kevinl

There is now an enforcement officer and "We will clamp down on unauthorised Canal and River Trust over stayers" according to a letter that came with my new licence. K

The locker Adelka mentions in post No.4 "I'm a liveaboard and yes, there's a gas locker. " K

Why not buy a blowlamp, about a tenner from toolstation runs off a gas canister Used correctly it's still the best way to strip paint unless you have a GRP that is. K

The Bridgewater is already privately owned and has been for over 250 years. K

It's actually Netto who are returning to the UK in partnership with Sainsbury's who are opening the new shop not Aldi. Here's a link to the pubs on the Bridgewater. http://www.canalandriversidepubs.co.uk/Bridgewater.htm K

There are several models of the speedwell if you google image it, what about a Mayland Maestro that's a possible too. There are quite a few clinker style GRP boats but not that many. K

Bridgewater Marina (AKA Boothtown marina) near Worsley do day hire and as suggested Bridgehouse marina near Garstang is good too but they only do cruisers (from their website) £80 weekdays £90 weekends, I've hire from them in the past, nice bit of the world. K

Castlefield's in the process of being "re-organised as it's not working in it's current configuration". Who knows what this means but I guess it may be the moaners in the flats have won and some of the moorings will be taken away to keep them happy. As has been said the elsan there has long been a problem due to abusers blocking it, I blame vegetarians and their huge logs. K

Hi Danny, welcome to the forum it looks a lot like a Shetland Speedwell but I'm not entirely convinced (see link below), what length is it? K http://www.jonesboatyard.co.uk/boat-sales/shetland-speedwell-boats-for-sale.html

Neither are playing that day, England are playing Sam Merino and you've missed the Gay Pride festival by a week. K

Does anyone really expect the police or indeed anyone other than boaters to understand our etiquette of not going onto a boat without being asked? The police went on the front deck (I understand) not in the boat, so the same as walking up the path to a front door to knock and ask about a missing person. There is a thing called implied right od access, I never consented to anyone entering my property (path/garden) to knock on the door but they do or to put letters and leaflets through it, unless there is a sign to the contrary then anyone can do so, in this case the police lady did what she thought was the right thing and if boaters do it differently then there you go. The big picture is they are looking for a vulnerable adult who may have come to harm, far more important than; should you knock from the outside or any feeling of having had your privacy infringed. K

Just use the old fashioned blow lamp and scraper, you can buy one for the price of a couple of cans of paint stripper and although not fashionable they actually do work very well. I stripped back countless layers of paint mainly anti slip on about 2 square metres of deck in a couple of hours including all the fiddly corners on a springer "moustache", piece of cake. Burning paint off was the norm until houses all got UPVC windows and inside it's too dangerous but outside on steel it works brilliantly you can get ever bit out of every corner. As said wire cups and brushes in an angle grinder for the big bits but for detail you can't beat a blow lamp and the old triangular scraper. Bonus is it costs peanuts too K

I thought that too, presumably as there is no proof of ownership as such them I guess you've have to contact the previous owner. Luck I'm not a VAT inspector. K

Extending it to 40 feet may be possible but changing it from GRP to "Metal hull" is a bit of a job There's a nice looking one for sale on the link below £2,900 asking price. K http://www.boatsandoutboards.co.uk/Canal-Narrow-Boats-for-sale/dalescraft-26-foot-cruiser/73534#VMlsGJTWFpba82Fj.97

What makes a TV a "caravan TV"? why is this one more suited than any other 12 volt TV is what I can't figure out. There's no explanation as to how it does a better job, is it made to take the fluctuating power, is it more vibration and shockproof, does it take extremes of temperature and humidity better. If I understood the reasons I'd be more inclined to buy one. Having said that at £99 it's a bargain for the spec if the power consumption is low enough I might be tempted. K

You could try Pillings Lock Marina K

As the OP comes from Western Australia I somehow doubted he'd be sailing it all the way home, might be good though the first Springer in Kalgoorlie. Anyway as I said the VAT is on the broker's mark up not on the boat. K

If you're buying a second hand boat then you only pay VAT on the brokerage part of the transaction, so if you buy a £50k boat and £45k goes to the owner then you pay 20% of the £5k brokerage fees so £1k in VAT. You can only claim back the VAT when you export goods and as you won't be exporting the transaction then you can't reclaim it. K