eightacre

I put some short strips on bow and stern 4 years ago. Still working fine.

We were up around Ellesmere at the same time, and I think we met you at a lock - mind you there were several Americans, Canadians, Australians, Norwegians, Danes etc enjoying our waterways this summer. Too many people set out with the objective of getting to Llangollen, condemning themselves to lengthy days of boating. I think you did exactly the right thing, and took your time. That, to me, is what boating should be like. Great photos.

I have a log-periodic and there are few places where I can't get a reasonable signal. I suggest you check your coax cable between aerial and receiver. Use a good quality cable with as few connectors as possible. Worked for me.

I purchased a 20" Cello recently. No problems, British made by Goodmans. I found it worth getting the version with DVD and USB. The USB socket allows recording or time-delaying of programmes.

My preference is clockwise, and with a first stop at Penkridge. Other places I would recommend are: The Anchor at High Offley (if open!) - a unique pub; Nantwich; Church Minshull; Wheelock; Stone; Weston-upon-Trent. Those are just places I have stopped in the past, and I am sure others have plenty of alternative suggestions.

We have a Mikuni, and as you say, there is no way to get hot water only without heating the rads. In summer we turn off the rads and mostly use the engine to heat the water.

We have a little "Altius" DAB radio from Aldi. Cost about £15, rechargeable from a USB. Ideal.

I have had good results using Craftmasters Carnauba, but I do find International Marine Wax rather easier to use. http://www.yachtpaint.com/gbr/diy/products/boatcare/marine-wax.aspx

We have a 5m cable to connect to the hook-up point when moored stern-in, and a 15m extension to add on when bow-in. No need for the complexity of socket switching.

There are some animated knots here: http://www.boatsafe.com/marlinespike/knots.htm I have to say, I have never used a sheepshank!

The fuse is to protect the charger.

We have travelled that route many times, and it is certainly a favourite. You may require some long-ish days to do the full trip to Worcester and back - remember the upstream trip from Worcester to Stourport is the better part of a full day's boating. We usually stop at Compton - for the shops, but there are good eateries and pubs nearby. Wightwick Manor is an NT property a short distance from the canal. Kinver has plenty going on, and our favourite mooring is at Whittington Horse Bridge where it is a short walk up the hill to the Whittington Inn. The Lock Inn at Wolverley is a must and certainly dog-friendly. Kidderminster is good for shops, but we usually move somewhere quieter overnight. Stourport is not to be missed - there are usually plenty of moorings in the town, and a few on the river pontoons. If you like real ale, the Hollybush is an essential port of call - and the Namaste Indian is very popular......

If I understand correctly what it is you are trying to do, you should be able to do all the necessary conversion within the Arduino software. I have a remote monitor on my boat using a Uno, which I can interrogate to give me (among other things) the leisure battery voltage. I just feed the sensor pin via a 3:1 resistor volt drop. The max voltage an Arduino can read is 5v, so this gives me a scale of 0-15v which is fine for a 12v battery. You should be able to do something similar to read +/50mV. If it helps, my voltage reading function looks like this: float getVL() { reading = analogRead(vlPin); //take reading vbuffer[index1] = reading + vcor; //adjust & store current reading index1++; if (index1 >= bufferSize) index1 = 0; reading = vaverage(); //reading is average of last "n" readings float voltage = 15.0 * reading / 1023; //3:1 divider return (voltage); } I suspect that for a current shunt, you will need to make use of the AREF pin. Hope this helps, steve

We usually plan April - October, leaving gaps throughout - when we know we have to be somewhere or just so we know when we will get a break. It works reasonably well, and I try to plan work to fit around it. Looking to head up to Peak Forest and Manchester this summer.

There's an interactive map here: https://canalrivertrust.org.uk/enjoy-the-waterways/boating Not sure it shows stoppages though.......

Some amusing suggestions here..... http://www.canalworld.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=42800

It could be auto-ranging? Where have you connected the test leads to?

Yep. Same here.

I tried eMapp, but it was not particularly helpful. The CRT site has some good detail if you zoom in: https://canalrivertrust.org.uk/enjoy-the-waterways/canal-and-river-network

We have used heat logs from Aldi and Dr Heat - both types burn well, but have a tendency to produce tar which obscures the glass in the stove door. Any ideas on how this effect could be reduced would be welcome!