TheBiscuits

Of course you can. Most supermarkets sell them for a quid or provide them free ...

I'd get it checked by a different sparky, as nearly all the plumbers I know have dripping taps at their own house ...

Use dry wood, not wet wood ... Under 20% moisture content is the usual starting point, lower is better.

You'll usually only get soaked or flooded if you're in a 60ft+ boat, because in anything smaller you can keep away from the headgates. Mine is only 45 ft but I still ride the tailgates on L&L locks.

That sounded great until you started talking about lager via PM ... I had you down as a "bottle of dog" girl! I'll try to correct the error of your ways in the ale House ...

Nah, I'll sell you some for £200 a roll!

There's a new Ale House right next to the level crossing ...

How near? We might be able to get to Hest Bank for then ....

Not slow, just not done it I'd guess. With a truly watertight cratch cover you'd be fine, but most of them are not quite as watertight as they seem. Without one, taped shut bow doors and vent grilles really do help. Uphill. Downhill, where most get upset, the pram hood needs folding down to get through the lock bridges. All of a sudden the companiable space on the cruiser stern is a boat sinking liability, so taping the deck boards and rear doors starts looking like a good idea!

Fair gap since da middle aged too! Those damned licence checkers get everywhere these days!

62 X 14 feet nominal on the locks, most of which have leaking headgate seals or waterfalls through the cill. I have often offered 57 foot boats a roll of duct tape at the first lock, and they laugh it off because they won't be fooled by Northern humour. By lock 2 I could sell the same roll to them for a couple of hundred quid, because it's less than the excess on their insurance ...

Dibs on the cat! Err, I mean that LiFePo4 batteries are less likely to explode than Lead Acids, so he's not being cruel. Still called dibs though!

You'd have done the corners first!

Oi! We've had enough closures up here for the last 4 years thanks. Put the stoppages in at Gayton, Norton and Autherley please.

Slightly disagree, having taken a 64ft narrowboat (carefully!) over the L&L. Probably not the ideal boating introduction for a novice though. The galley would need reworking on that one, yes. Swivel it out to use it, swivel it back to use the shower... not ideal!

I thought they easily removed with a couple of bolts so you could get at the engine, or is it not the Beta one?

Even The Donald hasn't suggested making Sulphuric Acid in your lungs as a good home remedy (yet!)

http://performance-chemicals.net/contactus/

It's the only sensible way to have a gas free boat, but cooking over an open fire of £10 notes works out about the same cost!

https://www.ebay.co.uk/str/firstforallyourchemicalneeds This seller on eBay is Performance Chemicals Ltd, the manufacturer of Vactan.

Have a look at the Wallas range of diesel stoves/hobs/ovens. https://www.kuranda.co.uk/product-category/wallas/wallas-diesel-hobs-and-ovens/

Silent cruising for some of the time, no fumes in locks. Both nice to haves, but not worth £27k to me. That said, you can knock off ~£8k for the core Beta 43, but that still leaves £20k extra cost for a big battery bank and an inverter if you aren't intending to use the electric motor drive. I'd have one, but wouldn't try and go gas free with it. I'd fit a damn sight more than 1.2 kW of solar as well! There was recently a rant thread about one of the boats that has a built-in genset and all electric drive who moored up silently then started the genny running at 9pm ...