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I know a lot of people are struggling financially at the moment, but I hadn't realised just how bad it is getting. Today I have seen at least 12 family groups of 6 or 8 people who must have moved into 23-28 foot cabin cruisers since yesterday. There were none of them out and about on Thursday when it was raining, but on a sunny weekend it seems 3 or 4 generations have just become liveaboards ... Hmm.

You've never tried eating one? They need to be boiled for several hours before they are soft enough to chew. If you cook them with enough garlic you can get them to taste of garlic, rather than hose pipe. A bit like the recipes the French use for snails and a similar texture.

It's called getting old ? when we moved aboard in our 30s we would hop off onto the bank etc etc, now we'll into our 60s there is no hopping as the knees simply don't allow for it lol.

Still bored so made another one, wall hanging piece this time

With no dry-dock for many miles, the slip at Auxerre proved useful once in fixing a cooling system leak. We hauled Secunda up as much as we dared. The slip itself was installed by the German occupation forces in 1943, when a fleet of armed vessels was brought up the Yonne, They were then hauled out here to be taken across Burgundy by road - the Canal de Bourgogne being insuffiently large for the job. To achieve this 1,500 forced labourers demolished houses along the way and regraded the roads. Special trailers were used, with three tractor lories pulling, and four more behind, primarily for braking on the hills. Those taking these pictures risked their lives, yet none of the craft ever made it. The entire fleet, said to be over 50 craft, was destroyed by Allied aircraft farther south.

If you set it on fire.

No... it's simply that you're practical and sensible

Recommendations are for boat owners to have the following: An expandable hose for washing down (the ‘crinkly’ looking hoses) A flat hose for filling up water tanks (these allow water to run out after use ensuring no build-up of stagnant water or bacteria) All hoses must have ‘trigger ends’ or shut off valves. As all our marina taps are drinking water at source, the shut off valves prevent non-drinking water flowing back up the hose if it drops into the marina.

Diana slipped of the fordeck while securing the front rope in the pouring rain in September 2018 and her knee still plays up.

Ours doesn't have one either. Obviously the main difference is that you have to remove the pump out hose in order to rinse out, so you can't do them at the same time. Personally I think that's actually good because I reckon it shifts the semi-solids around inside the tank better, and I help it by having a dedicated hose inside that I insert down the loo at the same time. But I don't think it actually makes a lot of difference.

Apparently Camels can as well.

They can spit if annoyed you know!

I do if someone is watching

Or looking at it another (more realistic ?) way - how much worse would it be without the restrictions ?

I’d be glad for him to come through Manchester with me. He can go down the weedhatch.

Looks like an exercise in group ass-wallpapering. N

I bought my boat 11 years ago from Whilton and had already decided on Trevor Whitling for any future surveys. The brokerage told me they recommended him as well, and he was top on their list. He gave me a lot of evidence to get them to do a lot of work and I negotiated a drop in the price by £4K. It was only a £19K sale to start with. Apart from understanding how Brokerages work, I think you also have to know how Surveyors work too. You need to be there at the survey, so you can understand what the jargon means in the written report, he can also explain to you why things that sound awful are actually a doddle to attend to. And Vice Versa. Also be honest with your surveyor, if you know nothing or are not at all mechanically minded, tell him, so he can adjust his spoken description accordingly. It'll all help you to decipher his report. At the end of the day if you're no good at negotiating then the only use a survey is if you want comprehensive insurance. I'm very good at negotiating, I understand sales, aggression plays no part in the process and the survey report is the ideal weapon.

I had a strange experience one night when I lived aboard in Sheffield that I still haven't really got an explanation for. I used to moor on the towpath behind the high wall, with the now dead end Blast Lane behind. One evening I noticed an old chap wandering around next to my boat, I was about to go for a pint but I said hello and asked if he was looking for anyone in particular. He said he'd got a work boat on his wagon behind the wall which was being craned in early next day, so was parked up for the night. I said that was unlikely as it would be Tinsley rather than the basin, but he said that was his orders. As often happens talk turned to boats and old engines etc, he lived on a boat on the GU with a Gardner, etc etc. He asked to look at the Gardner in my boat which I didn't mind, ( it wasn't anywhere near last orders yet) but weirdly he knew the engine number without looking! "I can remember running that with the covers off squirting oil on the rockers when I was in the Navy" he told me without prompting. Which is strange as it is an ex Navy engine. He was soon off to get his head down, but as I locked up I wondered if he'd fancy a quick pint before retiring so I popped through the gate onto the lane. No truck, no boat and no sign of himself either. Nothing turned up in the morning, but a week later I asked the lockies at Tinsley if they'd had something delivered there. No, and no work boats had been moved to the area by road for months either.

my boat ticks nearly every requirement. It's not for sale though!