tourist destination but I wouldn't be wary of having a pint in one.

I like the idea of a paint roller handle as a puller - why not take it one step further. Look out for a radiator roller handle. It takes a narrower roller but the shaft is about 3 or 4 times longer than a standard roller so will give you a greater reach.

Well while you have all been talking about the dreaded dentist i have been busy ( jaw and gum still sore after weeks though ) Hope you are better now and no trouble Hi all, hope you all enjoying your boating, me, well still faffing about here I was a little peeed off a few week back as i tried a new supplier for some pattern material and fittings which took six days to get here and still waitng for a few parts to arrive after paying over the norm for delivery. I will not be using Snuggtopz again as they are complete useless and unprofessional.So in the mean time i have got on with the internal vanishing and lining out. I used a hi temp spray adhesive as we dont want it falling off or coming loose on the real hot summer we get a lot of in the UK......a little sarcy there lol.I did mess up a little on the varnishing as the front panel where the sockets are i ended up with a few runs. I used a foam roller and flatted out with foam brush. I think i was just rushing, No big deal a quick sand otu of the runs and another quick coat will do the job. All the rest is good Looking better now. All was varnished with Len Tonkinois. Solid wood three coats and veneered was two coats. image: https://i.postimg.cc/qM4qTC1T/20190309-152058.jpg image: https://i.postimg.cc/gksJkk76/20190309-152055.jpg Used this adhesive image: https://i.postimg.cc/7hYLSFGL/20190310-145538.jpg image: https://i.postimg.cc/vTqZh0ft/20190310-145517.jpg image: https://i.postimg.cc/7ZTZ1M6S/20190310-172441.jpg image: https://i.postimg.cc/0N0xZtqK/20190310-172517.jpg image: https://i.postimg.cc/xCjQZK0x/20190310-172545.jpg image: https://i.postimg.cc/NjTQ2sJ4/20190310-172956.jpg Next up is to finish the hatch surround and then i can line the front panel and under the front deck. Still more to varnish on the cupboard door frame sas they are solid Sapele so need three coats at least. I just want a good few days to crack on with this canopy. I got Fibretex pattern material as the sheet i was using was either to tin and stretched or to thick. Captain Faffer :):)

My vote goes to The Black Country Living Museum, chips cooked in beef dripping. Hmmmmm

This is unsatisfactory as a solution for obvious reasons: 1. It contains no batteries. 2. It doesn't involve an Iphone. 3. It doesn't give the opportunity to have a good panic in the pub.

You will get anti-freeze in the chandelry at Sileby Mill. They are also good for diesel - even in winter they have a high turnover. Say hello to our boat when you stop!!

The Trent at Derwent Mouth will currently be about 400mm into the red. My experience is that the bottom of the red is at about 1.30m and Gauge Map shows it at 1.78m https://www.gaugemap.co.uk/#!Map/Summary/121/123 The Soar at Pillings lock is definitely in flood at 1.15m The flow is also high but falling. https://www.gaugemap.co.uk/#!Map/Summary/166/180 We boat regularly on the Soar and Trent - I would be staying put with levels as they are. If in Loughborough do not leave heading north as Zouch flood gates will be shut. If at Barrow on Soar heading north do not leave as getting lined up for the road bridge below the lock is difficult when there is a heavy flow on the river. Remember that at Barrow above the lock that you are still on the river and moor accordingly. A boat sank there last winter because of tight mooring lines.

I've had the same job and a no home mooring (so been CCing) for 3.5 years now. So I'm an example of how I haven't messed it up for the "rest" of you, how permanent fixed location employment and CCing are not exclusive and how you won't fall foul of regulation. The "spirit of the licence" is a load of nonsense and is, in general, people's way of imposing their opinion, of how the canals should be used, onto others. I don't have a massive annual range, I also don't just hop around one village (as in Matty's example). I explore, visit favorite places (more than once or twice), move to new locations based on festivals / christmas parties / events etc. If CRT are happy, then that's what matters. Simple. I personally have no interest, other than the conveniences, in living in a marina i.e. floating caravan park. While I had zero interest in the canals when I bought my boat 4 years ago I now love them and cherish the ability to live in a new place every month or two. While CCing is a bit tougher than regular living at times it's well worth it, all you folks permanently moored are missing out in my opinion. Some of the shite that folk sprout on here would make you / a newbie think that canals are a different place to what they are. Credit to @doratheexplorer's contribution to this thread, standing up to the extremists, sticking up for common sense.

