Stilllearning

You must be glad you are not in the Aude department at the moment, there are really bad floods and everlasting dead or missing.

The value of currencies vary, minute by minute, because foreign exchange dealers bet on values going up and down, and thereby earn vast amounts of money. It is very hard to say which is the chicken and which is the egg, but the fact that the system enables forex dealers to gamble legally and earn huge salaries is a large part of why currencies are volatile. Ever worked in a forex dealers room?

If it were me in this position, it would be tempting to have both barrels off, with the intention of having a good look at the engine while I could, and in the knowledge that the best thing to do might involve a pair of new pistons and ring sets. While I was at it, the obvious thing to do would also involve a quick look at the bearings.

If you don’t know, there’s no hope for you. From your strapline, you consider that all UK problems are derived from decimalisation and Brexit. Decimalisation apart, it’s good to see that you accept that Brexit is causing most of the problems that the UK has.

Those wide French canal boats are perfectly set up for rain or shine, in my limited experience. The one I have hired had a steering position up on the sun deck, and another in the wheelhouse. I hope you are not too far from a bar/restaurant?

A lot of young British farmers have moved to this area, as land is cheap and the government gives grant aid and tax breaks to under 40yo farmers with young children. All done to slow the decline in rural population and to keep local services running.

Despite the amenities in town here, it is still sufficiently quiet that at night in the spring, we can clearly hear the nightingales singing on the edge of town. Also, if we hear any noise at night, such as someone walking home at night making a noise, it’s a bit of a shock!

As a sort of rule of thumb, the French consider it will take about 3 years to sell the average rural property. One vendor said to me that in the first year, we over value it, and if some (idiot) comes along and pays the price, well then whoopee. In the second year we reduce the price and hope, and in the third year we ask what it is actually worth, and negotiate and sell it. It isn’t easy to sell a house in most of the places in France that are less well known, so outside of many coastal areas, or ski centres, or the Dordogne or wine growing areas, for example. Where we are the town has a supermarket, 2 butchers, 2 bakers, 2 chemists, 4 bars, 6 restaurants, all schools, a hospital, doctor’s surgery and dentist, railway station, cinema, library. All this with a population of under 2000! Oh, and a show jumping arena, the Anglo Arab horse breed was first bred in this area. Yet properties are still cheap and not easy to sell. Maybe next year, thanks to the World Sheepshearing Championships, which are happening here, things will change.

Many rural places in France do seem to be largely for sale. There has been massive rural depopulation over the last couple of generations, and as the country is so large, repopulating it will take some time. We live on a square with about 35 properties, and I think there are 6 for sale at the moment.

If I remember correctly, Burton RSPCA shelter is in a field that runs down to the T&M, so you might hope that they are used to both canals and boats.

And watch out for spiders nesting in the gauze, they can block the vent which can in turn cause a lack of air into the tank, as you use fuel in the engine. This can make an engine stop.

YuWho?

Hi it may have a variable pressure switch inside, that you can adjust. Try asking at a Vetus dealer, or wait for someone more knowledgeable than me on here to reply. Good luck

Taking both cylinder heads off, and measuring the height both pistons come to in their bores, may well tell you right away if a conrod is bent. Equally, opening up the side plates and looking at the rods may help. If nothing else, you will get to know much more about the engine while you are doing it all. They are very simple, proper old-fashioned diesels, and easy to work on. Parts are available, and RLWP who has already replied to you, is an expert on them, and can supply any parts needed.

This is spot on advice, the stove door may need to be open just a bit, at first lighting, as Sea Dog says. Also, it is possible that a window or door on the boat might help to give initial draught at first. Our old wood burning stove here, in a really large kitchen, almost always needed a door to the outside world open, on first lighting. I think it is all about the small amount of initial flame having to heat up a large block of steel or cast iron, it kills the “suck” of air up the flue.