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Well she's all blacked... been really impressed with Nick at Droitwich Marina! out on Monday, pressure washed, coat 1 on Tuesday, coat 2 on Weds and coat 3 on Thurs then back in the water the following Monday (tomorrow), so 3 days to dry..... he really slaps it on thick too.... not sure i'll fit some of the narrow locks now....

Thought you guys might appreciate this. Took it back to bare iron, repainted in two pack epoxy. Head skimmed and total top end decoke (valve seal was very poor!). Bores a little scored and cross hatching only visible in some places. A problem for another day. Water jacket was full of scale corrosion, sorted that with lots of acid rinses and manually picking it out. Injectors terribly fouled (presumably cause by poor compression) so those were sorted by swad diesel. Silencer removed to get a more grunty sound through the pipe, and coolant system renewed along with all gaskets. All ally and copper parts given a polish. Took a chunk of time! Can't wait to take it out! I'm just waiting on my multiplus (which packed it in after only a couple of years) to be returned to me.

But at a boatyard you almost certainly won't be, and you've also lost a sale of coal, gas, a few boat bits that the buyer didn't realise he needed till he got in the shop. Or do you seriously think a boatyard is busy every minute of the day earning themselves a fortune? More like opportunity lost.

And neither would I. By the time you have pulled out the hose to reach the boat, dispensed the fuel, rolled the hose back up, back into the 'shop' taken the money all to get (maybe) £1 profit, out of which you have to pay the VAT and corporation tax, and wages.

Something that always plays on my mind is that if a boat has been owned by the same person for so long (as Buckden has), then there is this subconsciousness that it will always be though of as their boat. I'm not sure I'd want to be the current custodian of a boat the everyone else will always think of and refer to as "so and so's old boat".

Red Bull visitor moorings. Or the next pound up at a push. I have once moored above the top lock right by the junction and had no issues, and also moored overnight on the tunnel waiting moorings due to the closing the tunnel early and had no issues at either location. But if I had the choice I'd always moor at the RB VM's.

Viking buy them in, there is no "Viking steering cable" - you need a chandlery, an online one if you are happy with that, otherwise find a boatyard that deals with these things, mine came from Bristol Boats at Mead Lane, Saltford

This will start you off https://marine.honda.com/support/manuals workshop manuals may be available from Seloc as well as Honda There a re a lot of general books on boat maintenance if you browse, also some specific to narrowboats which might be less relevant.. I use this one The Complete Book of Yacht Care - long out of print bu t available second hand. Nigel Calder's books are worth a look but have little to say on outboard boats.

I have a Viking 23 narrow beam, but I guess the steering will be the same. Wheel connected to the outboard by a cable that works on the "morse control" principle - the sheath is anchored and the cable can push and pull. Almost certainly the cable causing your problem, and if it is the only solution is to replace the whole cable, measure the length of the one you've got, make sure its correct, and order a replacement of the same length. Before that , disconnect the cable and check that both the wheel and the outboard move freely. Also check for anything restricting the movement of the cable. The sheath may be anchored but it still moves sideways - when I changed my outboard the different mounting position meant the cable hit the battery compartment and restricted the movement when turning right.

Why should there be a rule, the BSS is not there to prevent you spraying the inside of your boat with acid after blowing your eyebrows off.

At least you know that a Newton is a unit of Force, whereas a Pound can be Force or Mass and you then need Slugs or Poundals for the other unit. What a mess! The great thing about the SI system is its consistency, although you do end up with some unhelpful scaling. PS I was taught both imperial and CGS units at school in the dim and distant past and have no regrets having mainly left them behind (especially CGS - abamps & statvolts, anyone?). However, when cutting timber I use whatever measurements are closest to the divisions on a tape measure.

I find it fascinating how the world of boating is able to remain working to 1950s standards of customer service. The customer/supplier relationship is far more equal on the cut than on the high street. On the high street you can always vote with your feet and buy elsewhere if you don't like the degree of subservience the retailer is demonstrating so the power balance definitely lies with the customer. But on the cut each needs the other, and often about equally. On the cut its not so easy to 'go elsewhere' as you generally need <whatever service> e.g. pump-out, fuel, engine repair or whatever and there is usually only one boatyard where you are at the time so it can be best for the customer not to get to demandy about it, in case the boatyard decides it doesn't need a demandy customer like that and decides not to serve them, leaving them totally stuffed.

