Jason King

Just tried taking my 60 foot narrowboat up through the lock at Shepley Bridge. Had to give up, couldn't get her to fit diagonally and close the gates. Managed to get through all the locks since Broad Cut with no problem. Considered taking off the button fender so as to squeeze in, but frankly I didn't want to take the risk of coming back through the locks. Shame, was really looking forward to doing the Huddersfield Narrow Canal (which can fit 70 foot boats in locks).

Narrowboat Audrey Too, stuck in the ice, covered in snow, on the Leeds and Liverpool canal.

We're trapped in the ice. Next to a pub.

Stuck in ice in Rodley on Leeds and Liverpool. Really irritating because we just bought a winter mooring in Leeds and wanted to get there on Monday. Might be stuck here a while if the weather forecast is accurate. And running low on water! Narrowboat stuck in ice at Rodley

Just arrived in Leeds, drove my narrowboat there from London. But it looks like there's not much work available up here. My wife's looking for a social work job but councils are cutting staff. This isn't an ideal time to have left London! Luckily I'm a freelancer and can do most of my work (web design) online without having to be in the same town as the client, but freelance work has dried up lately because most of my clients are public/voluntary sector and they're facing cuts. At least if you live on a boat the bills are cheaper than a house, and you can travel to where the work is.

Wrong end of stick I think! If I can't find someone to go with from Limehouse, I'll be entering the Thames at Brentford instead. That's the plan. Regulations allow me to buddy up with a boat with VHF, but not to travel alone without it.

Went through Ducketts Cut a week ago, locks took ages to fill up, it was hard work. Had a similar experience once before. Then moored up round the corner by the park at Miles End, where water was lapping over the towpath. Went away for a few days, returned to find the water level had dropped by two feet and the boat was tilting over. Next day the water was back to normal. Don't tie up too tight!

My narrowboat's gear lever has a red button beneath it that, when pressed in, runs the engine at any speed I like without turning the prop. Don't all boats have this? I've often wondered why some moored boats are running their engine with prop turning.

My first lock was at Stoke Bruerne on a warm day with lots of tourists watching. I jumped off the narrowboat but forgot to put her in neutral, and she carried on without me and crashed noisily into the lock. The next lock went well, but I crashed into another boat when leaving it. I've got much much better since then.

I'm planning to go on the Thames from Limehouse to Teddington on either 2nd, 3rd or 4th October 2010. But my 60 foot narrowboat doesn't have VHF so I'd appreciate tagging along with another boat that does have it. If you're only going from Limehouse to Brentford, that's good too! If you can help me out, please pm me or email jason cough kingjason ahem co etc uk. Thanks!

I had a quick tour round the boat when she was temporarily moored in West Drayton, waiting for the kids to turn up. It's a lovely craft. I especially like the door that swings open vertically (a bit like a posh car). There's another floating classroom based in Paddington basin.

A lock is a great place to stop for quarter of an hour, put on the kettle, make a sandwich, visit the loo. The boat's not going to drift off anywhere and when I'm ready to go, she's pointed in the right direction. But... I'd only do this when on the way out of a lock, not when I'd just entered it, and if another boat turns off I'd vacate quickly.

If it encourages more evaders to pay up then that can only be a good thing. It may not affect the amount we pay but there is also a rule and a principle at stake. I think most petitions are a waste of time, whatever they are for or against. I did sign one of the ones on the list but I don't know why I bothered. It's like the Government's Big Conversation, just a way to let people let off steam without having to actually engage with them.

I'm a continuous cruiser and freelancing web designer who works on a boat. I need the Internet and recently I've struggled because on some days I just couldn't get connected. It used to be that you'd pick up one or two wifi signals and one would be unpassworded; nowadays there are loads of signals but most are secured. Good news for security, not so good for visiting freeloaders. So I end up spending money in Internet cafes. A tip: don't use cafes' computers because they're often rife with keylogging software; take your own laptop in and connect by wifi instead. Last time I looked at a 3g card it was very expensive. Vodafone charges £25 a month for a monthly limit of 250mb a month - I can easily use that up in a single day! T-Mobile offers a more reasonable 3gb per month for £29. I don't quite have the battery capacity I need to run a laptop and printer for hour after hour: ideally I'd have four leisure batteries instead of two. When I make visits to clients I always charge my laptop up while I'm there! I make a point of telling potential clients that I live on a boat. I only work with small-to-medium-sized charities and by and large they're unfazed by ad-hoc ways of working.

