DutchBargeFrancisca

Google (and the majority of the internet) makes money by selling the data they collect and advertising... not by providing location and mapping solutions. what3words charges some larger companies (not app users - it's free for them) so that they can develop good apps and tech integration packages, as well as marketing to spread awareness. I guess we'll just see in a year which solution (if any) has entered common use. But if I have to choose between navigating to GRC8+CJ or ///vine.couches.herds. ... I know which looks easier to use for me.

It's an algorithm, so there's no database or downloaded list of 3 word addresses (there are 57 trillion 3m x 3m squares in the world, so that definitely wouldn't be an option!). It's basically a piece of code that takes the GPS coordinates that your phone already knows and converts them to the sequence of 3 words.

There sure is I'll email you guys some magical bunff!

All good points to consider, and it's cool that you're interested, but you don't have the facts right: 1. what3words is already being used by several UK police forces. Training events and integration into their software is already underway and police forces have been promoting what3words on their social media feeds. 2. what3words is designed for accurate voice input, which plus codes aren't (and neither are regular street addresses). 3 word addresses are designed so they cannot be easily miscommunicated. That's been done by allocating similar 3 word addresses very far apart in the world, and building an intelligent autosuggest feature which helps users to spot and correct any mistakes, based on what country or area you're in. So if you get a word slightly wrong, you'll know straight away, and you'll still see the correct 3 word address as an option. Btw, you can now speak a 3 word address into the new Mercedes voice system to navigate to the precise location – even when that's a canalised carpark or a marina gate, it has precise address. Of course, not everyone can afford a swanky Mercedes, but it's the first step and will definitely roll out to other cars soon.

You didn't try it – none of the words are shorter than 4 letters! #busted

But plus codes aren't memorable and it's super easy to make a mistake when you type them, or for someone to hear you wrong over the phone. They are not easy to use. what3words is free to use for individuals via the app and yes they charge some bigger companies but that's necessary to support the investment needed to spread the solution across different countries and industries. By being completely open source, plus codes have no way to make revenue at all, which is why nobody has heard of them (outside geospatial industry). Btw, in the interests of transparency, I do some writing work for what3words. But I sought out that job because I think it's a great solution, not vice versa. And I live on a dutch barge full time and find it SO helpful

Actually you don't need the internet to find out where you are with what3words - it uses GPS so you can see the 3 word address for your current location even when you're offline, and then give it to the company over the phone. It's super handy.

Thanks for replies so far - all useful stuff to bear in mind!

Yes, it may well turn out that a taller narrowboat is the best option, and I'll explore that too. But I am tempted by that extra space, without having to go any longer than my current 40ft. Interesting to hear of problems with the collongwood 9ft wides. Any idea what's wrong with them?

Hi there Does anyone on this forum have an 8ft or 9ft wide boat? Several builders list them in their prices (Burscough, 8ft / Narrowboats ltd 9ft) but examples are hard to find. Its unusual I know as most people will go for more space (and want to get something tax exempt which this won't be), but I think my ideal boat is about 42ft x 8ft. I've lived on a 40ft narrowboat full time for several years, so my main reason for expanding a bit is to get head height for my partner who is tall, and to be able to have the bed lengthways at the front to save space. I continuously cruise including the London area, so am bearing this is mind and not wanting to go too long. I went to view a 44ft by 10ft last weekend thinking it'd be perfect, but it still felt too wide to me! Anyway, for all the reasons not to, do any of you have an 8ft or 9ft wide boat? I would love to hear how thats working for you, or possible see some pictures to help me think about layout, plus recommendations of builders who did this well. Thanks Maddie

Ouch Raz, that sounds awful. Sorry to hear your story. Regardless of what I manage to negotiate with either the surveyor or welder1, welder 2 has already ground out and rewarded welder1's overplating, so that's good and solid. He'll also be putting a new baseplate on the bad section, and a small bit of plate on the swim where there is another thin spot. She'll then be good to to and we'll get a couple of layers or epoxy on her. No chance of me selling her, I’ve put so much into making her how I want her and she will be solid one welder2 is done with her, although I'm sure worth less than I believed before. I'm really just interested in recovering what funds I can from both the professionals who I believe have failed to offer me the service they should have. In the case of the surveyor, I agree its less clear, but he is at least prepared to come for a second look to work out how thin spots were missed. Welder1 is hiding from me, so I'll have to work out how to deal with him. Reputation is everything on the canal, so if I don’t get a response soon, I expect I’ll be asking him how he feels about videos and photos of his shoddy welding ending up on several local boating groups. I hoped it wouldn’t come to that, but he doesn’t seem prepared to talk this through reasonably… If he’s not going to give me any money anyway, I have no qualms about warning other unsuspecting people that he isn’t up to the job. wow...don't know how my words ended up so big there!

gap between the survey and welder 2 seeing boat is 10.5 months. The survey mentions a calibrated ultrasonic thickness tester and hammer testing. I have the plan with readings, and he did take more than the minimum number of readings, but his baseplate readings were none under about 4.5 whereas welder2 has found numerous areas between 2 and 3mm -too many to just be luck!

