Mike Adams

I don't agree with a fuel shut off in the return/leak off line. If is shut off in error pressure could build up causing a pipe/fitting to fail with the potential to cause a fire. Much better to have the reurn on the top of the tank or connected into the fuel filler line above the tank.

I last boated up the Thames about ten years ago and this summer I set off from the Wey for a return trip to Lechlade. What an amazing transformation from ten years ago! In mid-August I went most of the way up without sharing any locks. So quickly did we go that it only took half the time it did previously. Much as it made it very easy it is somewhat concerning to see the river so under-used at this time of year. One lock keeper noted that all (local cruising) boats were licenced but a lot were not being used. Yet as expected it was quite difficult to moor in the usual places with a lot of wide beam and some Dutch barges predominating at most mooring sites. In fact there were many such craft dotted around the river tied up in trees. I was amazed at the number of similar boats tied up in Wallingford under the trees above the bridge and the number on the towpath between Iffley and Osney locks. I didn’t plan to stop in Oxford, a view supported by several lockkeepers, but there wasn’t any space on the 24 hour moorings anyway. Now here is the interesting point. Is actual pleasure cruising on the river now at an end? If in the past you were moored somewhere like Goring it would be very busy overnight, more or less empty at lunchtime filling up late afternoon with boats cruising most of the day. It now seems that many boats move much less than they used to only moving on when they really have to and a shorter distance as possible. Is this because of the cost of fuel, older boaters finding it more difficult or having more leisure time to cover a given route or cruising become ancillary to living on the boat? Are some boaters with GRP craft being put off by the presence of so many large steel vessels?

We boated in France for the last 10 years but sold the boat last year after Cameron screwed it up for everybody. The main disadvantage of a long narrowboat apart from those already stated above is that above 20m you need a French boating licence and lots of marinas/moorings will only accept boats up to about 15m. Whilst you can often moor on a quay with a barge it is more difficult with a narrowboat especially on commercial waterways and rivers. I am not sure of what happens after Brexit but I fear it will be more difficult and expensive to take a boat into the EU for more than 6 months due to import duty. I remember back in the 1970's if you wanted to leave a boat out in France over the winter it had to be placed in a customs bond and in theory as a British citizen after Brexit you will only be able to stay for 90 days in any 180 days as far as I understand it.

Goring would be my usual stop to do it in two days but depending what time you arrive there may not be space (ask the lockeeper at Cleeve) otherwise usually space below Whitchurch lock and easy access to Pangbourne. Otherwise stop earlier at Wallington if the moorings obove the bridge are full you can tie up below the bridge on left bank going downstream.

I wouldn't give this academic research houseroom. Complete rubbish. No doubt the author will get a first class degree for his work. Duckweed events occur on most canals including the Basingstoke Canal which is a SSSI with almost no boats polluting the waterway. The best way to kill fish is increase the temperature of the water as it depletes the oxygen levels and if some of them die off if probably indicates an over-population. Duckweed on the suface reduces the ability of the water surface to absorb oxygen so combine the two and bingo dead fish. They will be eventually reabsorbed into the eco system as will we all. No doubt this with give someone an excuse to have all boats fitted with grey water tanks.

Can you provide us with the evidence for this?

If you have no run out on the gearbox flange with the propshaft disconnected it would appear to me that when the shaft is connected to the gearbox you get run out either the shaft is bent or the coupling on the shaft is not running true with the shaft. This can be checked by measuring the gap around the two faces of the coupling when they are pushed together. If it is not running true it will try and bend the shaft when tightened and cause vibration as will a bent shaft or a damaged propeller. You could fit an R and D flexible coupling if you have room which may give it a bit more fredoom and take some of the load off the gearbox bearings. I think prm recommend that you do this. It should not cause any problems to take the half couping off and examine it - maybe the keyway/key has been damaged a bit it if you hit something. I had a boat with very long shafts on cutlass bearings and when you disconnected them they sagged by about 1/2 inch so the only way to align them was on the faces of the coupling. Hope this helps M

You could wedge the propeller using a piece of wood through the weed hatch it would tell you if is the shaft vibrating - in neutral of course. A waterlubricated bearing can easily be destroyed by something wound around the shaft.

Built like a 'standard' narrowboat with a steel top would probably tip over at the first bend unless it was deep in which case it would be a slug.

A 21ft narrowbat doesn't make much sense to me. You will probably need an outboard to save space. Much better to look for a fibreglass boat or even something like a water rat. You can put it on a trailer and go anywhere. They are as cheep as chips.

