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Perhaps it hasnt been tied up very well and will just drift away?

There is no right or wrong answer. As I said in post #46, the primary reason to fuse is to protect the downstream cable, but designers can choose use smaller fuses to protect downstream equipment if they choose to, for example to protect a poorly designed inverter which doesn't have internal fuses to protect it.

thank you all so much for your info on this .it as been very much apriciated .but i have flapped about with it so much ...i have got the guy from lockgate coming tomorrow .i just hope it will be all worth while in the end ..or i may have to put the wood/coal burner back .in .but at least i got 30 bags of coal and plenty of logs to go with it lol once again thank you all

Wotterdam good idea!

If its there when i get there with no reply from them then i will no longer be the nice me and the wind will take far far away.

Oh how sad. Still being two storey the top floor will still be habitable.

£10 to £20K? You are having a laugh, a bare hull without engine or anything will cost you £25K. A wide boat that size WHICH IS LEGAL TO HAVE ON A CANAL will cost you £100K even if you fit every screw and nail. No matter what you build on a steel hull it will have to be capable of moving and fit bridges etc because you are going to have to take it out of the water regularly for bottom blacking. Have you costed a permanent mooring in a marina? You will have a fit! Have you thought about power, energy, fuel, TOILET !? Go rent a flat. It will be cheaper, easier and you will keep your sanity.

Or hammer a potato up the generators exhaust pipe... ?

I painted lines on the side of my boat at my last blacking so I can see whether there's a rise or fall in tides or river levels...

It's only taken me about a year to realise that I don't really have a nice seating area for reading the paper and having dinner, so I set about coming up with ideas for what I could do. I came up with a plan to convert my 6ft sleeping area into a two-seater area with table which would also convert back to a sleeping area. OK, I can't pull it out to make it a wider bed, but I'm OK with that. Sleeping area minus cushions: I cut out the middle 2ft section: Then made two wooden squares to support the flopping fiberglass: Then I put some hardboard over the squares: Next, I got the PVC hollow wood effect cladding out to see how it would look. Rather nifty methinks:

I hope they replaced the gates.

Thanks for all the help everyone! I think i'm comfortable with this now.

I think the mooring operator (not you though) could claim a lien on it, put a notice on it, then sell it after a time period. Of course....with it being 3 years in arrears.....this should have been started much time ago. Also they could just move it (but then unlikely to claim the lien). If its worth more than the lost mooring fees from its being in the way, then it would be worth doing the lien/notice/sell.

Can't you just tow it down Glasson Locks onto the sea and then claim salvage rights? ?

I'm sure that I have seen this boat advertised for sale recently. Can't remember where,but I will have a look to see if I can find it

If they are actually arrears from a mooring agreement would that constitute grounds for a lien (financial claim) on the boat? If the boat has just been 'squatting' there for three years without any agreement then I don't know. How did the landowner have a number (even if incorrect) if there was no agreement in place between him and current or previous owner in the first place? eta: oops posted after previous comment

what is normal? there’s a broad range of ways in which people live on the canal and a major point to this best practice guide is to raise an awareness of exactly that. I don’t share all the views of NBTA or necessarily agree with their confrontational approach but they do raise issues common to all of us. Such as the basic need for water and sewage points, the difficulty of using a postal address and accessing health care. How about all the folk out there who keep hush hush about living on a leisure mooring for fear of being chucked off?

So you still hold that most small GRP canal boats won't be cold for Meg999 in winter, should she elect to buy one? I'm afraid I can't agree with this assertion. I think she needs to be very selective as most of the small GRP canal boats I've ever seen have little or no hull insulation and big, single-glazed heat-losing windows. And no solid fuel stove either, so reliant on nose-bleedingly expensive gas to heat, or a noisy diesel heater.

I think its updated (modernised) now and it is called the 'trainer' line (Plimsol is so passé) When entering the Caledonian Canal from the sea you have to be aware of the draft height differences as you leave salt and get onto fresh water.

When considering to use 12 v or 240v, first ensure that the 12v outlet, actually has 12v! Mine because of voltage drop only can supply 11.5v, very poor choice of cable, and long run, mean I have a 240v ac Television, or an horrendous job to replace the 12v cables. Bod (Who didn't do the fitout.)

Lets hope he never tried to bury any bodies under the floor

I think 12v is best but 240v works for us as we don't watch a lot of TV, 1 starter batt and 2 tired leisure batts. We cruise almost every day and find that the 1 hour or so when the TV is on is also useful for charging phones. kindles etc. The inverter is a cheap and nasty £30 thing from e bay. We charge other stuff, cordless drills etc when we are moving. I am sure there are better ways of doing it but it just sort of grew like that.

eg https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/DC-Buck-Step-down-Adjustable-Voltage-Regulator-Module-5v-24v-to-1-8v-3-3v-12v-3A-/273157036523#UserReviews

There was a nice little one for sale on here recently. Came with 30 bags of coal ...

