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Lots of s/h Meccano on Ebay cheap. Construct wonderful things and fix many things on your boat with it. It will keep you occupied for hours and hours.

Why do people have to be rude on here? Please don’t reply to any of my further questions.

This was how I did mine. Solid wood glued down. Lift up inspection panels. Been fine for a good few years now.

I don't like books. I know this because I read one once. ~ WC Fields ~ (I think!)

Leaving everything else aside whether or no the galvanic isolator IS OR IS NOT working can be checked out in literally a couple of minutes with a multimeter. Any number of posts on this site as to how to do it. Beaten to the point by Richard 0002

When I was learning, one bloke in a boat moored up behind said he thought someone was having a heart attack. He never came to check though, so, back into the thread subject, obviously one of the selfish ones. But it doesn't have to be played loud, it's just trombonists find it more fun that way.

Yes I did - quite amazing. I also get so much pleasure from seeing the crocheted letterbox toppers that are popping up all over the place. Last Christmas I was picking up some bits in my local Lidl and someone popped a beautiful little crocheted flower in my trolley when I wasn't looking with a hand-written label saying something like 'I hope this random act of crochet-kindness makes you happy' or something similar (I hope they didn't think I looked grumpy/unhappy). I love this side of crafting.

I don't really see where that comes into it, what if it had been a layby marina/mooring then there is no entrance. Just because someone builds a marina with a wide entrance doesnt mean that CRT should allow oversized boats to access that marina. A few years ago, there was a member who regularly took her fat boat from Branston as far up the N Oxford as possible and did it far more that happens now.

I find this sort of advice very odd. If it is a craft of a size allowed by the canal in the area, why should they give special warning? If it is larger than the dimensions of the canal, why would they allow it to move (or even to moor)? Do they put out notices saying "On Saturday there will be a lot of novices leaving the xx hire base so take extra care whilst navigating through this section of the canal.?" Tam

It seems popular (populist?) to decry opinion surveys. On the other hand, if is also commonplace to expect policies to be evidence based. In the context of determining policies where one measure of their success is customer satisfaction then evidence of consumer opinion is rightly important. Surveys are not in the same category as physics experiments fir objective rigour, say, but there is a lot of theoretical basis if the choice is made to use it. In almost any context, such a choice exists and several strands of politics have sought to diminish expert knowledge (not opinion, note). Covid added to such prejudice. Sadly the same voice may simultaneously rejoice at science that produces safe treatments whilst also undermining evuddnce, say, on epidemiology. Of course, surveys can nit only be well designed buf they can be badly constructed, either negligently or maliciously. More often it is the former but occasionally the latter. If is also easy to undermine the integrity of a survey if you do not like its results. I would much rather have a set of policies (or strategies) that have made some attempt at being evidence based rather than ones that derivdcentuerly from someone's prior prejudices. Recent announcements regarding public health initiatives are a good example. Good surveys that yield reliable and justifiable results are not easy and may be more expensive than the 'owners' are prepared to pay. Too often a cheaper buf meaningless alternative is adopted without the underlying expertise. Ond adverse consequence of computers and internet us that it has made 'experts of all of us. Desk top publishing has led to some awful documents! By all means seek scrutiny of the way in which CaRT seeks to measure the opinions if all of its customers but please do so in an objective, not pre judged way. I have felt that CaRT have been at times a bit opaque but that is what boater reps should be addressing. In running a business, knowing your market is at least as important, sometimes even more so, then the quality of maintenance. It is of little use having a perfect canal system if no one is prepared to pay for it.

In this thread it has been mentioned several times about hand/arm signals being misunderstood and I have to admit that although I use them, I too have been confused about what the other boaters was trying to say. You often see the skipper madly waving his arm about pointing to the right or the left but does he mean that that is where he is going or where he wants you to go? When I do arm signals, I make big gestures and point to myself then point to where I am going. If I don't get an acknowledgement , or if it looks like the skipper hasn't "got the message" I repeat it. I can't think of an instance where this method of signalling has been misunderstood. OK, I know that horn or light signals could be used but when the majority of folk on the canals have no idea what they mean, I prefer to use something which is easily understood. It is fair to say the skipper and I have different opinions on this subject 🙂 haggis

Nope, but adding ten metres of 16mm CSA cable fixes the alternator overheating problem is an equally cheap and simple way. Adjust length to adjust alternator running temp! An easy-to-implement quick and dirty lithium installation that saves running the engine for hours to get the batts up to 100% once a week is the goal for most liveaboards, remember? Not all of us wants a boat that would be better served by a nuclear power station...