Sea Dog

Which is no doubt particularly helpful in muddy water.

The duty issue on diesel for boats was an EU directive, as we're aware. Interestingly, my son filled his car with road diesel (so full road-going duty price) in Belgium today.... at 87p per litre. Is there anywhere here that cheap even at 60/40?

Sounds like you're about on fumes there Annie! It's a pretty much universally accepted good idea to keep your tank full in winter to avoid consensation in there, thus causing water in your fuel and potentially leading to issues such as diesel bug. You're probably gonna have to carry your road diesel, so I doubt you'll be filling it from that source, but you may wish to consider filling up at a better price somewhere on the canal system at the earliest opportunity. Good luck.

Hi Morten, Many hire firms operate from quite rural areas and, whilst easy enough to get to by car, if you're renting a car it will be a waste of money to leave it parked there for a week. There are a few hire bases fairly easily accessed by rail which might be cheaper depending how many are in your party. Alvechurch is one which springs to mind, where the hire company is a short walk from the station. There's a good choice of interesting routes from there, including some circular routes or 'rings' so you get to see the maximum amount by not retracing your outward route on the return leg. There will be other bases like this which I'm sure others will know of. Enjoy planning your trip and I hope you have a memorable time.

Well that's not exacly true. He's actually only plucking pheasants til the pleasant fu ..... til his dad gets back.

Pleased to see you're actually getting some sensible suggestions amongst the fun Sarah. Hope you get it cleared quickly, it must be a PITA.

Or maybe get a lady snail and coax it out with that. If you don't know how to identify a lady snail, just catch any particularly attractive one and pop a bit of lipstick on it.

Unless they have squeaky voices, in which case it might work quite well.

That edit made I larf, it did! It does appear that things are a bit different depending what route or which links you follow to find the info you need and that the same info is not on the interactive map that might be found in the printable versions, doesn't it. The interactive really ought to be useful to browse when you don't really mind where you go as long as you can find an open route, which is what I'm doing. Clearly though, the Xmas opening at Cosely is not on that map, whereas the Tardebigge window at the end of Jan is. Consistency would be useful, as would removing the stoppages that finished months ago. Someone said a little while ago that C&RT search this forum regularly for any mentions of the various forms of their name. Maybe the CANAL AND RIVER TRUST or CRT will read this post and put a little polish on this nearly really useful planning resource.

I've just learned in another thread that WD40 is good for cleaning stove glass! Is there no end to this product's talents? What should WD40 definitely not be used for? Greenie for the most outrageous/amusing answer?

Interesting to hear of boats with no top vents; I'll keep an eye out for their sleek, trip-hazard free cabin tops! We should start a thread on things WD40 doesn't do.

Can that be done? I believe the BSS says you must have a percentage of high and low level vent of a capacity based on a formula, but can you get the high level other than through roof vents? I'm not onboard today, otherwise I'd pop my head out to see if there's any boats around without roof vents. It's an interesting concept as the smooth line would certainly be nice, and it might be common as muck and I've just never noticed, but I'm sure someone on here will know..

Oh-oh, wth am I looking at then? This is the page on the C&RT website where I'm looking after navigating Hone, Boating, Notices and Stoppages, Find A Notice Near You - have I been duped?? It still says the same as above when I go there. Where are you looking Starman?

I've noticed these boats often, though not necassarily for the same reasons as you I reckon they must be built like brick outhouses and be fitted with buldozer engines, so you may well be onto a good thing caring for one of these old warhorses through its retirement. My tips would be to fit an adjustable throttle where the ON/OFF switch was and make sure you have enough money left for some kind of a repaint - even if it's only to signwrite a very big EX in front of CanalBoat Club! Best of luck with your purchase, I hope you get a good 'un. Edited to correct CanalBoat Club.

And the thing about good quality solid brasswork is that you could practically have started with a grinder! Going through those stages of coarseness means you can bring back some pretty neglected brightwork - which it sounds like you did! Finally, a use for all those boot bulling skills! ETA typo

This issue is (also?) caused by poor mixing. The anti freeze concentrate should not be added separately to the water whatever the concentration ratio as it won't mix itself well in the heating system. Maybe alternate small quantities will be ok, but preferably mix it thoroughly at the required strength before it is introduced to the system. NMEA's 25% in UK climate sounds good to me.

Another vote for fire ash on the glass. Moisten paper, dip in fine ash, rub glass, polish of with clean paper. Job done. I also hail from the school of shiny military brasswork. Solvol (of Autosol fame) do a marine polish which is good for deeper cleaning, but I find what the military call Wadpol (aka wadding polish of which Duraglit is one brand) to be quickest and easiest for a regular spruce up clean. I'm not a fan of laquered brass as the effort required to restore once the laquer fails in more than the effort to maintain the bare metal itself imho.

Thanks for that, useful to know. Why don't C&RT tell us that though? How can we plan winter journeys with any measure of confidence that we're not using incorrect data from their site? The stoppages map is currently showing: Coseley Cutting, Old Main Line Canal10 Nov 2014 - 13 Mar 201507:30 am - 05:00 pm Notice Type: Navigation Closure Notice Reason: (Re)Construction Mind you, they also still show this outdated bolleaux (which makes me wonder how often those responsible for the updates visit either the canal or the website!): Suspected Bloom of Blue-Green Algae @ Knighton Reservoir08 Jul 201412:00 am - 01:43 pm Notice Type: Advice Notice Reason: Information

Dragging up an old thread here, I know, but the C&RT stoppages page shows this section closed for 4 months Nov 14 - Mar 15. This is a section I'll probably have to avoid twice in that period, so I was wondering what's happening and how it's going?