malp

If you are planning to motorhome in France, then apart from France Passion, have a look at these (if you don't already know them!): A good source of guides , maps etc is Vicarious Media Also this site has info about Aires.

On both the motorhomes I had the limiting factor was the amount of room on the roof. Both only had a single 120Ah service battery, one took a 100 watt panel, the other a 90 watt. That sufficed for main season usage off grid (mostly at French motorhome aires), but not sure it would have been enough for winter use. On my current boat I have 2 batteries like yours, and had room to fit 180 watts of solar panel (2 x 90). 12v is used mainly for lighting, pumps, TV and charging devices, and battery voltage always stays healthy, despite 10 year old batteries.

You are right, I was thinking of the consultation, not the petition. Agreed signing it can do no harm, although I think it may be overtaken by other ongoing events. Mea Culpa., I was thinking of the consultation, not the petition. Agreed signing it can do no harm, although I think it may be overtaken by other ongoing events. See replies to cuthound et al.

Maybe like me they have been put off by needing to write an email rather than fill in a form. Also a lot of the information being requested appears to be more in the nature of data trawling rather than opinion gathering. EDIT: Oops, answered wrong quetsion. I was thinking of the consultation when I wrote the above.

It is PWM, I posted incorrect links which I have now corrected: Look here for MPPT versions

This Victron is a PWM controller, you might want to have a look at these MPPT controllers before deciding. I have one on my narrowboat, and it has breathed new life into the 10 year old batteries that came with the boat 2 years ago. The engine start battery only needs a maintenance charge, which this provides. Edited to show CORRECT links!

Yes, though I left him alone while he did the survey, He seemed happy enough to chat after. He's probably the go to surveyor for folk who keep their boats on the same mooring as mine. His main problem is that he can sometimes be a bit slow to actually write up the survey report and email it to you.

There is an argument that the fuse should not be close to the battery to minimise the risk of igniting any collected hydrogen gas if the fuse fails.

I had a full survey for insurance done by him last year, I thought he was pretty fair in his assessment.

As a former shell builder I can tell you that 6/6/3 was pretty standard for that style of boat of that vintage. Indeed 6mm is still pretty common for hull sides, base plates have got thicker to compensate for difficulty in painting effectively. 3mm cabin plating is perfectly adequate, the move to thicker plating is to do with trying to keep a flat finish, but its not structurally necessary. As an aside a benefit of 3mm cabin plating is that it lowers slightly the boat's centre of gravity which helps a bit with stablility. I actually built some shells for Brum Boats around that time, but this was not one of them. They didn't start building shells in house until around 1983, so this one would have been bought in, possibly from either Colecraft, or more likely R & D Fabrications. You need to try and get access to the August survey and see what that says about plate thickness, as loss through rusting (often internal) and also the amount of pitting need to be understood. As matty40s points out he fact that it has just been surveyed, 5 months after listing, and it is still for sale needs looking into. Was it the seller's survey or a potential buyer's? If the former you should be able to get a sight of it.

Me too, I used to spend some Saturday mornings getting the bus to Woolwich and then going back and forth across the river as a kid.

You don't need a split charge relay to charge both battery banks off a solar panel, this can be done via the outputs from a suitable solar charge controller, which you must have anyway as part of your system. Just connect direct from the controller to the batteries with suitable thick cable and fuse. On the last motorhome I had a 100w solar panel and a dual battery PWM solar charge controller from Photonic Universe. Would have preferred a bigger panel but there wasnt room on the roof. On my boat I have 2 x 90 watt panels with an MPPT controller which provides a main charge to the domestic batteries and a trickle charge to the engine battery. MPPT controllers are the ones to go for, they are the most efficient, but until recently only charged a single battery bank, hence the earlier PWM controller. Have a look at the very helpul FAQ section on Photonic Universe website.

I was in this situation a number of times this summer on narrow locks and was gratified by how many times crew from boats behind me helped me work through locks. The biggest single help and time saver is simply having them close the exit gates. A couple of boat crews though actually went beyond the call of duty and said "stay on your boat" and worked the lock for me. There is an element of self interest of course, or maybe they took pity on me as someone who is clearly of pensionable age,.......

When you are that close to being able to depart the lock I'm not convinced that there is a worthwhile time saving to be had from walking to the next lock and back again. Not at the speed I can walk/run these days anyway.....?

I would never leave the boat unattended once in the lock and it is emptying (or filling). The only time I do walk on to start setting the next lock is whilst waiting for the current lock to fill or empty, and the boat is tied up on the landing.

Mach1 Just to add to the good advice already given. Don't economise on unsuitable chain and rope, Your lives could depend on them. 1. Get proper short link anchor chain from a chandler, not the large link stuff you can get from hardware stores. The former is a lot less likely to kink in whatever you store it in. (Get cheaper uncalibrated unless you have an anchor winch, which I suspect you don't.) 2. The rope you get needs to be kink free nylon multiplait, not "normal" laid rope. Some chandlers will supply such rope and chain spliced together. 3. Make sure the inboard end of the rope is securely tied to a strong point on the boat before you set off. This may seem obvious, but it has been overlooked in the past...

Looks like Raddle Red (Craftmaster Paint)

Don’t know about diesel prices but I popped into Kings Orchard a few days ago for some more solid fuel to find the stuff I usually buy had gone up by a fairly eye watering 15%. It was only on the way out that I spotted the new ABC Leisure Group signage.

I think the bow is too "pointy" for H&L, the top guard starts pulling in too soon.

Just to put the record straight, Kyle was built to a draft of just over 2’6” - 2’4” between counter bottom and skeg plus 2 and a bit inches for the skeg and base plate. If she was trimmed a bit down at the stern, and the RN opened up it’s conceivable she could pull down to nearer 3’ under way.

Kate Janes I think her name was. I have no idea what happened to her after. She actually took over from me, I got the dates wrong in my previous post, from an old CV I see that I did the 1976 and 1977 seasons. Meaning Angel may have been built as early as 1974, as I took over from the first skipper who also did 2 years.

Just wondering if anyone knows of what happened to "Angel of Islington", a 70' Barney boat which was originally operated as a community boat by the Islington Narrowboat Association. She was built I think in 1976 and was eventually replaced by a new boat in 2000, when she was sold into private ownership. My interest is sentimental, based on having been the full time skipper from 1978 to 1980.

Agreed it is mostly a cosmetic problem, so calling it "nasty" probably overstates matters. However it is not without risk although this is mainly financial. For GRP boat owners the problem can arise not during ownership but when the time comes to sell. So if the OP does go for his GRP boat he needs to factor this into the price he buys at, to avoid another hit when he eventually comes to sell.

Be aware that GRP boats have their own nasty alternative to galvanic corrosion - osmosis. Nigel Clegg has an informative article on the subject here: http://www.passionforpaint.co.uk/downloads/osmosis3v6.pdf

Thanks CB. Rang Pete Wakeham and he confirms it is out of use at present.