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Sorry but I just feel there is something not right with their whole situation.

well, that is certainly a truism .................... sorry, couldn't resist

Not really. When I was a child most people didn’t have a car. Now they do, but it is a very recent thing in the great scheme of things. Bottom line is that with the population growth and increasing wealth, long term we cannot have private fossil-fuelled cars for everyone. Moving away from that to electric is more expensive. Traditionally when there is a limited resource, it is managed by pricing. So poor people won’t be able to afford it. It was always thus, even if it offends any socialist tendencies you might have. The socialists expect “they” will pay for poor people to have stuff they can’t afford, whilst not specifying where the money “they” will give them, comes from. Of course if our public transport wasn’t worse than most 3rd world countries, it would be better.

Go and give them some money if you wish and support their lifestyle if your that bothered with my comments. These are the new generation of boaters that’s on the canal, don’t seam to of done a hard days work in their lives and want to be supported by donations. so they can live on the canal system.

That look as if it could be Type 2 Microbial Corrosion (not 'normal' corrosion due to electrical 'leakage') 'Wider pictures' show similar random silver 'pits' in the blacking. Boat owners and yards know all about rust. There is endless literature on electro-chemical and galvanic corrosion – all under the general heading of ‘rust’. But there are other types of corrosion which closely resemble (but are not) rust in the conventional sense about which little is known by boat owners and by many yards. This is a corrosion caused by microbiological action which is can occur on boat hulls, particularly those lying in canals or rivers containing high levels of chemicals or decaying vegetable matter. Microbially Induced Corrosion (MIC) is a highly unpredictable process but under the influence of micro-organisms, corrosion processes can be rapid, happening in a matter of months compared to the years it would take for ordinary abiotic corrosion to reach serious proportions. This phenomenon is well known in the oil, gas, water and mining industries but is little understood in the steel boating world. MIC frequently occurs in areas with high nitrate content in the water – this particularly pertains to arable regions of the canal network and particularly to canals and rivers on the east side of the UK and where there is intensive crop farming using non organic chemical fertilizers with consequential phosphate, sulphate and nitrate run-off into the watercourses. Marinas fed by rivers are another risk area and, in salt water environments, it is well known that harbour muds are highly contaminated by sulphides produced by these creatures. Sulphide films are, by their very nature, highly corrosive and the identification of such very obvious. It is usually found under muddy and slimy surfaces, sometimes even behind paint coatings and a very careful visual inspection is necessary to locate it. It is not discoverable by non-destructive testing such as ultrasonic thickness measurement, eddy current testing or the magnetic method familiar to most marine surveyors. The bacteria are often found inside oxidised welds or in areas which contain physical defects such as porosity, overlap or lack of penetration. The microbes leading to this condition can both cause corrosion from beneath existing coatings or seek out pinpricks in the steel coating and cause the reaction to occur from the outside. MIC bacteria can be present under previous blackings and is not eradicated by simple pressure washing. Unless correctly treated, MIC can continue to thrive beneath the coating, emerging as major pitting.

From the pollution/CO2 point of view there's little point forcing all ~30k UK canal boats to switch (expensively!) from diesel to electric, they contribute maybe 0.01% of the CO2 that ~30M cars do, the money would be far better spent pushing up EV use and efficiency. But logic doesn't come into it, I'm sure that they'll get caught in in the eliminate-diesel hysteria. Quiet vibration-free boats with no exhaust fumes though, that's a very good reason to do it. Yes charging points would be needed, but in reality this is a tiny problem compared to the car one which *will* be solved. Could even go through Dudley tunnel if the boat would fit...

Re the ownership question, if at all possible talk with any other boat owners / dwellers on site to verify the owner. How long known etc.

I've had family...and a friend's experience of a major broker selling boats complete with the broker's survey. Both times they encountered serious problems within weeks, that would have been thrown up if they had paid for their own survey. Both of them had the broker appearing kindly and pointing out faults during the buying process...which they then supposedly fixed ....to make them trusted. In one case the seller of the boat had left it with the broker with a brand new set of batteries. When my friend viewed it...it had old batteries , with the broker saying " we'll put new batteries in it as a service to you"...ensuring my friend felt they could be trusted. Phone calls within weeks.. when these other faults showed up brought the same response.." well..it is a secondhand boat". Throw away any seller survey...even from major brokers...and get your own !

Nothing inferior about a diesel stove. Most sea going trawlers, yachts and small ships will have them. Stay in for a month without having to clean, no dust, tend to be very economic and once heated provide a lovely steady heat. You also already have a diesel supply on board so no need for sacks of coal on roof or clogging the cratch up. Once our Morso Squirrel dies (installed 2001), we will be replacing with some oil fired unit.

And in my experience steering a Dutch style barge will generally require even more competence than steering a narrowboat-style widebeam of the same dimensions. Also with a draft of 3ft 3in that barge isn't not going to be suitable for some broadbeam canals and will be limited to ship canals and rivers.

Exactly, I would feel much more confident with the cheaper ones if they charged moor. Which is stupid but how I feel.

Apologies I misread your last sentence

Damn. I blame Brexit. MP.

A test to see if that small tank is part of the domestic water system. Domestic water pump off and open a tap until the pressure has gone. Close tap and take the cap off that small tank. Get someone to turn the pump on while you keep an eye on that tank. If it fills with water it is part of the domestic water system so do not fill it.

So the 12.8v at 09:30 was with neither solar controller nor alternator charging. Also, this . . . was in response to . . . Finally, the BM1 was showing 1.9A at 14.5v when we moored to-day, after a 4 hour cruise.

