Ricardo

I was on mooring once that sound like those you're talking about, at Market Drayton, the only points I can think of is that 1) one side of the pontoon is a few feet shorter than the other which did cause some people to complain they were getting less for their money, and 2) you get a sharp sideways knock from passing traffic sometimes, but not as bad as you get when moored along the towpath. Other than that it wasn't any different from a marina with pontoons perpendicular to the land. Ric.

If your charge controller is like mine then that code means the solar panel isn't connected to the batteries, if you're not getting a charge off the engine either than I'd start by checking the battery terminals. Ric.

Very weak [no bars] 3G+ signal: Medium strength [3 bars] EDGE signal: Both of these are from home, it's a lot worse on the boat.

Some Sat-Navs do allow you to put coordinates in as well as postcodes and addresses, my Garmin does, it also allows you to find the coordinates of your current location. Ric.

I fitted a horizontal calorifier under the bed and fed the pipes through both coils in series, it's been like that for 3 years now and the extra length of pipe doesn't seem to have been a problem, and the water heats up really quickly.

I tried 2 different active 5M USB cables with an Orange dongle and the software couldn't detect the dongle, but I have three 2M cables from the pound shop and it works using all 3 in series!

That might be the Poachers Pocket, but this is before Chirk Marina as you head towards Llangollen. I've been told by several people who have worked at the Lion Quays that a lot of the food is bought in as prepared catering packs and simply microwaved. At Maestermyn there's the Narrowboat, family friendly [noisy!] and the food is OK but I had a steak and kidney pie there that looked microwaved but tasted fine. The Jack Mytton is worth a visit and just a mile further than Maestermyn. If you don't mind a hike or short taxi ride then Ye Olde Boote in Whittington is excellent, if you can't get in there then The White Lion 100 yards away is supposed to be good too. Ric. Edit to add: The castle at Whittington has had a lot of work done on it in 2007 and is now well worth a visit if you like history, there's some well drawn displays showing how the castle has evolved over the years, and a tea room too. The castle is right across the road from Ye Olde Boote Inn and next door to The White Lion, there's a chip shop around the corner and a kebab/burger place opposite that.

I had the same problem when I bought my current boat and solved it by fitting a new calorifier. I found that the 'coil' inside the old calorifier was a very thin pipe that fitted inside the 15mm tank fittings and simply went to the middle of the tank and back to the side again in a square 'U' shape. The previous owners claimed that they always had hot water after a cruise but I found that the water was barely warm after an hour on the mooring. Ric.

Didn't work for me either, needs forward slashes not backward slashes: http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/worcesterjudoclub/index2.htm Ric. Edited to say I use Firefox

Wilkinsons have multicoloured golfball sized lights with LEDs in that run off a 3 volt AD/DC adapter but come with a battery pack for testing how they look in the shop, £12.99 They also have some tiny LED lights in one colour only [the green are really bright] on a cable about 6 foot long with a 2x AA battery pack, batteries included, £2.99 Sainsbury's have USB powered mini glitter 'lava' lamps for £5 [3 for the price of 2], the glitter swirls around properly too. You can get cigarette socket to USB adapters in some pound shops. A store called 'Colour Supplies' in Oswestry, Wrexham and Whitchurch have 12v ropelights for about £7 and a very kitch Santa on a sleigh with reindeers in white plastic with half a dozen or so coloured lights in it and a cheap cigarette socket plug on for under £2. I bought some battery powered heart shaped jelly lights with LEDs in from Tescos last year but I don't have a store near me so I don't know what they have this year. Ric.

I brought it home and put it in my shed, not installed, just stored. I don't have any use for it if that's what you're asking. Ric.