Tacet

Is your catamaran in the water or on the bank?

So you know it's true then?

If hauled before it due to an incident, the Court would have to decide whether you were incompetent or negligent. Should you get it badly wrong, there will be few places to hide.

No matter how negligent or even fraudulent I may have been, I will have no liability whatsoever if a surveyor signs off the boat? Sounds ideal.

I lost confidence in the reliability of horn signals when a boat ahead repeatedly announced it was reversing its engine. After a while, I worked out that it gave three blasts at every bridge, regardless.

If the lessee is very fortunate, the circumstances under which a no-subletting clause were entered into are such that it has statutory relaxation under the Landlord & Tenant Act 1927 19Provisions as to covenants not to assign, &c. without licence or consent. (1)In all leases whether made before or after the commencement of this Act containing a covenant condition or agreement against assigning, underletting, charging or parting with the possession of demised premises or any part thereof without licence or consent, such covenant condition or agreement shall, notwithstanding any express provision to the contrary, be deemed to be subject— (a)to a proviso to the effect that such licence or consent is not to be unreasonably withheld, but this proviso does not preclude the right of the landlord to require payment of a reasonable sum in respect of any legal or other expenses incurred in connection with such licence or consent; and (b)(if the lease is for more than forty years, and is made in consideration wholly or partially of the erection, or the substantial improvement, addition or alteration of buildings, and the lessor is not a Government department or local or public authority, or a statutory or public utility company) to a proviso to the effect that in the case of any assignment, under-letting, charging or parting with the possession (whether by the holders of the lease or any under-tenant whether immediate or not) effected more than seven years before the end of the term no consent or licence shall be required, if notice in writing of the transaction is given to the lessor within six months after the transaction is effected.

Yes - it's the people. They don't even sound their apostrophes.

If the OP has bought a slot - the builder should be completing the boat within it. Otherwise, what are you paying for?

The shafts were sunk on a straight line - which would not have been too difficult. The tricky bit was then setting an accurate heading from the foot of the shaft. I believe a glorified piece of string was set up over the entire line - with two plumb-bobs dropped down each shaft and damped in a bucket-of-something, possibly mercury but that sounds expensive. By sighting across the plumb strings, it gave an indication of the line of the top string and digging can commence. It is a weak technique as a tiny error in the closely spaced plumb strings will be magnified. But until relatively recent years when technology has taken over, the same issue of not being able to see when you want to go when tunneling must have remained.

As you move the level forward over the land to be surveyed, you record a foresight (to the next point) and a backsight (to the previous foresight point) so as to keep tabs on the relative height from the point of origin. When you arrive at the final point, you level back to the very first point (typically taking fewer, but longer steps) to see if all checks out. If you are using a theodolite to record positions as well as height, you close the traverse by returning and recording the original station. Not closing the traverse means no checks. The traverse should be a reasonably regularly polygon for greatest safety - but sometimes it tends to be a less accurate out-and back shape. Then, with some arithmetic using 2n-4 right angles, you can be reasonably confident that you have not made a big mistake. You can also check that the eastings and northings distances add up to zero. With only pencil and paper, the arithmetic gets more complicated than you would wish as account needs to be taken of the linear measurements not being horizonatal.

The theodolite, and its cousin, the level were developed around the time of canal mania and were in comparatively advanced form when Blisworth tunnel was constructed. Even so, it must have been quite challenging because even a relatively recent mechanical instrument would have a tolerance of a couple of feet over a mile - which was the distance from each end. However, then (as until recently too) the surveying techniques provide for working-back to the original point (closing the traverse) and checking to see the height of the original peg remains where it should be. Any error is shared out amongst the stations proportionately which goes a long way to remedying any issues in leveling the instrument. I also believe smaller drainage borings were sometimes made prior to main heading - which will have helped no end.

What action have you taken in respect of your boats?

Drying clothes was much less of a problem than anticipated when we moved aboard. I had thought the boat would be dripping in condensation - but it didn't. We had a combined washer/dryer but only used the latter a couple of times a year. In our case, we had the towel rail in the bathroom running from the engine - and the option of utilizing the engine heat to warm the radiators throughout. When cruising (and that is probably the key) heat the space where the washing is hanging and provide some ventilation. No problems in drying clothes. If you are tied-up, erect a washing line. Some boaters suffer from washing-line-envy; a sight of a nice line in a garden can bring on an attack.