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May I suggest that you don't need half the pieces of equipment you have on your boats. However, personally I wouldn't feel the need to be as judgemental as you're being and slag you off for having them. Just because one has a bow thruster doesn't necessarily make one reliant upon it. It really depends on how it is used. I can steer my boat perfectly well with or without the BT but it is nice to have for reversing long distances and for close quarters handling around GRP boats for example. By the way, in 15 years on this boat my BT batteries have never gone flat. In answer to the OP's actual question, I have a 95kgf thruster on a 57ft x 12ft boat. Part of the power specification is not simply the boat dimensions but also how far the tunnel is set back from the stem of the bow which reduces mechanical advantage.

I have just looked in unbelieving horror as a boy aged about 12 got off a hire boat that was coming up through Hillmorton bottom lock carrying two bags of rubbish and ignoring the bins, threw them both into an attractive flowerbed on private property and ran back to what I guessed were his parents. All looked well dressed respectable intelligent people. I carefully picked the bags out of the flowers and put them in the Biffa skip provided by CRT. I then telephoned the Hire Company whose management promised to speak to them harshly. It's getting worse isn't it? Or is it just me getting old?

It would be more sense to lobby for the removal of the booking system completely. If you turn up and there is no room tough

Its not a crime to be an a***hole, if it was the police would be even more overworked and the prisons would be bursting. As for the end product of parenting its easy, I just tried to make them turn out like an even better version of me ?. I suppose thats the problem, the a***holes just produce lots of little a****holes, or maybe lots of even bigger a****holes. ...............Dave

You said: They are a useful accessory for newcomers to assist in mooring with a strong wind, but you become addicted..., which sounds a lot more absolutist than it's easy to become addicted. You're backtracking a little. I don't think your suggestion is necessarily as reasonable as you think. Some people with BTs hardly use them so you wouldn't notice. Don't automatically assume that if you don't hear a BT the boat hasn't got one Anyway, it does get boring when someone comes on with a question and it immediately descends into the same old nonsense.

That's not subtle enough. A blast of reverse and forward to suck the water out from under them and then replace it is much better as there is no contact.

Daft idea just to save the cost of a VSR. The day you have an engine problem necessitating much cranking you will regret this system. Why try to be different? Why do you think everyone else has a seperate battery? Because its sensible. Just have a small 80Ah start battery charged by a VSR and you have no worries,

Narrowboats are so popular down south 'cause you can cruise all the English and Welsh connected system. The narrow canals of the midlands split the wide canals in to a number of zones, with no easy way to move from one to another. The Scottish canals were all built sensibly wide, so no need for the compromises of a narrowboat, unless you enjoy walking like an ancient Egyptian! Jen (with a narrowboat!)

Alan, I've tried but can't resist it. PLEASE take this comment as humorous rather than critical. "and as the roar of 1/4 million gallons of water hurling over the weir grows even louder she raises her voice to be heard... 'step 14! Attach left end of roll bar 'D; to port side Fluke 'F' using M10 x 25 bolt 'K''

Perhaps you could, should, would be the one to get him some help for his own good before some big guy puts him and his generators out of action permanently? I have had 3 such stroppy boaters, one finished up in the cells for a night for threatening me whilst I was phoning the police who heard him say he was going to sort me out (good luck there, I've been trying for years) , one attacked me and the police took him away and one was found dead in his boat some time later. ( no, not me. I leave them still breathing, just) Yes report, name and shame, tell everyone, you could save a life, his or the next poor boater who moores next to him.

If they weren't Purdy then they weren't the best in the business

An iPad or other tablet with internet access lets you download and watch anything that is worth watching. TV is bad because its so easy to turn it on then just watch anyrhing that it spews out of it. We go on holiday every year (two weeks in Cornwall in January) and thats the only time I watch tv as its a novelty. Over the years it has become total rubbish but I suspect people who watch it all the time just don't notice how bad its got. .................Dave

Three way fridge (if you can still get them) is a NoNo. Potentially dangerous on gas, eats lot of electricity whether on shoreline or not. If the thought of a BIG battery bank fills you with horror - then mebe a 12V fridge would do, but they're expensive and not of the best quality. As Uncle Tim will probably say put in a 240V one and a decent battery bank plus a good inverter and relax...

