Grasshopper

The most peculiar case of being overtaken that I have experienced happened last year between Napton & Braunston. I was approaching 3 moored boats when I spotted a narrowboat behind us and closing. Each of the boats had a gap between them so the mooring probably occupied about 7 or 8 boat lengths. OK, I think, I'll just get past these and pull over and let him go. So I drop my speed to go past the moored boats. As I pass the first one, SWMBO says 'they aren't slowing down'. I take a look and they are indeed coming on at a pace. Short of pulling in & mooring between the boats, there isn't much I can do. He obviously knows we've seen him, so I think that he'll obviously wait until I pass the third boat. By the time I reach the third boat, his bow is right behind us and SWMBO is getting agitated. 'I'll pull in the moment I'm past' I reassure her. I look back again and realise that the boat is now putting power on & steering for the gap between us and the moored boat. He powers past in a huge wash that has the moored boat crashing about and me fighting the tiller to keep control. On the stern stand two middle aged guys who airily wave and call out 'Thank You'. And as always happens on these occasions I watch them power off down the cut with my mouth open and only think what I should have said after they are out of sight.

And I've moored there several times without trouble. On occasion when we've been virtually the only boat there. Never felt anything but safe. Although I've had my ear bent plenty of times about how 'dangerous' it is. The truth is that you can have problems anywhere but I can think of plenty of places I'd be more worried about than the centre of Banbury.

I've just edited my earlier post as I've now read your previous thread and from that it is clear that the problem is specific to your laptop and not the dongle. This sounds like one of those problems which you can spend days on without finding the answer. And often the only solution is to reinstall Windows and start from scratch. But best of luck.

I've seen a lot of customers running AVG 9 Free with routers without any problem. And indeed I've just installed it on a customer's PC that is on my workbench and it is working through my router OK. But I suppose it might be the specific firewall settings on your router if it is in a work environment. I haven't seen it working with a dongle so I can't really comment whether there is an issue there. EDITED TO REMOVE SUGGESTION AS I'VE JUST READ THE EARLIER THREAD

I wouldn't necessarily dismiss a portable DVD player as they they usually have TV out so that you can play through your main TV. And they have a rechargeable battery and usually can work off a 12v car plug. I have a phillips one that I use as a back up. My main solution is a car radio head unit that also plays DVDs which makes for a nice neat solution.

That isn't what the Met Office say: So I think any problems are likely to be localised.

Suits me. My 26 footer will nicely fit in the space that you leave.........

Well based upon mine & Allan's experience above, I would say Sony. But they don't come cheap. Although I picked up mine reconditioned so it wasn't too bad. That's interesting. One of the reasons that I stick with the Omnimax is that only having a 26 foot boat, storage space is at a premium. But that sounds like a useful back up.

And you'd be wrong. As I commented on another thread, my Sea Otter was rammed on the North Oxford by an oncoming boat who was certainly doing well above 4mph. Despite my best efforts at avoiding him, he kept steering directly at me. The force of the impact nearly knocked me off my feet. When I recovered and peered over the side, I expected a huge dent but there was nothing except a mark on the paintwork. His shouted explanation for his behaviour appeared to be that canals are V shaped and that he couldn't move to the side. As by the point of impact, we were well out of the centre channel and nearly to the bank, this didn't make much sense to me. In fact I was so surprised, I just stood there gazing after him with my mouth open. All those witty things that I could have said only occurred to me later. As I watched him go on his way, his wife appeared to be giving him an ear full and he proceeded to ram the bank. I'll be charitable and assume that he had a technical fault with his steering.......... I've also been rammed from the rear whilst moored. That was a hire boat so I accept that was inexperience. Although a 'sorry' would have been nice..... But again only a scratch. So whatever the Sea Otter did to get the dent that you saw, it must have been VERY spectacular. In general the aluminium alloy used is more 'springy' than steel. As for the concept that they are unsuited to canals.........well there are a lot of them out there going round the system and I've not seen a dented one yet. I've seen plenty of dents on steel boats though.

Tony, you are not alone. I too swear by mine. Picks up digital TV & FM radio fine. And no monkeying about having to move it. But one thing I have learnt is that there is a HUGE difference in the quality of terrestrial digital receivers. A RoadPro 12v one got virtually nothing (despite working fine at my house) but the one built into the Sony TV that I now use when on the boat pulls in every channel available. So the aerial is only half the equation. Probably the RoadPro would have worked OK with a good directional aerial but the Omnimax can also work fine if it is teamed with the right receiver.

I wasn't necessarily saying don't use it. Just be aware of its toxicity. I use a pyrethrin intecticide as a repellant in my cratch which otherwise is quickly colonised in between my visits to the boat. A quick spray around the inside before I leave and it saves me having to de-web the cratch every time I go to the boat.

