TheBiscuits

Never mind that - why does your profile have a boat name on it?! Are you keeping "Caledonia" a secret? It's not this one is it?

The smaller items will include long lengths of plastic such as bin bags, and they will definitely not go out the other side! It is much much cheaper to scrape plastic bags off the grill than to strip the bowthruster and replace the propeller ..

Just swap that canopy for a solar panel roof and add a couple of lithiums ...

They do, but it's the inhibitor that dictates the lifespan of the antifreeze. 2 or 5 years are typical. The ethylene glycol is still fine but the inhibitor is either degraded or used up. Adding more inhibitor means you can keep using the same antifreeze for longer as long as it's not a nasty rusty sludge!

Yep, it's a good idea, better for your wallet and the planet. I always recommend taking quite a bit of coolant out and mixing it with the inhibitor then putting it back in rather than just tipping the bottle in the header tank and hoping it mixes.

Only once ...

That's a good idea, but if @Mad Harold's nearest river is the Calder and it's been raining hard, he probably wants to make sure his engine is OK before going out on it!

http://www.tonytugboats.com 07810 646733

I was looking at one on a narrowboat last week. They look odd, but as you say are very practical in use. The owners were very happy with it.

Craftinsure will provide a trading endorsement if you ring them. I think ours was about £50 added to our existing policy.

Good point, well made! I never care about getting out of Liverpool, just into it! It's the great beauty of being a CC'er ... we don't really care where we end up!

Sorry if I was not clear ... an hour's earlier start from the "wrong" side of Coxhead's gets you to Stanley Dock top in enough time to transit the Liverpool Link, or you go through a day earlier and have about an hour's cruise to the Stanley Locks. If you are not on a hireboat schedule, don't worry about it!

I think Rotary Dock sounds so formal! I'm sure I have seen film footage of it in use, but I can't seem to find it today.

You don't need to change your booking dates, you just need to be at Coxhead's Bridge earlier. It is 4 miles and 4 swing bridges from Melling where most people overnight for the run into Liverpool. If you get there early, just stop at Litherland moorings.

And of course, Tividale Quays (or Dudley Port depending on your preference!) The reason I think we failed @RLWP's challenge, was the weather forecast. We moored there for most of the afternoon in bright sunshine under blue skies, then I looked at the forecast for today, and looked at the map for how far we were from shops/services etc. So we copped out. I have failed to spend a night in Tividale quays, but we did spend several hours there and were talking to the locals, who all were delighted to see boats inside the basin. If you want an excellent mooring (for about a hundred boats!) near a carvery pub, a Tesco and a post office, choose Tividale Quays. We decided to move off under blue skies and no rain ... but we will be back in the future, and Tividale is great.

Some you win, some you lose! Bradley Workshops, in company with the BCNS Explorer cruise: The night before ... good fire, good wine and good company. Good Times! While BobBiscuits was paddling in muddy puddles ... And MrsBiscuits was looking at lock gates ... The morning after the night before ... Top secret plans (unless you have a tape measure and know where the locks are!) Using a dry dock as a storeroom for metal parts ... they are confident in their gate seals! And the highlight of the workshops ... the "Boat-turny-over-thing" (I think that is the technical term!) inside the shed. They used to turn wooden bottomed boats over on this frame's grandfather, so the carpenters could replace the elm bottoms on boats. They did re-welding in the later years. Sadly, 2/3rds of this has been removed and decked over to give room to make lock gates. The site manager assures me they still have all the bits in storage though, so it could be reinstated if they need to.

Predictions of # of boats: @TheBiscuits 3 (disallowed) @Dr Bob 12 1/2 @cheshire~rose 41 @Yellowback 42 Proof of # of boats: 1. Good Times (disallowed) 2. Paws 4 Thought 3. Button End 4. Fly Fifer (+ an extra £1 donation to CCT!) 5. Hobnail 6. Shadow 7. Paradigm Shift 8. Uz Boat 9. Moody Blues 10. Country Rose (My brain keeps singing to me ... "Take me home, Country Rose, To the place, Where I belong!) 11. Silent Wings

Again thanks to all the boats that agreed to carry the noodles when we crossed paths with them, and who took my spiel about the Chesterfield Canal Trust in good spirits. A very special mention needs to go to @nellieD from the BCNS who gracefully allowed me to raise money for CCT on a Birmingham Canal Navigations Society event! She did insist I wasn't allowed to hand out leaflets though ... Thanks Brenda! I promise that when I go up the Chesterfield I will do something similar on behalf of the BCNS, even if @cheshire~rose tells me off too!