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I recently had an email exchange with CRT Customer Service on this very subject. The lass concerned denied any knowledge of the term "Watermate Key" but stated that she had only been with CRT for seven years. She later asked a colleague (who had two more years service) and apparently she had never heard the term either. It is, however, used in various material on the CRT website and if you Google Watermate Key the first item listed leads you to a CRT publication on the CRT website! As is so often the case with CRT it appear that it's a case of the left hand not having a clue what the right is doing ................... !! IIRC the label "Watermate Key" came about as the result of a competition that the then BW held to find a universal name for the thing, with the winner receiving some suitable prize and a term that we could all share and recognise becoming enshrined in the boater's lexicon. Does anyone else have the same recollection?

Semington Dry Dock (01380 870654; www.semingtondock.co.uk). 2 covered dry docks and a helpful owner to boot!

Not the same stuff at all – older hulls were iron built and have quite different corrosion characteristics.

Read this as "BW Sucks"

A quick look at all those You Tube videos headed "How to Bump a Lock" or similar would provide an/the answer to your predicament. I'd never realised just how easy it is to open a lock before ............ scary!

Have used a Candy 10T with a 2 Kw Heart Interface invertor for 15 years with no problems (just bearings on the Candy!). The heater element uses 1500 W so there's a margin there. We only do a wash when cruising so that what's coming out of the batteries is roughly balanced by what's going in - the engine note certainly changes when the machine's heating!

You'll need something in the region of £95,000 to buy her!

Stowe Hill (now sadly defunct) The love/hate reaction they provoke

............. looks like they've also been marked along the Fossdyke & Witham too! The Trent Charts are certainly a valuable addition and cover tidal waterways further north as well.

On a point of detail: the Beta device under discussion in this thread is a Travel Power (with the odd reference to their Propgen). However, the Whispagen was an external combustion - or Stirling - engine sold by Kurunda 10 or more years ago. Notable for its high price (£7500 in those days IIRC) its purpose was to generate about 5kW of heat (for space heating the boat) in conjunction with 750W of electricity for battery charging. Similar units have been trialed in houses (there was an initiative in Leicestershire a while back I recall) with the electricity produced being fed back into the grid when not consumed on the spot. Does anyone have one of these devices still in operation on their boat as I'd be very interested to hear about their experience?

The new Nicholson - published February 2014 - marks all the Kilometer posts along the tidal Trent which is an accurate way of knowing exactly where you are if you're unfamiliar with the river.

That's correct Tim. Ford's first diesel tractor engine appeared in the Fordson New Major E1A in November 1951. It was a four cylinder, direct injection unit.

So perhaps rag and string is really the way to go .................

I believe you'll find it on the latest Nicholson Inland Waterways Map of Great Britain - along with quite a few other 'rarities'.

That monika is very much a thing of the past! As many readers will testify, they are a value for money outfit these days - with Freaky Friday coming up soon .................... (4th April = 20% discount)

And that, in a nutshell, would appear to be it. The words 'cut' and 'cloth' come to mind and if PL had born these words in mind at the outset and this had been post No1, we might all have been spared this mighty long (and record breaking?) thread!

The new Nicholson Book 6 - published on 12th February this year - also covers the Grantham Canal with an additional 24 pages.

Perhaps focusing more attention on the way we all live, and its direct affect on global warming, would have a better long-term outlook for the flooding problem than shifting a bit of silt from A to B.

The Griffin cases for both the iPad and iPhone are excellent investments if you want to keep these expensive bits of kit intact. Whilst not all the range are waterproof, they certainly ensure that both devices bounce rather than break!

My vote would be for Nicholson every time – if only for the immense amount of detail packed into every page and the extremely comprehensive coverage. The newly released, updated guides are Books 2, 3, 6 & 7 (2 & 3 due out on 13th Mar) and there is brand new coverage of the Grantham Canal (Bk 6) and the Cotswold Canals (Bk 2). Just because they can't be boated it doesn't mean to say they are not accessible by boot or bike! For an overview of the British waterways system the Nicholson Inland Waterways Map of Great Britain is unbeatable and a great aid to planning: ISBN 978-0-00-745264-4. Books 1 & 4 are also available for Apple and Android tablets but need a colour display so not for a basic Kindle eReader.

Judging by the footage, 'current' is the operative word. Oh, and where were the life-jackets. Definitely a 'drongo reporter' ............ with a death wish!

Try either DCL Transport Services Stubbins La, Preston PR3 0QH 01995 640667 or Cramseam Transport 07849 530098 Rather than hire in a crane you could take the boat to Bridge House Marina at Garstang who are very reasonable and, likewise, crane off at a marina doon sooth.

The recently updated Nicholson Guide – Grand Union, Oxford & the South East would give you a different (and more detailed) slant on this and other southern waterways. Also available in electronic form for Kindle, iPad, iPhone and the like.

Apparently now open and doing food (sorry I mean ood). Certainly Sunday lunches are advertised.

'tis said it be some of the best ood in Warwickshire ............ !