Moorings

Along with the SC Skipper's Guide on the boat we always have: Exploring the Edinburgh to Glasgow Canals. Hamish Brown. Mercat Press, Edinburgh, 2006. ISBN 1-84183-096-8. Based on walking the towpath but plenty of current and historical information. From Sea to Sea - A History of the Scottish Lowland and Highland Canals. Len Paterson. Neil Wilson Publishing, Glasgow, 2006. ISBN 1-903238-94-3. Fairly detailed history including the re-opening. We bought both these a few years ago at the Falkirk Wheel so I don't know if they're still available. There were copies in Kirkintilloch library last year. Ken.

We were moored at Barton until a few weeks ago. Noise from the pub wasn't too bad (although we were on one of the more distant piers) but the noise from the A38 really did prevent a decent night's sleep. Shops are good but very expensive. Facilties fine and good atmosphere but, as others have mentioned, it can be very windy as there is almost no shelter from the south west and there's not much room to manoeuvre. It always seemed to be blowing a gale whenever we went anywhere! Ken.

Thanks for the link. It is indeed wired as per Gibbo's Method 1 in that link and I can now see that it is wrong. What I've also just noticed is that the charging cables are connected to the battery adjacent to the dry one, not to the terminals where the load is taken from. Surely that can't be right? (To clarify, if we have batteries numbered 1 to 4 connected in parallel where 4 is the dry one, then the load to the boat is connected to 1 and the charging cables to 3 if that helps). Ken.

It is indeed at one end of the bank - the one furthest away from the connections to the rest of the boat. Ken.

Having recently bought a 5 year old boat (on the original batteries) I decided to check the electrolyte levels. All were fine and didn't need topping up, except for one of the four 110 Ah leisure batteries. This was extremely dry and took at least 500 ml into one cell alone to get the level above the plates, at which point I suspected a leak and decided not to top up the other cells until I'd consulted the knowledgeable here! However, the area around the battery remained dry and there is no sign of acid damage to the paintwork in the area. So, what might be happening? All the connections are firm, 14.3V is present at all four leisure battery terminals when being charged via the Victron or the alternator, so why is this one battery so dry?

Thanks for all those responses. I don't think I'd favour the "cash in bag" approach - at least not these days! Thanks again (and thanks for the welcome MJG - been reading for many years, but decided it was about time to join up).

After much dithering we're finally going to buy a secondhand narrowboat. We've already looked at a few through brokers but if buying privately what's the generally accepted protocol (or isn't there one)? 1. Make an offer subject to survey with or without a non-refundable deposit, or is it accepted that if you're paying for a lift out and survey then you must be serious? 2. Is there any document similar to a car registration document that gives at least some confidence that the seller actually owns the boat? 3. If the boat is currently securing a loan, how can you be assured the seller will pay it off with the proceeds of the sale? Or is it a case of crossing fingers...... We're cash buyers if that makes any difference. Sorry if these seem rather naive questions, but we've saved for a long time for this and would hate it to go wrong! Thanks.