Graham Bowers

Let's break it down to the level where decisions can be made. Specification. Technology Setup Specification. Bigger and more powerful machines consume more power. What is the smallest screen you could live with? What programmes do you need to run? A faster processor gobbles more power. More memory seems to reduce power consumption. Technology. A moving target so a reason to keep the ear to the ground and leave the buying decision to the last moment. But I can see that for budgeting purposes the need to look at what is available now. Setup Didn't know a lot about this so did a bit of reading. There is quite a lot that can be done to optimise setup in windoze 7 and 8. Google for best ways to extend laptop duration. I'm typing this on my wife's iPad and don't know how to copy and paste a URL so sympathise with the reluctance to use a tablet. It's very good at what it does well.... I know I answered this from the perspective of battery life but power consumption and battery life go hand in hand, and it is possible lowest overall amp hour consumption may be achieved by charging it up then running it down. Just some thoughts Graham

Kathryn As far as your first post is concerned, in answer to your specific question about the opinion of the forum concerning the events that led you to post, I have to say that I deplore the actions of the individuals that showed you so little respect. There is a lot of good stuff posted on this forum plus a proportion of complete and utter tosh. I usually filter the tosh, but this morning my tosh filter was at a low ebb and my comments were really aimed at the baying mob rather than yourself. If I owe you an apology, please accept this one. As for what to do about it - that's the hard one. Changing peoples behaviour is very dificult. The event you experienced with those people took place involving bicycles and a towpath, but I imagine the people concerned find other ways to express their values in other scenarios. Chalky Sentiment about hills on a good road bike being better than the towpath is well understood. I'm more of a mountain biker and count the traverses of the C2C and West Highland Way plus cycle touring the Southern Hebredies as some of the best experiences I've had. My mountain bike has a bell, as I've found no better way of alerting people to my presence - a "hello" or a cough can, in my experience, result in people approached slowly from behind jumping out of their skin. Graham

As others have said, its lack of consideration by a minority of cyclists leading to ruffled feathers on the towpath and to cyclists being demonised by some on here. Why do people cycle on paths? Speaking for myself, its because the roads are just too dangerous. An altercation with car or truck leads to far more than ruffled feathers - see ROSPA statistics. For 2011, 107 killed, 3085 seriously injured. Should all car and truck drivers on here be demonised? (NB I acknowledge the stats imply some accidents are the fault of the cyclist). http://www.rospa.com/roadsafety/adviceandinformation/cycling/facts-figures.aspx What I see happening on here is: 1) Pick a minority group. 2) Find something to complain about, about a few of that minority. 3) Blow it up out of all proportion. 4) Feel smug and self important. This is not a new process, politicians are especially good at it to give the impression they care. Graham

It may be a long way from your thoughts right now, but before making a final decision, consider the effect on resale of a restrictive configuration. Graham

I have an 1800 Watt version in my (25 foot) cruiser. The installation was straightforward and required gas and 12V plus a couple of holes in the hull for the air supply and exhaust exit. These are right next to each other as the inlet/exhaust are through a combined unit. The propex has onboard diagnostics so it will trip out if the gas pressure or supply voltages are too low. It has other diagnostics on internal presure and/or temperature but I can't remember the detail. There are internal led's that indicate which diagnostic has been activated. I find the heat output suitable for the space and the thermostat keeps the temperature reasonably even. It was suppled with about 2 metres of flexible rubberised corrugated hose for the hot air outlet and in my installation I only used about 10 cm so it blows almost directly in to the cabin. That results in it being quite noisy and I wonder how much of an attenuating effect having a longer hose may have. Overall I have been happy with it. Feel free to ask any specific questions. Oh, and I bought mine from a VW motorhome specialist for quite a bit less than marine outlets. Bluebird Customs.It had the correct marine installation kit and was despatched direct from propex. Website has instructions for the units and marine installation. http://www.propexheatsource.co.uk/support.php?content=downloads Graham

Lots of valid points. All I have to add, is consider getting a piece of steel of the same thickness to practice on, to get the feel of it. Oh, and the old adage, measure twice, cut once. Graham

Good link to Juststainless. Caving shops are a source of stainless maillon links. Graham

I've had a Wavey Rider Elite for 7 years and have been very happy with it. Hull is 25 feet and fairly blunt at the front above the waterline so sounds like it could be the same as the one you are going to see. The blunt looks will not be to everybody's taste, but provides extra usable room inside. I've only seen about 5, including ours, so not many about in the Midlands. The hull seems well made and is still in original gelcoat, which is always a bonus. As you are experienced boaters you've probably done this, but just in case, I think having a written checklist helps make sure everything that is important to you is checked. I'm not sure of the specification of the standard fitout but mine was quite spartan and was done by the first owner. I think there is nothing specific about WR cruisers to worry about, at that age it'll be down to what is included (or not) and condition. 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. Dog needs a walk so off out. Ashby canal festival this weekend so I'll walk down there. Good luck with the viewing. Graham

