Major42

I recently applied for our licence online and have just received our licence "disks" as in previous years. I was not expecting to receive anything other than an acknowledgement, perhaps a C&RT have changed their minds again.

There was a Dometic 2500 vacflush and Ceramic bowl fitted to our boat when we bought her and we purchased a third cassette to give spare capacity while out boating. There were no problems for the first four years but last year we had some difficulty taking out the cassette so I cleaned the seals and lubricated with Vaseline. This worked well for a time but then the cassette became more and more difficult to remove. I contacted Lee San for new seals and they asked if I wanted their "special" grease which I queried and got told that some people used other lubricants such as Vaseline which "made matters worse". I wasn't convinced but I ordered the "special" grease and low and behold it works and the cassette is now very easy to remove. I planned to strip the toilet, clean and service it this winter but on our final trip last year the toilet would not flush so I had to strip it there and then. The problem was some hard waste matter preventing the vacuum pump diaphragm sealing correctly thus no suction. Everything got cleaned out at the time and a dab of the "special" grease applied to all seals. A messy job at the time but everything went back together and will hopefully be good for another 5 years plus. Major

I'm happy with a galvanic isolator, never tried an isolation transformer though I can't see any problem unless you site it within a couple of feet of your pacemaker. Passing it occasionally should not cause you any distress. I was always told that if I got a reaction from a source to move away and my pacemaker would reset itself, so far so good. By the way I use a petrol driven chain saw and a 'Sea-Searcher' on occasion with no problems though I haven't passed through the BA metal detector yet. Major

We will be leaving Calf Heath early May heading for the Lancaster Followed by a trip back down to Liverpool then possibly a return via the Peak Forrest. May see you somewhere along the way. Major

I emailed BW earlier this month and Ruth Moran confirmed that the maximum draft on the Ribble Link for 2012 would be 2'9". [Quote) Re: Water Draught, Maximum Depth for the Ribble Link British Waterways has been in the process of undertaking depth surveys on the Ribble Link in order to ascertain a definitive water draught. Using a combination of technical information resulting from the recent surveys and anecdotal evidence from the past ten years of operating boat passages on the Ribble Link, we can now confirm the official maximum draught to be accepted for Ribble Link passages is 2’9” or 825cms. Please be advised that on the grounds of safety, any craft exceeding the maximum dimensions will not be permitted passage. (End Quote) We will be going up early May so I've been interested reading this post. Major

According to the Ribble Link Trust Website the maximum length through the locks is 72' though there is some manoeuvring required on entry/exit. The problem seems to be that the Rufford Branch locks are specified as 62'. Major

I missed it but notice there is a repeat on BBC1 on Friday 20th at 00.25am

I'm guessing that until the Trust feel that sufficient funding is in place they cannot apply to the Charities Commission so debate must continue.

We use a couple of round fenders we got from the chandlers a couple of years back. I do like the screwfix wheelbarrow wheels though, they look ideal.

No new news for us but a reasonably balanced article for the general public.

Hello from another new member to this site. I have enjoyed reading some of the topics and decided it was time to join. Sue and I purchased a 3rd hand 42' Stenson Nb about 5 years ago and have been very pleased with her. We are both retired so have had time to enjoy cruising as often as we can. We are moored at Hatherton on the Staffs and Worcs so we are in an ideal spot (I think) to access most of the system. I've picked up a few tips from this site and look forward to contributing in the future. Major