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Hi all My first post on this forum. I don't have a canal boat but enjoy walking along canals and sometimes chatting to boaters / helping them lock. On Monday night 14/9 I found a satellite dish in its case (open) on the towpath and want to try to reunite it with its owner. It's from Travel Sat and I called Martin the owner of this business via the mobile no shown, thinking he might be able to look up the person he sold it to via the serial no BUT these dishes don't have them and he's sold about 1000! Martin was very helpful in talking me through checking and assembling this thing via WhatsApp video and we have ascertained that it's all present and correct apart from a missing screw (1 of 4) on the mounting bracket and a minor broken lug on the bracket - neither of which stop it from working, just need to be more gentle when tightening the knurled wheel acc to Martin. If you think this might be yours, contact me to tell me where you lost it. There are also some accessories in the box with it which acc to Martin aren't standard but are extra. What are these? Mark

In all fairness, that looks like my forward course.

Nah, if that was the case when you got a line of boats together they would just disappear! ??

Have plotted your reverse course.

On a budget is not the same as dishonest. The people who take these things are just thieving scumbags , its not like stealing food because they are starving to death.

Thanks all, we'll just go for it then!

remember if you pass a boat whilst reversing that strongly smells of Wizards Cabbage, don't forget to speak and shout greetings backwards too, that'll really freak 'em out

The higher end of the market maybe, but the type stolen in urban areas from boats usually end up on the canal bed a few yards away, especially if like Lady G's they can't even be ridden. I get pestered by scum trying to sell stolen bikes where I work in Sheffield, sometimes for as little as £10. I'll often see the bike left leaning on a wall somewhere nearby when they've got bored of wheeling it around with the sales pitch "do you want a mountain bike pal? It's 500 quids worth but you can have it for 20" One of the regular shits turned up with a set of triple aluminium ladders once which I could have for £25. There was probably some poor bugger stuck on a roof up the road!

The description of what happens during charge and discharge is pretty much on all fours with the description in a 1940's specialist textbook on accumulator charging. At thst time it was common practuce to recharge accummulators from DC mains via a lamp board, the number and wattage of the lamps determining the charging current. Charging would continue untill all cells in a battery were gassing freely, meaning that all cells were able to attain a fully charged state in which even the sulphate in the deepest layers of active material would get converted. It was considered safe to discharge down to 1.8V per cell: deeper discharge would result in the production of hard crystalline sulphate having a different crystal structure to the sulphate produced at higher discharge voltages, and it is the hard sulphate that is virtually impossible to convert back. The voltage drop at high current discharges is due to the sulphuric acid reacting with the plates by giving up its sulphur; the reaction generates water which dilutes the acid near the plates and hence affects the chemical reaction that generates the current. Allowing the battery to rest allows fresh concentrated acid to diffuse into the active material, thereby raising the voltage again. I don't think that sort of constant current charging is practiced much these days. Charging until the voltage reaches a value indicative of full charge is fine if all cells are balanced. However, the voltage of a weak cell can rise to a higher level than the other cells, thereby tricking the control circuitry into terminating the charge cycle before the other cells are fully charged. Installing a solar charger is a good move. In a recent post of another thread the poster reported that his boat was fitted with solar panels last year, and that after several months of non-use, his batteries, which his instruments had indicated had lost a significant amount of their original capacity before the perid of non-use, were now being indicated as in good condition. Possibly the enforced period of resting had allowed the conversion of the deeper regions of the active material to be regenerated as there would have been plenty of time for the electrolyte to diffuse into the deepest sulphate layers, allowing them to become converted. Trickle charging at a low current is known to be a good way of keeping a battery in good order, but is not practical in a canal boat whose battery is used every day. Rapid charging of really heavily discharged batteries is not recommended for ordinary batteries: the resulting high current density in the conductive regions of the plates between the higher resistance sulphated regions will give rise to differential thermal expansion between sulphated and non-sulphated regions, resulting in shedding of active plate material and loss of capacity. Trickle charging keeps the current density and temperature rise low, reducing the likelihood of shedding active material.

I was just gonna suggest using a cup brush. I don’t think you can do any damage with one.

Yeah, we have noticed! Sorry, couldn't resist.

My country has been stolen by a bunch of fascists

I tried to get rid of an old bike, left it on the roof for ages, went around the network etc.. Nope not got nicked, so I left it on the towpath for anyone to keep. Four days later someone returned the bike to me thinking I had lost it. Next time I will padlock it, with a chain, someone is bound to nick it then.

i have this send your email adress and ill send you a scanned copy

A boat is chock full of systems, frequently everything that a house has but smaller, more inaccessible, of rare and unusual design and on my boat no professional has had a hand in putting it all together. It also runs on 12 volt with a bit of 240 here and there , the heating is unusual - paraffin - and the engine is nearer the front than the back. Crammed into most boats is an ex automotive or plant engine and coupled to the propeller by a frequently poorly installed gearbox and various couplings. All this is contained in a hull that is impossible to inspect on the inside and not easy to interpret on the outside. Also in this challenging structure is enough gas to destroy a medium sized house, enough amps to melt big chunks of metal and enough diesel to make a very hot thing even hotter. Pity the poor old surveyor who inspects this expensive assemblage and misses a corroded jubilee clip or missing split pin that sinks the whole lot. As MrsM says, check as much as you can and it really is in our own interest to familiarise ourselves with our boats. There, That'll put everybody off buying a boat and make a bit more space on the cut.