There is a residential mooring available at Taverna moorings at a very reasonable £12,500 a year on the waterside mooring website.

We organised the first rally in Mile End in 1982 largely supported by the Greater London Council. There were no boats moored between St Pancras and Limehouse. Nobody stopped overnight between the two places. As has been said earlier places like Limehouse cut were a bit of a challenge then but now we have the advantage of mobile phones. Most local people enjoyed the towpath and with the instigation of the 'Canalway ' by the GLC it was quite a pleasant environment. I passed over the canal on the train yesterday and it looks like a junkyard. In addition the canal was covered in duckweed a sure sign that there are high levels of nitrates in the water.

A couple of points We have been paying for white diesel in France for many years and probably adds a couple of hundred pounds to the fuel bill. Hire craft can use red diesel as can commercial craft. Means you have to go with cans to a supermarket which is a pain. What seems wrong to me is that light aircraft pay no fuel taxes at all as far as I know. Some boaters run their semi- diesels on aviation kerosene. I am not sure what the legal position is on using paraffin - maybe some old tvo engines will become popular. I think you are still allowed to brew so much vegatable oil for your own use without declaring it. Make the cut smell like a linear fish and chip shop!

I used to take my Thames tug 'Silverlit' up the bottom part of the GU and around the London ring in the early 1980's. With a beam of 12'6" and 4' draught it was no problem. However I needed to slow right down past the very few moored boats on the cut. The black flow around the boat was something else. Would be interesting to try it now.

5'10" which is fine by me. Lower enough to keep the floating roof gardens away.

Might be worth looking in Bradshaw. I have feeling the GU was always wide and longer up to Berko as many of the wide boats from London traded up there. The Regent's Canal Locks are more than 70ft. I am sure you can get a 75ft boat around the London Ring. Unfortunately my copy fell apart many years ago and I have never got around to replacing it.

The 5 feet will be the moulded depth of the hull and not the gauged draught.

Looks like an Isuzu engine. The W terminal is for a rev counter. The blue/Yellow wire would go to the rev counter so I suspect you don't have one. Yellow and Black to the battery indicator light which should be on when you switch the ingnition on and then go out when charging ie when engine running. Should be about 14v when running. Check belt for looseness and check voltmeter moves up when running. If below about 12.5 when running I think you have abattery fault. Hope this helps.

Basingstoke of course -very few boats , no marinas and no CM's and apart from Woking, which is a hideous blot on the Surrey landscape, the most unspoilt you can find.

I feel very sad about the K and A having contributed to it's Restoration. It had all the prospects of being a wonderful canal but soon realised all was lost when attending the boaters meetings in Devizes somes years ago now. The meetings were taken over by the newly arrived floating residents who have turned it into a linear tip at the western end. Looking back I think I prefered it as a derelict waterway and enjoyed many walks along it at that time.

I shall be toast if her inside can't listern t'Archers.

Thanks I have thought about a car radio but then I have to fit speakers etc. Also found that DAB doesn't work so well on a boat. I searched ebay and found this one secondhand that has a 12v input for power and sockets for an external antenna so I will give it a try. Not a name I had come across before. em Description: Compact Tabletop AM / FM Radio with Wooden Enclosure that is Tuned and Ported for its 3-inch Front-Firing Speaker Acoustic Bass Compensation for a Richer Bass Response, Rotary Bass and Treble Controls, this system Delivers Warm Room-Filling Audio for its size 10 Memory Preset Stations (5 AM, 5 FM) Clock and Alarm with HWS (Humane Wake System) (wake by Radio or Buzzer), Adjustable Sleep and Snooze Function Large Easy to Read Backlit LCD Display with Dimmer Adjustment DC-Input, Aux-Input, REC-Out, Stereo Headphone Output, AM and FM External Antenna Connections Remote Control included Item is used but in excellent condition

Does anyone know of a bedside clock/radio that works on 12v dc. I would like one that is am and fm and not DAB. All of the ones I can find use the 50Hz mains signal for timing the clock part and I don't want an inverter running all the time even if it did produce a accurate 50Hz?

Was it the sides or bottom or both that were overplated? How long ago? If you get water between the original bottom and the overplate that is very bad news. Rust can force the plates apart. That is why it is not allowed on commercial passenger craft. You need to invest £50 in a chinese ultrasonic thickness meter and a big hammer to get that scale off and see what you have left - but only do it in a dry dock/ashore and find out how thick it all is. looking at the picture there is a lot of wastage but what matters is what is left.