Dave_P
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Posts posted by Dave_P
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What's the longest journey which can be made on British canals? Canal Planner has 430 miles for Ripon to Bristol. Is there anything longer? I don't mean artificially inventing a long and winding route. I mean the shortest / quickest journey between two points.
Just wondering...
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My stove was tired and leaking, decided to replace it rather than repair even though I could, got £132 for it on Ebay a nice slice off the new stove cost.
I have played the repair game before and TBH 90% of the time its just not worth the effort
Thanks for the suggestion. Just one small flaw in the plan: new squirell - approx £800. Minus approx £130 for old one. Amount to pay approx £630. Right now I'd struggle with £30! We students aren't known for our limitless wealth!
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Thanks for all the responses guys. I've been watching the readout on my CO detectors regularly and they've never showed anything other than 0ppm since this happened. (They have in the past but that's a different matter). So I'm not overly worried for the time being. I think I will be putting a new stove top on my shopping list though.
If the screws on the old top have set solid (likely) what's the best way forward? Grind off the screws and drill new screw holes? I'm not sure I'm handy enough to do a proper job of that.
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I wasn't really worried about a fire hazard since the bit that has broken off hasn't left a hole leading to the fire box. It's really just from the sort-of back lip of the stove top. There is a smoke detector nearby and there's no smoke escaping. The fire triangle (heat, fuel, O2) doesn't exist here anymore than if the stove was undamaged, I don't store wood nearby and the surround is correctly tiled and hasn't changed since my last boat safety inspection.
I'll try and upload a photo of the damaged bit later.
My concern was that that if the damage caused further deterioration over time, CO might start to escape. So how can I prevent that? And how can I repair the stove?
As things are I would be more concerned about the risk of hypothermia if I stopped using it!
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For a while now I've had a small crack on the top of my stove in the corner at the left rear. Recently I've noticed the crack getting a bit bigger so I had a poke at it with my finger and a small section of the stove top has completely broken off in the corner. About an inch or so long.
Should I be worried about CO escaping and is there anything i can easily do to repair it? Also, what might have caused the crack in the first place?
My stove in centrally located in my boat and I have carbon monoxide detectors both fore and aft of it, neither of which have gone off.
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My first move would be to arrange an appointment at the citizens advice bureau. They will be able to tell you where you stand legally and what measures you need to take to recover your costs.
As other people have said, walk away from this boat. These people don't deserve your custom.
I bought my boat at ******** and I now have mixed feelings about them (long story).
I used to moor next to someone who bought from Whilton and he usually starts swearing as soon as their name is mentioned!
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I seem to recall that when this all started HMRC advised that there was no requirement for boaters to keep records of fuel purchased, and so it would be difficult for them to bring a case against a boater. They would have to collate information from all the fuel suppliers you had used to determine what declarations you had made.
How would they know which fuel suppliers you had used, unless you told them?
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Johnny Castaway! Yeah!
Yes, I was glued to Johnny Castaway too! Is it still available?
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If the boat owner has been clever and set his rudder at an angle to the river flow the back of the boat will stay clear of the staithe.
How does that work? Depending on the way the rudder is set, it will just push the bow or the stern over the staithe. Won't it?
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Taxman: Could you show us your fuel purchasing records for the last 5 years.
Boater: No. I haven't kept any.
Taxman: Why?
Boater: Didn't think it mattered.
Taxman: Why?
Boater: I only use red-diesel.
Taxman: Do you move this boat ever?
Boater: No.
Taxman: We've been spying on your boat for the last five years and we have proof that you've been all over the place.
Boater: Oh yeah. I forgot.
Taxman: So why haven't you used white diesel when travelling?
Boater: Oh I did. I carried diesel back from petrol stations in a jerry-can to cover my propulsion costs. And I paid cash.
Taxman: Er.....
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This thread has certainly captivated a few -
44 User(s) are reading this topic
26 members, 15 guests, 3 anonymous users
John Holden,Catrin,8 Hairy Feet,KevMc,Rich,NoFixedAbode,Timleech,Jo_,Lucysplace,Paul C,Unmani,Gazboatman,Up-Side-Down,Midnight,jelunga,Bones,leeco,Ace 01,khaffra,nigel carton,matty40s,Theo,Tinker Fox,Dekazer,canals are us?,chazzy
It's genuinely gripping stuff. Beats Big Brother any day! I never knew watching a webcam could be so exciting. What will happen next? Will a beaver arrive and start gnawing through the ropes? Will the owners return to their boats riding on dolphins?
I think there will be a collective cheer on this forum if it all ends well. How can we let the boat owners know that they've become minor celebrities?
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Hi All,
We are going into the water this week for the first time..very exciting! but we will need to get some diesel in her.
Am I right in assuming we can use red diesel, so long as its for heating? - If this is the case, how much should it be roughly?
There are facilities in the marina, but is it cheaper to go to a fuel merchant place?
Thanks
Toby.
Last time I was buying diesel at Wheaton Aston, I had a nosey at the splits being declared by previous customers (they keep it all on a list) and they varied between 100% red to 40% red / 60% white. This is going to make a big difference to the price. 100% red will cost around 78p per litre somewhere cheap. You could be paying £1.30 a litre on a 40/60 split.
To be on the right side of the law, you need to be able to justify what you've bought. If you have a permanent mooring and NEVER move your boat, you should be ok on 100% split. If you continuously cruise, you'll need a very convincing reason for doing the same if HMRC comes knocking. Perhaps you have a pedalo system installed in your boat and propel yourself that way?
