gbmud

...or bright green jollop which you squeeze into the tyre through the valve as a prophylactic measure, and which will seal any small puncture as soon as it happens. It works very well. Chris

How about a good quality stainless Thermos flask? The ones I have seen have a plastic screw cap but it may be possible to buy one with a stainless cap... Chris

With just a little logic a genny could be configured to start and charge a battery when the battery voltage was below a certain level (say, 50%) as long as the time was between 0800 and 2000. Another voltage level could be set so that if the battery voltage was lower than a certain level (60%?, depends what you might use before bed) by 1800 then the genny could cut in to recharge before the 2000 cutoff time. I am sure a small computer could easily do it. Whether something is available off the shelf, I do not know. Chris

The bastard lovechild of a boat and an Apé! Chris

Have you ever heard the TGV passing close by in France? It sounds like the end of the world coming, though it does only last for a few seconds, it is EXTREMELY NOISY! Chris

The programme can be downloaded here. The boat/spider/allegedly stolen diesel story starts at about minute 39 in the last quarter of the programme. When the cops were stuck behind the gate, they could just have opened the gate from the inside. When there is a power cut these type of gates can be opened from the inside by just releasing a catch on the actuator and swinging the gate. Dur. Chris

On iPlayer. Chris

I thought I recalled something about the Romans driving on the left so I Googled it; but it seems I was mistaken or mis-informed. This article in Wikipedia has a paragraph on waterborne traffic right at the bottom. Chris

Apparently one's eyes are not designed to see blue light as well as other colours, particularly yellow. So a lamp with a very white light might appear, on paper, to be brighter than a much yellower light, which the eye perceives as brighter due to being set up to see the yellow light more vividly. Apparently this is true of blue boy-racer car headlamps where the light output is much greater when measured by a light meter but in reality, actual visibility is no better - or even worse! There are some LED lamps which give a really nice light akin to halogen bulbs, a friend has some in his camper as direct replacements for halogen capsule bulbs but sadly they were a chance purchase off ebay and he does not remember where from. LED technology will get there, indeed, if one spends enough money it already is. ...almost. Chris

As well as heating coil area and volume of water, it will depend on how much spare heat there is - on how hard the engine is working (how much diesel you are burning!). Meandering slowly past miles of moored boats will take rather longer than struggling against a current! As an example, many modern diesel car engines go cold when sitting in traffic with the heater on in winter as there is so little waste heat being produced. Some even have separate diesel heaters fitted to compensate. Chris

Actually pretty reliable post 2002 when several fuelling, oil pump and head gasket issued were addressed. The fuel pressure regulator can be a pain but is easy to replace at least and by then the oil/ECU issue is supposedly addressed. In the Td5 the timing belt was done away with in favour of a duplex chain. In unmodified form 135BHP but still lots of torque low down. This is fast becoming a Landrover anorak-fest! Chris

Landrover 2.5 naturally aspirated diesels have a timing belt and are a reliable, long lived engine - if rather underpowered in a Landrover. IIRC they manage something about 50BHP. The first turbocharged units were just the same 2.5 with a bolt on turbocharger which had the effect of making them very unreliable and not all that much more powerful. Then came the 2.5Tdi engines which, while very reliable are probably rather too powerful for NB use at 100+BHP - though maximum torque is at 1800RPM. Much older 2.25 Landrover diesels had chain drive and were reliable but not very long lived. Chris

Does it not work like motor insurance? You tell your insurer who then gets the repairs done and claims the costs back from the third party? Unless there an accepted alternative protocol that is where I would start. After all, you pay your premium every year, get them to do something for it! As far as painting goes, I expect that, like a damaged car, they will spray the repair (on a car up to a door shut line, wing join etc) in the original paint and then cut and polish the rest of the car to match. I can see no reason why this would not work on a boat too, though how long the result looked good might be a different matter. Chris

Close one eye before entering the tunnel, then, once in the tunnel, swap eyes. Chris

Something suspended for comfort? My brother made this for his local pub some years ago, I am sure he would be open to a commission. Chris

I do not know Puffer Parts at all, but I get the feeling that keeping stock (and therefor money!) on the shelf in the form of slow moving stock is not usually good business. Although I concede that they got the business as a result. Chris

I would think this would be criminal damage. Whatever the rights and wrongs of the placement of a fence, the fence itself is still someone's property. Chris

Excess body hair is not a joking matter! Did you have the presence of mind to ask which mag and what edition the canal feature might be in? Chris

Many boatyards have a slipway which is available for public use. When I had a trailered boat it cost me £10 per launch and recovery which included car and trailer parking. There is a free public slipway in Devizes but there is then a charge for car/trailer parking. Pick your location, call a boatyard to ask if they have a slipway or can suggest one and you are away. Chris

NIMBY - Not In My Back Yard! Chris

And do boat owners follow them?! Chris

As an aside: Ours used to be dreadful until I condemned the disk drive one day about 6 years ago. I replaced it (under guidance from the internet) with a 160Gig (rather than the original 40Gig one) drive and have never looked back. It also holds sh*t loads more programmes! Chris

Bad link there? Chris

Not wishing to start one of the 'old' arguments, hypothetically, what would happen if... Not long ago BW were selling off some old boats and plant at auction. Among these items was an old BW workboat 'Cornwall'. She was part submerged and, I assume, had no BSS certificate. I was half thinking of bidding on Cornwall, and given that she ended at about £1000 I sort of wish I had - she was too far north to make a speculative inspection trip and I had no idea why she was sunk so I was put off. So, all hypothetically, and making some big assumptions, what if I had bought her, found her to be reasonably watertight and managed to refloat her? (I had some fairly irresponsible and anti-social plans to achieve this but we need not go into them...) I immediately have an illegal boat in the canal don't I? If I had managed to empty of water, change the oil, flush the fuel and start the engine (not sure how viable this may have been...) I would could then have removed the boat by water but without any of the required paperwork. Assuming that my draining and refilling the canal work to refloat the boat had not attracted the immediate attention of BW, how likely is it that I would then be caught while bringing the boat home by canal, and if I was caught, what would then happen and what are the penalties? If one were to believe everything one read then there are plenty of boats about without all the correct paperwork, I assume that they do not all get a fine whenever they stop. Of course, in order to get to the K+A I would have to navigate the Thames which might be more difficult dealing with locks. Are the locks manned 24/7 on the Thames, or do they go self service overnight? If one were to forge a license (highly illegal I am sure yet hardly rocket science) is it likely that any further checks would be made? ...assuming that there was not a major accident or other issue. Would there be a special penalty for forging a license? Fraud? I did not buy Cornwall so this whole thing is hypothetical but I am curious what might have happened - perhaps there will be a next time... Anyone else ever done anything like this? Is Cornwall's new owner here? Cheers Chris

Google 'Peltier'. They go both ways, stick electric in and you get cold one side, hot the other. Stick heat in one side and keep the other side cool and out comes electric - a la Ecofan. Chris