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I'm satisfied. Not had a maintenance problem so far after about 20 or so weeks over the past few years on a share boat in autumn and winter. But then I have the attitude that life's pretty good all round and that it tends to improve over time. And on pretty much all rational measures it does. Life's far better for me than it was for my parents. My kids will have better lives than I do. Stop reading the news. Stop using Farcebook and Twotter. Visit forums infrequently and laugh at the frothing rather than joining in. Think about all the people you meet and how almost everyone of them would drop everything to help you if you were in need. Stop moaning. That's how you end up in the 46%. Cue loads of people in the 56% telling me I'm wrong. And I probably won't see it because I follow my own advice.

I know. I was simply responding, tongue firmly in cheek, to what the previous poster said.

Kings Cross open air cinema just 😀

So you have paid £300 k for a boat with a dodgy RCD Certificate. What else on the boat is non compliant? One wonders

Surely the opposite is also true? There are plenty of people who don't want to spend money on equipment, who rationalise that it doesn't work or that the effects are too insignificant to bother with? That can also involve a supportive bias phenomenon. We see it with people who refuse to fit anodes for example, because they don't think they work. For me, battery temperature compensation and anodic sacrificial protection are both supported by science.

Well.....no. There should never (in normal use) be any current from hull to negative terminal of the battery. The bonding is done to ensure eg a circuit breaker pops in a fault condition rather than raising the potential of the hull. If the hull is being used as a return path, it either indicates a faulty installation of something, or a stray connection by something else to the hull (which is also a fault).

The question has been asked of the EU Commission "RCD guidance and help department" with the following (I think very clear and concise answer) (I did post this last time you asked) Question: What happens when the owner finishes fitting out the narrow boat but does not intend placing it on the market for 5 years: “does the completed boat need to comply with the RCD or just to the stage of hand over from boat builder to owner”? Answer given by the EU Commission: The boat is exempted, as long as it is not placed on the market. If the owner decides to place it on the market, then the completed boat needs to comply with the RCD I read that as saying " a self build boat dos not need to comply (at any age) until is is to be sold (placed on the market) at which time it will need a PCA showing compliance.

You obviously forgot to pin the twenty pound notes to your application.

I didn't want the Armco, but the land owner won, he was afraid it would sink into the ground, so said OK, actually it is really steady

The easy way to do it is go on Midland Chandlers website and pick one item from every category they list.

There are probably lots of things that could reduce costs, like turning all towpaths into wide flats that a mower can go straight over, like in cemeteries. But the heritage and environmental regs and lobbies would have a fit. In any case, the whole point of the canal network is keeping some semblance of a heturwge alive and kicking. Seems to me that CaRT are trying quite hard to make use if new tech when sensible to do so. But that involves value judgements.

Were you using proper twisted rope mooring line? Many leisure boaters think any old braided rope will do the job but braided ropes don't have enough stretch. Proper mooring warps are elastic. Rectangular motorboats are particularly prone to shock loads on mooring lines because their hull shape leads to short fore/aft breast lines. Rubber anti snubbing devices are often used in this situation. I am pleased someone had raised this point. Anchoring loads will be less than towing loads in the context of a Cat-D (rivers & estuary) vessel.

Stone the crows, virtually every mishap I have ever seen relating to boats has been caused by human error, none of which would have been prevented by yet more nit picking legislation. The times I have seen disasters avoided by the plethora of rules, regs, certificates and professionals I can count on the fingers of one hand. (I am talking about inland waterways, not sea going stuff, Ro Ro ferries and the like)

Solar panels that can provide 1.5MW wouldn't fit on any canal boat... 😉 (I expect they meant 1.5MWh...) 2.4kW of solar would be expected to average about 8kWh/day in summer, so 1.5MWh would need about 6 months of summer days -- and be equivalent to 50 full charges from 0% to 100% SoC. None of which helps if the sun doesn't sodding shine in the summer, like now -- in the last 12 days we've managed 48kWh of solar which is 4kWh/day, about half the expected number... 😞 (generator has averaged 13kWh/day which is higher than expected for the same reason)

The chances are if you have a MPPT, a 3 stage battery charger, a charger/inverter combi or an external alternator controller, then you (and Tony) already have this sort of system. The complex temperature compensation algorithms are already built into the charging equipment which you've already paid for. The only difference between us is that you haven't connected yours up.

I’d love a series hybrid boat as a CC’r. Big lifepo4 bank for propulsion and house duties, near silent capsule genny for fast charging in winter (no more having to run a 30hp diesel for only 1kw of charging!) and for extended cruising. Just need a couple months off work and a small workshop to do the conversion…it’ll never happen!

