Graham Bowers

Marineflex is a more affordable alternate to sikaflex and seems to be well thought of in here. I'm going to use it to stick Celotex insulation to the GRP. How much you should budget depends on how much you need so its a hard question to answer. I bought about 1.25 Kg and have used about a quarter of it to wet out approx 3.5 metres of 50mm glass tape. I can't remember where it came from and its on my boat so I can't look at the label, but here are some random websites. The first sells in quite small quantities. http://www.easycomposites.co.uk/ http://www.mbfg.co.uk/epoxy-resins.html Graham

If the ceiling has timber glassed in to the layup then its possible to screw directly in to that, but use screws short enough so they don't poke through to the outside. Also, it depends what you want to hang off the battens. I have a GRP cruiser and when I replace the head lining that's what I'm going to do. If you need to attach them to the GRP ceiling I'd glass them in using an epoxy resin rather than polyester as it has better adhesion. Maybe polyester would be OK but I'd rather overdo it than risk it. I've just glassed in some new bulkheads using epoxy. Some battens fell off my boat and whilst I've no idea what the product was it was one of the "squeeze out of a tube" products. They'll be going back on with epoxy. Hope this helps Graham

I've read your comments and those of others on this and the other Erewash and after umming and arring for a while, intend to give it a go on our next long weekend. I'm pleased you've got a way to get your alternator bracket repaired and agree that a new replacement is a wise choice. What are your thoughts as to why it broke in the first place? I only ask as what would stop a new replacement failing a few years down the line - I'm guessing it was a fatigue failure btw. Graham

I presume you are using Windoze. If so, perhaps putting the machine in to hibernation would be a viable and no-cost solution if its the current drain whilst its not being used you are trying to mitigate. http://windows.microsoft.com/en-GB/windows7/Sleep-and-hibernation-frequently-asked-questions Regards Graham

Maybe a bandwidth monitor would help. There are free ones out there but because I don't need one I have never tried one - I just know they exist. Google is your friend. Graham

Does your current ISP offer a facility to check exactly how much bandwidth you have consumed? It may be worth asking them via their support page. I'm with Zen and via their Customer Portal I can see my bandwidth use by day if I want. Hope this helps Graham

According to canalplan its 101 hours that is 20 days at 5 hrs per day. You can alter the speeds in the preferences but the defaults are fine for most. Where you are in Audlem specifically will make a difference because it'll alter the number of locks you need to do. You can pick your exact start point in canalplan. Cheers Graham http://www.canalplan.org.uk/

Thanks all. I think we'll probably go last week in Aug and 1st week in Sept as many schools are back the second week. We've never had real problems as we are usually up and away early in the morning and moored up by lunchtime so miss a lot of traffic as the crew slumber. Graham

For the first time since I've been boating I will not be made to take the last week in July and first week in August by my employer. Hopefully I can find a quieter time than usual. Are there any obvious "peak" weeks between the last week in July and the first week in September please or is it pretty much the same? We are talking Midlands canals here. T&M, Coventry, Oxford, Grand Union, Birmingham and Fazely. Thanks Graham

The main time we've had lock queues (more than 3 in front) is when there have been waterways events on. I now check for festivals and go the other way. We have a cruiser and very slow boats almost always invite us to pass. We did the 4 counties in the school holidays this year and got in a 4 lock boat queue twice. Once going up "heartbreak hill" in Cheshire (lots of locks between Middlewich and Harecastle). Lots of these locks are tandem, i.e. 2 side by side, but some of the tandem locks are out of service so 2 feed in to 1 causing a bit of a bottleneck at times. To be honest, and I'm a bad queuer, if I've plenty of time then its not too bad and is a nice way to meet people. Our general rule is to be cruising by 7am and moored by 12 so we do get a lot of quiet time but we only had a week for the ring (started and finished at Shardlow to it took a few days to get to and from Great Haywood)so we had to cruise at the busiest times of day. One of the reasons I gave up rock climbing was almost always having to queue for the best routes in the lake district and I'm a long way from thinking of jacking boating because of queues! Have a great time on your holiday Graham

Maybe the waiter won't know where the beef came from, but I'd expect the directors of the company to have made provision to be informed of the regulations applying to their industry. The DTI has published guidance on the GPSD but I admit I'm ignorant as to how they publicised it so the "trades" could be informed. Graham

A plug in monitor would tell you. http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?ModuleNo=223573&C=Froogle&U=223573&T=Module I got one from Aldi at the weekend for just over 8 quid for use in the house. The info its given me will allow me to save its price many times over. Graham

Its simply a matter of planning. http://www.whatgas.com/petrol-prices/nearest-petrol.aspx I have a honda 4 stroke outboard on our cruiser and I simply follow the route on the website map and mark the petrol stations on my Nicholsons. Occasionally the petrol stations have closed so don't leave it until you are running on vapours. Many have phone numbers so you can phone them up in advance. Its a short carry if you plan it right, or use a foldable sack barrow. I have 12 litres in the main tank (could do with a bigger one) and carry another 20 in 2 10 litre containers stored in the outside tank area. That gives me 70 odd miles. We moor at Shardlow. Three years ago we went down the Trent to Torksey and back. Last year we did the Leicester ring and this year the four counties, no probs getting petrol. Very few cruisers out and about on the Leicester ring or 4 counties so were part of an exclusive club ;-) The risks of petrol are present but manageable despite what the naysayers have typed. I always fill off the boat, whatever the weather. For an onboard tank I imagine avoiding spills and extinguishing onboard sources of ignition are the key mitigations. Store your spare petrol in a ventilated area where any vapour can run overboard and conduct periodic inspections and preventative maintenance for the fuel and engine compartment ventilation fans at least. Hope this helps Graham