He’s right though. Unless the batteries have been recently replaced, budget to replace them. A surveyor won’t be able to check their capacity so anything he says about them is worthless.

I regularly reverse half a mile into my moorings which is mostly under 10 feet wide with boats moored both sides, and includes a sharp dog-leg. I have my highly trained crewman on the bow with the long pole, and he is totally in charge of the steering. I maintain tickover on the back deck, holding the rudder straight, and occasionally fend off adjacent boats when its windy. It is important to maintain a constant speed for him to judge the steering required. I have no problem reversing much longer distances using this method, and its dead easy with a wider channel available. No good if you're solo though!

Caught in two world wars, the Canal Du Nord only opened to traffic in in 1965. The longer of its two tunnels, the 4,350 metre one at Ruyaulcourt, has a passing place in the middle. Much of this waterway will be superseded by the forthcoming Seine - Nord Europe Canal.

One thing to watch is that it can confuse the hell out of people and cause much reving and panicking reverse, in fact that can cause more problems than your hopefully controlled reverse

A long reverse is one of those things that a bow thruster is useful for.

boat to comply with RCD 2013/53/EU annex IV declaration of conformity & owner’s manual craft identification number issued builders plate and CE marked Now, when PurpleBricks & Co. are eating the market - nothing.

So that includes Blakes Paints (now Hemple) then. That is exactly what they advised in a booklet I once has and said if using brushes follow this up with a light disking to key the surface. This was in respect of blacking. So the choice is the OP's follow your advice or spend an extra hour and follow Blakes, i know which I would do.

There are parts 'easier' to restore than others. From the bridge at Swarkeston, there is still a few miles of canal trench. You couldn't easily get into Derby, because of the Pride Park development - methinks. Even though the canal wasn't much of a canal in my school days, it was still a great place to play around, and with lots of interesting thrown-away stuff. It would have been classed as an eyesore, but the tip was also very close by, with lots of raw material for building carts and such things.

This photo shows a waterway in better condition than the canal into Derby that I knew as a lad. You could walk across it over rusty bikes and tin baths, all manner of rubbish, including the occasional pith helmet. It is now a cycle path to Swarkeston and the Trent and Mersey.

A lot of people don't seem to realise that a 'sailaway' is now (since 2017) subject to the full RCD requirements no Annex iii(a) can now be issued. The new Directive has effectively put an end to Sailaway boats (completed to all variety of levels) being supplied with an Annex lll(a) Declaration as was previously possible under Directive 94/25/EU. Under the new Directive (2013/53/EU) Sailaways (including hull only) would need to be supplied as completed craft. Therefore for anyone purchasing a narrow boat sailaway from 18th January 2017 must ensure you have the necessary paperwork from your boat builder that is required of a ‘completed’ craft up to the current point of completion, this includes: A builders plate – makers details and technical information A CE mark A Craft or Hull Identification Number (CIN or HIN) – it is carried in two places on the boat; one should be hidden for security. An owners manual with information needed to use and maintain the boat safety A declaration of conformity (DoC) A CE marked craft shows the craft is compliant when it was placed on the market for the first time. It remains valid unless a major alteration to the craft takes place which would require a re-assessment of the craft. ‘Major Craft Conversion’ would be applicable to the fit out of the majority of sailaway boats, and needs to be factored in when planning your fit out. Once you have completed the fit out of your sailway boat, the boat would require a Post Construction Assessment by a qualified surveyor / RCD Examiner and the documentation, builders plate and CE markings all need to be updated. Although a self assessment is possible, it is not recommended as the fitter would resume all responsibility as the manufacturer and it is also a lengthy and involved process. In the worse case scenario, it could mean you are held criminally responsible if the boat sank and there was loss of life. It is recommended that you appoint a professional to complete the post construction assessment, this would be at of cost of around £2000. If a company is being paid to fit out the boat, is it still a self build or a commercial operation - It becomes a question of 'degree' who is doing the majority of the build ? If the OP is buying a 'built sailaway', and then paying a company to do all the 'fitting out' (except 'walls' and carrying the furniture on board) then I'd suggest that it cannot be classified as a 'self-build'. The OP becomes the 'project manager' but is not the 'builder' and the 'builder' is not building it for personal use. The OP can used 'specialist' labour where needed but doing 'all the work' ................................. ?

Anything can be stolen Years ago in a diy supermarket i had wandered off from my trolly I came back and my stuff was there but in a trolly less the pound coin

Sunset on the Menai Straits. Heading South (into the Sun) from the "Pont Britannia" (Built By Robert Stephenson) & the old 'Menai Bridge' (built by Thomas Telford) in the far background (Fenders deployed as we are just about to lock into the Marina) A few other pictures around 'Pilots Cove' and heading back from the 'open sea' to the Menai Straits

The rear deck itself would never be big enough to be able to swing the tiller through it’s full arc on a trad but it must always be possible if standing on the step. Otherwise you wouldn’t be able to steer it at all. The problem only arises on trads when the steerer steps back from the step. In reality it shouldn’t be much different but of course if you aren’t on the step you have far fewer options for avoiding a swinging tiller on a trad than a cruiser stern.

Point of order m'lud -- Since the ol' Cockney rhyming slang is being invoked, shouldn't the fred toitle be "tea leaves..."?

Bit out of the way for most boaters on here, but Maldon is gorgeous right now.

It is generally done very slowly usually by pump , and the bund is left in place whilst it fills. Then 2 weeks minimum with no water being let in to test the waterproofness of the construction. Only then is the bund removed...very unspectacular.