Another advantage of a smaller, separate cranking battery is that when it goes flat (eg lack of use during lockdown) you can more easily take it out to use a domestic (car) battery charger. Don't ask me why I think this is a good idea, but when the battery gets a bit knackered (and it will do, sooner or later) it saves a lot of mither.

You are assuming todays parents are a good role model or even understand the concept of what the "job" is and its end product - innit This bloke should definitely be reported to both CRT and the local Police - after you are well clear of him and his boat of course - a tendency towards antisocial behaviour soon escalates

Saw him today and thanked him again, we are now wondering if he bought Jim's old boat, Nb Elizabeth as that is were he went to. Terry left me a big pile

Slightly off topic. Do you know why elephants have big ears? 'Cos Noddy wouldn't pay the ransom.

Hi Bod. What a lovely keepsake. The main thing you need to keep the doll away from is sunlight. The UV degrades the plastic making it go hard and brittle and also will degrade the pigments especially the red. Keeping it above freezing is probalby also a good idea. I guess it is made from plasticised PVC. I would wrap it in cloth and then in a box well out of the sunlight. Should survive 2 years without any degradation.

https://www.johnbarnard.biz/tips-tricks-videos/ You could do worse than watch a few of these.

But you need to tell that to the folks who don't even seem to be capable of travelling in a straight line on a calm day without the constant whine of the b/t.

Continental drift. It has stretched the canals out thinner and longer since 2003. ?

A starter battery is another form of insurance, I doubt your boat will catch fire or sink during the next 12 months, so why buy insurance? Because if/when disaster happens you will realise why everyone else does.............

Le Boat do indeed charge per hour running time unless you buy the all inclusive package which includes 30 hours running time. It is a rubbish and extremely expensive way of charging for fuel used. The Horizon boat we have hired next year works out at £6.25 per engine hour run which leaves only one way to run of course. Throttle to the boards at all times!

I said I was going to move. The only advice I asked for was opinions on whether it's worth talking to CRT.

You advised me to do something that I said I intended to do in the very first sentence of this thread. I'm not doing it in the middle of the night. Most people wouldn't. Most reasonable people would agree I shouldn't have to, and being told that I should have to because of somebody's bullying behaviour is abusive to say the least.

It is worth telling CRT about antisocial behaviour, but only what you know for certain to be true. So the generator running, yes. The other things you have mentioned are only hearsay and rumour, so No to them. Stick to the facts you have witnessed first-hand.

I refer the honorable gentleman to the very first sentence of this thread.

If you can get the old pieces out and have some new pieces cut, then fit them yourself - the cost won't be that much. Other's labour will always make the cost look bad. The best other necessity is to stop the wood getting wet and seal properly..., to avoid the problem reoccurring down the line.

If this is a serious question. When closed the bottom of both sets of gates sit against a bulk of timber, brick work, concrete or a combination thereof, In the case of the upper gates this forms the cill that you can often see when you empty the lock. A blown cill is when something has moved the whole thing so the gates can no longer but up to it. This could be extreme neglect plus water pressure or as its often the shallowest part of the lock a boat hitting it or catching on it and dragging it out of place. I suspect that when water is spewing in under the gates people call it a blown cill but often its debris trapped between the gate and cill. That's why its a good idea to carrry a keb - not that I ever have.

Me too, but that's all it is, a dream.

is it so wrong i have dreams about a nicely painted engine bay?

See the hints and tips page on the craftmaster website if you are considering the traditional coach painting route, a good summary of the various elements of the whole process. Others will advise various short cuts depending on the results you wish to achieve. On something the size of a narrowboat then get to know which power tools you will need to save time and elbow grease (eg angle grinder with clean and strip discs for rust, and RO sander for dealing with painting large panel areas, are typical minimum to save a lot of time) Most paints are british standard colours, but they all fade. If your existing paint is more than a few years old it will be a different colour now from what came out of the tin originally, so colour matching is an interesting concept.

When I am in the boat the main key set is in the lock all of the time which means it's simple half turn to open the lock. I removed it so that the spare key placement could be shown clearly in the photo. I would suggest that my method is even quicker than using a bolt lock on the door. I have 4 means of exit all of which can be opened very quickly. I am more than happy with my arrangements but I genuinely thank you for your concern.