Graham Bowers

That's what I did with one small but important difference. Don't use gel coat, use flow coat. Flow coat is like gel coat but has wax added and it goes off in contact with air. Gel coat is designed to be put in a mould first. If gel coat is used as a top coat and is in contact with air, it stays tacky. Graham

I ended up making one for my cruiser so I could get the exact size to convert my "little room" to a wetroom. I removed the floor and replaced it with the tray, so did have access underneath - I fibreglassed a 22mm elbow in to the hole in the base of the tray to minimise the under floor height needed and attached a hose from the elbow to a whale gulper. I think if you come in from the side, you will always end up with water left in the tray that you will need to sponge out. If I were you I'd make a mockup up of your proposed drain concept using a plastic storage box and see how it works. Not really an answer to your question, but hopefully food for thought. Graham

I mostly agree with the "just do it" advice with one proviso: There are simple mistakes that can be made whilst locking that can and have resulted in sinkings. Don't let this put you off - forewarned is forearmed. Its best to be shown what to do / not do, but: 1) When going down, avoid allowing the stern of the boat to rest on the Cill - the cill is usually marked on the ground by the uphill gate. 2) Avoid protrusions like fenders from getting stuck on the gates. 3) Do not tie any ropes off whilst locking. Google canal lock sinkings. Graham

I'll take your question as being rhetorical ;-)) I guess its important to know what to avoid. I've seen boatwarden and they are a bit eye wateringly expensive. Thanks for taking the time to reply. Graham Thanks, can't beat a recommendation. Graham

I have a gallon of grape juice wine on the go, can't remember which website it was from, and sorry about the mixed units: 2 litres white grape juice 1.5 lb white sugar dissolved in a pint of water 1 teaspoon citric acid 1 teaspoon yeast nutrient general purpose yeast Original gravity was 1085 and it had fermented down to 0.992 in 8 days. Its ready for racking now as its clearing. I had a sneaky taste and it seems like it will be as palatable as some of the supermarket wines we buy. I do intend to experiment with alternate juices. Best ever was blackberry wine, from the fruit, rather than juice. More effort, but worth it in my opinion - and the blackberrys over here should be ready soon! Graham

I'm thinking of fitting a security alarm to my cruiser following a break in. Cooker and gas cylinders stolen and door damage but could have been worse. Access was from the canal as far as I can tell, and "next door" was done as well. Anybody have any experience of alarm systems in terms of features and perceived effectiveness? A major consideration is it must not false alarm. Other than that, the available features seem to range from: Door switch sounds a siren and strobe, to: Ones that send you a text message, can be commanded by receiving text messages, let you hear sound on the boat, tell you its actual position and loads of other stuff. I can see that since the subject is security there may be a disincentive to post on open forum - IM's also appreciated. Thanks Graham

Try googling for "electricity water analogy" (without the quotes), for example http://science.howstuffworks.com/environmental/energy/question501.htm Graham

Get David to (gently) shove you off with his backhoe loader. Graham PS assuming you are at Crockers

Broads bylaw 83. "A person shall not navigate a vessel whilst under the influence of drink or drugs to such an extent as to be incapable of taking proper control of the vessel." Graham

My background is fly fishing also and although I do coarse fish on the canals I'm far from an expert. The link below should provide the basics. As always, the devil is in the detail and there seem to be loads of gizmos in the world of coarse fishing so I suggest when you pop along to a tackle shop to buy floats / weights, you ask. A thing to help whip spade end hooks, for example. Groundbaiting and loose feeding are part of the game that will be new to you and getting these right seem to be crucial - according to a match winning pal at work - something else to read up on or ask about in the shop. Cheers Graham http://www.fish-uk.com/tackle_fishing_floats.htm

Timx Below is copied from an old post of mine. Ignore comment on outboard. The batteries will be scrap, and allow for an engine service. Graham Rubber rubbing strip. Any damage? Fixed securely? Wooden rubbing strips. Any rot? Fixed securely? Windows. Evidence of leaks. Do they all open and close properly, presume sliding. If fabric sliding seals probably rotten by now. Canopy. Any damage, evidence of leaks, general condition. Take it down to make sure everything works. When canopy is down, if the screen is collapsible, collapse it to amke sure it works, Look for looseness between the frame parts. Gelcoat. If not painted, is there gelcoat damage from oxidisation or bumping in to things. Fenders. Corner fender condition, general appearance, do they have holes in? "Dangly" fender condition. Do they all match? Osmosis. No idea if WR is prone. Cooker. Do all burners work? Flame sensing? Plumbing. Hot and cold? Pressure sensing pump with accumulator? Electrics. Does everything work? Batteries. Separate engine and domestic? Age. Outboard (Guessing it'ss be O/B?) . Age, 2 stroke or 4 stroke, service history, how many charging amps, does it charge, starts OK, general condition. Fuel tank. Metal can go tatty and rust. Fuel hose condition, they can crack. Gas. I'm not a qualified expert but have read BSS. Faults on mine were compresion fittings had sealant applied, there were too many and the gas locker drain was blocked.

