Arthur Marshall

I've got an undated receipt with a name but no address on it. Luckily, no one's asked for it back yet.

I recall some extremely vituperative discussions about this in the past, with some of the lamented departed getting very heated about it,together with the legal basis for mooring fees for EOG. Really don't want to start that again, it's pointless. Anyway, the way the system is falling apart this year, we'll be lucky if we can even move, let alone park anywhere.

Whoever programmed the wotsit to pick the words definitely had a subversive sense if humour.

But a lot of drunken behaviour is on dayboats, so that wouldn't work.

Sorry! It's nigh on impossible up here.

Ah, now I understand, I'd forgotten that thing. Not a great deal of use to me as I've only got a thickphone but I can see its value.

When I zoom in on this, I get a stack of weird references showing up. Don't remember seeing them before. Pic below shows a few, such as "///pardon. newlywed. taking". All very odd... some are very peculiar indeed. Anyone else see these or has my tablet gone eccentric?

My SR2 needed a bit of a rebuild, £2500. Gearbox broke down twice at £1600 a time. Diesel leaking into the oil twice, a few hundred quid a time. A three inch bit of fuel pipe and weird fitting broke, over a ton to get a replacement plus fitting. There's probably more that I've forgotten. I suppose it's what you define as expensive, spread out over 30 years it's not bad, but it does need to be factored in. Plus trying to find anyone local to work on it, which is almost impossible now.

Of course kids run on boat roofs, they always have done and hardly any fall off,you can tell because we'd hear about it if they did. And no one said an entire boatload of drunks locking is a goood idea, but it happens occasionally and very little harm gets done. Real boaters get used to the odd idiot and enjoy the vast majority without getting too wound up about it.

Was a good trip.

Trying to do a major refit, including installing a stove, without a permanent mooring where you can have some form of power supply, would be a nightmare. You need the mooring at least while you sort the boat out, plus the logistics of moving fortnightly while resident elsewhere can also be tricky. Factor a mooring cost into your budget - an end of garden farmers field needn't cost an arm and a leg.

There were short term moorings but I think the Marina ate them. Last time I was there I couldn't find anywhere to stop either.

Nah, it's fine. Just been round the Leicester ring, met loads of nice friendly people, most boaters waved cheerfully and even most fisherplonkers. No drunks, a few kids on roofs, so what? Might be a few more addled brains on the Llangollen next month, but it's all good fun. One's own attitude has a lot to do with it.

I don't think I have ever changed the gearbox oil, worryingly. It may have been done at services, but I doubt it. It'll be due a change now as it's about 1000 hours since a rebuild, so - whats the best way to drain it? Can I just pump it out through the filler hole with a suction pump?

How often should you change the gearbox oil?

The markings on that are like the markings on mine, but the whole thing's flat. Once the oil reaches the bottom mark, it's only about another litre to get it to the top.

And no, it's not cold in winter. Or summer, for that matter. I've just got back into a centrally heated house after six weeks on the boat, and I'm freezing... Some years back, I moved from the boat into a house in the middle of a December ice age and had to have the heating on in the house on max 24 hours a day while I got used to how cold they are comparatively.

It's all private along there, both sides, so they were right I'm afraid. I think it's owned by the Marina. I'm sure there used to be signs. There are plenty of moorings round the corner going south and a few towards Chester, but the latter are noisy because of the road. But if there aren't any signs, I can't see how anyone can complain.

I found both Watford and Foxton a real pleasure. They were short of water, i presume because of Crick, but both sets of lockies were both helpful and unobtrusive. All in all, every one of them I ran into has been great, everyone asking me when I wanted anything done, checking whether I wanted their help in the first place. One (not at Watford or Foxton) had apparently just sustained a barrage of abuse from one hire boater because she refused to operate the lock for them while their six year old was running up and down the side of the boat in flip flops with no life jacket. She'd told them she was perfectly happy for them to run the lock themselves, but she wasn't going to do it till the child was in the boat. I don't think that counts as her being a plonker with an attitude...

I've just noticed there seems to be a bolt missing at the bak of my LH150 gearbox. Doesn't seem to be causing problems, but can someone advise me if there should be a bolt in there, and if so, what! You can see the hole at the top left of the pic.

No, mostly because if they have no name or index number they won't be on a database, will they?

Some of them may well have such agreements, but it's unlikely that they all have, or there'd be an awful lot of very sick people living on boats,or just happening to break down on the most convenient moorings. Certainly the number of dumpers and overstayers has increased year on year, as has the quantity of boats with no visible licence, name and number. Can't say it bothers me that much, but it probably should CRT.

On my SR2, the ducting on the port side is the hot air eject. The air intake is just a hole in the hull on the other side. . I use 6 inch ducting for the eject, seems ok.

Thanks - obviously been some changes in the last twenty years...

Coming off the Soar and turning left on the Trent, I have a vague memory (it's twenty years since I did it last) that the locks are operated by lockkeepers unti I reach the canal. Last time I was in a bit of panic as it was more or less in flood, so I don't remember much. Do I need a phone number to advise them I'm coming? And is that still the case, anyway? Advice welcome...