The answer is obvious. Imperial units are more 'human' and can be easily visualised. Unlike metric measurements. For example which is the easiest to envisage? An air vent of say 6 square inches open area? Or an air vent of say 14,100 square millimetres open area? Which of the two would you say is the larger? And how about force. Imagine one pound force. Bigger or smaller than a Newton force?

As one with some experience of fuel delivery (*)and metering, I suggest there is a logical explanation. All fuel meters have a specified range of delivery consisting of a minimum and maximum quantity. When small quantities are dispensed such as into cans, the operator often restricts the opening of the nozzle to avoid overfilling or spilling, andthe flow rate does not register on the meter correctly, so it is possible that a significant of fuel is unmeasured and not charged. Weight will never lie as long as the scales are accurate. * I refer to my time as an oil heating service technician when in a rented property, the landlord would 'meter' a tenant's usage from a common tank. Such a low calibrated some 10-15 years ago would cost upwards of £150, so a cheaper option was used that required a minimum much higher than a domestic boiler would use. In one instance, I know of a couple whose mother had both a boiler and an Aga in a bespoke apartment and were amazed at low her fuel bills were. The Aga would consume about 0.3 lts per hour 24/7/365 and none of this registered on the secondary meter. So at 8 litres a day, that was asignificant loss. Of course, if the seller has a commercially rated retail pump, it will cope with all quantities of dispense, but at a cost of £'000's, you need to sell a lot of fuel to cover it.

Are you saying that 16 Tons isn't the feat it's made out to be? Or would you just be even deeper in debt in England?

Looks to me as though the engine mountings are supporting the weight of engine but none is actually bolted down. And the engine is running about on the bearers with the vibration. I suspect it is only being held in approx position by the prop shaft.

The Historic Narrowboat Club recently published a booklet aimed at keeping some historical terms and names alive, and it was interesting to see that as well as sending it out by post to members, a hard copy was also given out to CRT staff in various places. Hopefully there is a few copies knocking around in staff rest rooms, canteens and meal prep areas. If only a handful flick through occasionally whilst eating their re-heated pasta, then that's a positive. What has happened here is probably that an office bod has been asked to update the stoppage system on the computer with said stoppage. As most of us know from having it happen to us on occasions, most auto corrects try and change Braunston to Braunstone. Whether that person knows one end of a boat from the other, or that Heartbreak Hill is really called the Cheshire Locks, doesn't really matter unless you're one of the people who's default setting is to bash CRT in any way possible. I'm sure when someone notices it'll get changed. In the meantime, if you we planning on going through Braunstone Tunnel this morning and now don't because you think there's a vegetation stoppage, or you're going through Braunston Tunnel and still attempt to having read this stoppage notice and assumed it meant the other tunnel in Leicestershire, then more fool you.

I'm afraid I can't agree with you there, i'd ignore that if I was the OP. Different if the bss was about to expire, but it isn't. the OP has enough to think about without shelling out another 250 quid. Anything that's a bss fail should be picked up by the surveyor. He can worry about the BSS in 4 years time.

I can't understand why after half a century we still have any use of imperial measurements at all. Anyone under about 60 has been educated purely in metric so why faff about with outdated illogical meaurements.

What would they do, I wonder, if your tank became full before the minimum amount had been put in?

So did I so that is why I replied, I am sure he would have done similar to me.

I think so too or I hallucinate them too. I'm convinced there was once a rule saying no fuses in with the batteries.

Or even their knowledge of the canal system at all. I find it quaint that so many posters here seem to think that CRT employees should all be knowledgeable boaters....

yeah ok, take you away from playing solitaire would it? fortunately other places are available,

There are very, very, few 'proper' boats on the narrow canals, but maybe a few on the wider, deeper commercial canals. Were you on 'proper waters' ?