Hmm there's quite a bit of muddling of my story going on! let me try to make it clearer. 1. Surveyor takes soundings and recommends 2 strips of plating to either side. 2. Welder does said plating, blacks it, puts it back int he water and I pay him. 3. I take the boat out the water due to leaks and discover all 4 plates have failed due to visibly poor welding. Some of this is in easy to weld places with good steel. In another section we discover the baseplate is far thinner than the surveyor noticed. The welder obviously found this, and it is clear that he turned his welder right down so as not to blow right through resulting in even worse welds - but never said a word to me nor my surveyor (who he knows quite well). 4. Welder no2 and my surveyor know each other and have mutual respect, so welder no 2 is quite surprised/angry to see how much eh believes my surveyor missed. They have had several conversations and my surveyor has agreed to come to look t the boat out of the water next Thurs, and have welder no 2 show him quite how bad the baseplate actually is. 5. Still no response to calls, emails and texts form welder 1. I do appreciate what you're saying that a survey can never be perfect. Initially we thought we were dealing with some small weak points that were missed, but welder 2 believes there are far bigger problems that absolutely should have been picked up by the surveyor, terms and conditions or no he is qualified and receives a lot of money to make a good assessment of the boat. At least he is admitting he may have missed something (he is quite distressed at this prospect I believe as he is proud of his record) and says he must get to the bottom of it and be fair to us. IF we do reach the conclusion that he missed something very significant and, had we known, we'd never have bought the boat, how on earth do we work out how much he owes us for the mistake? It is more than the survey cost and cost of repairs, as it affects the whole value of the boat. Ever such a headache

Yes. My welder said that, had the surveyor used a hammer, he'd have heard immediately how bad the steel was. He domed it for me and I could hear easily!

Thank you for all these responses - they are very useful. I will do everything in my power to keep this out of courts to avoid all of the costs. So far the surveyor has proved helpful and willing to discuss - whether that is to try to avoid me suing him, or because he is genuinely concerned remains to be seen, but I have faith! The complication comes int hat, after his survey, some overplating was done which, it turns out, was very badly welded, despite the welder being well known and trusted. The welder is now ignoring my emails and calls - I have sent him photos and videos of the water pouring out of his plates! But I am worried that surveyor and welder will try to point the finger at each other! So gutted that I took every precaution, used surveyor and welder who were recommended by numerous people, and they seem to have totally failed me! Luckily my new welder is a super nice guy and is helping us out at a very reduced price, so I can afford to fix all of this - but I do feel that these so called 'professionals' should admit mistakes and compensate me! Will keep you up to date on how it progresses. To put it in perspective, we are talking about a 1968 harborough marine bought for 28k including overplating. So we're not talking hundreds of thousands. But its all I have, and she's my home! Thanks again.

Hello My full story is a complicated one, but I'll make my initial question as simple as possible. Just under year after buying my boat, I have had to have it out the water again due to a leak. My welder believes that my surveyor who did my pre purchase survey has missed numerous areas of thin steel and says he'd be 'hopping mad' if this were his boat and he'd been led to believe it was sound. Does anyone know my legal rights, or who I can go to for advice. I have been in talks with the surveyor, but we have just found the the boat is far worse than we first believed, so those talks are likely to get more serious. The thing is, had I known the state of the baseplate when I bought it.. I either wouldn't have bought it at all, or would have been looking to negotiate several thousand off the asking price. My decision to purchase was based on my surveyors report and thickness soundings. Any advice would be very much appreciated. Has anyone else had a similar problem? Thanks

It's a steel hull. Hard to say how much it weighs - in the water at the moment. I'm assuming 1.5 - 2 tonnes?

Hello. Looks like we're about to buy a 19ft butty to add to our 40ft narrowboat. Problem is that butty is in Cheshire, and boat is in London (and needs to stay there due to one of us working full time). Looking at various ways to get it down including. 1. Pay a mover to take it by road. 2. Find someone planning on making the trip, and pay them to tow it. 3. Find someone who needs their boat moved and do it for free as long as we can tow the butty along. Any thoughts? Or anyone interested in any of these propositions? Thanks smile emoticon

Hello I started up my SL3 today no problem and headed off. Engine sounded fine. After only 5 or 10 minutes it died. I started her again, but she died after about 30 secs and now continues to do this, always firing up perfectly then, as the revs settle, dieing. Only things that have changed since we last moved 2 weeks ago - we turned off the fuel lines as there was a tiny drip, but have opened them up again now. We also had a carpenter rebuilding our back deck so there has been a lot of dust and sawdust around the engine bay, could this have blocked the air filter? And if so, what can we do? Very frustrating as she starts so well and has never done this before! Thanks Maddie

