Morat

If you're going up a set of staircase locks in a full length boat... take the time to check the gates for leaks before you follow behind another boat without a gap. A flooded well deck soon leads to a tidal wave in the cabin!

Even I, a confirmed computer geek since the age of ten, smartphone addict (Android), who never navigates in the car without satnav, and who manages a SME sized network for a job.. Even I use paper maps on the canal!

Neither of ours swim well, and one doesn't swim at all. The lifejacket with a handle is definitely required, she won't be able to jump on or off the boat until 18months old and will need to be carried up and down stairs. All bassets should be kept on level ground as much as is humanly possible until their front legs have developed fully or they can end up with nasty bow legs and a permanent problem. Spot (in my picture) is a lazy jumper and has fallen in several times because her back end hasn't made the full distance. This is followed by a tail first vertical entry into the water. Usually she bobs back up after a few seconds, once she ended up under the base plate and I had to pull her out. This was while wearing a jacket. Myrtle (Spot's larger full sister) hates water with a passion and jumps any gap with maximum power. She has fallen in less often, but her classic manoeuvre was trying to turn round on the slippy ledge above a lock sluice inlet (forgive the terminology!). She had her front paws on the ledge (underwater) and the rears on the bank. When she had finished drinking she didn't reverse but tried to do a 180 on the spot so her rear legs slipped off the ledge and she was soon sucked partly into the lock sluice. I had her jacket within 2 seconds of her falling in or she would have been sucked right into the tunnel. Bassets are not water dogs! But on the upside they're very happy to let you get on with boating while they sleep for hours and their natural pace means you'll be moving about the same speed as the boat when you walk them on the bank - if you keep them away from the most interesting smells (everything smells interesting to a Basset). They're also very calm when other boats/dogs pass you by. Our Bassets just love to stand and stare at dogs on passing boats. The other dog is often barking and jumping all over the place but Bassets have a very impressive "Bovvered?" face. Our Bassets are happy in tunnels but can get anxious in locks. They'll sleep through a lock if you do it well. They don't like the boat banging into things or sudden bursts of throttle... good training for the steerer

Orange used to censor a remote control model forum I used to frequent. I still haven't worked out why. I've had the "oops, I accidentally searched for hard core porn and spent 45 minutes trying not to look at it" filter removed. OT When I was just a lad.... I once went to visit some friends in Altrincham. Took my bike on the train, jumped out at Manchester Piccadily and discovered that I was in the middle of Gay Mardi Gras wearing cycling shorts.... and some wag had removed the C and S from the Canal Street sign!

There aren't that many vegetarians, but they have a disproportionate influence on the catering trade because the vast majority are female 18-25. That's not a market segment you can afford to alienate if you are trying to cater to their.. .appetites...

I'll be stopping at Naption in a couple of weeks time... I'm torn now between The Bridge and The Folly. I think I may have to compare both and report back. No, no medals please. I'm a public spirited kind of a guy

Something that will become a limiting factor much earlier than a flooded well-deck or broken "caravan" windows is crud in the fuel system. If you've got a boat that has been living a life of sedate luxury on the canal and shake it up on rough water you'll need to be sure that the fuel system is clean and the filter can cope with anything that has been lurking in the bottom of the tank since the thing was built.

CBs are still available and there are plenty of modern sets around. You can now get decent sized handhelds which don't make you look like Dom Jolli Here They're more expensive than PMR but far more capable - and compatible with boat mounted Mobile (designed for vehicle use) sets which are much cheaper and designed to run off 12V. The Inteks chew batteries very fast if you use them on 4W but I get a day's use (pratting around at locks, talking from front to back of the boat without disturbing sleeping children in the middle) when set to 1W. License free, no exams.

Wouldn't you get an oil fired one?

I once put my card behind the bar in Stringfellows.. that was an expensive night!

18-20.. old enough to drink, have sex, fight in a war, drive a car, vote. Clearly not old enough to inhabit the same space as some of the sad old grumpy gits on this forum.

I've asked for the cost per unit, but I suspect they will not be forthcoming. Diesel powered fuel cells seem to be the latest thing so you could be right. I'd certainly be interested at the right price! 1.2kw continuous at 0.1l of diesel per hour seems pretty good from a silent powerplant you can run all night. Here's some more porn http://www.merlinequipment.com/page/document.asp?id=498

I was casting around the net for split charging systems and came across this site http://www.merlinequipment.com/ What do you think of their "python fuel cell" on page nine of this pdf? http://www.merlinequipment.com/page/document.asp?id=494

The law on self defence has been coming under pressure recently. The PM has made some statements on it as well. The general idea is that if you find someone in your home you should be able to defend yourself without having to be afraid of prosecution for reasonable force - but how it shakes out in practice has yet to be seen.

'Fraid so Of course the general condition of Sickle and the lack of blue string might also give the game away

Hi, I'm 6'4" (and a half inch if we're being really accurate) in socks according to my doctor and I find that most hire boats require a bit of a stoop in places, but not everywhere - which is of course a great recipe for banging your head. With a careful fitout and a little extra height in the steelwork 6'6' clearance is possible everywhere, and our boat is so much more comfortable for it. Of course we specified 6'6" beds as well or it would have been a waste of time! In a narrowboat, the difference in air draft hasn't been significant but if you're going for a widebeam there is a bigger problem with bridges and tunnels. I suggest you do some careful measuring and find out what you really need. Underfloor heating may prove to be a no-no - but I don't think you'll have many problems getting a 6'3" ceiling height in a boat with standard steelwork.

I'm not saying that Hire Boats are working boats in the old tradition of someone living on a boat and working it back and forward carrying cargo (the cargo drives the boat these days! ), but they are the main commercial activity on the waterways. My point is that the old definition of working boat no longer has a great deal of relevance when it comes to determining who goes through a lock first.

Hire boats ARE working boats! It's just that the crew onboard are on holiday I don't recognise any pecking order at locks apart from: 1. CaRT boats 2. Everyone else Anyone who asks nicely can overtake me, I don't mind since I'm not in a hurry. Anyone who demands precendence according to some spurious "historical" set of rules can go swim.

Not if your lawyer was worth anything, no.

As the "owner" of both dogs and a child I can say that they fall into different legal categories. For example, if your dog falls ill in the middle of the night you can call the Vet and he will come and see your dog at 3am. Not a locum vet, or a Vet "hotline" but the Vet who knows your dog and its history. You can keep a dog in a cage, but not a child. However, many cunning parents have got round this restriction by removing the lid of the cage and re-naming it "play pen". Dogs are allowed to foul anywhere (as long as you clean it up), while Children have to wear nappies. If you walk up to a stranger and say "could you hold my dog for a couple of minutes?, I'm just popping into that shop" the stranger will probably say "Yeah sure, what a cute dog". If you try the same with a child the stranger will probably scream and run away from the responsibility of holding a small member of the same species - no matter how cute. Doorman - Basset Hound by any chance?