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The DM2 is a terrible engine, take it out! I'll give you fifty quid for it, as a special favour...

My parents have an Esse. It's like an Aga but a bit smaller.

see https://captainahabswaterytales.blogspot.com/2020/05/pensnett-branch-canal.html for interesting pix

The cable size is the size that produces an acceptable volt drop at the length and working current in use. This will usually mean a cable which could safely carry more current than is needed. Battery fuses are usually midi or mega fuses rated for the load and cable size Very few seem to pay any attention to the interrupt capacity (AIC) of the fuses but this should be thoughh about, particularly if a large Lithium battery is installed. Distribution fusing is often through proprietary or bespoke panels which switch and fuse the subsidiary circuits. Sometimes a domestic consumer unit can be adapted, but then one needs to watch the DC ratings of the breakers. There are also CAN bus solutions but these are not common. N

Here is Harriett pictured in Summer 2022 David. I’m pretty sure the name is still visible carved into the stern.

It used to take me 2 evenings to fill my tank there.....nobody else used to moor there then so it didnt matter. Didnt ever dare take a shower in there though!!

We pealed very badly too, church bell ringing on Wednesday.

Strangely, I have been doing both of these with trees this week. I have been pruning the orchard and re-laying the hedge. When you lay hedges you make the cut from the back so the strip on the front bends, when you want to lower the angle of a branch on an apple you can put a partial cut on the front face and pull it down closed, re-kerfing each time to keep the bend going at one point or using a series of parallel cuts for a more gentle bend. I don't think this helps with Harry's insulation much! Alec

The 'Severn Side', or, if you looked at the stern, 'Severnside', was built in 1952 by Sharpness Shipyard Ltd. Registered at Gloucester, she was built for the British Transport Commission, to be the first of six but in the event the only one of her class. She traded in the Bristol Channel and up to Worcester. I remember her very well. She was the newest of the dry cargo vessels on the canal, and the first of 18 tankers, tugs and dry cargo vessels to pass through Junction Bridge on the 16th April 1959. Which gives you just some idea of the volume of commercial traffic on the Gloucester and Berkeley in those days when trade was declining. According to Bernard McCall of Coastal Shipping the intention was to name the ship 'Severnside' but an error occurred on registration perhaps because the other 'Severn' vessels of the BTC used the prefix plus another name, such as 'Severn Rover,'' Severn Merchant', 'Severn Industry'....

The two taps at Gnosall have very different speeds. One being very slow. I can never remember which is which. At the other end of the scale, the water point below Three Locks, GU, capable of launching the hose out of the filler neck or drilling a hole in the bottom of the water tank. MP.

This is a rather strange interpretation. The Limehouse Cut is one of a number of improvements made to improve navigation on the River Lee and its principal trade which was destined for London. It was built by the River Lee Trustees, and operated by them and their successor the Lee Conservancy Board as a single entity with the river until nationalisation. It is a manmade channel, as is much of the current River Lee navigation. These days it is known by its name, as distinct from the River Lee, but all of the artificial cuts on the Lee Navigation also have their own names, just not much used now. Do you also contend that the various arms and branches that were owned by the Grand Union Canal Company or the Birmingham Canal Navigations should be referred to only as distinct waterways and not part of the GUC or BCN respectively?

My local church has ringing practice Mondays from 6pm to 8pm.Personally I love the sound, to me it sounds very English. Once went up the tower with a friend to observe and found it quite interesting.Bells described as "she" and the boss ringer shouting "Bob and Cambridge Major" all Greek to me of course, but quite funny when the ringers get out of sync and you get a dreadful cacophony which sounds like the bells are rolling down the church steps,known I believe as "firing out" As a young lad in Hull on a calm Sunday evening,by the docks, you could hear the bells of Holy Trinity, and the bells of whatever church is on the other side of the Humber echoing across the river, punctuated by the metalic clang of the bell on the red marker boat which is used to mark sand banks. Very evocative.

And The more one reads up on fuses, the more one realises how complex and how misunderstood the subject is.

The older Royal became the 212, which was useful for me as I needed a new side firebox casting for a 1950s one and they are still the same part. Alec

I put a Rayburn MF in my narrow Boat in 2005 and it went straight in through the front doors in one piece. No problems. Normal sized doors not wide. It is a nice thing to have and I plumbed in a 28mm primary flow circuit from the boiler then tapped in radiators and a hot water tank. All worked lovely. A LOT of fuel and ash going in and out of the Boat. I don't think I would do it again although it was pleasant to he fair. When I sold that Boat the buyer broke it up on site and scrapped it. Worth checking the boiler is a small side only type rather than a saddle. It might be difficult to use the heat from a saddle boiler on a narrow. The older Royal type Rayburns seem to be slightly smaller. Mine was an MF which is the same as a 216.

I have booked in James Parry (J M S Marine Services 07539 874309 based around Alsagar on the T&M) to come to me to do a service - details given to me by Chris Jones.

I agree, loading up the generator is a key concern, I'm contemplating all sorts of stuff from an electric shower (as well as a Paloma gas water heater for when the engine isn't running) to an electric towel rail to a bitcoin mine, all as switchable loads to ensure there's always some load on the Genny. Insulation hasn't split, the only slight criticism of my method is it compresses the board on the inner face, which of course excludes the air from inside it, which makes it a bit less insulative

I enjoyed that particular programme, but then I generally do enjoy In Our Time. Nothing else can span subjects as diverse as Nefertiti and Heisenberg! Alec

Pushing your luck admitting you do FB on here 🙈

I dont know if this is a very poor video of my mobile connection

This is true, but brand new ones are very expensive whereas second-hand ones can often be had for under £100, or even less if it is in poor cosmetic condition and you want it re-enamelled in a colour of your choice. Alec

In Norfolk they use to plant willow trees along the side of the road where it crossed marshland, These were pollarded every 2 to 3 years, work for the farm labourers during the winter months. I was told it was because their root system stabilised the ground the roads were built on. Today lots have died and not been replaced, its quite a cost to employ contractors to pollard them plus the disruption to what are now busy roads

Washing machines and kitchen units tend to have shorter lives than steel boat shells. Would be a good idea to plan in openings suitable for their eventual removal and replacement without cutting into the structure.

That Is the advice I was given when I bought my boat 10 years ago, run the Webasto (very similar to the Eberspacher) for an hour on and an hour off, don't let it run at half power and only get it serviced when it goes wrong. To date I've had no problems with it.

Does your quote for two pack epoxy include grit blasting to get all the old bitumen off first? If so it's a bargain. If not don't bother using two pack and stick to bitumen. Also try to avoid using the terms "blacking" and "two-pack" interchangeably. Most people will understand blacking to mean painting with bitumen. Epoxying is a completely different painting process and you can't compare the two, but most people responding here are giving you costs for basic blacking which is fairly meaningless if you're considering two-pack epoxy. Edit: Also if they are grit blasting and taking it all back to bare steel do yourself a favour and get a quote for 3 coats of epoxy. Do you know which brand/product they're using and find out if they follow the technical data sheet for the product. Most boat yards have some diddy who just slaps blacking on without reading or understanding anything and you can't do that with epoxy. The main things to understand are: - Which hardener is being used (standard or winter grade)? - Mixing ratios by volume or weight. - Minimum/maximum overcoating times according to temperature. - Cured for service time after the final coat before reimmersion. That information will all be in the TDS and if the yard don't know forget about using them to epoxy your boat, save yourself some money and let them slap on some bitumen.