Eastern

Interesting point, Chris. I expect those 'legitimate' users of red diesel (commercial shipping, farmers etc) will raise a howl of pain if the price of RD is raised? Anyway, please keep us posted on your reply from Alastair! Eastern

May I whole heartidly agree. A very sad loss. Eastern

Hi Westyman, I assume that you've looked at the commercial shared ownership schemes? Challenger, Owenerships, JD Boats, Elton Moss etc. Advantages are that all the admin is taken care of, the boats mooring can be moved about the system, and selling your share is easy. I'm in Challenger and found them to be first class. All you have to do is pay and go boating! Regards Eastern

Sorry Chris - You say that "The only devices that won't run properly on a quasi inverter are devices for whom the shape of the sinewave is important" Surely a sine wave is defined by its shape i.e. its sinusoidal. A different shape sine wave cannot and does not exsist - its either a sine wave or it isn't. Eastern

As road diesel is now retailing at 105p/litre in my area, and given that all road diesel is Ultra Low Sulphur Diesel (ULSD), and that most diesel sold on the cut is not ULSD and therefore attracts a higher level of duty will we be paying 110p/litre for diesel next year? Yes we are all doomed. Still, every clould has a silver lining and I expect everyone will be travelling around on tickover, so no moans about moored boats be passed at speed.

I love the sight & sound of a vintage engine! Its even better when its belongs to someone else 'cause there's no high purchase price, no high maintenance costs, and with the imminent demise of red diesel - no (less) high fuel costs. But I must tip my hat to the fact that we all have different tastes and preferences. Long may it remain so.

Spot on! I've had a multifuel fire at home for 20 years. The other thing to remember that you burn either wood or coal/coke. Put the grate in for the coal and remove it for the wood. Burning both at once is the worst of both worlds. But in my experience, my stove (a Villager) works best with wood. Coal tends to clog the grate with ash, that needs clearing. But coal has a higher calorific value than wood, so less adding of fuel.

Hi Bottle, Yes - the reason that some alternators are water cooled is to reduce the noise level to as low as possible ( I think the Mase is air cooled). Mind the going price seems be be from £8K for a DC set from Fischer Panda, slightly less for a Mastervolt) so its not a cheap option. I've been getting a bit philosphical about it and ..... Ashore when we are connected to the mains electrical supply we all tend to take it for granted as its reliable, cheap, and convienient. Its only when we get a power cut, or go boating that we realise what a boon mains power is. Now, I know there are different 'styles'of boating, but phafing about with a suitcase generator on the towpath is not for me, or doing without the comforts of home. So, I guess I'll just have to cough up for a well engineered integrated power system, which at least I will be able to run on red diesel.

I see that the the Sat Dish Kit is available from Lidl in the Worcester area from Thursday 23 August. Priced at £59.99 http://www.lidl.co.uk/uk/home.nsf/pages/c....OTU3TJK000BAIGP

Thanks Gary. I thought that there were 2 x cooling tanks as the engine needed to be kept at about 78deg C, whilst the alternator ran most efficiently at less than about 40deg C? Therefore each device had its own tank? If I may venture into a more controversial area... How would the price of a Whispergen (Sterling engine type) compare with a Fisher Panda DC geny plus a central heating boiler? ('Cause the Whispergen DC model is supposed to a combined heat and power plant) I noticed from previous posts that you were/are not a fan of the Whispergen! Regs Eastern

Has anyone any experience with Fischer Panda DC gennies? Am I right in thinking that 2 keel cooling tanks would be required? One for the diesel engine coolant (perhaps shared with the propulsion engine?) and the second for the alternator coolant? Gary - what sort of price area would be a suitable genny to produce 1.5KAh/day running for 2 periods per day of 2.5 hours or so?

So for me to continue to legally use rebated red diesel I will need to install a second tank for heating and electrical generation (using a seperate generator). If I want to minimise my tax liabily, I should also remove the lesuire battery alternator from the propulsion engine. If the prefered proposals are approved, and they do seem the best so far, then there will be some far reaching changes needed to some boats, and to some boaters record keeping. Otherwise its a 600% rise in duty payable on all diesel fuel!