The question is, what is the likelihood of HMRC checking up on you? On past evidence - practically zero. I'm sure that makes it tempting for some to declare 100% red to save a few bob. For myself, I always declare a split, even if it's small. Then I feel a bit better about not risking being prosecuted for tax evasion.
A marina that declares a compulsory split (ie 60/40) and then takes your money with no paperwork could well be commiting fraud by pocketing the duty element and then stating 100% domestic to HMRC.
I have been to two marinas recently that didn't require me to sign any paperwork, I have also been to Wheaton Aston who has a comprehensive spreasheet with all previous customer boats/owners and splits declared......and I had to sign for the declaration I made.
If I were HMRC, I would be looking at the marinas where 100% domestic is declared as standard rather than try to chase a boater or two around.
Good point. I'd always assumed that the 60/40 splitters simply didn't understand how the system worked and were scared that they could be prosecuted for selling anything else. Unlikely as that sounds.
To be honest, I'd rather HMRC didn't look at anything to do with the canals, marinas or otherwise. I can only see it leading to unforeseen and unwanted issues. As it is, I simply don't buy from anyone who enforces a split on me.
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As a complete novice I would
like to ask what the best course
of action to save these boats
would be once the level starts dropping.
steffxxx
Good question. I've never been in that situation but I'd want to be on the boat with a decent length pole to push the boat away from the bank as the level drops. Could be a long, hard shift though. Is there an easier way?
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I use Photobucket..
Clcik upload, top center of screen.
Then Browse Files, then select the image I want, stored on my computer, then click upload.
Once it's uploaded, a thumbnail picture apears below, which I then click on.
Then once the picture has loaded up, click on 'IGM code' which is placed to the right of the larger image.
It should then go yellow and say 'copied'.
Then just paste the code into the reply box on here.
Easy.
I don't have or want photobucket or flickr. so i'll just not bother in future.
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So they've got the people off... any idea if the boats will be safe?
That's my worry. At least least if they're on the boats, they can control things as the water levels drop and avoid grounding on the railings or something similar. Having said that, I bet they're just glad they're safe for now.
I upload them to Photobucket then use the link provided.
Martin,(The Dog House) has done a guide somewhere but I haven't looked at it as I've been here so long that I haven't needed it.
Someone will know where it is though.
I tried uploading to the gallery here and linking to that but I couldn't get the actual picture to display in the thread. Thanks for the help though, your pictures were much better than my measly effort anyway.
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Carlt - How do I attach images directly into a thread like that?
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Looks like a rescue may be in progress!
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I was walking past there on Saturday morning. I seem to remember both boats being moored there at the time (but not breasted up). The at that time the river level was an inch or so from the top of the bank and I was a little concerned for the boats. There is a floating pontoon about 100 yards downstream from the boats. If I had seen any signs of life on these boats I would have suggested walking them down to the pontoon and mooring there for safety since the forecast was for levels to rise further. The pontoon is for the trip boats (which obviously weren't running) and I suspect that the boat owners were reluctant to moor there because they usually wouldn't be allowed. Of course, it's possible that the owners weren't with their boats on saturday.
Maybe I should have done more.
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There is nothing suspect of that kind of rate at all its simple, everyone took a mortgage either fixed or tracker or endowment(in his case interest only rather than repayment), others did pretty much nothing like us, we took out variable mortgage which tracks boe 0.69& above, if you asked if it was a good rate 4 years ago it was terrible but allows overpayments which is the reason for it, your not fixed in for a term and its for full length of mortgage and you can change whenever, now cos of the crash its bloody awesome. Simples...Had mortgage of 130k paying £840 a month, since then paid 30k off and now have mortgage at £390 a month.
If it's interest only then that's different, I must have missied where he said that. Of course, interest rates rise as well as fall.
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You need to stop sulking Dave_P
You didn't look that old, Sue.
(nice to meet you)
Sulking?
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Really? Even without any interest it will take you nearly 110 years to pay it off at that rate!
That's what I was going to say. Something tells me that these figures are highly suspect. Even for an interest only morgage I struggle to believe that figure.
And on the general point, comparing boat v house is pretty futile because living costs for either are as high as you want them to be or as low as you can put up with.
If I really had to choose, I would say that, if your circumstances allow it, at the bottom end of the scale, you can live more comfortably on a very low income on a boat.
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There are marinas which also have canalside moorings along the cut near the marina entrance. I'm pretty sure some of these have leccy. So you would be able to have everything you want.
As far as residential/post etc goes, tell the site owner that you're there for less than 50% of the time and they should be fine for you to be officially non-residential. In my experience, the more laid back owners are quite happy for moorers to have post delivered to their office, chandlery etc even if they're officially non-residential, so the address the bank, dvla etc have for you would be your mooring address.
The fact is that there are tons of people living unofficially in marinas and staying under-the-radar. When I asked BW for an official response to how much of the time I could be staying on my BW leisure mooring they were quite evasive and tried to suggest that I should ask my local planning dept (yeah right!) When I pressed them they gave a response that they would prefer moorers to be on their moorings for no more than "4 or 5 nights a week". Seems to me that you fall well within that.
Also bear in mind that not all marinas are big 200+ boat affairs. I moor in a basin on the Huddersfield Broad canal so we're stacked in like a marina, except there's only about 15 boats. We still have all the usual marina facilities though.
How long is the canal network?
in General Boating
Posted
I wondered about that, but is it further than Bristol?
CanalPlan gives 428 miles from Ripon to Tonbridge but that involves going past the Isle of Grain. Allowing that wouldn't be much different to continuing from Bristol to Avonmouth, down the Severn Estuary to Bude and up the Bude Canal.