A single part paint cures by evaporation of solvents and often also by a chemical reaction with air or water. The chemical bonds formed within the paint are not very strong, so it is relatively easy to wear and scratch it. A two part paint cures by chemical reaction between two different chemicals which are mixed together just before painting. Once the reaction happens, it is not reversible. This means the chemical bonding in the paint is much much stronger so the paint is hard and resists scratches. The fact that the paint is a resin means it only needs a small amount of solvent to thin it, rather than quite a lot of solvent to carry it (some oil based single pack paints also do this). This also typically means it cures to a much denser film so air and water don't get through so easily, and some can also chemically react with the metal surface, blocking the surface from further chemical reactions with air and water, ie they stop it from rusting. Epoxy and polyurethane are the two types of two part (two pack) paint you are most likely to encounter. They both work as above, but they are chemically very different and the chemical reaction that happens is not the same. Epoxies mostly cure with amines (the slightly fishy smelling part b) and polyurethanes mostly cure with isocyanates which smell like superglue. Performance-wise, a two part paint is much better. It is harder and tougher and protects the surface better so the paint does not flake off if you get a scratch through. However, mixing tiny quantities for spot repairs is difficult (not impossible). More importantly, whilst epoxies seem to last forever in the tin, polyurethanes (topcoats) are moisture sensitive and 'go off' in the tin. That makes it very difficult to deal with scratches over the years you need the paint to last. There are some choices on compromise - you have already covered the most important protection with an epoxy primer so you could now use a single part undercoat and topcoat. This would make it easiest to touch up but it will need doing more often, or you could use an epoxy undercoat and single part topcoat (alkyd or mono-urethane) which will mean the scratches tend to get less deep and the colour part is still easy to touch up, or you could use an epoxy undercoat and a polyurethane topcoat (I would also second the Epifanes recommendation - boatpaint.co.uk had the best price last time I bought some and I have used them several times, finding them very helpful in mixing to RAL colours), using a colour scheme where the exposed areas are a different colour, so for example framing out the panels and painting the hand rails. These small areas would then be painted in a single part paint so they are easy to touch in, while the main sides which are less exposed are in the two part paint for durability. Alec The most uncommon chemistry, which I am currently trying out to see how well it performs in practice, is the polysiloxane cured epoxy. In theory it doesn't matt, chalk and fade like epoxy normally does. For now, single part alkyds and mono-urethanes, and two part polyurethanes appear to be the best options for topcoats. One other thing to mention - pigment is expensive, resin is cheap. It is fairly obvious therefore how different paint brands can be sold at different prices. Paint really is one of those things where you get what you pay for, typically more pigment in the better brands. This gives better colour coverage, lower permeability to air and water and a stronger paint, particularly true in a single pack paint where the resin is not as strong. There is therefore a very good reason to use a brand based on recommendation. FWIW, International, Hempel, Jotun and Epifanes all spring to mind immediately as high quality brands. There are others too such as PPG Sigma but they are more niche, but what it does mean is if you spot something locally that appears to be a good deal, from an unknown brand, it is worth checking online whether that is an uncommon high quality brand or something cheap and cheerful. Alec

Ive not used two pack topcoats so really should shut up 😀, single pack must be easier to work with, though mixing very small quantities of jotun 90 is relatively quick and easy with a cheap set of drug dealer scales so topcoat should be similar. I suspect brushing anything but a small area will need more skill with two pack topcoat. One pack paints are a complicated subject, they are referred to as oil based but almost all are alkyd (some chemical) but then modified with silicone or polyureEhane to give slightly different advantages. Some are sold as polyurethane, not sure if these are a modified alkyd or just polyurethane. Most of the paints are much of a muchness. I suspect Craftmaster, symphony, Toplac etc are all very similar, but a few are significantly different. I think epifanes is a different chemistry, and Rylands (now hard to get) might be a bit different. As I keep saying though, I am only a boater/very amateur third rate painter.

Steve Ellis, Sheffield

Duck hatches? What about the coot flaps? Side doors for me.

I particularly like the 'please pass at 850rpm' sign. I am inclined to try, although given that 360rpm gives 4mph if the water is deep enough it would be something of a challenge to wind it up that far! Alec

I think that goes for all of us. A true gent (in real life)

The lack of apostrophe....