Looks like a tricolour border collie to me - fantastic dogs but (ours) can take some entertaining. Hope his "ailment" clears up soon - changes in food can cause that. I guess you will not know if he's had his innoculations or been wormed?? Good luck with him. Graham

Some of the Numatic Henry vacuum cleaners have a low power 600W setting - have been thinking of getting one instead of the hand-held Dyson. Never tried one (Henry) though, so no idea how sucky they are. I was thinking reducing the demand may be an alternative to increasing the supply. Graham

A 2.5 dB difference will be barely perceptible to the human ear. All of the manufacturers seem to quote the sound pressure decibel level at a distance of 7 metres but not all take the sound measurements at the same generator electrical power output. The Honda and Yamaha genny's you've talked about both quote sound pressure levels at a quarter load, 49 and 51.5 dBA respectively. The Kipor IG2600P quotes 58 at zero load and 65 at full load. The Kipor would sound noticably louder. I'd have thought the closest Honda offering to the Yam would be the suitcase type EU20i that has a quoted 52 dBA at a quarter load and 59 dBA at full load. Honda market the EU26i as industrial, and it weighs in at 54Kg, over double the weight of the leisure market suitcase types that weigh in at around 21 Kg. You said that your last genny sounded like a lawnmower on the roof. If you were experiencing structure transmitted noise, was the genny isolated from the hull by soft rubber feet? The 7m sound pressure test would not take resonating structures in to account. Hope this helps Graham PS I have the Honda EU10i

With a straw...........

Why not apply anyway - what's the worst that can happen? It's their job to exclude you, not yours! Graham

A couple of resources you may have found, but if not, here they are: Loads of information here, the map will show you where the suggestions that have been made are. http://www.jim-shead.com/waterways/index.php Use this to plan a jounney between points you have identified. Then, at the bottom of the page, hit the "Virtual Cruise" button. http://www.canalplan.org.uk/index.html In my opinion the only thing wrong with the Llangollen is that it gets busy in the holiday season, but during October that is in the past. I grew up in Llangollen so have a soft spot for it and as a boy,kayaked the entire length of the LLangollen canal. Try the virtual cruise. Hope this helps Graham

Presumably monopoly money could be tendered to keep the punishment in keeping with the "crime". Graham

I just love setting off in the morning secure in the knowledge I have no idea where I'll be sleeping that night. That works for cycle touring, backpacking and BOATING (and probably loads of other adventure genres). You are best placed to decide what will suit you. I was thinking "lucky bar stweards", but you made your own luck, Graham

Am looking forward to watching this. I was 6 at the time, we were living in Llangollen, a stones throw from the canal, and I went to school in Llantysilio. I recall walking the last mile or so to school as the road was blocked with snow, we we walked through the fields. Then, there was the big melt. The water was so high in Llangollen that the tops of arches of the Dee bridge were submerged on the upstream side, and just visible on the downstream side. Graham

Yes, series. Placing two identical shunts in parallel will result in the overall resistance of the pair being half the resistance of each. The ammeter would then indicate (in error) only half the true current was passing. Qualitatively it is easy to be seduced in to thinking half the voltage will be dropped across a pair in series. The trouble is that in that thinking, the resistance of the load has been forgotten - the reality is that you have three resistances in series, shunt 1, shunt 2, the load. The volt drop across a shunt is negligible in comparison with that across the load. Can you not place your ammeter in parallel with the first shunt? OK, you'd need to know the resistance, so the ammeter (millivoltmeter with Amps written on it) was correctly calibrated. I know you said it was difficult to get to the first one, but I,m not sure if that,s to remove it, or just to connect to it. Oh, for that to work, I,m assuming the other instrumentation already connected to it is very high impedance, so can be ignored. Hope this helps Graham.

Excuse me using your post as a "hook". Fair point about abandoning ship at the first sign of peril. http://hitchhikers.wikia.com/wiki/Joo_Janta_200_Super-Chromatic_Peril_Sensitive_Sunglasses Deadly serious point, having done some of this stuff. On your way out, if there is smoke, get your nose right down on the floor - that's where the best air is. Not a lot of people know that. Graham

I'm in the go and try some camp. I recommend focus optics near Coventry, very happy customer and no other axe to grind. Less than 10% more than online prices and the service was, in my opinion, worth every penny. Were recommended by a work colleague. They have a top class range from affordable to extortionate so you really can see what you get for your money. The shop is a farm outbuilding and has a window that overlooks ground that has feeders and a lake so you really can try them in realistic conditions. We went early doors on Sat morning and were the only ones in the shop - and got to try about 10 sets until we made our mind up. After choosing the Verano's, the chap said try these - but don't drop them. A 4 figure price and only 5% better than the Veranos in my non-calibrated comparison mode. I found opticron good value for money and acceptable performance. I paid about £100 for mine over 10 years ago and still use them regularly despite the more expensive pair we got for my wife from Focus Optics being more modern, brighter and expensive. I think mine are Opticron Imagic TGA WP Porro 8x32 My wifes are Opticron Verano's which seem to have been updated and are more expensive. We are in Moira, just past Swadlincote, i.e just down the road. If you want to peer through ours you would be very welcome, PM if you wish to. Bird lake 10 mins walk away, garden out of the window. http://www.focusoptics.eu/focus/ Graham

I have a vague recollection of a 12V fag lighter connection I had having a fuse in the plug. Googling shows they do exist. Must be worth a look. Graham