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Yes I've read the brexit thread.

You set the licence terms to music?

I do! Russell Newbery

This is just a plea to point out the problems caused by the practice of some boat owners who run engines in gear whilst moored up. Having a deep drafted boat I can often feel when we pass a boat/place where this has happened. Usually this is only a minor problem and not that common but a trip was thwarted this year after grounding on massive bar built up on a narrow stretch of the Staffs and Worcs canal leaving much less than 3' in the channel and a 'hole' at the bank a little way along nearly 4' deep against the piling. This must have happened over a period of time and not a few minutes. Also noticeable on the Oxford Canal where there are some Winter moorings. Not only is this bad for the waterway but the channel is lost and it is against the bylaws. Once deeper boats start moving the channel starts to be cleared but it needs time for this to happen.

We're still here!! Sorry we have been so quiet. We were hibernating for the winter. Absolutely we are still loving every second of life aboard. The way we went about it was too much by the head and not the heart for a lot of people, but for us it really worked out well. We ended up with a fantastic bote, for a price that we knew was terrific, and we sailed away in confidence even though neither of us had ever driven a boat before. She ticked pretty much all of our boxes, but of course there had to be one or two things we overlooked! Honestly I think making a list of your needs and wants is still a great idea, and I'd do it again - the point of them was not to list dealbreakers, but rather things that counted for and against each boat we looked at. It's a big decision and there are tons of factors. There are the must haves, the nice to haves, the whatevers and the definitely nots. To be fair to the forum, the advice everyone gave makes so much more sense in retrospect. One piece of advice that we received time and again was to go out and look at boats. We looked at over 50 that were for sale before we bought ours. Still not totally sure what it means that the boat found us. We found her on Facebook, I don't think she was even looking for us . But when we saw her... we knew instantly that she was the one! (Partly thanks to the spreadsheet, of course...) @Fly Navy have you found your boat yet? Happy to offer more tips from our buying experience, if you have any specific questions. We might have a different perspective as boaters less than a year in. In the end we settled for an ex-hire boat, and I would encourage new boaters to do the same. We got a Black Prince. Absolutely fantastic boat. She's got the typical BP bumper on the front and rear, has very generous sacrificial chines, and is built like a tank besides, in 10/8/6mm steel. These features are designed for hirers - and are all really helpful considering for the first few weeks you are going to have exactly as much experience as a hirer. You're also likely to get a relatively new boat for relatively low cost. Beta engine. Yes, ours is awesome. Silencer. No. Don't think so anyway. Why? Seems pointless. Epoxied hull. I also wanted this but changed my mind - the expense isn't justified IMO and I don't want to worry about my epoxy with every bump. I actually want her out of the water every couple of years to get a good look at her bottom, so blacking is the way for me. Cruiser stern. Actually we originally wanted a trad for more internal space. So glad we got a cruiser. Ours is 65' so there is plenty of space anyway. It also makes the engine and weed hatch really easy and convenient to get at. I might consider a trad in future if I ever go for a shorter boat, but I would really miss that back deck. Reverse layout. I can see pros and cons. We have a walk through bedroom, I originally wanted a cross bed for the extra width. Forum advised against the cross bed and now we're very comfortable on our small double. I really enjoy being able to get out of both ends of our bote. Cassette toilet. Agreed - wouldn't have it any other way. I could always tell which boats for sale had a pump out. By the smell. Besides they take up a lot of space. Emptying the cassette is much less disgusting than I'd expected, as long as you aren't stingy with the Elsan blue. Double glazed. This was also on my list, but it's rare so something you'd have to install it, probably. Black Princes like ours have a double glazed bow door, and I really can tell the difference in noise insulation. For that reason I'd love double glazing everywhere one day. Heat insulation, it turns out after having cruised through a winter, doesn't really matter that much. All it means is that you'd save on coal - and considering you're willing to burn diesel to stay warm, heating costs doesn't seem to be a concern for you. Refleks stove. Too expensive to run. I can see the convenience and lack of coal dust being nice though. Maybe I'll consider that for our second stove at the stern end of the cabin. I do like the redundancy, in case we run out of coal someday while frozen in. Our Morsø Squirrel in the saloon right near the bow goes all night and heats two thirds of the boat with minimal fuel and we love it. (Side note: After trying a lot of different fuel brands, we're Excel devotees). Bow thruster. Yes - the missus and her barge pole. Unless you mean the expensive unnecessary extra-moving-part kind, in which case, begone heathen. Cratch. Nah. If your boat is big enough, you'll want the outside space. And the cratch covers I've seen tend to end up looking tatty. Convector fans. People either swear by them or think they are quackery. We don't have one, so I think they are quackery, naturally. Victron inverter/charger. Nope. We run everything off 12V and a single 110Ah leisure battery. So far, so great. We don't have a washing machine yet though, and it has been winter so our fridge is not an issue. And the wife is increasingly dissatisfied with her 12V hair dryer Christmas pressie. So, we'll get one of these once we have the money for this and a washing machine. Calorifier. OH YES. Hot water in 15 mins with the engine running. And I really like the redundancy of having the calorifier and Ebersplutter. I'm even considering adding a second stove with a back boiler, I love redundancy so much. LED lighting. There are other kinds?? (This is easy to change if the boat doesn't have it). Gas galley. Has to be. PV panels. Not yet. The most important part here - how many watts? We've been living without PV for several months as we try to determine how much we'll need. Walk thru bathroom, no bath, shower only. Yes. This was our criteria too. So much more space. Ex-hire boats don't usually have this, so we were extremely fortunate that the previous owner had redone the bathroom. Ebersplutter/Webasto. Yes. As I said, I like the redundancy. However we exclusively use our engine for hot water - since we don't have PV and it has been winter anyway, we need to run the engine for electricity anyway - so the hot water is for free. The Eber is going to be a boon once we have PV though, I think. 4 plus 1 battery bank. double alternators. split charge relay. Only the split charge. See the electrical posts on this forum. You need to be doing a proper electrical audit before you can confidently say you need all this gear. We do 100% fine on the one batt. Lots of other people are horrified to learn this. Really depends on your usage. LPG changeover valve. No. And I don't want one. Although when it was a hire boat it had one. Changing a pigtail over is almost as fast and you do it once every 2 months. What I would rather have is a low pressure hose with a regulator that screws directly into the bottle. Less pipe under high pressure = less chance of leakage.