Hi everyone I'm having trouble choosing oil for my 1968 air-cooled Lister SL3. I've read through lots of forums and advice and have come up with 2 options - one single grade and one multigrade. Both seem like they will work for my engine, but I don't know if one would be much better than the other. Option 1 - SAE 30 Classic Oil - http://www.morrislubricants.co.uk/scripts/prodView.asp?idproduct=165 Option 2 - 10W/40 Marine Oil - http://www.stationaryengineparts.com/Morris-Lubricants-Golden-Film-10W-40-Marine-Oil-5-Litre.html Would love to hear your opinions, especially from any other SL3 owners as I haven't come across any yet! Thanks Maddie

Thanks for those suggestions all. Think I'm going to try one of the cheap hand bilge pumps but try to rig it to a small sump. Now got to reposition the plug hole on my shower tray as whoever fitted it didn't count on the slight list towards the stern so water gets trapped there!

Hello I'm struggling to find answers to this question, so maybe you lovely people can help. My boat has a hand pump to pump out the water after a shower. It works, but it's very old and not big enough/ installed at the right height to get rid of the very last drip of water. Does anyone have experience with using a hand powered pump? It seems a more power friendly and cheaper option than buying an electric pump for £100 but all I can see online is plastic hand bilge pumps. this might work if I rig it up right, but I'm wondering if anyone has any ingenious solutions? Cheers Maddie

The lowest reading was 3.4 so it is still ok for insurance. My surveyor felt that plating was necessary however and recommended it was done within 9 months as I think that is the time he is liable for after the survey? Anyway, I decided that I didn't feel so good buying a considerably older boat, and the seller made me quite nervous and suspicious in the end. I have found another. better boat with a seller who is much more open and helpful. It seems I will get my original deposit back tomorrow and can continue with the new purchase. Thanks for all your help and sorry I couldn't be more involved in the conversation. I've been without internet on and off and by the time I checked there were so many people giving helpful advice. For those of you thinking 'there's another kid trying to get a cheap deal on London rent' - I don't blame you. But my motivation is not really financial, nor am I clueless about engines etc. I've always lived near the sea and have taught sailing and worked as a safety boat driver on RIBs. Now I have to move to London for a new career but I'm not a city girl at all, and really miss the water and countryside. As soon as I discovered the canals and started walking the towpaths I felt more relaxed and happy and knew that was where I fitted in. I have also moved from Cornwall where people do things slower, are much more friendly and are a stronger community. My feel is that this is reflected in a lot of (maybe not all) of the boaters in London and so I think this is away for me to find a happy life in the city. I will be moving in accordance with the rules and plan to explore living not only in central London, but the rivers slightly further out that still have reasonable commuter access. Hopefully all will go well with my new sale, but I hope I can count on you all if I need more advice and I look forward to having some to share with other boaters in the future. Happy boating! Maddie

Thanks for all your help and sorry I didn't answer questions sooner! Thought I would get emailed when people responded... might need to change my canal world settings. I've done a lot of thinking and got a few quotes. I think the age of the boat plus it being a Springer could mean I lost money if I needed to sell it in the future. It's not in bad shape for it's age... but I thought I was buying a 1980 boat and it's actually 1972. Hard to say if the seller didn't know or tried to hide it. An old survey said the age had been given as 1980,b ut the surveyor didn't comment on this. The Boat Safety Cert said 1972, but I didn't get a copy of this until after my deposit was given. It's a private seller, and I didn't get the deposit officially held anywhere. It was all happening so fast, so many people lined up to see the boat and I desperately wanted to secure it. Won't be so hasty again. Have a nasty feeling the seller will try to make trouble and find a reason not to give back my deposit, but my surveyor thinks I should, even just because of the age thing. I've lost 600 quid on the survey, but learned a lot at least! Will let you know how it goes! Good luck to any of you at the same stage of boat purchase

Hello I wanted to ask for some impartial advice from those in the know. The purchase of my first narrowboat yesterday has juddered to a devastating halt. I made an offer subject to survey and paid a deposit. There is a 2012 hull survey but I wanted my own full one. My surveyor first picked up that the boat is 10 years older than advertised (!) and then picked up £1000 worth of welding needing to be done within 9 months. A shock, and not good but I assumed we would negotiate based on these findings. Only it turns out my seller refuses to budge from her (already high) original price. She has informed me that she'd rather keep renting it out (without the appropriate licence) than sell it for less than she wanted. It seems she bought it based on the 2012 survey and didn't get her own, so she also got a nasty shock from my survey result - she had been foolish to buy without her own survey. Now she's trying to rip me off as the boat is definitely worth several thousand less. What would you do? I like the boat, and was all packed up to move in... but I know it's not worth the money and she won't negotiate at all from original price Just can't believe I'll have to restart the search all over again,a nd pay for another survey. Hope all boaters are not money-grabbing and sneaky like this! Any advice appreciated.