BRUSH every time - rollers don't do the job properly (even big hairy ones ?) - you only do it every 3 years so its worth doing properly and using more product.

We have a gas fired Stockton 5 in our lounge, you cannot tell the difference between it and a Stockton 5 multi running on Phurnicite or similar apart from the fact that its clean and is controlled by a remote

Plenty of boaters complaining about cycles on towpaths, but it has done nothing to slow the march... Frankly, it seems a bit risky to add to the number of sub 15mph road users with no protection, but there we are - it seems the road is where these things will be ridden. Still, if it can be done safely, a fold up electric scooter would be a tempting "pop to the shop" machine to have on a narrowboat, wouldn't it? Anyway, what do I know - in my instructing days, I thought it was a stupid idea restricting motorcycles to speeds that meant they can't keep up with the traffic. Anything on the road that impatient drivers are tempted to push past is a daft idea in my view.

If you're hoping to do this by private arrangement, its quite a big ask in the light of the worsening Covid situation and the imminent tightening of restrictions, particularly in your part of the world. The company mentioned above will, if currently running their courses, be geared up to dealing with the pandemic safety requirements, and the money you spend in learning to helm the beast will pay you back in spades if you go ahead. In addition, you should consider hiring a wide beam in the winter months. A life afloat looks rosy from the towpath on a sunny day, but reality has a habit of biting hard when less than ideal conditions are set for a long stretch ahead. Also, if you don't already have a deep love of boats and the canals, you're taking a leap of faith into an area where many with similar dreams and aspirations have come unstuck. I'm not trying to put you off, but do make sure that those rose tinted specs are firmly locked away when looking at this.

Don't worry - most boaters secretly enjoy offering advice to newbies. The River Nene locks are unusual - see some photos (link 1 below) from a recent trip Peterborough to Northampton. What follows relates to the guillotines locks - the majority: The good news is that going uphill the guillotine should be up. Just cruise in, and get off up the ladder on the right side of the lock (normally!), at the lower end. The control panel is normally on the right side of the lock going uphill, but there are a couple of exceptions. I would normally throw a stern line up, and also take a bow line ashore. I do this via a long thin line that lies on the roof and which I use to get the bowline ashore. Some people use a centre line but it's a bit harder to control the boat. Tie off stern and bow lines. It's safe to do this going uphill. NEVER do it when going downhill. Only use one of the top gate paddles, on the same side as the boat. Open them gently - they are very powerful. Take in the bow rope as the boat rises. You may be able to exit using just one gate. At some locks you need to make a sharp turn on exit, or there may be a crosswind, and so there it's a good idea to open both. The bad news is that you then need to moor up on the upstream landing stage, and go back and shut the top gates and raise the guillotine fully. Failing to do this is a surefire way to annoy other boaters. Mooring needs planning ahead. Link 2 is a good source. I would join Friends of the River Nene - only £10 a year I think and they have some lovely wild moorings, see link 3. Oh and link 4 below is a handly guide to the peculiarities of the Middle Level. There are some very nice wild moorings, just before the junction with the twenty foot, to east of March, and just south of Angle Corner on Beavills leam. PS I assume you have, as a moorer on the Great Ouse, an Environment Agency Abloy key, to operate the Ouse and Nene locks? https://scholargypsy.org.uk/2019/05/05/easter-cruise-2-river-nene-peterborough-to-northampton/ https://noproblem.org.uk/blog/nene/ http://www.friendsoftherivernene.co.uk/index.html https://middlelevel.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Navigation-Notes-2019-Web-Version.docx

We are not moving to it, we are there now.....but that is for electric propulsion, not replacing LAs. Used Li's from EVs are cheap enough for the masses and will get cheaper as more EVs crash and are written off.

When we we're little, there's five years and 3ft in height between my brother and me, my step dad said to him that the only job he'd be able to get would be going along the little tunnels under the middle of the road turning the cats eyes on and off Obviously we didn't know about the need for engine bay painters so he became a jockey.

4/5ths must be imperial. Otherwise it would be 0.8 naff-alls or 8 centi-naff-alls

When my boat was being repainted and blacked last year, it had to come out of the dry dock to let an old Springer which was being repainted go in their because it had developed a leak and was in danger of sinking in the (wet) paint dock. Turned out a chap had bought it for £5k without a survey and decided to spend £5k on a repaint!!!! Talk sbout getting you priorities right. The boatyard recommended overplating at a cost of £10k to rectify matters. My blacking was held up for several weeks whilst the guy decided what to do. In the end he decided to go for the recommended overplating, so his £5k "bargain" ended up costing him £20k of which he would be lucky to get £10k back if he sold it.

The real wonder, I suspect, would be if a surveyor ever turned up anything useful. Most surveys are so full of weasels they could house a menagerie. I know it's slightly different, but my last house structural survey basically said the house should be avoided because he didn't like the layout and there was a council estate half a mile away. He missed every single thing actually faulty.

I cant be bothered to go back 100 posts so here is my vote for a cruiser stern. So much easier to access the engine. With a pram cover, a great storage area in the winter when you are not travelling as much and a great place to hang wet clothes to drip. We put our pram cover up each night. One benefit is during the colder months you can dry clothes under the pram cover without worrying about wind and rain.

One of us was daft enough to buy a 5/7 replica Duker.

They are very few, not in any particular place, and very rare so stop worrying about it and get out there and actually use your boat!