Sea Dog

Whereas if you don't, the dog might vanish!

Mitch, your boat looks quite tidy in the photo, albeit with a window where you'd prefer to have a porthole. I think it unlikely you're going to make such a drastic change without making a bit of a dog's breakfast of it. Just my 5 cents.

I was going to say put in a plastic bag in a large suitcase, preferably between some jumpers or towels to stop it rattling. Perhaps I misread the title, so I'll get my coat...

Won't it be nice when the OP gets this boat out of the water and we can find out what's really going on!

Hi Noatnoob! To bring you back on topic.... If you do need hot water early as in pre 8am, to avoid the potential disagreements you're already seeing being played out, you might think it more sociable to run the engine the previous evening (again before 8). If you have a decent, well-insulated calorifier set up, you'll still have plenty of hot water in the mornings. This will also work for you on the days you cruise and is, of course, 'free' hot water whereas heating it by gas is relatively expensive. Hope that's helpful Eta Bottle got you back on topic whilst I was typing!

And I'm not particularly defending Honda Ray - just saying that there's some shiny 'similar' looking items out there that turn out to be false economy at best. Some are a downright liability. Caveat Emptor is as relevant today as it ever was (I must remember to find out how to read that in Chinese characters)!

Lots of companies make products that make Honda stuff look expensive. Usually, Honda stuff doesn't need help to look expensive but as time goes by, particularly when you own the cheaper products, Honda often starts to look better value. A generator may be quite a good example of this phenomenon.

Grumpy, that's what the rubbing strakes are for. A dangling fender when underway is likely to get trapped at such places and when that happens it's the fender rope versus many tonnes of boat - the boat wins, the rope snaps, and another one of these hazards is created.

Put something in the cratch that he doesn't like. Pig, porcupine, parrot (trained to say "get back downstairs, Fido!"), anything really. It doesn't have to start with P either.

I was initially surprised to find that mine doesn't have one (I don't think Simon Piper fits them to his boats), but it brings no issues at all. I shelved plans to fit one as unnecessary. Some other hulls may be different though.

Just a consideration, but do remember that the bt battery may be a starter type which is designed for short periods of heavy loads and won't take kindly to being steadily drained to as low a level as a domestic battery. That said, mine is exactly the same as those in my domestic bank. (Not that I'm confessing to having a bt, since they're useless and only for folks that can't drive)

Sorry to hear this - the hassle was bad enough without the engine damage. Is the problem the sinking fender or the floating rope (which is awful anyway, but seems hard to avoid on this type of fender)? There was a thread recently where some argued against stowing fenders whilst cruising. Seems to me that, with fenders left dangling, it's inevitable the odd one will get caught going into a lock or similar resulting in a snap-off. Maybe some good will come of this thread by encouraging seaman-like precautions. Anyway, fingers crossed for Reg's engine.

Good plan Joe. I'm amazed by the number of folk who fork out vast sums of money for a boat without having done that. As well as all the obvious boat handling and navigational experience, you're sure to end your week with a list of preferences for your own boat equipment fit and layout, many of which may quite surprise you! Have a great week and good luck with your search.

You could, of course, do this. You may even be right so to do. Personally, whether the surveyor is right or wrong on whether this contentious point is a show stopper, it sounds like good sense and at worse errs on the safe side. I'd rather put a small amount of time, effort and money into sorting out the physical issue itself than have a load of stress and hassle fighting over whether it's enforceable or not. It's your choice, of course, and I'm not advocating you simply roll over whatever happens, but if you start your boating experience fighting I don't think you'll get the enjoyment from it that some of us do. Other folks mileage may vary!

Quite an important repair to get right I think. Go for a proper, proven solution to get it right first time. Not an issue I've had myself, but I suspect it'll be pretty easy to tell a pukka repair from a bodge. Just my 5 cents!

Pearly, the trouble with this question is that, once you have the answer, you'll go, I'll go, loads of others will read it and they'll go - and now it'll be busy!

Bump! Or any other design or build issue unless it's been a dog from day one. What's changed? What's broken? What has he picked up?

Did you sleep well?

I think PRM's thinking must be that the heavier your use the engine the more frequently you need to change the box oil. I think I lean towards Nick's interpretation of the Beta/PRM manual advice which is as clear as mud - unlike my gearbox oil which is always crystal clear when changed at 250 hours with the engine oil.

Joe, I absolute agree with your decision to keep the missus happy when buying a boat to share and, whilst I have one, there's no reason why you should have a trad if you fancy something else. I'm thinking that by trad you're also talking boatman's cabin, as many trad stern boats do not have a steep or central entry steps. I am a little concerned about the other reason for rejecting a trad stern though, namely that she's worried about stepping off the back by mistake. There's allsorts of places you can fall off a Narrowboat by accident - I would put stepping off the back of a trad stern pretty far down the list! Anyway, you're clearly giving the choice a lot of thought, so good luck in your deliberations.