Our 6 LA's are in the engine bay (cruiser stern), 3 on either side. I have put the Lithiums under the bed (at the back of the boat) - taken out a 'spare' porta poti (which we have never/will never use) that was just taking up space. 480Ahrs of Lifepo4's are less than half the size of LA's. It needed circa 4 metres of cable to connect into the LA circuit so some voltage drop but that is a benefit for managing over charging. I will get rid of most of the LA's over time but they should last for 5 years+ (if not 10).

I suppose that the final arbiter will be is a ; 1) Proper '12v' TV, or# 2) A 230v tv powered by a 12v 'brick' (transformer) If it is a 'proper' 12v TV then it will not require a stabilised 12v supply and it wont release its magic smoke if used when the alternator is putting out 14.7 volts. If it is a 230v TV using a stabilised 12v via a 'brick' then it could go 'bang' when used with the alternator producing 14.7v

Don't give me that old LOVE line after what has been said about me! Its good being 8 hours ahead of you all, I can cast my nasturtiums whilst you are asleep, then when you fall out of your pits and start having a go at me, its sunset, I have a beer and dinner so I don;t mind. I would send you a pix of our fantastic sunsets but I can't be bothered. Beware, Back local next month, and no more Mr nice guy.

And there's the grumpy old curmudgeon that we all know and love Yeah I got there eventually but I'm not as old as you lot so Iain had to explain You still in warmer climes - you are coming back at some point, aren't you?...... it's much easier to make you grumpy if we're at least in the same time zone ?actually that's probbly not true

Welcome Margaret. I single-hand a 68ft narrowboat and it's not much different to handle in narrow locks than my other two boats which are 45ft and 57ft. Wide locks are a bit trickier but with some experience one gets to know the boat and how best to do it. The worst thing is sharing with another boat - puts one right off one's learned routine. Best in my experience to stop and say, make a cuppa and let the other boat go ahead if you find yourself paired with another boat/boater you aren't feeling comfortable with. This is perfectly acceptable etiquette. I'd suggest choosing a steel narrowboat 45-57ft long if you are solo. More space just isn't really needed for one person. Avoid GRP, flippin' hard to keep warm in winter!

Not a problem I have always and will always pass at tickover unless very high winds. I leave speed for the motorway, not the canal system. Other views can be applied.

Seeing as how authentic gipsy travellers get booted off land they've bought themselves, and their general lack of success at getting places provided for them, whatever the statutory requirements, I don't think the bargee mob have much chance of 42 day moorings popping up all over the system. Anyway, the councils just have to consider their needs. Not actually do anything, even if they had the money these days if they wanted to.

I sympathise. Generators and running engines can be a real nuisance. I suppose the first thing would be to have a conversation with the owner, maybe he / she could move a few yards. If that fails then maybe a small wall of straw bales between the generator and the house could help. Then maybe the council could have a word with the owner. Its selfish and inconsiderate and there is never an excuse to run the things late in the evening. The last time I had words with someone over this I had an exhausted wife and a brand new baby on board and they took precedence over the nearby noisy boaters wish to watch the telly, Either he turned it off or it was going in the canal.

This weekend it was time to attach the cladding to the side of the boat, but how? I can't just screw through the hull. Well, I could, but it wouldn't end well. I decided to go with some wooden battens glued to the hull. Gorilla Grab Adhesive was chosen for the job. Seems pretty good so far. While I was seeing the bare hull I doubled over some silver bubble wrap to act as insulation: So, now I can screw the cladding into place: (I should also mention that the table which will go in here will unclip from the wall and fit into that gap as a bridge) Here's the adjusted cushions in place with the table rod attached to the cladding: So, now I still need to attach skirting and cladding to the sides and front (with doors of course), but here's a quick test of the cushions (wedged) in place: Now I need to make the table... Oh, and I have to give a special 'shout out' to the £45 cordless jigsaw from Aldi. Absolute champ! I've no leccy on the boat, so needed a cordless jigsaw. My only complaint with it is the seemingly blunt wood blade that comes with it. No big deal, fiver will get me some new ones from Amazon.

As I organise the Rally i have taken some of your comments on board. Sadly Tim wont budge on the car parking fee so we are stuck with that. ALL the money raised plus a chunk out of Tims own pocket gets donated. To set the event up costs us in excess of £5000.00. ALL historic boats are welcome to attend but it is the FMC boats tgat get to moor in the canal arm and lead the parade this year. As you are all probably aware the FMC fleet is bi annual with The Others being the other alternate years. I have reduced the cost of the pitches to the traders this year and welcome any new enquiries from traders who have not been before. If anyone wants to contact me call me at the office 01788 891373 or e mail graham@braunstonmarina.vo.uk.

Entrance fee to Crick Boat Show for me and mine - £48 for the day. Entrance to Braunston - £20 and I could fit another 3 adults in the car if I wanted to. Personally I wouldn't pay tuppence to go to Crick but think Braunston is a bargain.