Mike Tee

Temperature / humidity when you painted it? It may have been damp enough in the air to cause this.

We had the boatmans cabin completely done, foam, coverings, cushions, by a lady from Brixworth. Can't find an invoice, but this is all the info I can dredge up - www.jefferyallbrighton.co.uk 07786 373913 Unit 4, Butchers Yard, 105 Northampton Road, Brixworth, NN6 9DX Don't know what density etc, but she has done loads and is very experienced, and the end result was comfortable. Most foam was replaced with new covers, and I think the long piece that makes the childs single bed was just recovered - all done very professionally.

https://narrowboats.apolloduck.co.uk/boat/peter-keay-son-50-tug-for-sale/717310 I know its wooden but £12k ?Apart from the awful rope crowd control barriers it looks good.

Was it a wake up call for possibly a lightweight life jacket thing?

Logic tells me it’s just time, because water won’t flow up hill, unless it’s particularly windy!

I’m guessing the benefit of side ponds is back in the day when working boats were flying up and down, for example Watford or Foxton, it didn’t matter if the balance of up versus down was off, because there was always enough water available for a boat going up. Coming down, the boat brought its own water with it. Without the pounds, water would have had to be allowed down for a boat to go up which would have wasted massive amounts of time. Only worked at a particularly steep hill which is exactly what these two places had - clever people those old engineers.

In answer to part of the original question, you raise the red paddle then immediately raise the white one - no wait necessary.

So would I, but they have had 3 days to respond, so until they do I'll hold off doing business with them. If it transpires that they have proof of Arthurs non-payment I have the option of reconsidering. My money, my choice of where I spend it - not that my business will make a jot of difference to the company in question. I highly doubt that they will respond on here, but I'd like to be wrong!

I don’t suppose we will ever know but when the fuel boat owner eventually spoke to the operator on Halsall, was it the same bloke who failed to record the cash receipt? Does he even still work for them? Because if he does I will personally not be using that business in future on principle.

Thanks, that’s what I was hoping to hear! Just out of interest, how big is your battery bank?

Thanks for all the comments - think I'll give it a go, the batteries were well charged up after cruising, and I only want to keep them topped up. I believe that the charger is 'smart' enough to shut down if there is a problem.

Thats what I couldn't work out - in my head if they were wired up to produce 12v then it was still a 110ah battery, but a big one! So it would just melt?

It thinks people only have one battery. It says it is fine for charging 'a 110ah battery'. I basically have a very large 110ah battery (3 wired together) and wondered what if any, problems might occur.

I have a very simple electric system on our 'holiday' boat - 3 x 110 batteries supplying 12 volts for leisure use. No starter battery, we either use the leisure batteries or the starting handle. I also have a caravan type lead with a 16a plug on one end, inline galvanic isolator and extension type sockets protected by inbuilt RCD on the other end. I also have a ctek mxs5 charger I have had for years. Would it work leaving the ctek charger permanently plugged in to keep the batteries topped up?

It just doesn’t make sense that they would deliver diesel and gas when you were present and leave without payment. I think this should be a matter between the owner of Halsall and whoever they had running the boat on that day.

Just send the Euro whatever a note saying 'of course we love you and the cheque is in the mail'.

For a 1988 boat it might well be 1/2” plate originally.

It’s about 230 yards from the M40 with a nice flat field to allow the traffic noise to waft over on a serene Sunday afternoon (and all the rest of the time 24/7!).

As Plato says, something wrong there. We don’t have one of these cookers, but do have a diesel stove - in an hour I would have a toasty 70’ boat, all radiators hot, and a hot kettle of water on the top plate (not boiling as I only run the stove on a low setting). Can’t remember how much diesel would be used, but not a lot.

In my court that would be a ten bob fine suspended for ten minutes.

If you eventually get/decide on a bracket, forget the tow ball and get a ‘2” square receiver’ - google will help but think 4x4 - and the accessory’s that are about that fit into the 2” receiver are, I think, far better than tow ball ones.

In answer to the original question if you have access to google, searching for diy shops in a particular area will get you a map with them marked on it, and you can zoom in to see any near your preferred canals. I’ve used it for laundrettes when out away from home waters, and it works a treat - even giving walking directions if required.