Ryeland

Maybe a bit far for you, but Stafford Boat Club have slipway and facilities. On the Staffs and Worcs. They do it for a whole week at a time. Nice people too. Richard

Very happy with my shell from Piper Boats at Biddulph. Lots of helpful advice as well. No connection except as customer. Richard

There is a water point at the top of the Dobsons 2 rise, only a few hundred yards towards Bingley. I was put off going to the marina by the 60/40. Richard

My Beta 38 with Iskra 100A charges at 14.6V Richard

Re the extension. Make sure your engine can cope. The new hull will be quite a lot heavier, and the engine may struggle if it's not in the first flush of youth. Richard

Our 58' was OK with fenders, but we met a 60' boat coming down backwards. They said they didn't have any choice! Richard

The check valve is a rubber flap which is part of the rubber sleeve which fits between the pump outlet and the box. Remove the pump and gently ease the rubber part out of the box to clean it. Richard PS my pump wouldn't switch on reliably. I emailed them from their web site, and a new pump arrived FoC.

I recommend Phil Speight's weekend courses. Also Blakes used to do a good painting guide before they were taken over. I can't find it on the web, but if you PM me an email address I can let you have a copy. Richard

Currently moored at Sowerby Bridge on the canal next to the river. The Calder was rising at about a foot an hour here last evening, finally reaching 0.2m about the previous highest level at about midnight. I was ready to leave the boat and run! The Tuel Lane lock keeper has shown me a picture of lock 18 on the Rochdale at Tod completely covered with water. More rain due tonight, but hopefully not as much as yesterday. My thoughts are with the people along Calderdale who have been affected by the floods. Richard

Our 100W panel with MPPT controller keeps the Shoreline fridge freezer going during most summer days ie today the Smartgauge read the same at 18:00 as it did at 09:00. Richard

What made the most difference on my cruiser stern was putting rubber draught excluder strip on the deck board where it sits on the bearers. Everything else I have done has produced diminishing returns at increasing cost! Richard

I would say take an 11 yr old friend. They should keep themselves occupied with steering and locks. Moor at Great Haywood for Shugborough and walk across the river bridge. It's quite family friendly. Richard

Whatever you do, buy all the LEDs for one area at the same time. I have bought mine at various times, all from UltraLEDs, and there is quite a variance in colour. Having said that, I haven't had any failures, and some of them are over 3 yrs old now. Richard

Very much agree with this. Our dump through toilet, pump out pipe and vent are all at one end of the tank. We were having problems with smells until I added another vent at the opposite end. I used an Essex flange on top of the tank, then 1" ID pipe to a skin fitting. Although it is in the same side as the original vent, there is through air flow (probably because they are different sizes). This has solved the problem. Another advantage is that I can rinse out using the new vent which washes solids down to the pump out pipe. To do this of course there must be a fall from the skin fitting to the tank, or the pipe will stay full of water. Richard

Twas me what found it at 08.30 this morning. BW on site around 10.00, contractors about 11.00 IIRC. Lucky they were working about a mile away with workboat and punt. They worked hard all day, finally letting me through at about 18.00. They still need to winch a big bit of tree from the cut, but they didn't have heavy gear with them. Took a long time because the tree had completely broken off, and the trunk leaning against the side of the cutting was going to slide down as soon as it was cut - and it did! Yes it was a bit damp and spooky this morning, but so quiet before the chainsaws started. Lots of bird song. Richard

Maplin do a suitable one - Universal 3A DC Power Supply A92JH. This is much cheaper than the Amperor and is fine for your TV. However, a suitable plug may not come with it, you probably need a 5.5/2.1mm plug. I think Maplin may do them separately which just plug in, or I just soldered two wires on to one of the unsuitable plugs, and then to the correct one which Maplin do, to save cutting the cable and invalidating the warranty. Richard

To increase workability, put the tin in a bucket and keep topping it up with hot water. Richard

How about the hose barbs used for LPG gas hose? 3/16"is one standard size, 4.8mm. Someone who does industrial (high pressure) gas equipment should do them, converting to BSP thread, probably 1/4" BSP. From there you can do anything! Richard

Do you mean 12V or 240V sockets? Richard

PM sent Richard

I do it regularly, and so far (touch wood) no problems. You seem to get a 'feel' for places over time (same with leaving a car). I like to moor for a day and see who walks past. Also within view of a house is nice. Look whether graffiti, litter etc. I also won't leave the boat on pins unless I absolutely have to. Richard

There are 'choc blocks' with a wire protection leaf which don't damage stranded cables eg http://uk.rs-online.com/web/p/terminal-blocks/4649738/ Richard

I wouldn't use two panels on a single MPPT controller UNLESS they were identical, either in series or parallel, as the overall performance will be compromised. Be aware also that cheaper MPPT controllers (eg JUTA) will not take two panels in series. Richard

I remember going through the same process. I think I came to the conclusion that I needed big eye bolt, which would be difficult to fit due to the size of the hole needed. I ended up with a piece of steel angle about 9" long, with a hole in the middle well back from the edge for a shackle. Then two 12mm high tensile bolts through the deck, with a piece of 50 x 6 strip on the underside to spread the load. Also put it near the edge of the deck for max strength. Richard