cherswud

My mistake - I thought I made a sensible suggestion, but realised that was not the case on receiving Alan's reply which was helpful and pointed out the related safety issues - and all made sense. However being reprimanded in that manner, even with the patronising sop of 'well intentioned', feels rather OTT and off-putting. Still, I've learnt my lesson ... I'd only just started looking at this forum again tonight. Now I remember why I stopped - not because I was bollocked, but because I got tired of reading it happening to others. Cheers, M

OK, thanks, Considering myself very firmly told off.

Alan, Can you please clarify for me then why gas lockers have holes just above the water line? I thought that was to allow any leaking gas to escape from low down as gas is heavier than air. Cheers, Marilyn

It needs ventilation holes low down - are they present in the model shown (on the bottom, around on the side or rear that are not visible in the photo)? Given it's for a pretty heavy gas bottle, does it need to be more securely braced to prevent movement (more than the bolt at the top)?

I've just looked at this, and I am concerned that you are all taking a very wasteful approach, labour-wise and time-wise, to preparing mulled wine. It behoves you, as people of frugality, to be sparing with your time and effort, as well as your dosh. And you know that buying and preparing in bulk is much more economical. So, given you are going to adulterate the wine with additives anyway, buy a chateau cardboard to make mulled wine out of. Invite friends around. Make sure you have a couple (no more than 2 should be required) of empty wine bottles with screwcaps (almost all NZ wine has screw caps and most NZ wine is of a good to high standard - plug for home country - so buy an NZ wine or two). Make the mulled wine with chateau cardboard, consume some with friends, decant remainder into previously emptied NZ screwtop wine bottles (this step does require some pre-planning, but I am sure you will manage!), and invite friends to return on the morrow. Repeat till all mulled wine is gone. And then start again. That should make winter appear to pass rather rapidly.

My plan to boat there has been abandoned and we'll either do public transport for the adventure, or hire a car and drive. That all depends of course on whether I can get a mortgage to pay for the entrance fees to the place itself ...

Thank you - that sounds like a plan! And maybe one we can accomplish with two grandsons in tow ... Not so sure about the coracle though - I rather like being able to steer craft without going in circles! Cheers, Marilyn

Thanks, Dave. Looks like it's going to be a car trip again! Maybe we can get nb Waka Huia within cooee on another waterway and then hire and drive. Shame though - I was getting quite excited about it. Cheers, Marilyn

Hi there, fellow NZer, We used to hire lots (about 16 or 17 times from 1990 to 2013) and about 14 of those times we hired from Black Prince. They do have boats with armchairs - usually in the ones with no dinette double in the saloon. We hired from Black Prince because they have several bases, the boats are all good and well-maintained. Not fancy, but everything works. And they give a discount for repeat hires. A couple of months ago, a friend who'd been with us on a boat back in 2007 rang to book, told them she had done so and had the discount voucher (they'd given one to everyone who was on board when we took the boat back), and they not only gave her a discount on the boat she was hiring but also on the one another group of friends was hiring at the same time. Good business people who know the value of customer service. We've hired from them several times from Napton, a few times from Acton Bridge and Stoke on Trent, and from Chirk. Cheers, Marilyn

I am currently reading a novel by Elizabeth George which features Ironbridge and has awakened my interest in going there again - last went by car in the heatwave of 1990 with our kids. This time, now we have one, I am thinking about whether it is possible to get to Ironbridge by narrowboat. I see it is on The Severn and I've looked on canalplan.org but I don't know enough of the boatie waypoints to be able to find whether it is navigable. Can anyone help with information please? Cheers and thanks, Marilyn

We are due to come to the UK in mid-July, instead of the usual early May - I have to say that the UK weather at the moment makes that decision a good one! Who needs to leave NZ autumn to have the UK's wintery spring? I can just stay here and do all the keeping warm things instead. MrSmelly better have the weather sorted properly by the time we arrive, or I'll be demanding explanations and reparations!

I know this is off topic from the original poster's question. However... I wonder if we haven't got a bit sensitive about human excrement in the last 60 or 70 years. There was a time (and the practice is still in current use in some countries I believe) when human excrement was used a a crop fertiliser; at our beach cottage in NZ we had a septic tank, and the contents (with no chemical intervention) eventually converted to clear water through the action of fabulously busy bacteria - well, so my dad told me. The key was not to use bleach/commercial toilet cleaning solutions/detergents. Hence the efficacy of the composting loo. we all poo, and when we were babies and toddlers our mums (mostly mums) cleaned our bums and disposed of the poo without dying. I'd have to say I don't like the smell of it, but it's only poo and pee, after all. And if we are healthy individuals, it is not dangerous - especially if we wash our hands after toileting/pumping out/emptying the cassette. If I had a composting loo, I'd be prepared to use the well-composted stuff in my roof top allotment - after all, at home I use sheep/horse and chicken poo on my veges, and at least I know what we have eaten and whether it is safe! I don't know that about the sheep/horses/chickens. And who knows what is in the commercial compost that I buy!! PS We would have a composting loo on board now if it met the criteria of the cost benefit analysis - there would be too much reconstruction required in the bathroom to take out the pumpout tank and deconstruct the pedestal and then do the necessary carpentry/tiling for a composting loo to be fitted. But we are happy with our drop through/pumpout toilet and our cassette as being cost effective and ecologically efficient solutions.

When we bought our boat, it had a pump with a long hose and a hand pump with a short hose. The vendor told us they pumped out at night into the river and told us 'Everyone does it' Well, not this everyone, thank you! I know the fish in the rivers and cut are not for eating, but they do deserve to continue living there instead of being poisoned by formaldehyde. We used the onboard pump and long hose once and decided never again as it was such a crappy (excuse the pun) thing to clean afterwards. We had the pump removed when we'd had two commercial pumpouts that were foiled by toilet paper getting caught in the onboard pump mechanism. We gave the hand pump and short hose away to another boater. Now it's commercial pumpouts every time for us, and we've limited the frequency by having a cassette loo on board too for peeing into. We are now qualified to join the Toulose class of boat. My opinion, for what it's worth, is to stick with commercial pumpouts and if you can fit a cassette toilet in as well, then get one. It will pay for itself easily in the reduced frequency of pumping out. Cheers, Marilyn

When we came through Limekiln in 2015, we saw a whole bunch of guys sitting/standing around drinking beer - a local told me that they were guys who were culturally forbidden to drink alcohol, so they get together there away from home and their local environs where they aren't seen by anyone who knows them (hypocrisy ...) I found them a bit scary - any sizeable group of guys drinking next to a lock give me pause. They didn't interact with any of the boaters, which is unusual. We enjoyed our Soar experience, but thought the canal through Leicester was pretty unkempt. Cheers, Marilyn (nb Waka Huia)

An out of water survey is a must. One thing we wished we'd done as well though, was to get an autoelectrician to look at the electrics of the boat. Finding out stuff that cost us a couple of thousand would not have put us off buying the boat we have, but it would have saved us anxiety and a sense of being shafted by the vendor (through not divulging important information to the agent or during the survey or the handover) and the surveyor (through not checking thoroughly enough). Boat electrics are a tricky area - you just have to look at the topics and questions on this site to see that. And if you're not particularly au fait with what's watt (sorry!), getting a bona fide expert to give a view is important. Also make sure the engine is thoroughly checked over for you. We ended up buying from Boat Finders and they were great to deal with. Enjoy the search and the boating life! Cheers, Marilyn nb Waka Huia

Have you looked on youtube to see if it's hiding in plain sight there?