NB Alnwick

We had the same problem last year and it turned out to be a faulty thermocouple/flame-cut-off device - once this was replaced it was better than new. I am not saying that Alan has the same problem but it may be an avenue worth exploring . . . Edited to add: About £40 here

Boating is probably more dangerous than drinking - I have fallen in three times without the benefit of any alcohol.

There used to be a shop near the top of Railway Terrace in Rugby whose speciality was supplying paint to various inland boat companies and professional sign-writers. The 'coach paint' that they supplied was made by a firm called J T Keep and the range included a variety of oil based primers, fillers, wood treatment and undercoats. Back in 1975/6 I used their coach paint to brush paint the bodywork of my racing Morgan (Royal Victor Green) and I am sure that I recall Willow Wren having an account there at that time. The shop also sold the whole range J. H. Ratcliffe & Co products. The Keep's range of colours has been re-created by Craftmaster so that would be the best bet if anyone wants to re-create the colours used before 1976.

I believe there is also a legal requirement for the flexible hose and any other gas fittings or appliances to be installed by someone who is Gas Safe qualified. This is why, in the past, we have avoided taking on such tasks on a DIY basis - my qualifications enable me to manufacture or dispose of gas equipment but I am not qualified to connect, disconnect or re-connect them.

Our was well rattled on the way back from Braunston - bumping through eighteen locks should have done it even I f the three cylinder Kelvin failed to rattle it sufficiently. Sadly it is still not working properly on gas! We are currently running it on 240 V AC . . .

There is probably a cure for that these days . . .

Well we have managed to get back to our home mooring at Cropredy but it must rank as our slowest decent from Claydon Top Lock ever! The water at Cropredy is so low that we need the plank out to reach our landing stage. Can anyone suggest a private dredging company - seriously, we need to get our mooring dredged!

There are long delays at Claydon Locks today! CRT staff are in attendance to regulate the flow! Apparently there Is insufficient water in the pound above Broadmoor Lock.

We also need to do this - it is at least five years since we replaced our flexible hose/regulator. Having said that, this unlikely to be the current issue because the fridge is also noticeably less efficient when connected to a 240 V AC supply. I admire Alan’s perseverance with his three way fridges and they are definitely very economical to run and exceptionally quiet but, not for the first time, the difficulty of sourcing a competent service engineer, has made us consider changing to a conventional modern 240 V AC fridge which will probably be no more expensive to run than a television.

Ours is room sealed and I may not be able to get a tube down the flue - but I will try that. The fridge worked fine until we switched it off while we went for a fortnight's holiday in the Isle of Man. Since then it will not ignite - or rather the ignition light keeps flashing - so something isn't right.

Five years ago, after an extensive search, we found Malcolm Rock, a local Dometic service engineer who serviced our three way fridge. Malcolm has now retired and we wondered if anyone knows of an engineer or competent person who might service our fridge. Alternatively, is there anyone local to Cropredy with knowledge of these fridges who might be able to help me to do it myself?

Still sleeping soundly - and the list of things to do just gets longer - that is what boat ownership is all about . . .

On the 18 May we were probably on top of a mountain in the Isle of Man - the beauty of a big old engine is in its ability to turn a decent sized prop nice and slow so as not to disturb the water and everything that is in it . . .

We bought it, installed it and have been sleeping soundly ever since . . .

I have been in touch with this firm - a very young company with a lot of success in just four years. The website can be found at: Replacement Boat Mattresses My initial reaction is that they offer better value for money than most competitors in the memory foam market and their CoolBlue brand appears to be just what we are looking for. I will post again in this topic if we buy one and when we have tested same!