This has already been dismissed by ex-professional boatman Chris Williams, and as another ex-professional boatman that worked motor / butty pairs I am going to agree with him

I know a Yarwood with a bit of fancy on the rams head: And it is a bit cleaner now, and awaiting refitting (along with a few other renovated bits and bobs) once this boat has completed its restoration:

Yawn.

Fizz disapeared years ago. Shame.

You've already got two boats? That's like having two wives. And you are interested in a third? You need a lie down in a darkened room. (Mind you, if you look at what you get for your money compared with a narrow boat it is quite interesting)

This is on the stern of Hawkesbury, definitely not an original fitting. Having worked in an underground depot and various transport firms, its not unusual to rob something off a non runner to keep another in service. Strange thing is that i have yet to see one on a Yarwoods built boat.

Ignoring the argument of whether bore glazing actually occurs or not, (although the evidence points to it being a thing of the past, being confined to large low speed engines, which do not heat up as much as modern engines, when using poor quality oils), if one uses to engine to actually move the boat, it charges the batteries as well as preventing bore glazing.

I know it's Easter Howard but let's not reintroduce crucifixion eh?

I lived in South Rd, down the bottom of Banks Rd. My son found the house and insisted I bought it because of the address, which was, uniquely, 35 1/2. Then I lived in Sandlea Mews, which was an old school by Sandlea Park up by the station. I was there from about 1990.

'Chimbley' is in the Oxford Dictionary. chimbley (also chimley) noun dialect form of chimney Pronunciation chimbley /ˈtʃɪmli/

If I recall correctly @peterboat of this parish used Zinga blacking over Zinga, but found that it faded quickly to a grey colour. Since then he has covered the Zinga blacking with Keelblack with satisfactory results.

Am I expected to read every single word?

Apart from the pristine engine bay bit, I did that twice today on separate engines. First time just bloody forgot the tray and rags to catch the diesel, so I was stuck like a Muppet with a bowl full of fuel, oh well I won't do that a second time i thought, which is exactly what I did the second time

I always speed up through bridgeholes...... In case of kids with Waterbombs.

Bob, I have recently updated the firmware on my BMV. It only came up because I updated the app via play store (I haven't done this for ages as I only do it when I'm on someone else's un- metered internet). The firmware updated twice. My alarm is now barely audible! I have to be very close to hear it. Before the update I could easily hear it at the other end of the boat. <mumbles something about "progress" and alarms you can't hear>

You don't have to stir up waters to suffer personal consequences - More than one woman has been brutally assaulted or murdered because a man with a horribly skewed perception of reality has found out where she lives. I for one would no longer be able to post on any forum where I had to disclose my true identity to the public.

Most inexperienced boaters will wander up to the lock to watch and ask questions. But there certainly has been an increase in the numbers who don't but who just stand and watch. Sometimes there's good reasons, sometimes there aren't. Either way, if I'm ending up doing the whole thing on my own I just slow down a bit and take my time. What I do find odd is when there's a queue of five or six boats, and still no one bothers to walk up to the lock. But I wouldn't shut a gate in anyone's face, though I might come out a bit slow.

My Huawei Why-Fi E5330 hanging in its Meccano cradle in the window, no need really it would work on the floor or anywhere.

5.Snip beeper wire.

No. I meant wot i said, which is unusual for me

Thank you for your explanation but of course I have heard of bore glazing - it has been discussed on this forum many times - and I am also fully aware that some boaters use that as a justification, although opinions are split about whether it is necessary with modern engines. Personally, I don't want to get into yet another tedious argument discussion about the subject. The purpose of the OP's post was to point out that this practise of running engines while in gear is against the byelaws and I was agreeing with him, also mentioning that it is against the licence conditions, for the very good reason that it can, and has in the past been damaging to the bank, and it also helps to undermine piling. I don't think it is particularly clever to bring up arguments against the ruling such as it helps to remove silt, as others have done. I know full well that it shifts silt but because it doesn't get rid of it, it just moves it somewhere else. You might like to add your considerable influence to persuading those who do it to stop, rather that pointing out why they do.? Howard