Sometimes I'll wait for another boat to come by because it's easier with two, especially on a flight. If it's another solo boater we'll share the task equally; but if a boat has a full crew they might volunteer to work the lock while I stay in the cabin. That's always appreciated - although not expected - and it goes without saying that a thank you and a wave is in order. On the Thames I got used to using both bow and stern ropes and often do this on the canals, especially on deeper locks where the boat is more prone to go wandering. It takes a few minutes longer that way but I feel more in control. Everyone needs someone to complain about and for me it's hire boaters, especially when they're in a rush to get back to base. I had one such boat race ahead to the next lock, zoom in and close the gates before I could reach them, just because they were worried it was getting dark and they were going to be late with the boat. They saw me coming and urging each other to speed up, while I honked the horn in annoyance. Maybe they didn't know a lock fits two boats? Another hire boater tried to overtake me coming up to a small bridge, then didn't tie their boat up in the lock. I had to shout at them that it was drifting into the cill, to which they just shrugged.

I saw someone fall overboard from a moored boat in Windsor and I had to put the boat into reverse quickly to avoid hitting her. It took a few minutes for her to get back aboard, it's not easy to climb back onto a cruiser by grabbing at its fenders. More worryingly I saw someone slip from a boat into a lock in Reading and hurt her leg. She was injured and an ambulance called. Because I have a cabin, wide gunwhales and a rail at the stern I feel fairly safe. A traditional narrowboat with only a couple of feet's transom to stand on wouldn't suit someone as clumsy as me. Having said that, I've fallen in once, moored against a silted-up bank; as I stepped on board the wind blew the boat back and I went right in. Felt foolish stood there with water up to my knees.

I spent two days with Wildcat Enterprises, based near Banbury. The instruction was good and I learned some valuable lessons but whatever you do don't stay on the boat overnight, it's a tip!

> I will not be going so far from Reading Is that continuous cruising? Maybe if you're travelling up and down the Thames, the K&A and Grand Union it is. > I am about to start looking at large amounts of boats in the Midlands. Consider going up to Crick, Braunston and Whilton marinas, you can see a lot of boats in a single day. > What size invertor would I need? What size invertor would I need if I had a washing machine on board? I've been managing lately with a 150 watt inverter. I had a 500 watt one that broke and was never replaced because I've never needed that much power anyway. > How essential is a washing machine/tumble drier? I never use mine. You'll find there are various lists published of laundrettes near canals. I've had no problem. > I want to use a laptop. I can charge this elsewhere but if I wanted to use this for several hours each evening what sort of problems would this pose for my electrics? I'm using a laptop most days, they don't use that much power. It's things with moving, spinning parts or appliances that heat up (irons, kettles) that are problematic. > The idea of locks while continious cruising seems difficult On the Thames it's easy because lock-keepers do most of the work for you and they're generally very helpful. On the canals it's not difficult either, you just take it slowly and tie up carefully. Plenty of people manage solo. > particularly if I have to move the boat every so often, then get a train back to where my car is parked. You could ditch the car. Can you use public transport instead? > There potentially could be nobody at my boat for a week at a time. If I have to leave the boat for a week or more I usually pay to leave it in a marina.

Could it be the drive plate is broken? That might explain the clanging but what about the loose control lever?

Visit www.afloat.org.uk.

Shame this conversation deteriorated because it's worth taking seriously. There are definitely stereotypical boat owners out there. Lots of retired couples with a sense of adventure. Divorced middle-aged men who lost the house. Hermits. In the cities, lots of 20 year olds who can't afford their first house yet. Mostly white. Mostly middle class. Probably tending towards the Daily Mail and Telegraph spectrum of opinion. But stereotypes are rarely the whole story. It's easy to forget that people live on boats in many countries; I knew someone who grew up on a houseboat on a lake in Nigeria. There are certainly black boat owners in London. And my girlfriend, who's West Indian, often comes boating with me. I've had Indian, South African, Somali and Iranian crew on my narrowboat and passed a lot of boats with non-white crews, especially on the Thames and in central London. It's not unusual and I hope the trend continues because I want to see everyone enjoying the canals. P.S. More trolls for the canals, one under every bridge! Jason King www.afloat.org.uk

I've been living on a boat for a year and three months and in that time I've stuck to the lower Grand Union, Regent's canal and the Thames as far as Reading. Not exactly bridge hopping but not that adventurous either. It's having an office-based job that's prevented me cruising more. So I'm quitting my job this week and going freelance. I can leave London far behind and go on a tour of Yorkshire, then somewhere else entirely. Can't wait for some Yorkshire bitter. Continuous boozer? Jason King www.afloat.org.uk

I had a couple of anglers threaten one of my crew. The anglers were fishing in a lock and didn't want us to use it. Then they wanted us to leave the paddles open when we left. Utterly stupid. Jason King www.afloat.org.uk