CV32

I have to recommend Braunston Boats - they blacked our boat at the end of summer 2024. Nice job, friendly folk to deal with.

I think that's why whenever we are there, we always see an electric car plugged into their car charging facility, not sure what they pay to cover the cost of the charger unit etc

Our current boat is 25 years old and in 2015 was shot blasted, puddle welded on the pits, zinc sprayed and two pack epoxied - all done at Debdale (by the previous owner). This year we took her to Braunston boats and they did the re apply of two pack for us. First time out for re blacking since 2015 and Roger declared the hull in excellent condition. One other thing that has come to mind, our boat is in a marina hooked up to mains power. We invested in an isolation transformer and the anodes at this years re blacking did not require replacing (hardly any wear at all) after nine years. I would say it's working.

Aquavista (we are in Ventnor) are standardising their electrical service charge to 6.50 per month in all their locations. The unit price is approximately 29p including VAT

Not surprised, we experienced a similar situation in regards to BSS examination at a marina in the Napton area. They also expect bungs from the canopy companies that go on site to fit / repair for people. We moved.

I did see CB Boats change an old Alde for a Webasto two / three years ago whilst moored in Ventnor . Colin did a service for me this season, very happy and a good guy to deal with. Colin and I had a few email exchanges regarding changing our Kabola for a Webasto as we were struggling to find an engineer to service / fix the Kabola, luckily we found someone. Colin Rowe (CB Boats) PM me if you want his details

Not necessarily the case these days - we purchased a hybrid mattress last year and it was 8 layers of differing foam, structure panels etc. It arrived rolled up and within an hour of being unpacked it had expanded to about 12 inches and is the most comfortable mattress we have had.

Difference being this Matthew and all the others are paid to do a job and have a public presence - not their personal email but a work provided and managed email address.

A risk of being employed by a public facing organisation - What's the point of having an email address if no one has it or its not available - if he gets some spam then bad luck, surely CRT's excellent IT department will take care of it 😇😉

I fail to see the smoke and mirrors .... he is an official of CRT and his (and everybody else) email should be available

This one ? Matthew.Symonds@canalrivertrust.org.uk

We have stopped at least twice there and gone into the club - made us very welcome and had a nice Sunday lunch. I assume its still running and open to non members - I remember we had to be signed in i think.

I have seen your boat on ABNB (i assume) and it looks in excellent condition and I am sure will sell quickly - good luck ! I would think most would buy on condition and age, yours being relatively new compared to many. My boat is now 23 years old but we bought on fit out and clear ongoing maintenance (grit blast, puddle welds, zinc sprayed, two pack) and care taken by the previous owners.

I am in two minds with the current Pride month - I am a gay man but do not feel the need to shout it out and have only attended Pride once in London and once in Brighton (many years ago). Pride month will hopefully challenge a few people and make them aware that some of us are different in our sexuality and that some of those people will need support in accepting themselves as well as hopefully being accepted by others. Sadly, not long ago, the image of a gay man was a limp wristed, John Inman type character. Of course there are many gay men who still have those characteristics but equally many are completely undetectable (my words will probably offend someone - not intended). I do think that most companies are virtue signalling but without their involvement the awareness will not grow and those that need support will still feel separated and excluded - not always intentionally by the rest of society but It's how some people perceive the world.