Many years ago I was in the Lime Kilns on the Ashby when a punter complained that his pint of Pedigree was cloudy. The newish landlord (now long gone) replied “There’s nothing wrong with that, it was only delivered today”

Or, if he's only tried stretching his boat on a canal where he'll suffer shallow water effect, it might perform perfectly adequately in a deeper river. Hence my earlier question.

So I believe, amazing I know !!

Should have gone to.... Oh, you did!

Boat goes faster on the muddy ditch....

I believe Grebe & Moorhen were their first two hire boats when they moved to Pitstone Wharf. Rod Saunders was the owner and had been operating trip boats from the towpath locally until the wharf site was ready. I recall that he also had some form of business relationship with Autrant Cruises (?) based at Slapton

Worth more than bote.

That's exactly what we use. Got the idea of a chap moored by us a year or two ago. One of the handiest things I have on the boat! You hook out the vegetation first with the magic tool. Drop the chain down into the nicely cleared gap, then use the tool again to grab the dangling end. Another use for it is to hook the mooring line off the bow of the boat. I am clearly getting old ……..

Have you had your double vision investigated? If not a visit to your optician may show up the need for prism in your specs to help your eyes work together. It would also rule out anything more serious.

Well said that man! Although we have a home mooring as a back up and a place for some winter downtime, we spend 8-10 months of the year constant cruising and working a full time job. We are happy to commute up to an hour which gives us a large cruising area and no shortage of places to stay all well within the spirit of constant cruising. I work nights so we aren’t limited to moving at the weekend. we love the lifestyle and as mentioned above it’s always rewarding.

I've got them! When I mentioned them before someone posted a photo of someones. I made mine out of 6mm bar in about 10 minutes each (and I'm no welder). Were I making them again I would use 8mm. No bending, no wet knees. I've never seen them available commercially

For a close to canal chippy bizzie lizzies in skipton is hard to beat. Moor up nearby and get them back to the boat superb! or be posh and eat in...

Sounds far too painful! Hope you're soon mended. My husband always carries a paint roller handle, it makes a great hook, and it saves a lot of pressure to his knees. Sorry can't help you with a pin, except perhaps using a couple of these, they are 1.3 metres, perhaps pushed through the armco and down into the mud below?

Q1 - no Q2 - no. However, BMC 1.5 gaskets do seem to leak water so some judicious use of sealant around the waterways would be sensible Q3 - just do it. And get the valves sorted too, it's well past time for a decoke. And the valve guides, and check the rocker shaft for wear and grind the dents out of the rockers so they don't wreck the guides Q4 - yes, you need to use a crowsfoot spanner to torque the nuts up under the rocker shaft Richard

That's an interesting point. However I am not sure it is directly relevant here because the question wasn't whether the OP should move into a boat or not. It implied he had already done that or at least had already made that decision. There is only one absolute requirement on any boater and that it is to comply with the law. I note three early constructive responses to this thread from people I know to be active, long standing boaters and genuine advocates of the canals. Between them they also cover off most of the stereotypes we assign to various groups on here and outside of canals may have little in common. So forget about keeping CRT happy, let's put the OP in the pub with those three folk and see if he can convince them he can objectively read and apply the law regarding mooring and movement to their satisfaction. That would be a far better test. I guarantee if he can do that they won't give a stuff about what he does outside of that requirement. It really doesn't matter if you are retired and have a highly polished non-traditionally signwritten £100k boat on a marina mooring that only comes out on sunny bank holidays, or if you have a £20k Springer in grey undercoat tied to the bank in the middle of nowhere and have a job to go to. Neither has much basis in history but both are part of the fabric of today's canals. JP