1st ade

Last weekend it was my pleasure (?) to assist the IWA to clean the canal, bank and environment in North Milton Keynes. We collected over six ton's of rubbish including bikes, a motorbike, a wheelchair, a complete set of patio furniture and the inevitable supermarket trolleys. We also collected hundred's of beer bottles, thousands of lager cans and dozens of black sacks of "small stuff" from crisp packets to fishing line. None of these can be directly attributed to boaters. We also found no fewer than three (full) toilet cassettes between Bradwell Aquaduct and Bridge 71. Unhygienic, stinking and a hazard to children, adults, dogs and wildlife alike; these can only have been thrown into the undergrowth by boaters. Cut it out chaps.

Stand by for numbers to be noted at every slipway!

Check the obvious first - the drive belt. Our little (Diesel) Vaxhaul Corsa does exactly what you describe; the alternator spins enough to put the charge light out but as you accelerate the rev counter stays at idle. I think it's kind of self regulating at the point where the mechanical load increases steeply as it's being asked to deliver a proper charge. HTH

Thanks both. Seems to be me worrying about nothing.

Thanks to all who replied - by the time I walked past the chap's boat again he'd gone ahead and done it! At least I'm armed ready for the "I told you so" moment.

Got chatting to a boat owner near Wolverton (not that the locations affects the question) and helped him fix a minor electrical problem with his CH circulation pump. Job Done - maybe. The pipes for the rad's run under the floor, I assume they are well lagged or there is serious over-provision of energy as the radiators definitely get very hot. However, the holes for the pipes are oversize and a perishing cold draft comes up through them. The owners response was to apply Silicon Sealant around the pipes. To me this feels wrong; silicon sealant gives off a strong smell of vinegar which is acidic. Putting an acidic gel in permanent contact with a hot copper pipe seems to be asking for the radiators to be found one day severed from the heat source and a very wet floor! Any thoughts?

Actually - the Tabur Yak (or at least it's bigger brother the Tabur Yak II) found good use at sea. It was so unsinkable (The space between inside [for the sake of description - the inside was still open to the elements] and outside was filled with non-absorbent foam) and I've seen one with the square bows cut off being used to scoop up injured surfers. The Skipper sat on the transom in a dry suit with his feet in the water on the inside of the boat and his hand on the tiller of the outboard. Not very manoeuvrable but it did the job.

Not a bad rule for life really. Not infallible but a pretty good start.

Perhaps what Tim needs is this boat ... Looks pretty bulletproof (although the view in any direction except ahead is a bit limiting)

I view CDF from a proper computer (Win 7, 22" screen, mouse and keyboard), my little Asus laptop (10" screen, Win 8.1 keyboard and trackpad) and my Samsung phone. ALL use Firefox as the browser. I prefer the full site layout, even on the phone. My eyesights not bad, it's a reasonable size screen and I prefer the consistency of the navigation buttons being in the same place whether I'm at home or on the train. The phone seems to remember WHO I am without issue. I can close the browser, start it up again and there we are "1st Ade" in the top right corner; every time. But the blessed thing can't remember that I prefer the full site view. Look away for thirty seconds and the display reverts to "Mobile" with a "full version" button right at the bottom of the page (which is a long way down). Touch the top right menu key and I'm still "1st Ade". So why the amnesia for how I want to view and the excellent long term retention for who I am?

From memory of hire boats and canal holidays a (very) long time ago there was a linkage between the three decompression levers. When starting by hand (which happened quite frequently when small children [me and MP] used the lights all night) the boatyard advised my father to disconnect the linkage, decompress all three cylinders, swing like crazy and try and start on two. Then bring the third in once it was running. Apparently you needed "the knack" to get enough speed on that dropping all three compressions in together didn't just stop rotation stone dead.

On a slightly darker note I hear tell that one council department got raided by armed police shortly after nine-eleven because of a web page containing a reference to " ... a wheelie bin laden with garden waste ..."

Greenie awarded.

Ah yes, I know the pair. Short boat the equivalent of a trailer for all the "tat" that won't fit on the long one. I'll ring CRT when I walk the dog later (I assume like 101, they count the number of calls, more calls = more action)

Noted! (Now where's that Leave Sheet?)

I did bang on the roof a few times!

As title. Continuous whistling noise - Bilge? Low Battery?

The 1898 OS map shows "Carriage Works" in this location although (now I've checked) the 1902 Town Plan shows fields!