Scholar Gypsy

Me neither - but it's quite common to be doing 6 or 7 knots over the ground: 4 kts through the water plus 2-3 kts tide.

That's true, but I wouldn't like to try paying out rope by hand when travelling at 6 knots over the ground: just chuck the anchor over the side and get out of the way ...

That will be more than enough - if anything a bit too long, especially if you have an engine failure close to a bridge....

Glad to hear you had a good time! Here's a plug: at 1030 on Saturday 20th July at the IWA National Festival at Cassio Park, Watford, there is a presentation on “Safe and enjoyable tideway cruising”. It features Andrew Phasey from St Pancras Club, David Phillips of the PLA (his name is at the bottom of all their notices), and Sue of Indigo Dream (RichardN's better half).

Have a good trip! You might like to check this PLA notice re Battersea railway bridge.

Dear Fudd I have done this trip several times as an experienced crew (with radio etc), which I think reduces stress levels for the skipper concerned! I may be able to do next Saturday - we would need to leave Limehouse about 1015 (BST). If you are interested please email me on sg (at) judgefamily.org.uk

You might like to look at the GPS tracker in this posting of a recent trip I did. http://nbsg.wordpress.com/2013/04/20/tideway-trip-april-2013/ It was a weak (neap) tide, and we dawdled quite a bit on the way, so averaged only 4.3 kts over the ground. (18 nm in just over 4 hours) NB also that high water is 60 mins later <edit> at Teddington, so if you leave Limehouse 3.5 hours before High Water LB then you have 4.5 hours to get to Teddington before the water starts to go out again (unless there is a lot of freshwater coming over the weir at Teddington). So the required speeds you have calculated are too high. Enjoy!

Or you can have (as I do) a mixer valve that mixes (very) hot and cold water to produce warm water for the shower and the washbasin - I have it set at a safe shower temperature very hot water fed to the galley hot tap, for washing up (and filling kettles) Note that these mixer valves should have a one-way valve inside them, so you need to add a drain point downstream of them if you drain your water system in the winter.

After passing though the wooded cutting just south of Husbands Bosworth tunnel recently, which was quite close to impassable, I dropped an email to the regional office, and got this helpful reply within 24 hours: "We cut offside vegetation in the winter outside of nesting season, we covered around 15 kilometres this winter in the worst affected areas of the South East waterway. This area is on the to do list now for next season. However I will make sure we visit this area sooner to assess and define works we can carry out specifically to maintain safe navigation sooner."

This book from the RYA tells you all you need to know to pass the test. There is a cheaper and shorter version on the website as well.

It is another one of mine, taken from PUFFIN. The other 150 or so are here... (see the links at the foot of the blog posting). Enjoy.

I would commend the pontoon moorings at Gravesend - photo from this weekend's trip below.

I use Mustos - chest high trousers, with braces, and a coat on top. And a Tilley hat which is fantastic at keeping the water off your face. The Mustos (I use a fairly light one - their inshore sailing range) are good for lock wheeling as well - I have found with some waterproofs that you can overheat with physical exertion.

Another reminder of the same effect. NB Gort near Margaretness, just downstream of Woolwich. Photo from Herbie's blog. This was caused by an easterly wind over an ebbing tide, not passing boats!

Yes, that does make more sense. My rudder (and the one in the photo I posted) is welded onto the stock, so no bolts to come loose. So the first thing for the OP to do is to find out if there the bolts you describe exist, or not.

Here's a very clear photo showing what I mean - not my boat. The skeg is the horizontal steel bar at the bottom of the photo, and you can see the vertical pin (rudder stock is the correct term) slotting into the socket on the skeg to the right of the photo.

Here's another possibility - depending on the design of the rudder (photos would be helpful). I have had this happen on my boat, after catching the rudder on a largish rock. The pin on the bottom of the rudder may have lifted out of the socket in the skeg, which can cause the rudder to flap around a bit, but it still works (sort of). In normal operation this "pin in socket" forms the bottom end of the axis about which the rudder rotates - the top end is where it comes out through the deck, through a bearing of some sort (often a very crude bearing). If you have long arms then reach down through the weed hatch and find the bottom of the rudder and see if the pin is indeed seated in the skeg. If it is not then you need a reliable helper to lift the rudder up a couple of inches and you can then (if your hands are not too cold by this time) move the pin into position above the socket, at which point your helper slowly lowers it down. Be careful not to get your finger between the rudder and the skeg, or anywhere near the socket, else you may find the fat in your finger is now turned into rudder grease. PS the above assumes that the rudder is loose, but that the tiller is securely fixed to the rudder. The other possibility is that the rudder is fine, but the tiller is not securely fixed to it. In that case tighten the nut that holds them together.

Yes, they deal with different problems. Galvanic isolators (zinc savers) prevent galvanic corrosion of anodes,zincs ,magnesiums,shafts,propellers & all underwater fittings created by the use of marina shorepower earth connections.Use of mains power in marinas creates an increase of electrical current flowing through the underwater metals leading to deterioration of fittings often resulting in major repairs for the owner! Text lifted from here. Obviously you only need these if you use shore mains power. Not needed if you only use invertor mains. Sacrificial anodes are needed because your propeller and prop shaft are made from different metal to the hull. See here. You need them even if you don't use shore power.

Any car radio. Some of these - the add on sets - look fun http://www.dabonwheels.co.uk/ I think the addon sets work by rebroadcasting on a FM frequency! they do an aerial that mounts on glass. I think you will almost certainly need an external aerial of some sort. If you get a standalone you then need to buy speakers and then an adapter to connect the radio to a 12V supply - that's the point at which you buy a cig lighter plug and a soldering iron. Or this one has a cig lighter wired in already I think.

Here's the list of moorings I used in 2011: http://www.canalworld.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=41192#entry748869 It was a great trip!

Sorry if this is slightly off topic. I plan to take the boat from Braunston through the Crick area this Saturday, en route to Market Harbourgh (first time there since 1972!). I would be grateful for advice on whether the canal (and Watford locks in particular) are likely to be particularly busy during the show itself. I see the opening hours at Watford are extended on Friday evening, so I guess C&RT are expecting some extra traffic. Many thanks in advance.

... and also apply some vaseline before you put the cover back on.

It's about 8km east of Congleton

The smartguage article is fascinating, and really surprising! I've checked the maths (rather easier using the matrix inversion function in Excel!). The key ratio in this calculation is M = (internal resistance)/(link resistance). In the example quoted M = 0.02/0.0015 = 13.3, and then the current split is indeed as quoted (see below). 17.7% 20.4% 26.1% 35.8% One has to increase M to a rather implausible 75 to get the percentages in the band 23% to 27%. So, taking all these posts together, my final proposal is here. This will achieve balanced loadings on each of the four pairs of batteries. It will also handle a failure of a single cell best, for the reason noted in an earlier post. If anyone wants to play with my Excel spreadsheet repeating the results in the smartgauge article, it is here. The OP may prefer to buy a generator instead?? I promise not to post any more on this.