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What I’ve seen of cyclists recently on the Towpath it is them that do not respect others.

Short update as thanks. I did as Tony Brooks suggested. I'm not sure how much air is meant to come out when you bleed if there is a problem. It wasn't much. But, the temperature when running the engine doesn't go above ~70C now, both in our previous mooring spot and for the past three hours that we've been cruising. Hopefully that was the issue, thank you everyone

Dav and Pen showed these locks some time ago, a staircase on the Loire side of the Nivernais Canal. I used the second chamber as a drydock(?) once when we bust the propellor on our previous barge Secunda. This was outside navigation hours, working from a Sportyak dinghy, since the sluices leaked so badly. On the plus side Monsieur Cretier, who ran the tripping boat Aster, and who had been born on a barge, lent me his propellor extractor, a family heirloom without which we would be in there still. To work it you get the shaft nut off (remembering, in our case, it has a left-hand thread), then put the disc over the shaft end with the claws gripping whatever is left of the blades. Then, when all is tight, you whack the central thing with a heavy hammer. This, when working from dinghy, can be a life-threatening experience. My pal Edward Bonel, who helped, is pictured when the job was completed, around 4 am. We had passengers arriving that day, a healthy motivation to keeping the job on track.

Most of the boaters on the Great Ouse are extremely strongly against the link. They don't want lots of nasty steel boats on their waters (their newsletter, a few years ago, had some incredibly vitriolic articles on the subject). One of their observations, which I reluctantly had to agree with, was that just one narrowboat with typically 2 people on board, can occupy an entire Great Ouse mooring that could otherwise accommodate at least 6 four-berth GRP cruisers and maybe provide shore access for a couple of family day-boats. Such opposition also seems to make the link's construction unlikely.

We bought the boat because we liked it. We were not fully aware that the guy who sold it to us was a rogue trader and you get to the point of either giving up and saying goodbye to the money spent or finishing it. The boat is a matter of pride and we are not looking for financial gain just to know that what we have is to our specification. There are things we could have done better but we all learn and we wanted to bring a bit of history back to the cut. The boat has seen the bottom of the cut at least twice and been seen by others in " a sorry state" but has now earned the right to join the other boats on the cut fot the purpose it was intended. In essence it is nice to see a bit of history being restored for the sake of it not for its resale value but for the love of doing it. We have an ethos if you do something do it well.

I can't see the sense in replacing a set of contacts with effectively a 555 and a solid state relay and charging £50 for it. Nothing but digital electronics will do for the fine and instantly reactive control needed for the "new cleaner diesels" (TM). That's the ones you see banging out black smoke because a new injector costs a three figure sum and has to be coded in to the ECU.

Sorry, I wasn't suggesting you wouldn't. Just saying that the EA, as indeed CRT, need as much Cash as they can get.

Actually, that is precisely why I have two minds about this link. On one hand it would be great to have shorter journey to access the canal network, on the other though, the infrastructure is not here. Moorings are already sparse, let alone water points or pumpouts etc.

Hopefully about 7 and a half feet.

Armitage Tunnel is the place where I received the biggest scare I have ever had on the cut. We met a huge floating "island" of reeds, which got sucked under the boat and stopped the engine dead. I opened the weedhatch and was removing the reeds from around the prop, when a frog jumped out of the weedhatch and onto the counter...

On this day 2009 we were at Conde sur Marne and staying over until Bastille day when Floan came down the canal. Loaded with petrol coke for a cement works on the Rhône. The junction with the Marne canal is a 90 degree turn .

Victron panel yours for a drink. All works Ok except that Blue Inverter On led does not illuminate until it's been on for about 15 minutes. Otherwise all ok. Provide your own cable! Currently around BCN.

I believe that Melbourne is on a repeat of its Level 3 Lock down following an increase in cases. https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2020/jul/09/coronavirus-victoria-melbourne-stage-3-lockdown-restrictions-metropolitan-metro-mitchell-shire-explained-covid-19-what-you-need-to-know

Surprised no one has mentioned auto jumbles. Got mine from one, off a 1914 Humber Tourer, not the one in the museum I hasten to add.

