Opener

Not sure of opening hours but The Anchor at Salterforth. The Kingfisher at Reedley Marina - doesn't open till 11.00 Tues to Sun - think you can have the dog on the veranda overlooking Pendle Hill. We like Cargo Cafe from boat or car. Inn on the Wharf in Burnley, again sit on the canal side.

I had NO idea what my tank capacity was. I did a physical measure from the outside - square cruiser stern - which gave me a crude estimate. I also have a dipstick with the vertical distance between the tank bottom and filler divided up into arbitrary units ie half the stick length then half that again then half each again = eighths. I then filled up with a known amount of fuel and measured the difference (in dipstick units). This also give me a crude (and wildly different) estimate of capacity. I'm going to have to assume that the cross-sectional dimensions of the tank are the same from bottom to top and keep a careful eye on what difference adding known amounts of fuel make.

I also missed out on the Aldi offer but ended up trawling through Flea-pay and up that well known river. Dave Payne (#38 & 39) links to an alternative which just happens to be the one I ordered via: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B01JGNX9R2/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 It arrived very promptly via courier at no extra cost in a very strong package. It's maybe a little smaller than expected but should look a better fit on the stove (Villager Chelsea Duo). It is very neat and stylish in black and really looks the part. Unusually, it has a three blade fan while others around seem to be two or four. Unfortunately the sun came out as soon as it arrived so no excuse to have the stove on and try it out in anger. But, as reported elsewhere, it also has a USB input so can be used independent of the Peltier. I've tried it out on the table and it is very quiet and I can feel the airflow at least six feet (in old money) in front of the blades. Sort of looking forward to colder weather now - how sad is that? The boat has a bad case of heat zones - you can have cold feet while sitting but stand up and faint from the heat up there - really want to see how the fan stirs up the really hot zone.

Without the covers wind and rain can blow in ie wind from that side just needs to do a 90' turn to blow up the inside of your window. With a cover in place it will need to blow upwards then 90' to horizontal and a further 90' to blow up the window. Multiply that by two vents per window and all the windows on that side and you will be getting complaints from your spiders. Looks nicer with the covers in place too.

Not sure if there has been any better and more recent information on this topic but I have just bought: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B01GK6ZNWC/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 . I've got (solid) gold window frames so bought the caramel coloured/flavoured version. A couple of my covers were missing and/or held on with gaffer tape. That has now been replaced with the above-linked item which match exactly in design and fitting ie just clip in. Looks so much better and I've now got a few in stock for future use. Can highly recommend. (No connection with supplier, blah, blah, blah...)

In terms of 'history' have a look at http://bankhalldrydock.co.uk. Both the History link (I can confirm what a dump it was before they started work) and the brief video. As I understand it the dock drains about 100m parallel to the cut into the nearby River Brun (as it always did) which also takes excess canal water via a large spill weir at the Sandholme aqueduct winding hole. The perspective looks a bit wrong in the video although the dock does comfortably take a wide beam and is now fully covered. Look along the dockside rail and you can see the sluice being operated to empty.

Hmm! I was thinking about chemical action of the additive but had not taken possible evaporation into consideration. I had been thinking along the lines of: so will probably do that in future

Silly question time again. Part of the list of jobs when leaving the boat for any length of time is to empty the toilet (fairly standard Thetford cassette jobby) and prime it ready for immediate use on our return - might be dark/wet/etc next visit plus I don't want it 'cooking' while I'm away. I tend not to take too much notice of the advice on the additive bottle to add stacks of water with the fluid - just seems counter-intuitive to empty the cassette then put lots of water back in it. But what is in the additive? I realise that the cassette is designed to hold all sorts of nasties but is neat additive going eventually to eat away the plastic? I'm guessing that my priming regime loads the cassette with 50/50 or 75% water/25% to a standard dose of fluid. Should I worry? Cheers guys,

Not strictly a boating answer but I'm assuming that you have experience of York traffic? At the best of times any road journey involving any bit of York is a '..think of a number and double it..' exercise. York Marina does have narrows and is fairly close to the city and claims not to be affected by floods which the Ouse seems to do every time it gets bored. There are visitor moorings right in the city centre so there are bound to be members with experience of getting/mooring there.

I've got 'before' and 'after' pictures somewhere if you are interested. Previous owner had the boat name - looked like a professional job with shadowed lettering - in four locations viz side panels and at the bow. Looked like a personal name and I got a bit sick of towpath users shouting "Hello X, are you OK X?" Set to with a detail sander with decreasingly violent grits taking it back until I could not see the original name from any angle with the surface wetted. Then primer plus top coat (with a bit of red lead where the metal was showing in spots). I think it has worked well and, after a couple of years now, there in no sign of the old name. We ended up with the new name on a vinyl panel but that was just for ease of application and cost rather than having to hide anything. So, well worth trying sanding it out yourself - results will probably depend on how the original names were applied.

