TheBiscuits

I think you have missed a bit. There is no real problem having "battery - cable - shunt - other wires". There is very little advantage connecting the shunt directly to the batteries, but there must not be any other connections between them. "Battery - cable - shunt - everything" is how it should be done. Bolting the shunt to the battery terminals is in fact wrong!

Interestingly, the ones that would have it easiest are the fuel boats! £120 buys them a new shiny IBC that they get white diesel pumped in, and dispose of the old IBC that had red diesel in. Steam clean the metered pump and the dispensing nozzle, new hoses as it's not worth faffing about with consumable items and Robert is your Father's brother ... Compared to trying to clean or replace large scale bunded storage and fixed dispensing pumps, this is peanuts.

That one is about a foot across on my laptop ...

Interesting. All the major retailers (Shell, BP etc.) have their own formulation via additives packs for their fuel - not just diesel - and the supermarkets either have their own too or just buy whatever they can get cheaply. It's always been the case that when you get a new-to-you vehicle it's worth trying a few tanks from each source to see what it runs best on. One of my previous cars ran far better on Sainsbury's diesel than any other, but my current car runs badly and smokes a lot on that. On Tesco diesel I get an extra 5 MPG and no black smoke, so I tend to use that. It was certainly the case 20 years ago that all the wagon drivers swore by Shell diesel in the winter as it waxed a lot less in cold temperatures than any other, but that is much less the case these days - presumably everyone else has upped their game!

That's the way to do a one off. Tab A into slot B and weld it watertight. The kits obviously cost quite a bit more than uncut plate, but the results are much better than some of the make-it-up as you go along builds.

Why? It's the same stuff with a dye and tracer added to it.

At least you have room for the battery storage ...

We timed it perfectly when we went - completely by chance, Black Dog Molly were having a dance out there just as we turned up. Little BobBiscuits got a command performance of a hurdygurdy solo which utterly fascinated him, and got to wear a flowery hat and bash some sticks. It was very exciting for a one year old!

Yes, Matty corrected me upthread ... he said you wired it directly to David!

That's a feature, not a bug! Do both ends of the Y ... they are great for different reasons, but yes the Black Lion is somewhere special. If time allows from Leek, go up to Rudyard Lake. It's well worth the walk/bus journey/taxi fare.

Those plastic tenners are cheaper, and you can use both sides then rinse them!

Are they charging you by the day or by the hour like the plumbers do?

A mere greenie wasn't enough!

My definition of a silly question is : The one you didn't ask, but should have! I once looked at an 18ft GRP cruiser and walked away after the broker got cross when I asked if he had one for my other foot too. I have boots bigger than the Norman 18! Proper boats (ie not steel narrowboats!) get much bigger as they get longer. There is probably twice as much interior space on a 25ft boat as there is on a 20ft boat. On restricted beam boats (6'10" is typical) not so much - most 57ft narrowboats have very little extra useable space than a 45 or 50 ft boat. Go and look at lots of boats from the inside ... there is no other way to work out what size you want. Go round the local marinas that sell the sort of boat you are after, and go on every boat you can, even if it's way outside your price range. You will get a feel of what size suits you after the first hundred or so!

I strongly disagree Arthur. Try telling random boaters that you meet that you are a liveaboard CC'er, and see what comments you get. Nearly all of the pushback comes from those of a certain age, and most of them are flying both IWA and AWCC pennants. As a member of both organisations, I get very cross about this. I also get very cross about people who get a CC licence* and then abuse it, as it reflects badly on those of us who use the CC licence in the way it was meant to be used when the committee overrode BW's arguments in the 1995 act. The dislike appears on the cut, not just on the internet, and we have seen it in person. Low percentages, sure, but it IS out there. We would probably see more of it if the grumpies boated more! I do often wonder if it is at least partially fuelled by jealousy of the lifestyle ... * Yes, I am fully aware there is no such thing as a CC Licence, but it's easy shorthand!