The link in the OP provides this : Sectors retaining entitlement to use red diesel 4.1 The government is removing the entitlement to use red diesel from most sectors from April 2022 so that the fuel they use is taxed at a rate that more fairly reflects the negative environmental impact of the emissions they produce. This will also incentivise businesses to improve the energy efficiency of their vehicles and machinery, invest in cleaner alternatives, or just use less fuel. 4.2 While this is the right thing to do for the environment and for air quality, the government is not proposing to change the entitlement to use red diesel for agriculture (as well as forestry, horticulture and pisciculture), rail and for non-commercial heating (including domestic heating) from April 2022. Agriculture 4.3 The government recognises the continued importance of red diesel to the agricultural sector, so announced at Budget 2020 its intention not to change farmers’ entitlement to use red diesel. 4.4 Given the entitlements to use red diesel in forestry, horticulture and pisciculture (i.e. fish farming) are closely connected to the entitlement to use red diesel in agriculture, the government announced that it intends to treat these three sectors in the same way. Rail 4.5 The removal of the red diesel entitlement for passenger or freight journeys risks creating perverse environmental outcomes, namely transferring rail freight or passengers to more polluting lorries, coaches and cars if costs rise. For example, each tonne of freight transported by rail is estimated to reduce CO2 emissions by 76 per cent compared with road transport. 4.6 The government is planning to review the entitlement for red diesel to be used in rail vehicles once alternatives become available that would avoid freight or passenger travel moving to more polluting road transport if costs were to rise. 4.7 The precise definition of what constitutes a rail vehicle will be included in the legislation covering the tax changes. However, the government’s intention is that this will include diesel and diesel/electric hybrid locomotives and multiple units, as well as diesel shunters and specialist rail-mounted equipment, such as rail layers and ballast tampers. Non-commercial heating (including domestic heating) 4.8 Currently, heating buildings accounts for around a fifth of the UK’s emissions. To meet the government’s net zero target, emissions from the heating of buildings will need to be significantly reduced by 2050, which involves switching to greener forms of heating. 4.9 However, if applied to non-commercial heating, this would significantly increase the heating bills of households that use diesel, especially those in areas off the gas grid where there is no alternative, and including some which may be vulnerable. 4.10 The government therefore announced its intention not to change the entitlement to use red diesel for domestic heating. It is instead committed to cutting emissions in a way that ensures a just transition across society, with the most vulnerable protected. The government will continue to evaluate the trade-offs between cost, competitiveness, effects on consumers and impacts on the taxpayer when supporting the transition to greener forms of heating. 4.11 For the heating of buildings used for other non-commercial purposes, such as places of worship and townhalls, the government intends to continue to allow the use of red diesel because removing the entitlement for such purposes would have a negative impact on local communities. The precise definition of what counts as non-commercial purposes will be included in the legislation covering the tax changes. 4.12 It is the government’s intention that people whose primary, or often their only, place of residence is their boat (which has a permanent mooring), will remain entitled to use red diesel. 4.13 To support the transition to greener forms of heating and future-proof the UK’s infrastructure, the Plan for Jobs presented by the government yesterday announced it would be providing over £2 billion to support homeowners and landlords in making their homes more energy-efficient. The government also announced it would invest £1 billion over the next year in a Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme that will offer grants to public sector bodies, including schools and hospitals, to fund both energy efficiency and low carbon heat upgrades. 4.14 At Budget 2020, the government announced that it would invest a further £270 million into Green Heat Networks and introduce a new support scheme for biomethane to increase the proportion of green gas in the grid. 4.15 The deployment of renewable and low carbon heat is currently supported by the Renewable Heat Incentive. The government is consulting on a new Clean Heat Grant scheme, to provide grants to help households and small businesses invest in heat pumps and biomass boilers, backed by £100 million of new Exchequer funding. Moreover, a Future Homes Standard, to be introduced by 2025, will require new build homes to be future-proofed with low carbon heating and world leading levels of energy efficiency

Going to keep roof light grey ,just sides of boat going black ...

You will be roasting in a black boat, The difference in temperature in sunlight between a light coloured boat and a dark one is massive.

I was enjoying the exchange more than the content of the thread... but then am not much of a diy person... ?

Only new to canal boats and smelly canals and it actually rude to comment on folks difficulty with spelling but i will forgive you as you cant help being a spelling pedantic it is a diagnosed condition just like dyslexia so your forgiven

Ok it does seem aggressive. But it wasn't "high speed" and I still can't see the "near swamping" that the OP was talking about. If your boat can't handle a foot high wave then perhaps it shouldn't be on the river.

Had hundreds of people at The Pig Place on the Oxford at the weekend. All outdoor seating and spaced sofas and cafe seating. Campsite also full but I spaced em well. Two forumites have visited so far in the nice weather.

Chaplains can only support people who accept their help. They are also volunteers. The lack of support by "others" is a bigger worry in my mind. We no longer have a proper safety net for those who need help. those that want help struggle to get it and there are no resources left for those who don't know they need help

Idle setting screw dropped out? Sounds like the tickover is just too low.

Its not the greatest idea for a first trip.

On this day in 2007 Grantham Canal