Jamesandlinda

Two factors. One is limited size of canal & as water won't compress (much), going faster in small waterways just doesn't work. The other is the blunt angle of the swim. Old trad 72ft narrow boats had a 17ft swim. Make it shorter & you get more cabin space, but at the expense of limiting the amount of water getting to the prop.

Better reception at night is quite normal. It's just that you never noticed the less good reception in day time because it was plenty good enough. It does sound like the aerial has died. I would recommend replacing it.

I have a Roland stage piano, digital of course, but full 88 keys and nicely weighted. I use a small 10W guitar amp. The piano is stowed away when we have guests aboard. It just gets tied up vertically to the bedroom wall.

I have the smaller Honda. What you need is called a 'neutral to earth bond'. Every house has one, you just don't see it, as it's buried in the distribution box. I use a dedicated cable for the Honda & in the plug I connected the neutral to the earth. Hey presto it all works perfectly. Don't put the neutral to earth bond in your distribution box, as it then mucks things up when you're connected to shore power - which has already been bonded before it gets to your boat v

I understand Mikuni has been bought by Eberspacher and closed down. How this May impact future spare parts I can not say.

I have the Gobius & it is brilliant. Just remember to calibrate it periodically (takes 30 seconds). See pictures and words about the install at www.widebeambarge.com

I have a Victron & am happy as Larry. As with Mastervolt you can combine the output if a generator with output from the Victron, so we are able to run a washing machine using only a Honda eu10i (very light) and the 12V/1600/60 Victron. Check out my website wwww.widebeambarge.com for a full explanation.

Check out the current issue of Canal Boat where you will find an article on fridges which I have written. I have a Vitrifrigo which uses 1A on average. That is 24A in 24 hours. The compressors are pretty much the same across the different brands. What matters is how the excess heat - drawn from inside the fridge - is disposed of. Vitrifrigo does it very efficiently with a fan - like on a car radiator - but some brands use the metal casing of the fridge, which is bound to be a bit less efficient but cheap to make.

As ex-sailors ourselves we bought Poppy, a 60ft x 10ft 6in Widebeam, to cruise the continental inland waterways. We are in Belgium & loving it. Unlike UK there are no 14-day mooring limits, and what authorities we've met have been very laid back about how long you stay in places. Agreed a narrowboat could be used all over UK but the living space is wildly different on a widebeam. Poppy draws 25 inches so can get pretty well anywhere. Check out www.widebeambarge.com & let me know if you have any questions.