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I do find this whole preoccupation some boaters have with the T&Cs completely ridiculous. Virtually every time you click on a website, or buy something online, from a sofa to a train ticket to a bit of software, you have to accept a raft of terms and conditions which no-one in their right mind ever bothers to read. Most of these are legally unenforceable and some are probably totally illegal, but it really doesn't matter. You accept them because otherwise you can't get what you want. If you break them, accidentally or deliberately, it's up to the seller to try and enforce them, which, most of the time they won't bother to do because it isn't worth their while. Most of the time neither the seller nor the buyer knows what they are anyway - remember that ferry firm without any ferries that had copied all theirs from, I think, something like the local chip shop? Generally, they are how the firm issuing them thinks you should act and use their product. And CRT's are exactly the same. They are how CRT reckons boaters should behave in order to, in their opinion, based on the fact that they are likely to know more about the general economics and overall make-up of the system than any single individual, make the canal system last longer and be a good place for people to play and live on. For most of us, they work fine and we never even get close to stretching the boundaries of them. On the margins, there are precious few penalties that can be imposed, so they can generally be broken with impunity, usually the only result is inconvenience and annoyance to everyone else around. They are just general rules of behaviour to be taken into account, just the same as when you buy your sofa. No-one gives a toss whether they are legal or not, just whether, in the main, they are sensible. Which, in the main, they are. And noisy and/or inconsiderate bastards aren't, and it really doesn't matter a fig whether they are being it legally or not. They're just a pain in the arse.

Hello all. First post, so be gentle if this is in the wrong place etc. Back in 1976 my parents hired Sabden from L&L in Adlington and headed East through Foulridge Tunnel and beyond. Here are a few pictures, which I hope of are of interest. Any info about the boat(s) and the locations would be much appreciated. Thanks.

I found these on a website of old postcards of Kinver, kinverpostcards.co.uk Most are identifiable as Kinver, but the two of dredging the canal are not easily confirmed to be Kinver (but I like the steam dredger and crane). Most are Hyde Lock. The replacement of the lock gate is at the Vine (Kinver) lock. The image of the boat on the curved section of canal looks to be Paddock cottage, half way between Hyde and Kinver locks, though I stand to be corrected if someone know better.

Couple of things. People have a habit of seeing themselves as set above and separate from nature. This is not so. In nature an animal that attacks, or threatens to attack another animal ten times its weight and four times its height is likely to get its arse kicked. In the case of stroppy swans or geese it's best to fall in with the natural order. Their assumption of dominance is learned behaviour. Also, it's said that swans mate for life. On the contrary, my experience is that they fly away as soon as you let go.

All this bitterness towards swans. Don't people realise that the swan is the symbol of purity, beauty, grace and elegance... Whereas the swallow is the sign of true love.

My 1/2 socket set came from Halfords with a lifetime guarantee many, many, many years ago. When a socket split I took it back, mostly out of bravado. An interesting half hour followed. I don't think one of the many I spoke to had eve n been born when I bought the set. The more they made comments along the lines of 'what do you expect' and 'it' old' the more I dug my heels in. Eventually they gave me a 13mm socket to get rid of me.That was the day I realised I was a Grumpy Old Git.

I used to be fond of agricultural machinery ... ... but now I'm an ex-tractor fan! /coat!

I used to be a stove fan but now I've been blown away by my new Webasto.

It's really the same old story and always has been. since year dot. The minority twerps always spoil things for the majority, causiing mountains of laws, regulations at tremendous cost to us and the powers that be.

I test mine that way, but before connecting the DVM across the GI (in either direction) I temporarily short out the two GI terminals with a short length of wire, remove the shorting wire and then take the DVM readings. This is because many GI's have a small capacitor across the diodes to allow high frequency a.c. ripple to leak to earth, and this capacitor can charge up to the battery voltage of the DVM and give a false reading.