As Paul points out, these tests have not been defined clearly enough. Assuming the meter is set to volts - test 1, bat positive to hull, yes battery voltage would be expected, whatever that is. Test 2 and assuming that you have one meter lead on the battery negative and the other on the hull. This should read zero, but if you find voltage, it means that somehow the hull has become live. It also means that the negative bond to the hull is faulty, otherwise a fuse would have blown, or a cable would catch fire. I agree that if left, it would allow the batteries to discharge themselves, but note that you often find a very few mV caused by goodness knows what. In theory, you should not see any voltage. I suspect those few mV may be "noise" in the meter electronics.

I'd love to see someone trying to build a shed outside their 6th floor flat ...

Boats moored blocking both water points at Bosley this morning, never seen so many moored boats above the locks, but we managed to hack a space amongst the giant nettles last night. We're at Congleton now, having a drink in the lovely Wonky Pear 🍻. No boats moored below the Queen's Head but the aqueduct was completely full, as was the wharf. We're moored opposite the houses (also very busy) but the water is full of diesel/oil so we're pondering setting off again after a couple of light ales. The latest plan for the football is to head to the Broughton Arms tomorrow, and come back to Congleton on Sunday for the match. Also noted the Wharf Inn covered in flags today. Thanks for commenting all.

Canal boating is, generally quite safe but while reversing it's highly dangerous. It's been a few years now since the harrowing death of a woman dragged into the prop in a lock in view of her family, (Cropredy IIRCC) I said it then here and I'll say it again now, morse controls should be spring biased into neutral when in reverse, that is, to stay in reverse the lever must be held there.

Yup - should really engage brain before putting fingers into gear !

It’s how a lot of us get/got hooked. Two of the three other officers of the waterways group have also gone. I think that’s a great point. I will speak with a friend who has his boat in the local MPs constituency and is very persuasive. It’s vital to get them onside. Their cogs may whirl and realise for canals being restored especially photo shots of things happening is a golden opportunity. It’s much more attractive to have an invite to go on a boat than a farmers invite to a chicken farm let’s face it.

Boating back in the 70s, a bit of adversity was expected and generally dealt with. These days, for some it just seems unacceptable and below the level of service expected.

That's not what your post suggested, talking about having paid your dues meaning that CRT should cut the grass for you, and that somehow this wouldn't mean less money for vital maintenance like locks... 😉 IIRC it was a public statement by CART that they'd reduced grass cutting to save £3M for exactly this purpose. All the other stuff about inefficient use of resources may well be true (and if it is, should be sorted out) but it's a diversion from these facts... 🙂 The new/blue/headroom/whatever signs got up people's noses -- well, boater's noses -- because they didn't see the point of them. And indeed for boaters there wasn't one. There are ones near me saying things like "You have now completed 275m of the xxx trail" which annoy me every single time I see them. But CART have to gussy up the canals and make them more safe and attractive to non-boaters because that's what the government-set KPIs say they have to do, not keep 35000 boaters happy, and all the stuff like blue/warning signs and titivating and painting and better towpaths for cyclists is driven by this. It's not for boaters who use the canals all the time, it's for casual non-boaters who use them occasionally as a linear green space. That's the funding-driven reality of the canals today. What else are CART supposed to do? I completely understand why many boaters hate all this, but they also seem completely unwilling to even try and understand *why* CART are doing this -- even when it's pointed out to them ad nauseam... 😞

So a picture of the finished article And another floating, my new moorings are about 20 yards away In the end the bottom was done in 2 tye coats as I couldn't clean everything off and then 4 counts of anti foul a black colour, the red above the waterline is an old tin that a friend had which was fast drying and hard wearing he said. We still have the upper steel works to do in cream I think with red highlights at the raised edges

So my raw water pump should arrive this week, I have found enough details about my boat to say it's a Altena 1050 family cruiser. Not sure if it will have a Hull Identification number as they wernt required until 88 I believe? I have a automatic bilge pump coming as the artful Bodger removed the bilge pump! I will need to acquire some steel ballast to replace bulky concrete ballast. I want to remove the fixed seating in the bow to make it a more comfortable place. We will see how it all goes. I also have 900 watts of flexible solar which I will fit to the roof of the boat after making good the surface. I also am going to fit a backboiler wood burning stove to the saloon to heat water and radiators rather than the Webasto air top which I have fixed. I am gradually removing all the bodges which really spoiled a nice boat.