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Unfortunately, hot on the heels of last weekends Ciara floods, from tonight sees a procession of low pressure systems latch on to the jet stream and hit the UK. Very heavy overnight rain tonight will also leave some snow in the North of England, and then another low comes Friday with more wet stuff. Saturdays low pressure has been called Storm Dennis by the Met Office, winds will be quite bad, however, rain on already saturated ground will be the big threat. The storm seems to be stalling North of the UK on Saturday night and some areas of the SW, Wales and NW England could see 36 hours non stop rainfall. Anyone on a river or river navigation should take steps to reach a secure area if possible, or take steps to allow your boat to rise and fall without going over banks/towpaths. I do have to say that sometimes, the safest place is in a lock.?

For me a catamaran is a bit like having two women in tow, I can manage one but not two. No paddling pool!

On Sunday some parts of Hebden Bridge were under 4 feet of water. Today I reckon half of the shops are open with more due to open tomorrow. The flood damaged stuff piled up in the streets is almost all gone, the fire brigade (and council) have hosed down the streets to remove the mud and stones, today the fire brigade were cleaning up the paths in the park next to the Calder. There are still a few skips in town and one or two little heaps of sad flood damaged stuff but otherwise its almost like nothing happened. The people of Hebden are truly impressive. The towpath is looking pretty tide too, I did that. ? ................Dave

It obviously gives you great pleasure and I especially enjoy reading the Historic Section , I made the opposite choice and will doubtless be working for ever .

ARIES has clearly suffered in a similar way to many wooden narrow boats, even though it was subject to major works 40 years ago. In working days wooden narrow boats had a life expectancy of 20 to 30 years, and during this time would be subject to regular dockings and maintenance. In working days there were countless boatyards throughout the waterways system that had the facilities as well as the skilled workers to maintain these wooden hulled boats. As commercial carrying came to an end so did the majority of boatyards that could maintain a wooden hull, leading to the condition of most wooden boat deteriorating and losing value - and when combined with 'enthusiasts' buying them as cheap boats is far from ideal. A few 'enthusiasts' had / have the commitment and finances to restore these life expired boats, regardless of time and costs, hence a boat like ARIES being a survivor. Once a wooden boat is restored it then goes straight back into the 20 to 30 year life cycle again, although a boat restored nowadays probably will last longer as modern building and coating practices are much improved. The vast majority of wooden narrow boats restored in the 1970's and 1980's have suffered through lack of docking as boatyards with the facilities and skilled staff remain few and far between, so problems that should be dealt with regular dockings are usually left to the point of near failure by which time an expensive repair is required that can easily be more than the value of the boat. This is harder to accept with a museum exhibit such as ARIES, which clearly has not been maintained for several years by its owners at Ellesmere Port - for which they will claim multiple reasons. I expect restoration cost for ARIES would easily exceed £100k, but its end value would be less than £50k (and that is being generous). It has to be said that whilst metal hulled 'historic' boats appear a better proposition they are not really, except that worn out or heavily corroded iron / steel can be patch overplated and worn rivets welded up. This method of repair is O.K. if done properly but can cause bigger problems later on, but because these boats are 'desirable' an owner will sooner or later replate the hull - and a good restoration of a metal hulled boat will easily exceed its end value just like a wooden boat. I am not sure how much of the above is just my perception or whether I have answered you question edit = and do I regret selling my Jaguar XK Dynamic R - yes I do, but I do not regret buying my boat.

I keep my current alternator at no more than 95°C so having the ability to go a bit higher is the bonus. I have a blower rigged up to blow cold air from the bottom of the engine bilge. I dont want to raise the charge voltage, I want to be able to reduce it when the battery circuit voltage rises to 14.0 - 14.2V ish (exact voltage to be decided when I know what sort of current is going in). Current draw on sense input is obviously important. How do these work? If I say use the temp function on the BMV 712 to measure temp on the alternator and if it gets above say 100°C, it switches the sense input to a 15.0V source, does it matter if the voltage drops on the sense wire from 14.0V to zero (ie open circuit on the relay switch) and then up to 15.0V? WIll that blow anything. Similarly if i measure voltage on the BMV and it gets over 14.2V on the battery circuit, could I switch the sense lead to a 15.0V source so the alternator regulator then goes to float? Ideally is there an alternator controller that would work with the sense wire in this way? I will check out alternator controllers on google and look what is available to work with the AVi160. Nearly. Defo longer this time!