I've enjoyed reading everyones comments on the red diesel. There seems to be a misperception that if you have previously filled your tank with red diesel then the residue of the dye will remain (true) and if you keep filling with red no one will be any wiser. HMCE test for fuel fraud by taking a sample of fuel - they don't just look in the tank. Every time you fill with non dyed diesel the concentrations of red dye will deminish, so it ain't rocket science to see if red diesel has been used recently. OK, you can say that the fuel has been there since November 2008, but that excuse will become harder and harder to be believed. Anyone who has had their vehicle siezed or dismantled at one of our ports of entry will know that these arn't the guys to mess with.

IMHO no earth is needed for an RCD to work - that's why they were introduced. An RCD (Residual Current Device) works by measuring the current fllowing into a device and measuring the current flowing out. If there is a difference of 30mA they trip. The assumption is that the 30 mA of current is flowing through your body to earth, and this is enough to kill you. Therefore they have to trip very quickly. You can only be in danger of death if the current flows through your body. The path to earth will be provided via a steel hull. If you are wearing your wellies you may be Ok, so the RCD will not trip. I standby to shot down!

'The idea of locks while continious cruising (although I will not be going so far from Reading) seems difficult, particularly if I have to move the boat every so often, then get a train back to where my car is parked. ' May I suggest you look at www.waterscape.com if you haven't done so already? Your definition of continious cruising and British Waterways may be different!

Isn't it about taking a calculated risk? We bought our house 20 years ago for £60K, today its 'worth' £450K. If you are going to sell your house (which is has been an appretiating asset since the 1990s) and buy a boat (which is a depretiating asset) you are going to loose money if you are stepping off the property ladder. Money itself is not that important per se, its the fact that it gives you choices 5 or 10 years down the line. There are ways to take some of the capital gain out of increasing property prices without selling up, such as equity release etc. Our plan is sell up, buy a narrowboat, and invest the remains in 'buy to let', so that we will have further income and hopefully some capital gain. I hope this doesn't sound too much like a smug capitalist! (I'm quite a nice person really)

IMHO the only thing that will happen quicker is the lowering of the fuel level in the tank!

Perhaps Mr Canal Shop Man can enlighten us with the true cost of shared ownership compared with owning an equivalvent boat. It would seem to me that it depends on how often you were going to use it. In any commercial scheme then you have pay to have the boat admin. Its about £4000 per boat per year with Challenger and Ownerships. With a 12th ownership thats about £333.00 per annum. Over to you

Under English law a contract is binding as long as it is freely entered into and can be verbal, written, or implied. You are best to seek professional advice. Try the Citizens Advice Bureau (CAD) as a starter. Its free.

I would much prefer an hydraulic powered BT. I have used boats with both, and for reliability and maintainability I would pick the hydraulic one. Reason? Will run for as long as you want as there is no battery to charge/discharge (it runs from oil pumped by the boats main engine). There are limits to the use of a battery powered BF (20-30 seconds at a time).

So am I! I've only read about them. They provide 12/24v dc in their marine form, with heat output to supply (all?) a boats heating needs. Powergen are selling ac versions for domestic use. They seem to be excellent as they use a sterling engine, but the price is £11,600 (yes thats £11.6K!!!) Gary didn't I see on your web site that you fitted a boat with one of these? Regards East

I don't know how your particular numbers stack up, but have you considered renting out your property whilst you try out the lifestyle? I am advised that renters want unfurnished property these days, which means that your furniture etc doesn't get beaten up, but you do have to pay to store it. Its something we are thinking about, or maybe just downsizing to a smaller property, or even just getting a 'buy to let'. I guess its a type of insurance against it all going pear shaped!

I've just bought some Nicholson guides. I'm looking to cruise the Ashby Canal. I was very dissapointed that when I checked on the BW website there were approx 10 additional moorings shown on the BW site that were not shown in the Nicholson for the Coventry Canal. So I've had to mark then on the map. Yes it is the 2006 edition! The only other guide I've used is the Pearson guide called 'Canal Companion'. I think I prefer that to the Nicholson.