Alan de Enfield

My Sister & BIL farm in Sussex, they have leased some of their land to a German company who have installed 40,000 solar panels and it is giving them a return way, way higher than actually farming the land. In addition they have leased to same land to a sheep farmer so they are getting paid twice for the same bit of land, and, the ger,an company are happy as it reduces the amount they have to spend on ground maintenace. Win-Win-Win

Strange 1st post - posts but says nothing in a two and a half year dormant thread ? Do you need help ?

I though Arab had two 'A's in it !

Some hire companies do not 'cram in as many beds as they can' they work on quality of boat and quality of finish and are in many ways 'ready made private boats'. We had such a boat which was ex-hire Weltonfield boat that was only 6 year old when it was sold out of the fleet. It was 'Juno' and was simply a permanent 2-berth boat with the ability to convert the settee into another 2-berths (much as any private boat) A solid fuel fire, inverter, bath, eberspacher diesel central heating etc were all fitted so no work needed We didn't want an empty saloon with just a couple of free standing chairs so the layout was perfect for us. Juno in its hire-days :

On many / most canals you will pass a sanitary station at least once per day. If you are actually cruising for several hours per day you could even pass 2 or 3, although some canals are better served than others - I have read that London only has one tap and one sanitary station for some 5000 boats. It is generally the NBTA (No Boats Move Anywhere) that like to have holding tanks as it means they only need to move once every 8 weeks. A cassette is the best, most convenient (and cheapest no charge to empty) type of toilet Regarding checking the pump-out tank, there are so many variables from location and accesability to materials it is made from. Some boats actually use the hull as the walls of the tank, and the only time you know there is a problem when you start to get seepage in the bottom of the boat. Some tanks are 'free-standing' steel fabrications and are a little easier to view, but the corrosion tends to be from the inside, so you only start to see a problem developing as it starts to perforate and the 'walls' get damp. Some tanks are HD Polyethylene and are probably the 'safest' regarding reataining the contents. There are different toilet types that feed into a holding tank and can vary from a dump-thru (where the toilet sits on top of the tank, and when you open the flap its drops straight into the tank), to macerator toilets where the toilet contents are mashed up (like in a food processor) and sucked or blown down a pipe into the tank. The more complicated the system the easier it is to go wrong and to get blocked. The other thing to consider is water consumption, a 'dump-thru uses minimal water, whiclt a macerator can use many litres per flush - consider your fresh water tank size, or look to have the flush water picked up from the canal.

Same here ................ Our recently opened local power station runs on straw, being in a rural 'crop growing' area there is a fair bit available, with tens of thousands of bales stored around the surrounding counties (until the local scrotes decide to set fire to them, and it takes weeks to bun out with daylight converted to darnkness for all those downwind). Anyway - it now requires 1000's of lorry / tractor & trailer movements per week to keep the boilers fed. All those vehicles burning diesel at a prodigious rate can hardly be 'green'. From what I can see every attempt to 'go green' has serious implications somewhere else in the supply chain, be it lorries delivering straw, or Lithium mines countryside destruction & pollution for battery production.

Every NB is a hand-built unique 'one-off' so without either a detailed schematic of your plumbing lay-out, or at least suitable photographs showing the valves and where they go to and come from I don't think anyone is going to be able to offer much assistance. What make is it ? Who fitted it out ? What age is it ? If it is a post 1998 boat you should have a full owners manual showing the gas, water, electric and heating circuits. That would be a good place to start.

But unless you state that, no one is going to know what your level of experience is, folks go to a great deal of effort to try and explain why & what is happening (assuming that by the question you have little experience) when all along you probably have 1000's of hours of Narrowboating on Rivers / Big canals but just not used to the damp, muddy ditches.

There seems to be little point spending £000's to have cold radiators 'by design'.

Fair enoufgh there has been a change since we 'built', but, the system remains the same, each stage has to be assessed and approved by a surveyor before the next stage can commence.