For battery charging you can spend a fortune or buy something good that does the job. If plugged in you just need to maintain the batteries so dont spend a lot. I have a MASO 5 amp multi stage unit on my motorhome, they also do an 8 amp and maybe others? It does a fine job when plugged in and maintains on a float of 13.7 iirc. The price delivered was £28. If you want a charger for using from say a gennie at canal side you need a bigger charger than this.

cant find their ears

Canada geese, a pestilence. shame that recently they were added to the protected list. I wish they should all be removed back to Canada in exchange for wood pellet fuel. They are dirty, noisy and eat more than sheep. Useless as a sport bird, they just peer down the barrel as you shoot them, idle beggars. Feed them slug pellets.

There is a new prison sentence for stealing Lithium iron batteries.....LiFe.

I guess it that opinion depends on whether the person expressing it can actually remember the boats when they were working. Some were always turned out looking smart. I remember a very young Hugh McKnight taking this one of Rose Bray and Ernie Kendal on Roger and Raymond just having passed our moorings below Uxbridge lock in the mid 1960's

I suspect you may be setting too much store in the accuracy of the readings. It would be interesting to swap cells 1 and 4 and see if the lower voltage stays with the cell or with the measuring device.

Agreed. My socket set was bought for me by my work colleagues for my 21st birthday. The Worksop staff recommended 3/8" drive as it was a more useful size for working on engines, particularly in tight spaces. I still have that set and have added metric sockets in more recent years. I have also invested in a1/4" drive set, which is especially useful when working on small nuts such as those found on alternators etc. I do have a set of 1/2" drive sockets and have hardly ever used them as they are too big and cumbersome. On bit of advice, buy the best quality you can afford, mine are Britool which are quite expensive, but I have never had anything fail in more than fifty years

I would stick to using proper coloured grout as Sam suggests. If you mix your own, you can't be sure what shade it will dry to or whether the colour will fade over time. Most tile shops have swatches that match the cured grout colour. Take a tile to the shop and see which colour works best with it.

You can buy coloured grouts at the tile shops. Mortar dye works but its a bit coarse and very intense in colour..

Thanks all, Panic over, we managed to get him seen at Rainsbrook at Hillmorton. very impressed with the vet we saw Follow up check tomorrow but just looks like a dodgy tummy. Pets don't half worry you sometimes. On a wider note though, how do you cope when liveaboard cc'ing. We are wintering near Crick but intend to cruise all next summer possibly to the k &a. We still have our vets at "home" where we get their regular check ups during visits to family but need something when moving around. We did look at at pets4vets as they appear to be national with centres in pets at home branches but their online revue's are pretty poor. Does anyone have any suggestions?

I used the method outlined on this website: https://www.pbase.com/mainecruising/galvanic_isolator

What on earth has this to do with "Banters & Social Events" though?

OP: Please delete question 2 until you are sure that AdeE will not be around.

If you are going to be connected all the time you wont need a very big charger as really you will only be maintaining, something like 10 amps, but if you intend to use a generator than you will want something bigger as you wont want the genny going all day. So if you don't plan on a geny then Ctek 10 amp

I've got a mixture of 3/8 and 1/2" socket drivers, with adaptors between the different sizes, including down to 1/4" for teeny tiny sockets. If I was just buying one set, then I'd probably go for 1/2" drive. which will do everything on a boat. My batteries live under the rear deck, unheated, all year round. No insulation, including some excursions to minus silly temperatures in bad winters, where the canal was frozen a foot thick. No problems. Lead acid batteries are fine like this. Insulating them will only slow down their cooling, not prevent it. Jen

Not sure that it’s something worth have strong opinions on, I mean we are not in the same ball park as pump out vs. cassette, at least I don’t think we are. I would just buy a good solid set from Screwfix or the like...

I have seen and read the article, afterwards I was sure it had been written by a muppet, but what do I know? ?

I'm a solo boater of 'mature' years and if I moor i prefer a spot reasonably near to someone (not on their fender) . From a selfesh point of view it's sensible. Sorry if I've ever annoyed anyone. My generator is a cacooned diesel that makes less noise than my main engine. If i arrive somewhere towards evening my batteries are well charged and I would hve no reason to run the gennie