It has been windy enough these past few weeks. Why on earth would you want to install something to generate more? ?

It does! I painted mine a very dark blue and a few years ago the boat was unbearable. Painted much lighter, in the heatwave a couple of years back it was relatively comfortable, and I've a lot of insulation under the roof.

Hit the nail right on the proverbial head - eat what you want. I don't thrust my choice down veggie/vegan throats but it is just what some are trying to force on the entire world.

I cannot see where CO2 has been discussed. CO (which is a deadly gas) has been discussed and one would have thought that it would be a valuable point to make if you are considering making a double glazed sealed cratch.

I went in to Aldi for one of their centre aisle special buy chocolate tea pots and they had sold out already. Only had ecofans left.

Have you checked the pump strainer to see if that is full of crap

When my 40a sterling charger was bost, I bought a £40 12a halfords 2 stage car charger, and just left it on (at the time I was on hookup and not moving). It took me 6 months to get around to getting the sterling fixed and everything was fine. If you're hooked up 24/7, you don't need anything fancier.

Sounds like the pump is breaking up? Is it bits of rubber?

All the offshore yachts I sailed on had "flying saucer" vents, very easy to slip on, one very quickly learns to avoid them! There again mushroom vents would be a trip or a rope tangling hazard. Never know the saucer vents to leak even in a Force 9, the strongest wind I have been at sea with.

Flying saucer vents are the work of the devil... they always leak eventually.

So, coal store/toolshed/spare parts hoard/... :-) I do know one boat where they really do use it for eating but it has a permanently set up (albeit removable) table and they don't CC or liveaboard so have fewer storage requirements. And it is lovely. I have a feeling not that common though.

Funny you should mention my other interests....?

That's cheaper than wot you'd pay for a chocolate tea pot!

I wouldn't go to the expense of that filter funnel thing. For that purpose I just stick with epoxy glue a paper fuel filter element into the bell of an ordinary metal or plastic funnel and pour the new fuel into and around through that, dodging the top centre hole of the filter, these can be bought cheaply at car spares shops, or motor factors, any type of small but tallish one will do, just a couple or few quid.

thanks for replies I think I will get amongst the boating communities and ask some questions, majority of boaters I've met are very happy to advise and help or just chat, the same as this forum thanks again to everyone, mark.

As often as that? I am thinking of getting mine chromed its easier than never polishing

The important thing is, after whatever you do, , don't start up the engine directly after the process, leave it alone for a good few hours for any muck still in the tank to settle,''and there will be'' after the disturbance.

So is ours, but it turns out to be possible about once a year.

I can't speak for all different ecofans, but for the one I had, this just isn't true. I tested it. When the fan was spinning at full speed on a very hot stove, I held a smoking ember in front of it. All the windows and doors were closed and the air was perfectly still. I even held my breath. The smoke went straight up. No horizontal current whatsoever. This is all the evidence I need that they don't work. If someone on here is convinced they work. Then try this too. Film it and post the film on here. If it works, then I might just change my mind and buy the same model of ecofan I see in the film. Otherwise, I won't be wasting my money.

Andy. Did you buy the chocolate fireguard with the tin of snake oil I told you about on fleabay ?

Too much theory. Not enough fact. The ultimate test on ecofans (other fans are available) is here at Its all about moving the stagnant air which exists at head height when sitting (ON OUR BOTE) rather than the hot air near the roof and the returning cold air near the floor. Smelly and Peter are living in the distant past.

And from anecdotal evidence on here, some that are advertised as not needing one don’t work properly without one.

BOWIE <face-smack> !! Dun Eagles already