Bob18

You can have a "good" sg, a "good" voltage, (on an apparently fully charged battery) but have plates that have deteriorated to the point where they aren't holding anything like the energy they once did, or can't deliver the stored energy as fast as they once did. A discharge test is designed to give an indication of the amount of energy stored and how quickly it can be drawn from the battery.

While she gets a cold shower...

What was the hull thickness on the 1980 survey - that will give you an indication of how fast the plates are thinning...

Sources for LED MR11 - Bedazzled and Baddie the Pirate Both are boaters (or at least have a boat), and do some quiet useful stuff.

I find my current apprentice quite up to the task - the last person he gently restrained was some Fijian rugby player by the name of Lumo.

Biz, that's why I have an apprentice, to carry the heavy bits (but not the rum)

Ah, my secret is out

Biz, Thanks for your advice, I do however find a 14lb sledge hammer to be more effective than a simple mallet, however I will concede that a certain amount of practice is required to prevent "collateral damage" due to an over eager hammer blow on the back of the bonce....

Biz, will Pusser's do instead of Woods?

A few of the things from my first aid box: Several clean towels to mop up the blood/puke from around the area, and other non-sterile cleaning up. STERILE absorbent, non-lint dressings to absorb blood (best are undoubtedly those used by the military, but they are far from cheap) A CPR mask (If you don't know how to use one go and do a CPR course which reminds me I must do a refresher) Triangular bandages are great, but they are a bit of a challenge, in which case rolls of sterile bandage will do (nearly) as well. Tearable dressing tape - quicker than tying a knot to secure bandages when your hands are shaking... A sheet of tough polythene A couple of thermal blankets A bit of car tow rope with a large loop in one end (don't ask, but it was life saver once) A couple sealed eye wash bottles. A sharp knife and a medium sized pair of scissors No medicines or drugs - they are in the medicine box which sits next to the first aid box.

Mike - you forgot the real hero of their adventure, that illustrious sausage snaffling hound called Jim...

Well you may, but its more frequent to be rained on, and knowing you've got your dry stuff handy is "quite comforting"

Take your time, particularly around locks. Don't attempt to go too far in a day. Make sure you have warm dry clothes where you can get them Think ahead Take your time Enjoy yourself

Some do, some don't. Its a listable ingredient, so should be on the label in very small print. Mixing washing up liquid with white spirit works very well, because the detergent is already in a non-aqueous phase and so the hydrophobic part finds it easier to attach to the grease directly rather than having to "fight" its way through a layer of water; when you add water to get it off the surface the detergent is firmly bound to the grease at one end, but its hydrophilic end is able to bind to the water quite readily. Sorry, there's lots of fun chemistry in detergents...

Not so much a disagreement as one guy trying to sell batteries, and the other avoiding paying out on warranty claims - normal commercial discussion in progress

Not only "quite cheap" (£50 for a claim between £300 and £500) you can do it on line, which saves a few quid (£35 for a claim between £300 and £500) And that is the limit of your exposure, and if you win that money can be (is?) added to your claim, so it may actually cost nothing if you win. The biggest hassle is filling in the forms and working out what you can/can't claim so a trip to a CAB may help (and that can be a lot less than paying a solicitor for the same advice.)

Apart from "price".... The output from a "pure sine wave" inverter is a good approximation to a sine wave, and look very much like ordinary mains. The output from a "modified sine wave" inverter is made up from a small number of square waves and looks very "boxy". Simplest is to say that your kettle will work with both, while "fancy electronic stuff" may not work properly with a modified sine wave inverter. Provided the inverter has the rating just about any mains powered stuff will work with a pure sine wave inverter. There are two things to look at when thinking about the rating, first is the "continuous" rating, its easy to see if this is sufficient just add up all your loads, plus a bit for contingency, and if it is less than the rating of your inverter all should be well, once everything is running. The second is the "transient overload" capability, some things take a massive amount of power to start and very little to run (fridges are among the "worst offenders" as they can take ten times their running current while they start, and if they can't get that current they may continue to try to start until something gets too hot....) the better inverter manufacturers publish this information, often in the form "xAmps for ySeconds overload capability". This can be a bit of hit and miss as how much is required can be down to the individual bit of equipment rather than the model or type...

Is it that people are just "forgetting" to turn their lights off? I've been stuck in too many nocturnal motorway accident tailbacks and in nearly everyone I've had someone in my sight who has their headlights on, gradually dimming to little glow-worms, and then failing to start when the traffic moves off... Its not so bad in daylight, but with the increasing use of daylight running lights its bound to become more of an issue.

And once the card company pays you they are quite entitled to reclaim that money from the merchant, and as they are a "bigger organisation" than you are they are probably a little less worried about the cost of recovery...

It is almost certainly a "single step" charger, designed to sling 50A into a 24v battery. It will start at 50A, then as the battery gets charged the current will drop, but will never do a "proper" absorption charge never mind a float charge. Some were capable of working against 12V (or even 48V) batteries, but they were less common. Great bit of kit, but a little on the noisy side unless you can find some straw bales to hide it behind...

Happy Christmas everyone

Missed that one :-( Small format and very (un)informative - can't argue with the claim "Somewhere Different"....

While the website is still showing its "collection of half truths" the Waterways world advert no longer appears in print. The difference being that the website is under the control of Barby Moorings, but the publication of an advert is under the control of the magazine, and they don't like upsetting the ASA if they can help it. (Or Barby have run out of money to pay for the ads...)

I've seen those bits of bent metal and pondered on their function as cheap stuff doesn't normally have things that aren't needed.

Great for stews, casseroles, soups - things that need time to cook, and not too worried about being over cooked. Winter cruising, get the stove going nice and steady, use a good heavy bottomed pot and enjoy the fact that when you stop a hot meal will be ready. Edit to add - its worth having a "pan guard" around the top of the stove to prevent the pan making a bid for the floor...