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This may imply that you are forgetting to stand up before operating it.

Yes! Finally made it

Built like a brick outhouse then! 4'7" across the shoulders and 6'7" tall ... I'm going to suggest a cross bed won't be great for you!

Prices are creeping up but £18 to £20 looks to be the going rate though there are still a few really cheap ones about. Some go into the main sewer, some into a septic tank so the costs for the supplier are variable There is also the cost of stripping the pump to remove blockages when boaters to silly things. A big factor is value for money, some pumpouts do a good job, some are terrible. I much prefer the ones where I go do the job myself. Assuming a once per month cycle then the cost is about £25 per year which is not a big part of the total cost of boating. I believe CRT are looking at the future at their pumpout machines. A good alernative would be to provide a standard BSP fitting to the sewer so that boaters can do an easy and clean (and I assume free) self pumpout. and tell smelly that a Pumpout is a Proper bog, anything else is pooing into a plastic "boaters briefcase" .................Dave

I think I'd prefer the bacon butties...

Thank the heavens for compsting loos so much easier and cheaper it would seem ? Popcorn anybody? ?

Finally a sensible suggestion...

Images from a leaflet put out some time ago by Historic Narrow Boat Club - now https://www.hnbc.org.uk and not www.hnboc.org.uk as in the leaflet. It may be a few years old but still holds true today.

We always tell volunteers on Python about the risks at the start of the day safety briefing. We used to be able to hand out some of the CRT advice cards to those that wanted them but I have been unable to get any for a long time. We make a point of ensuring people have washed their hands or used hang gel/hand wipes before they stop for a tea break (which often involves home made cake on Python) or lunch. We also advise people it is wise to wash their hands BEFORE going to the loo as well as after. It is true that many people get some cold like symptoms and feel a little under the weather for a few days while their imuune system fights it off and they never know they have been infected. It is when your body doesn't manage to fight it off things can go very bad very quickly and as the symptoms are so easily dismissed as being cold/flu related some people don't realise the potential for it to all go horribly wrong until it is all a bit late. I had a rotten cold last year mid vegetation cutting season and was urged to go to the GP. When I did she laughed at me asking when I had been drinking rat pee! I am sorry to say that I had to educate the GP - she did some research while I was in the surgery and apologised! It is worth thinking, that crisp packet you so kindly picked up and put in the bin may have had some crips crumbs left in it when discarded and if the rat had a pee while nibbling at them it might not be dew/rainwater on the packet! I think it is important that boaters are informed and a thread like this will help do that. One thing I learned was that when you have a group of Scouts on board who have listened to what you have told them about hygiene they will line up to wash their hands before break time - 12 small people forming a queue in the tiny cabin, none of whom understand the need to conserve water on a boat and all of whom are being very diligent about thoroughly washing their hands when you are trying to boil the kettle and get sandwich boxes out of the fridge in a VERY confined space........... there are always a lot of hand towels to wash after the Scouts join us too!

A retired wire stripper.

I understand what you are saying Tony, but why would you bother until the inbuilt pressure switch failed? If the pump switch is working there is no need to change.

So you failed at step 1? I’m disappointed in you.

Or the commet from the childern on a hot day "Mummy that man smells of Poo"

But it wouldn't be afloat and I wonder if it falls into the old static caravan trap, you can only sell through them and when it gets to a certain age it cant be sold on, that added to the moorings "service charge" being hiked up each year could end up painful.

You can add one but you have to make space for it and it may cost lots of money

Make sure it has at least 64 Gig of SSD, win 10 will run on 32 but when it tries to update it tries to duplicate itself with a windows.old folder. When it runs out of space it merrily uses all the disc space including your photos and data until it finally gives up, having wiped all your data and stuffed itself in the rear and no longer boots up. Microsoft denied all responsibility for wrecking my laptop, which now runs windows 7, as that was what it came with and works very well. I used to use unix and linux at work but they are just too reliant on the command line, with the umpteen options which is no good for someone as ancient as me to remember and type correctly.

Reminds me of the Churchill quote Young man [after seeing Churchill leave the bathroom without washing his hands]: At Eton, they taught us to wash our hands after using the toilet. Churchill: At Harrow, they taught us not to piss on our hands.

I will try to mend my ways.

I have been a member of this forum since 2006 and have learnt so much from lots of the participants of this forum, it is a great resource. I also watch quite a few vlogs about the canals especially this last twelve months as we could not journey to our boat this year due to family bereavements. These vlogs have given us a lot of joy and in lots of cases great information, especially Narrowboat Experience. They are informative as well as entertaining. Sure they are not everyone's cup of tea but if we all liked the same thing it would be a boring old world. We look forward to all the vloggers that we watch posting their latest vid, it gives us our fix of the canals.

No last time we hit a plastic was pre internet. Fortunate. He got a double whammy a love tap from the motor and a slap from the butty. Fortunately only tea stains. However when we were hit head on in a bridge on the northern oxford ( typical excuse sorry I didnt see the sodding great loaded boat in the bridge ) it would have gleaned us several million hits. The owners wife stood in the bow effing and blinding about old boats before slamming the glass cabin door so hard the glass shattered. Karma.

I should sell my vlog of Matty & Kathy’s wedding cruise. I am sure it would give hours of entertainment ?

Spending time on water seems to me quite attractive .

Did they get through ok? It's hard to work a windlass with those short little arms of theirs.

The risk is significant. Canoeists know about Weil's disease, as do cavers. At a caving conference some years ago someone did tests for antibodies to the bacteria and a significant proportion of the attendees had them, so had been exposed to the bug at some point. As has been said, most times you just get a mild under the weather bug for a few days, but occasionally it can turn bad, leading to organ failure and death. A caving friend was feeling a bit unwell. Next thing he knew it was three days later and he was in intensive care. If medics suspect that is what you have, then ordinary penicillin will kill off the bug in double quick time. A lot of people have had it, but never known, just putting it down to a general bug. Reported instances are a small proportion of the overall infection levels. In a very few instances it can kill you. Worth mentioning Weil's as a possibility if you have to call an ambulance for a suddenly very poorly boater. I try to always wash my hands when coming back on board after handling ropes and such like. Not just rat urine, they can get dragged through dog and goose carp without you knowing. Cycling along the tow path in a city, I'll see a rat most trips. You are moving fast enough that they haven't had a chance to hide. Walking, or boating, you won't see them, but they are there. Jen

I've been through Braunston this morning and can confirm that Chertsey has arrived .?

However it was done, it's a neat trick, I got Springsteen. I suspect it is You tube videos you've watched.