Bunny

Hospitex carpet on the floor , wood walls ...... no damp or problems with either , ventilation us the key. Bunny

Dishwasher...... hadn't thought of that ... thanks , will give it a go after they have soaked . Bunny

Napisan and washing liquid . Soak , rinse , clothes conditioner , once a year . Bunny .

Husband 2 and a half times in 13 yrs . Me almost twice . Bunny .

They used to be a reasonable way of mooring for the winter . We had one at Kintbury ( K and A ) for 5 winters. Handy car park , 2 mins boat to facilities. We lived aboard , so kept an eye open on the other boats . Marina now .

Put a grill over the bow thruster tube to reduce the crud thats sucked in . Reduces the thruster very slightly but your blades last longer . Also have control buttons on the control (morse ) handle , no need to go inside then . Bunny

I can see the sense of keeping established on line moorings after a marina has opened . But creating what would be a linear park of houseboat may create more problems . Who would live there ? would it be right to other crt moorers in the area to charge a reduced rent ? .I can't see many 'bridge hoppers ' taking up a mooring , when they are quite happy 'hopping' . CC wont need one , as we are always moving. Residential land based families may be willing to take one up , but only if there is water and electricity at each boat , properly maintained towpaths , landing stages , lighting ( health and safety) car parking . Whilst as ' boaters ' we generally accept lack of facilities, rough towpaths ect as part of life , land based families would not, as they would be living on a boat through necessity, not perhaps choice. Whilst writing this my mind is drawn to the moorings on the Oxford canal . The rubbish on the towpath , the general air of decay of boats , mile after mile . Is that what we are we are talking about . No I dont know the answer , but maybe have a consultation with marinas to see if they are willing to have 10% of their berths given over to livaboards, with councils approval. Housing benefit can then be applied for to assist with mooring fees .

We've had a couple of water leaks over the years . On one occasion it was right at the back of the toilet where the water inlet pipe goes in , the rubber had perished. Took ages to find .

Yes we are on google earth ... twice . Kintbury winter moorings and going down the locks towards Brentford . Also our roof garden was in the gardening section of one of the magazines.... I recognised the plants . Bunny .

Wonder when they were moved on ?. There was an assortment of craft there that looked 'well settled' , when we came through at the end of October . Bunny .

Yes we also had a christmas card, 2005, delivered by a very bemused postie , addressed n.b Greyfisher above the lock , on the winter moorings on the Kennet and Avon at Kintbury. Apart from that we use my mothers address .Bunny .

When we had our boat built , we discussed length with the fitter/builder 57ft go anywhere or 62ft almost any where. Their reasoning was ..... 62ft inc dinette/ spare bed ... 57ft i inc nothern waterways........ dinette used every day ... spare bed for family or friends ..... if we really wanted to explore the Northern waterways we could always hire ...... 13yrs later , still happy with 62ft .... and cruised extensively...... Ribble twice. Manchester ship canal 3 times. Crossed the Mersey .Fens twice. Tidal Trent ,Thames, Severn . Sharpness to Bristl. Black Sluice. So theres plenty out there to get your teeth into with a 62footer.

Funnily enough our wash hand basin used to smell . We took the waste pipe apart fairly regularly, 2 or 3 months , and cleaned them with a bottle brush and miltons . Then I changed my toothpaste from Colgate to Corsadol and no more smell , that was 6 years ago . Still no more smell

Lovely canal .

About the same ... 5 to 6 weeks. Bunny

Congratulations, I hope you have many lovely years on the cut . My that's a serious crane . Bunny

We have a draft of 29 ins on the stern 19ins on the bow . Have traversed the Ribble link twice . Full water tank in the bow , full fuel tank and and empty holding tank . We scrap in a couple of places , but apart from that , no problem . Bunny

Specially when you've got idiots who open both paddles right up and won't rope . That's what frightened me . Bunny.

I must admit we have stopped ' for lunch' once , when I wasn't happy with the speed the paddles were opened on The Wey . I was frightened, don't mind admitting it .No baffle plates extra long windlasses and firm instructions to rope in the locks , even if there two boats and we know the fairly well , been that way 9 times now. Bunny.

No didnt think you ' were having a go ' for one moment . I certainly dont think that our boat is more important than any other , but if someone did whack the paddles up and we had a problem, where we needed to move off the boat for any length of time, you never know these things can happen , we would have difficulty finding somewhere to live with 2 boat rabbits. A hirer or a person with a hoilday boat still have a roof over their heads anyway, I dont particularly like reving back then forward or banging about in locks , dont see the point for a minute or two . Bunny P.S we always ask how the steerer would like the paddles opened .

Seem to remember, and someone please correct me if Im wrong , the moorings at Star City are large enough for 3 or so boats . The gates are locked by the canoe instructors but can be jumped over by the locals . When we moored there a few came over the gates for a 'smoke ' but were fine , not interested in us at all . Peaceful night . Unlikely to be full , but if they were I'd ask to breast up. Bunny

We are pretty swift at locking , using various technics we have discovered , just a bit careful with the paddles, after all its our home and has been for a few years now.. ... Some boaters feel they can jump across from one lock gate to another , some don't . Some open the bottom gates with front fenders ( gently ) some don't . Bunny

I suppose we phone just to make sure . If there was a problem at least we know we checked. The company we originally insured with did ask us to phone, and charged us an extra £30 . We also crossed the Mersey last year with a pilot and have traversed the Manchester ship canal 4 times . Bunny

We ask for half , count to ten , half again , that's it. It all depends on the flight of locks . The south Oxford , ( 62ft boat) if you settle on the top gate you can open then paddles reasonably quickly, but I almost lifted a gate off , the front fender chains broken . If yiu hang around at the rear of the lock , lift the paddles, and I'm 2500 revs in reverse then forwards then backwards , not ideal , lift halfway count to 10 fully lift and its fine . Just come up from Middlewich to Macclesfield , rested on top gates not probs, paddles up ok, but I was sooner my husband is up the sharp end when the paddles are opened , you never know, I can shout at him if there's a problem, when someonelse may not appreciate me yelling 'drop the ....... paddle !!' . Bunny

I do know that there were/are (possibly abc ) that have arrangements where private boats have been used as hire boats and the proceeds divided between the owners and the company . Personally I wouldn't go the private diy hire route . 16 years ago we had a private boat , hired to us from Upton on Severn, through the hire company . Bunny