JDR

I started the boat the other day and the engine died after ten minutes.Fuel OK to lift pump but nothing getting to filter.Lift pump bypassed and engine ran OK. Lift pump blown through, put back on and works Ok, lifts fuel to filter when pumping lever but engine only runs for half an hour before being starved of fuel again. It is a sealed unit with no access to take apart. Can the lift pump be faulty but still work on the lever when manually pumped? Is it time to sell body parts and get a new lift pump from Beta?

Trickiest lock on the whole stretch is also the smallest, County lock approaching Reading. Be prepared to stop under the bridge before the lock. Use stern line first downstream and bow lines when going upstream. EA website shows Thames river conditions.Thames is very placid above Reading unless there is a strong stream warning. I wouldn't navigate on Yellow ( flow increasing) or Red boards but otherwise no problem. You may need longer ropes for Thames locks, an anchor is always a good move on any river but no other special equipment needed. The river is wide and deep, speeding boats won't affect you like a canal. Good free moorings at Pangbourne, Beale Park and five days free at Abingdon with a handy chandlers.Buy a licence at first manned lock, Blakes or Caversham.

Think it's a bit short for a 60' boat let alone a 70'.

Do your "pre-flight" checks before you untie in the morning, oil level, water level, inspection of belts.Grease the stern gland when you stop at night, take it slow in locks and don't forget to always keep boat forward of the cill going down, it's easy to get distracted or complacent. Try and share locks where possible it's less work and if you're lucky you might be able to team up with another boat headed in your direction. Good luck, enjoy the trip.

They may be genuine, I'm just very cynical of cheap stuff on ebay. If they are what they claim to be then still no use for an off grid setup like a boat as I haven't seen a controller that can deal with 400+ voc. I suspect these are designed for industrial or home use probably with expensive inverters working above 230v.I'm still struggling to see the advantage of such a hv panel.I thought amorphous panels were limited in efficiency to 10% so would only be of use where you couldn't physically fit other panels.

A monocrystalline panel costing £100-120 should put out about 19v, an amorphous panel less.This guy has either made a typo, a world leading breakthrough in solar technology or more probably has overdone it on psychotropics.I don't suppose he has £100m from a recently deposed African dictator looking for a safe home?

Double post edit

The power is rated in Amp Hours, ie: a common size leisure battery is 110Ah. This will in theory be able to supply 1A for 110 hours BUT if you tried to power a high current device from the same battery it would run out of charge much quicker. In addition you don't want to run the battery or batteries below 50% of their rated capacity if you want them to last. Google "Smartgauge" and have a read of the tech pages. It will expksin charging, what size charger you need, the advantage of adding mote batteries (Peukert's law) and more useful stuff it is worth knowing.

Cut two lines down the entire length and reduce the beam to 6'10"? Sorry couldn'y resist.

My wish list would include... Front T-stud reinforced to be able to deal with the potential strain of deploying an anchor. Access to inspect and clean water tank without having to dismantle cratch. Easy access to gas bottles. Water drain at lowest point on fuel tank (have yet to see one in the flesh). Easy access to first water trap/agglomerator. Easy access to weed hatch.

Try Trevor at Stoke Golding, 07811 space 314112. Highly recommended and very reasonable. May be a bit out of his area but I'd recommend trying him, works on anything.

No worries happy hunting.

At the risk of being presumptious I'm selling a 60ft 1991 trad in the next few weeks.It was built by Ward Marine in Boston, has a Beta BV1505 engine, Beta BV1305 10kva inboard genset,250w Sanyo HIT solar, washing machine, new cratch and external paint last year, recent full engine service including new injectors, PRM260 gearbox. If you're interested nd me a PM. Definitely better value than the boats you've listed above.Need a quickish sale as moving abroad. Will be in Braunston area this weekend if you want to have a look. Cheers John PS:Picture of NB Aquarius in gallery/boats.

Drug use should be treated as a medical issue with an emphasis on education and harm reduction.In the US somewhere in the region of 50% of the Federal Prison population were convicted on drugs related charges. Portugal decriminalised drug use over ten years ago as an attempt to combat spiralling levels of HIV infection from intravenous drug use and the experiment has worked, infection rates have dropped dramatically.

The narrowboat Louth used to be Stephen Goldsborough's own boat. It has a five cylinder Nanni and raw water cooling and has surprised a few gin palaces on the Thames.I moored next to Rich for a couple of years and have to confess to envy for a great boat.

Don't forget the compulsory beard.An Uncle Albert would be a safe choice for a beginner, maybe progressing to a Gimli, Gandalf or Hagrid with time.Unless your female of course, then something more contemporary like a Mr T might be more appropriate.

There is a big difference between wanting to be self sufficient in terms of food/energy and isolating yourself from the society you live in.True isolation to me conjurs up an image of somebody on a desert island having meaningful conversations with a football. Self sufficiency means not buying food from shops and not paying energy suppliers for fuel. No need for this to be incompatible with living within a nation state and obeying the laws of the land.

You would have more chance of success if you wanted to be fully self sufficient if you could buy a piece of land somewhere in Europe where the climate is more favourable. In Britain you are limited to when you can plant and harvest and solar is a non starter over winter.Ideally some land with a borehole for water, wood for fuel, good soil for growing veg and space to keep chickens and livestock. More importantly in a hotter climate you could grow vines and become self sufficient for plonk as well.Parts of rural Spain or Portugal would be the first place I would look. In Spain and Portugal Madrona is a common wild plant that is alcoholic before fermentation,bung it straight in a still, job done, drink yourself blind for free while topping up the tan.

I would personally cover the panels with a tarp or blanket before connecting thr live cables to the MPPT if you are doing the job in daylight.

Look on it as an oppotunity to get rid of stuff you don't need.I wouldn't waste money on storage, flog it, bin it or give it away.It can be difficult at first but is a very liberating process, once you start you may find a momentum builds and you start enjoying it.

I thought he abandoned the race close to Cape Horn, at which point Knox-Johnston had about a three week lead. It is certainly very possible that he could have won. I read "A World of My Own" which was Knox-Johnston's version. Fascinating story with some tragic twists like Donald Crowhurst hiding in S. America.

Go for small LED tellys. A 15" LED should be rated at somewhere around 45 watts for using with a 240v socket via an inverter, you might find very efficient 17" or 19" tellys in 240v or 12v but any bigger and you're looking at more power use. Read the labels on the back of the telly it will state the power consumption at a given voltage.