Depends how 'North' you want to be. Have a look at: http://www.canal-cruises.com/vintage/

My memory may be playing tricks but I thought that I did get a licence to hire on a French canal. A number of years ago (5+) I hired a plastic bathtub down South. The hirer drove 100m up the canal and turned around. I drove 120m back, turned around and remoored. I was then handed my temporary licence.

Apart from places already mentioned, you might like to keep an eye open for: 1. past Bridge 80 / bottom of locks 2. before Br 69 / offside - rings on jetty next to park 3. after Br 118 + after winding hole (a bit noisy but great views) 4. after Br 109 5. after Br 93b - very rural! 6. Rishton or Church 7. before Inn on the Wharf / Br 130a in Burnley (but not necessarily in that order!)

Reedley actually closed Sat lunchtime to Monday lunchtime

We had a similar issue, although the fridge would just 'flash' it's warning light and cycle on and off continually. John the 'lecky measured low voltage at the fridge, banged in some decent gauge cable (sorry - not sure of sizes before and after) and we have had no problems since.

I've reported elsewhere that I moored overnight right on the back door to the Eanam Wharf pub/restaurant a couple of years ago and the only issue was one fag end on the back deck next morning. We did Burnley to the top of the flight and back a few weeks ago. Plenty of pleasant mooring spots both towpath and pontoon rings. The only downside was access to diesel, although we managed OK.

I bought small brass cupboard door knobs. Cut the head off the fitting bolts (which would normally have screwed through from the inside of the door) and drilled a blind hole into the centre of each window cill. The knob is then screwed onto the cill at a suitable distance from the window frame. When lowered, the bottom batten of the blind fits neatly behind the knob and is held against the window. Agree that the top of the blind stops the hopper top of the window opening but I feel we have enough ventilation via mushrooms and doors when required. A bonus is that we have somewhere to temporarily hang things. Small and unobtrusive.

Depending on direction of travel, pop into Pennine Cruisers at the Springs Branch junction in Skipton. They do a nice squashy self adhesive tape about IIRC 3" wide (off a roll). Nice white finish and easily cut with scissors or craft knife. I did my weed hatch about a year ago with a staggered joint at each corner (after repainting the mating flange). My hatch comes off most cruising days and I get no seepage/leakage.

Slightly off theme but my 2003 Pinder cruiser stern has the gas locker on the rear deck. Swapping cylinders a few months ago, I found I couldn't get the new cylinder in under the fixed part of the top. I hadn't noted that some 13kg cylinders now have a higher handle/valve protector. Fortunately there was also an older/lower cylinder in stock so I was able to swap. Just hope the two designs will continue in parallel otherwise I'll have to take a large hammer to the locker and make an 'adjustment'!

Sí!

If you are committed to mass murder, my experience from a couple of nests at home, one in the shed and one in a dry stone wall: I'm with Grassman. When things are quiet, maybe late evening, provide your stripy visitors with a nice convenient landing platform at their entrance hole. A piece of card taped to the block or another piece of wood that you can quickly prop in position. The sprinkle some doggy flea powder on the platform. The occupants will then helpfully carry the powder to all parts of the nest and share it around. Seems to work very quickly and effectively.

It's last year now but I was tootling along the canal on a pleasant weekday morning, her indoors downstairs doing the ??.... Boat coming the other way so I pulled over and gave a cheery greeting as we passed, steerer to steerer. The response was a steely stare and silence. Hmmpfh! though I, be like that! Got 200 yards down the cut when I suddenly thought, OMG! I pulled to the left to pass - why the Hell did I do that! I haven't even been in the car for ages. Not exactly canal rage but a well deserved cold shoulder!

'Sapphire' = 8 letters. 'Topaz' = 5 x 2 sides = saving of 6 letters @ £x ie cheapskate. Also, 'z' pronounced with a marked Spanish accent. Clever or what?

"I was proceeding in a Northerly direction along the canal, your Honour, when my attention was attracted by two young ladies on the towpath." "What's the name of your boat, mister?" Leans forward from his seat at the tiller and points to the boat name exhibited in 12" letters on the side of the vessel. Pause/sniggering. "Why don't you call it Ruby?" "Cos it's BLUE!"

Yeah, but what's the physics of that? Why does it remove the rust but not the underlying ?steel? Just intrigued - I still want one to do my gas bottle locker floor!