Not really - the RCR is simply the specification(s) to which a recreational boat must be built. What is not done, is the enforcement of building to the specification - it is very much taken on trust, certainly for canal boats. As opposed to 'skip-fabricators' "Boat builders" normally have a 'notified body' who 'sign off' the boat(s). It is interesting that the RYA have decided to no longer operate as a 'notified body' Press Release : First introduced in 1998 the RCD was brought in as a trade directive to ensure that all boats built and imported into the European Union were built and sold above a minimum set of standards. Once implemented, the RYA’s involvement as a Notified Body looked to provide manufacturers with a less daunting option than a Classification Society and at a more reasonable cost, as well as allowing the RYA hands on experience with the standards prescribed within the RCD and the ability to assess and influence those standards. The RYA said it has completed a wide range of assessments working with some major British manufacturers in getting their models assessed and onto the water, as well as with individuals looking to import boats from outside of the EU, home build boats and component parts such as steering wheels. Bas went on to explain: ‘By withdrawing from the RCD it does mean that the range of services offered by the RYA Technical Department will be slightly different and we are looking at a number of options and services we can offer in its place that will appeal to a wider range of the membership. However we will continue to offer services such as the issue of Craft Identification Numbers and the RCD Web subscription website. ‘The RYA will continue to keep a close eye on both the practical day to day processes involved in the RCD as well as influencing both the ISO Standards and the EU Directive at the highest levels to ensure that the end result is a safe, sensible boat for the end user.’ EC Certificates are issued, where required by the Directive, by a Notified Body who is responsible for the validity and contents of the certificates. The following statement is given in preamble (31) to Directive 2013/53/EU: "In order to ensure compliance with the essential requirements, it is necessary to lay down appropriate conformity assessment procedures to be followed by the manufacturer. Those procedures should be set in reference to conformity assessment modules laid down in Decision No 768/2008/EC. Those procedures should be devised in the light of the level of the risk which may be inherent in the watercraft, engines and components. Therefore each category of conformity should be supplemented by an appropriate procedure or a choice between several equivalent procedures." A Notified Body has the necessary technical competence for the conformity assessment. The lack of harmonised standards does not exclude important essential requirements for assessment. Then follows 283 pages of Assesment procedures, guidelines and supplementary document links. Article 30 Requirements relating to notified bodies 1. For the purposes of notification under this Directive, a conformity assessment body shall meet the requirements laid down in paragraphs 2 to 11. 2. A conformity assessment body shall be established under national law and shall have legal personality. 3. A conformity assessment body shall be a third-party body independent of the organisation or the product it assesses. A body belonging to a business association or professional federation representing undertakings involved in the design, manufacturing, provision, assembly, use or maintenance of products which it assesses, may, on condition that its independence and the absence of any conflict of interest are demonstrated, be considered such a body. 4. A conformity assessment body, its top level management and the personnel responsible for carrying out the conformity assessment tasks shall not be the designer, manufacturer, supplier, installer, purchaser, owner, user or maintainer of the products which they assess, nor the representative of any of those parties. This shall not preclude the use of assessed products that are necessary for the operations of the conformity assessment body or the use of such products for personal purposes. A conformity assessment body, its top level management and the personnel responsible for carrying out the conformity assessment tasks shall not be directly involved in the design or manufacture, the marketing, installation, use or maintenance of those products, or represent the parties engaged in those activities. They shall not engage in any activity that may conflict with their independence of judgement or integrity in relation to conformity assessment activities for which they are notified. This shall in particular apply to consultancy services. Conformity assessment bodies shall ensure that the activities of their subsidiaries or subcontractors do not affect the confidentiality, objectivity or impartiality of their conformity assessment activities. 5. Conformity assessment bodies and their personnel shall carry out the conformity assessment activities with the highest degree of professional integrity and the requisite technical competence in the specific field and shall be free from all pressures and inducements, particularly financial, which might influence their judgement or the results of their conformity assessment activities, especially as regards persons or groups of persons with an interest in the results of those activities. 6. A conformity assessment body shall be capable of carrying out the conformity assessment tasks assigned to it by the provisions of Articles 19 to 24 and in relation to which it has have been notified, whether those tasks are carried out by the conformity assessment body itself or on its behalf and under its responsibility. At all times and for each conformity assessment procedure and each kind or category of products in relation to which it has been notified, a conformity assessment body shall have at its disposal the necessary (a) personnel with technical knowledge and sufficient and appropriate experience to perform the conformity assessment tasks; (b) descriptions of procedures in accordance with which conformity assessment is carried out ensuring the transparency and ability of reproduction of those procedures. It shall have appropriate policies and procedures in place that distinguish between tasks it carries out as a notified body and other activities; (c) procedures for the performance of activities which take due account of the size of an undertaking, the sector in which it operates, its structure, the degree of complexity of the technology of the product in question and the mass or serial nature of the production process. It shall have the means necessary to perform the technical and administrative tasks connected with the conformity assessment activities in an appropriate manner and shall have access to all necessary equipment or facilities. 7. The personnel responsible for carrying out the conformity assessment activities shall have the following (a) sound technical and vocational training covering all the conformity assessment activities in relation to which the conformity assessment body has been notified; (b) satisfactory knowledge of the requirements of the assessments they carry out and adequate authority to carry out those assessments; (c) appropriate knowledge and understanding of the essential requirements, the applicable harmonised standards, the relevant Union harmonisation legislation and the relevant national legislation; (d) the ability to draw up certificates, records and reports demonstrating that assessments have been carried out. 8. The impartiality of the conformity assessment bodies, their top level management and of the assessment personnel shall be guaranteed. The remuneration of the top level management and assessment personnel of a conformity assessment body shall not depend on the number of assessments carried out or on the results of those assessments. 9. Conformity assessment bodies shall take out liability insurance unless liability is assumed by the Member State in accordance with its national law, or the Member State itself is directly responsible for the conformity assessment. 10. The personnel of a conformity assessment body shall observe professional secrecy with regard to all information obtained in carrying out their tasks under Articles 19 to 24 or any provision of national law giving effect to it, except in relation to the competent authorities of the Member State in which its activities are carried out. Proprietary rights shall be protected. 11. Conformity assessment bodies shall participate in, or ensure that their assessment personnel are informed of, the relevant standardisation activities and the activities of the notified body coordination group established under Article 42, and shall apply as general guidance the administrative decisions and documents produced as a result of the work of that group

