Collie

Actually, they are all probably 'resource guarding' and there is lots of stuff about it online. Just google those two words. You can train a dog not to do it, but it takes time and care. My young Border Collie was pretty bad with resource guarding, but I am getting her better gradually. Well worth the effort.

nice idea. karma again - I found a pin lying on the towpath the other day. Nobody nearby owned it, so it is mine, mine, all mine.

Thanks for that fresh egg - I didn't know. I think I often bash the pins in sideways, or any old which way, but always at an angle. You could have found the solution! Also since it goes wrong so much, I have tended to moor in places where I don't need to use pins, so I haven't had that much practice. I like my chains and paperclips, but sometimes I just have no choice (like now).

I bang the pins right down till the ring is settled on the earth. Then I tie a white plastic bag over the top. But you are right - that thing of leaving the pin sticking up too high was one of my earlier mistakes. Haven't measured them. They are pretty standard looking length. I've had to buy a couple new, since sometimes pins go walkabout. (Do people really steal them?)

Another thing about threads is that they sometimes end up being about something quite different from the original question eg I was looking for advice on how best to moor, but just found a whole lot of people making fun of someone who had moored badly. Who has the patience to scroll through all that stuff just to find out nothing of use?

and how many did they have to start with, to end up with one?

I like your phrase 'being charitable'. To be fair, I have encountered nothing but helpfulness and understanding in my first inexperienced time as a boater. It's a steep learning curve, all right, but I am glad to say that so far nobody has ever pointed or laughed, even when I have done really silly things. NIne of hearts: you are a good example of the many boaters who are nice to strangers.

As Dr Johnson famously said when asked why he made a mistake in his dictionary: 'Ignorance, Madam, pure ignorance.' I glower if they are going too fast.

MIne love to bark at other dogs as we cruise past, same as they do from the car. But they are totally friendly on the towpath, or with dogs on moored boats. (Though small yappy dogs that won't shut up can eventually make my big boy lose his cool)

Thank you to the angels of the cut - in particular this time, on the Oxford Canal. A big thank you to whoever re-moored my boat some time in the past 48 hours. I can see that both bow and stern pins had dragged out so she must have been drifting badly. I'm sure you were cursing the incompetent moorer - that was me. Honest! I've tried everything but she still sometimes drags. I haul her up as tight as I can, I moor with a spring at the stern. I wallop those pins in as hard as I can into the hardest ground I can find (short of solid rock). So - once again - thank you to all the people up and down the country who have re-moored for me over the past three years. I don't know who you are, but I will try to do better in future.

I've asked this elsewhere but will try it here too. How can I find out the capacity of my water tank?

Insurance aside, isn't this basically an issue of trust? You would meet the people, get to know them, and take a decision about whether or not you trust them to behave decently. I agree that it should not count as a rental if no money changes hands - but why not just phone the insurance company and ask them? Save a lot of hot air. Actually I have a little narrowboat (not a barge) - might be too small and scruffy for you - and would be happy to enter into an arrangement for 2015 if you wish. But let's talk about it elsewhere, eh? PS I wouldn't expect to use your house, though.

Hi Shortspeter I occasionally need some help to do a flight of locks - but how far are you willing to travel to help out? I see that you are in Surrey, so maybe the Oxford/Grand union would be a bit distant for you? Best wishes

Does anyone know how I can find out the capacity of my water tank? I want to be able to measure the chemicals into it accurately - yesterday I just estimated and my dog was very sick afterwards. (One capful per 25 litres - no idea how much I need.) Also, can't find how to start a new thread here.

Thank you very much for all the helpful comments and advice. I will have a good look at the bilge when next I can get out to the boat - not till Sunday, unfortunately, now. I know about the grease gun - and had planned to re-pack it when next out there. (A first time for everything!) I will see if I can get a friend to help re the electricals - which may easily be the problem, and are very homemade by previous owner. And if the pump itself has burnt out - that's another thing that I can get a professional to look at. But I don't think I'm about to sink in the next few days - it's only a little drip after all. (Fingers crossed). And by a quirk of fate, I have just this morning paid for next year's insurance.

i always assumed it was rain water. could be a slight drip from the stern gland. I wondered too if I had just emptied the bilge totally and so there was nothing left to pump. (optimistic view!)

Hello I'm a novice boat owner, so please excuse me if I say dumb things. - Usually I pump out the bilges every few days and quite a bit comes out. Day before yesterday I forgot to switch it off (which i quite often do, so no change there). Yesterday nothing was coming out. I'm worrying - is the pump broken? How can I check that? How long do I have before the boat sinks? Maybe it's the electrics? (The horn stopped working a couple of weeks ago).