OFF TOPIC Another ex Southampton cadet here. Graham

No idea about the hull but I remember finding something about how the markings on the window glass implied a date. Sorry I can't point you at the code, buy having that clue maybe you could search - or better still - somebody more knowledgable on here may know. Graham

My missus finds the hot air delivered by the propex dries hair, but I can see that would be an expensive way if it was not primarily for heating. On my job list is an attachment to deliver the hot air at head height, rather than calf height. She's not as bendy as she was.......... Graham

Sodium metabisulphite. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sodium_metabisulfite Graham

I have long held the opinion it is a human trait to set the limit of acceptability of anything such that ones self is in the acceptable region. e.g. I fish, I'm OK. Fox hunters are murderers. People who worry about maggots should find something worth worrying about. Its a sliding scale depending on who is expressing the opinion and their values and activities. This isn't meant to be provocative - try it on yourself. Graham

I used flowcoat, which is a gelcoat finish with wax added, as gelcoat is designed for applying to a mould and being overcoated with the layup - and does not set properly if applied afterwards as a sort of paint. I can see the layup texture under the flowcoat but the area is small and it was an experiment. If your aspirations are for a supersmooth finish you may be better to use a more sophisticated techqnique than I did. That is to make up a polished object that represents the volume that would be inside the tray, then gelcoating it and applying the layup. I've avoided using terms like buck and mould as usually what is required is to make an object, but you want a hole - so to speak. Hope this helps - I know what I mean! Graham

I put one in my cruiser and although it'll be smaller than what yours would be, the principles will be the same. I constructed a shower tray from plywood the size of the room minus about 4 inches at one end and then fibreglassed it. I put a drain hole at the end where it was four inches short of the bulkhead and fibreglassed an elbow in it. I then put a hose on to the elbow and the other end of the hose to a whale gulper. The tray is mounted on battens on the floor to give clearance for the drain. The drain pump is manually operated by a push to operate switch, a horn switch in fact. The tray is mounted with a fall on it so water pools at the drain end and is then pumped out after showering operations are complete. Crude but effective. I lined the ceiling, walls and door with UPVC tongue and groove and used the same to cover the gap I'd designed in to get access to the hose clip on the drain. I use a shower head that has a valve on it to minimise water use and so mitigate the change of flooding over the tray edge at the door. I do exactly as you suggest with a portapotti btw. I'm sure the method could be improved on by making a moulded part and if you were to sacrifice a bit of height, a drain sump and float switch could be included. Hope this helps Graham

Thermarest self inflating matress, which I suspect is what lesrollins was alluding to. Getting mine was a revelation in camping comfort. More support than a lilo and a lot more comfortable than a closed cell foam mat. Hope this helps. Graham

Have you considered Linux? I haven't had windoze on my home PC for years - I use the Ubuntu flavour of linux. As an operating system I find it works well, but I suppose it depends what software you want to run, and if there is a viable linux equivalent. Software I use: Open office instead of microsoft office. GIMP instead of photoshop. Chrome browser Mozilla thunderbird email Google earth Skype Picasa Transmission bit torrent client Rhythmbox music player / ipod synch. A piece of software called WINE allows some windows software to run, but I'm not really experienced in its use. I don't play games and don't think they are well supported. Some things I've not got to work, for example cpu fan speed control so slow it up when the cpu temperature is low. Depending on what you want to do there is certainly a learning curve, and depending on you, it can be an absorbing challenge or not!There is an active online support community. It is possible to run it direct from a CD to try it, just set up your bios to boot from CD. You'd need to download it (700MB ish) and burn the download file as an ISO to a CD. If you don't have working software to do that I could pop one in the post. Good luck Graham

Dreamliner ?-))

Looks good. If its been used in the sea it should have been flushed with fresh water to get the salt out. Do you know if that was done? Worth asking the seller if unsure. The usual technique btw is to connect a fresh water hose to the water inlets with a special sort of adaptor that looks like a pair of earmuffs and run the engine until the thermostat opens and hot water comes out of the telltale. If you are in any doubt then i'd fit it to Juno asap and run it up until warm. Graham

I believe the General Product Safety Regulations apply to second hand goods provided they are not antiques or sold for repair or reconditioning. http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1994/2328/regulation/2/made I'm not a lawyer, but work in the field of product safety so those regs were on my reading list. For the ultimate anorak experience, that regulation is the uk implementation of EU Directive 92/59/EEC. Hope this helps Graham

I think the market these are aimed at is caravan / motorhomes. The question to ask Propex is is there a marine flue available as there is for the space heaters. I had a quick look on their website and couldn't find one. If there is no marine flue then I think you've had it. Graham

You may wish to try contacting these people. http://www.french-waterways.com/

This is common practice in earthmoving machinery. As others have alluded to, its important to understand what the results mean in the context of your engine. http://www.cat.com/maintenance-and-support/sos-services Graham