I believe that part of the problem is the lack of actual hands-on experience of either running a successful company, or being involved in successful fund raising. C&RTs annual accounts shows a depressing bit of information - They have spent £5 million more in fund raising than they have raised. ie. If they had done nothing they would have had 'Millions' more to spend, they have falsified altered their accounts filing different versions with Companies House and DEFRA and generally mismanaged their business. C&RT have alienated their traditional customer base (boaters & moorers) and are now relying on Investment return (house ownership, etc) and the Government Grant. They have used 3rd parties to fund tow-path repairs at the expense of losing control of the tow-paths. It will be interesting to see if DEFRA have been hoodwinked during this years '10 year grant review' which determines any future grant aid.

Presumably you are not thinking of doing it until next Summer (unless you can find a heated dry-dock for a couple of weeks)

Because they don't know any better ?

Ideally, but the competent boat builder you selected can soon start to cut corners when not under surveilance. When you build a new house you choose the best builder you can find, BUT the council still send out their surveyor at each stage of build (foundations / floor / first floor / roof joists / plumbing / windows comply with the drawings etc etc) as they believe that even the best builder needs 'keeping an eye on'. Are you suggesting that these 'fred in a shed' welders can be trusted implicitly ? Far better to pay a suitable surveyor (there are lists available of warranted RCR surveyors whose job this is and know the RCR inside out) 'a couple of thousand' to make (say) 4 or 5 visits during the build. £2000 out of a £100,000 or £250,000 build is a small fraction to invest as peace of mind.

I think as more and more new-boat buyers come onto the forum we see what appalling products they are being supplied with, and yes, in some cases when 'buying to a budget' you WILL be dealing with incompetent boat builders, in the cottage industry that is canal boat building many of these will be skip-fabricators who it seems know nothing about boat design and construction and even less about the RCR requirements. It seems now to be a weekly event that some aspect of a boat that is signed off as being RCR compliant isn't - last week it was fuel-tank inspection hatches, this week, flooding heights, what will it be next week. Do these Phoenix boat building companies even read the requirements ? A member on this forum has been involved in several court cases against builders and non-compliant boats :

Did you have a (your) surveyor monitoring and signing off each stage of the build ?

If he did take it into account, and there is no (or very little) ballast, the problem is even worse - how do you dump 5 tonnes of weight when there is nothing to dump ?

Wiki appears to be slighty different definition to various dictionary definitions : Thug : a member of an organization of robbers and assassins in India. Devotees of the goddess Kali, the Thugs waylaid and strangled their victims, usually travellers, in a ritually prescribed manner. They were suppressed by the British in the 1830s.

Then your terminlogy is not quite correct. Your 'boat builder' was the Hull fabricator, your 'fitter' is legally called the 'boat builder' and it is he that is reponsible for certifying its compliance to the RCR. As he was building the boat for re-sale and not for personal use, it MUST be built to, and certified as complaint (by law) by the 'builder'. I'd suggest that Trading Standards may have more knowledge and 'clout' than a Solicitor who knows little or nothing anout the RCR and boat building. With the Trading Standards you have two potential avenues to approach : 1) It is not fit for purpose under the "Consumer Rights Act 2015" 2) RCD compliance under the UK statutory Instrument (Act of Parliament) "The Recreational Craft Regulations 2017" Consumer Rights Act 2015 - Which? How long have you had ownership of the boat ? As with the Sale of Goods Act, under the Consumer Rights Act all products must be of satisfactory quality, fit for purpose and as described. The rules also include digital content in this definition. So all products - whether physical or digital - must meet the following standards: Fit for purpose The goods should be fit for the purpose they are supplied for, as well as any specific purpose you made known to the retailer before you agreed to buy the goods. As described The goods supplied must match any description given to you, or any models or samples shown to you at the time of purchase. Satisfactory quality Goods shouldn't be faulty or damaged when you receive them. You should ask what a reasonable person would consider satisfactory for the goods in question. For example, bargain-bucket products won’t be held to as high standards as luxury goods. How long do you have to return a faulty product? The Consumer Rights Act gives you the legal right to either get a refund for goods that are of unsatisfactory quality, unfit for purpose or not as described, or get it repaired - depending on how long you've owned it: 0 - 30 days you can claim a full refund for goods that are of unsatisfactory quality, unfit for purpose or not as described. 30 days - six months you must give the retailer one opportunity to repair or replace it before you can claim a refund six months or more you must give the retailer one opportunity to repair or replace it before you can claim a partial refund, and the burden of proof is on you to prove the product is faulty

NO ! Scupper valves in your self-draining deck well.