I have 3 appliances. Propex, cooker and water heater, no flexies. I have isolation valves on the propex and cooker purely for ease on maintenance but do not have one on the water heater (yet). No probs with this installation as it passed BSS last year. I read the BSS requirements documents and was confident I had interpreted them corectly - it wasn't a chance thing. Graham

Just imagine how much faster he could go if they we the usual walnut size an weight ;-)

Seems the beeb are producing another narrowboaty programme about the fitout / renovation of a steel narrowboat as it travels around some of the system. I only know about this as yesterday we witnessed some filming and spoke to one of the throng. We passed a NB that had unusually pulled over on the non-towpath-side of the T&M just past the Shardlow top lock, then we passed a film crew on the towpath. We encountered them later at Aston lock as we were returning to our mooring at Shardlow. At Aston lock, their (owned by the beeb apparently) NB entered the lock to come up as we were waiting to go down. We opened the ground paddles, as you do, then one of their people came up so I asked what the occasion was. He replied they were making a prog about "the boat that Guy built". It was then that the penny dropped. There were two blokes on the stern of the trad NB. One looked familiar and the cogs in my head came up with a match, so I asked if he was a racing motorcyclist and I was right, it was Guy Martin, TT racer, gonads the size of metaphoric coconuts and a proper bloke (IMHO) to boot. I've been a fan of his for a while btw. Anyway, they are doing a big loop from and to Manchester as Guy does the boat up and the plan, as I understand it, is for it to be finished by the end of the loop. I don't want to miss the prog and in my opinion Guy has a charisma that I hope will open many more doors for him. Hope this is of interest, and not old news Cheers Graham

Last year central TV showed otters in the Birmingham area, on still water as I remember. I have only seen them in the sea in the Southern Hebrides, have had about 10 ottery encounters. Saw mink on the Ashby last year but sadly no longer have a shotgun. Graham

Sorry to hear of your experience, must be very unsettling to have your space invaded. Little true story to cheer you up. One of my old (single) rock climbing pals led a very spartan life. His house was usually full of climbing gear and tents drying out, and very little else. He went away climbing one weekend and came back to find he'd had a break-in, but nothing was missing. He was quite indignant that the burglars thought he had nothing worth taking. He went away climbing the next weekend and came back to find he'd had another break in. Again, nothing was missing - but a tin of beans had been left on the kitchen table. Cheers Graham

<rant> Well, what one makes of any particular situation depends on their observations of what is happening in front of them, and their interpretation of those observations depending on their past experiences, values etc. Dogs off the lead can be fine, and can be not fine. I am a dog owner too, and am on my second border collie. I have had to cope with a several dogfights and many skirmishes on the end of the lead my dog is on (because I always put him on the lead when passing others). 15 years ago the vets bill for such an encounter was £10 a stitch. If the other dog is making its own decisions and ignoring the commands from its owner - it is by definition out of control. I have no problem with dogs that are in control, those that are out of control and spoiling for a scrap get aquainted with my boot. The last such encounter was in my marina in the summer and the dozy owner was hardly bothered about her pair of surrogate children having a go until I clobbered one - then she went apoplectic. So, the moral of the story. Dogs off the lead are fine if they are behaving themselves, but not all do. Here's to responsible dog ownership, may we see more of it. </rant> Cheers Graham

Well, if my sums are right, burning 1 Kg Alcohol (ethanol) will give off 1.17 Kg water, and burning 1 Kg of calor gas (propane) will give off 1.63 Kg water. So on a weight for weight basis, the alcohol wins. Trouble is, when burnt, alcohol gives off less heat than calor gas - around 40% less. So, to get the same amount of heat, there is very little in it in terms of the water produced. According to my sums ;-) Graham

What a worthy piece of research ;-)

I have one in my cruiser. It works well and whacks the heat out nicely but is quite noisy - although I only have a few inches of hose between the heater and the hot air vent to the cabin. It has onboard monitoring for electricity voltage and gas pressure plus overheat I think. If it trips out it likes to be reset by powering off once the problem is solved. I bought mine from bluebird customs http://www.bluebird-type2.co.uk/ and they were quite a lot cheaper than the swindlers. The website price is not for the marine version which has a different flue arrangement but thay were still the thick end of a hundred cheaper as I recall - it was 4 years ago. We are planning to go for a narrowboat and if I need a backup heating system it'll probably be a propex but I'd want something quieter for primary heating. Maybe it would be quieter with a longer hot air hose and if the box was resiliantly mounted though. Graham

They look the absolute business.

Hi Chris :-) I'm still in "planning" mode, so is your 24V alternator marine / expensive or lorry / affordable please? Oh, and do you use a special controller? Graham

It depends on the ice. If its smooth water ice (and towpaths can get like that) then wellies and even walking boots will be very slippy and treacherous. An old mountaineers trick is to wear old woollen socks on the outside of the boots (or wellies) to get some grip and this really does work. If you do choose boots then for the meanest ice, you could consider some instep crampons. It all depends on the conditions, how far you have to walk in it, and how Bambiesque you are. Graham