Murflynn

Lots of good advice, but every single-hander faces one problem when going up in some of the deep locks - how do you get off the boat and onto the lock side to make your lines fast if the lockie is not on duty? On my small cruiser I often moor on the lock landing, set the lock and then bow-haul the boat in. In some locks the way is blocked by infrastructure but I usually manage. The solution is to carefully plan every move before entering the lock.

Calor Gas proudly claim they will collect any surplus cylinders from your home to alleviate the shortage. I am in the process of downsizing and had two 15kg butane bottles. Rang the local depot ........ " oo, err, no mate, we can't do it for at least a month, we're so busy " Local hardware store had no problem.

another narrow-minded comment. zip it, why don't you? ..................................... coat

The most significant point is surely that the temperature of anything that is controlled by the temperature of the water and therefore of the baseplate is very steady and predicable whilst any other solution inside or outside the cabin will need constant monitoring to keep it cool or to stop it from freezing. Go for it!

looks like some gadget from a 1950's sci-fi movie - or Thunderbirds perhaps.

when I did my RCD in 2008 the requirement for "downflooding" was 250mm when the boat was listing (tilted to one side) with the maximum allowable number of persons on board (which should be stated on the builder's plate) standing on the gunwale while hanging onto the roof rail. On my widebeam with 12 persons on board the engine vents were just within specification. .

exackerly - and what's more, don't ask the domestic electrician you found on Google. Best you ask the marina or others who are hooked up for the name of a competent boat electrician.

AFAIK the issue isn't just about whether boats can moor there, it's about whether they can set up a semi-permanent camp, using all the available bank-side, and preventing others from stopping for an hour or a day or two.

I won't be here in 2050 - unless I'm in a very old people's home - regardless of whether people change or not. Having said that, for the past 6 years I have been cruising the Thames with a little leccy boat of my own design and now view the diesel powered monsters as anachronisms. Why visit the Thames where there is peace and quiet to enjoy at your leisure and then spoil it all by racing from one lock to another in convoys of white plastic 2- or 3-storey megaliths, proudly watching as your wake breaks against the banks? Some narrowboats are an exception and create little disturbance, but not all. The 8km/hr speed limit is apparently a target that most boats try to match or exceed.

230v is the "norm" for mains supplies in the UK. However the voltage measured at the consumer unit or fuse box will always be less than the voltage measured at the outgoing supply from the local substation. In extreme circumstances this can be significant. When I was working in Oman several of the air-conditioning units overheated and failed. We measured the incoming at 270V. This was because we were next to the substation and the electricity company had done its best to maintain a reasonable voltage for some new properties that were a long way from the substation.

" Oi !!! Sod Off !! "

Oi !! This Fred is s'posed to about wot is NICE on the waterways now.

My wife sadly passed away after a short illness a month ago and her last comprehensible words to me were "you are not staying in this house - you will rattle around in it and you won't look after it". so I bought a ground floor apartment in the housing development surrounding Abingdon-on-Thames marina. Sale completed on 30 June (just in time to benefit from the stamp duty holiday) and started to move my kit in yesterday. The boat will follow when our big house is finally sold (asking price offer was accepted even before the estate agent could put it on the market!). The view from my back door:

yeah but - if you are a liveaboard and do that regularly you will end up talking with a funny accent. Apparently it affects the vocal chords and you end up sounding like a yorkie playing the rhythm guitar.

it's actually a 50tonne work barge 13ft wide powered by a trolling motor.

you're obviously not trying hard enough ........................ oh, and stop bragging about the length of your wotsit. 23ft would do me and the missus just fine. ................................................... coat

yeah but - .... why don't we have a gas pipe running along the busy parts of London's canals, with branch connections (and moveable steps over the pipe) every 25m where gas can be tapped off for the poor liveaboards? Similar thing for 240V? The gas pipe could double as a handrail to save poor drunks returning to their boats from falling in. .... and huge widebeam storage boats that can be called up to deliver your stored clothing on demand? same thing for fuel boats and sewage collection boats? CRT really hasn't thought this out. If they withdrew the 14 day rule and allowed boats to remain in place they could charge a small fortune for moorings and utilities. It would also free up most of the system from having to cater for boaters who are foolish enough to want to "cruise" along the system. Good news all round IMHO.

I am about to complete on my purchase of a Thames-side marina apartment (Abingdon). I don't understand how a houseboat or live-aboard can be described as "riverside" unless the boat is lifted out and set on the towpath. Rubbish journalese taught in second rate colleges teaching the Use of English (like wot I did for S-level in 1963). OWWW !!!!

Why did you quote my post, Tony? I was referring to the rust on the deck and hatch plate. what other rust could you see in the photos? certainly nothing that was inside the tank.

eh? I see lots of flaking paint but no sign of serious rust - except the hatch plate that is a load of rubbish.