Any insecticide, like that one, that is based on Pyrethrin (in this case in the form of Permethrin) will kill them and sprayed on surfaces will tend to repel them for a period of time. But careful how you use it..................... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pyrethrin

There definitely are buses, because I caught one into Rugby in May. Can't remember the numbers (there was a couple). From memory there were several each hour so didn't have to wait long either way.

Or at least they recognise that if the customer wants shore power fitted, then they will also expect a GI as well. And yes you are correct, no anodes.

I know enough about the ways of this forum to know that I'm standing on the precipice of a technical discussion way beyond my 'O' Level physics. So I'll restrict myself to some general points. It probably should be remembered that the use of anodes predates any of this concern about being connected to shore lines and was to address 'normal' (if I can term it that way) corrosion ocurring when metals are in water. Sea Otter's answer to this is on their website and basically is that because there are no dissimilar metals on the hull, this is not an issue. http://www.seaotterboats.co.uk/english/faq.php I'm not going to get into a debate as to whether they are right. In fact when the question of non corrosion comes up in a conversation with another boat owner at the marina, I always carefully point out that the boats haven't been around long enough for anyone to be absolutely sure. But I've seen several hulls out of the water, including mine, and I've never seen any sign of corrosion. Which certinly isn't true of even recent steel boats that I see on the slipway at Calcutt. So, I would say: so far, so good. But you will note on that page that Sea Otter do rather duck the question of Galvanic Corrosion from shore power lines. Traditionally of course this wouldn't have been an issue because the boats were trailerable and wouldn't have been permanently connected. And even now I doubt that many of the larger boats are. So possibily the jury is still out on that one. But then again, I'm always a bit uneasy about this issue. I'm never certain how one separates the amount of 'normal' from 'galvanic' (using the terms as above - and before a pedant points it out, even my 'O' Level means that I realise the non accuracy) corrosion on a steel boat. I always get a bit twitchy when a 'problem' is found which necessitates everyone rushing out to buy a new product. It always seems a bit convenient. Which doesn't mean that I doubt the physics. But just wonder about the scale of the issue in the real world. But then I'm just an old cynic..........

Well, I was rammed at high speed amidships by a clown in a steel boat on the North Oxford who seemed unable to steer and I came away without a dent. And as I recall High Jump, which was mentioned earlier, was hit by a fully laden commercial French boat and lived to tell the tale. So I'd say they take a knock pretty well. As for the Galvanic corrosion question, I did pose the question on the Owners club website as to whether anyone had actually experienced an issue. And answer there came none. Which probably means, No. But of course Sea Otter fit a GI as standard with a shoreline. And probably very few people use them as liveaboards, so not many are likely to be permanently connected.

Just to confirm Haggis' comments, Red Dwarf is 12 years old and also shows no sign of wear. She is also 26 foot. As for the cost question, basically you are saving the cost of having the boat lifted every three years and blacked. Plus removing the urgency of repairing any scrapes to the paintwork since they don't rust but just sit there as silver metal until you get round to it. Otherwise ongoing costs will be similar. The price for that is, in round terms, twice the cost per foot of a steel boat. Obviously whether it is worth it can only be a personal choice. On the boats up to 31 foot you also have the benefit that they can be trailed. And this was Sea Otter's original niche market and where they are still probably strongest. Certainly the small boats sell quickly secondhand. The water ballasting stems from this original design and is to reduce weight. On the longer boats, it is obviously neither here nor there, since they stay in the water. I'm not sure that the standard layout on the larger boats would be ideal for a live aboard. But obviously if you were buying new, you could have this altered however you want in the build.

My apologies. I must admit that I'd assumed that the uninstall was implicit but you are right, you didn't actually say that. However you can't install a SP onto a PC that already has it. As part of the process it inspects the current configuration and would detect that it was already installed. And would then abort. Rather like any other Windows update in fact. Which is why Microsoft's procedure for reinstalling a SP is to uninstall first. Except, as Alan has now confirmed, you can't do that in this case because it is part of the build installation. Alan I know I'm beginning to sound like a cracked record but I would again urge you to consider trying System Restore before you run a full recovery. You said that you didn't originally have this problem so a restore to a date before it started, if possible, may well clear it. The following is a link to the Bleeping Computer tutorial if you are unfamiliar with the process: Bleeping Computer Tutorial EDIT: It has just occurred to me that I've now twice posted a link to Bleeping Computer without giving my usual warning. You can trust anything actually on the site BUT DO NOT trust the ad links. These are fed in by google ads or whatever and are random. They could lead anywhere. So site = good. Ads = bad (possibly).

Of course I have. The difference is complexity and scope for error. Removing & reinstalling any significant upgrade to an operating system is higher risk. But all of that is irrelevant. It still doesn't explain how you propose to uninstall a service pack that was almost certainly an original part of the Windows build on this machine i.e. Dell didn't install Vista and then SP1, they used a current version of Vista media that incorporates SP1. If you want to read up on Vista recovery options then I would start with The Bleeping Computer Tutorial But of course that would assume that Alan has a Vista DVD and this is a Dell.

Pretty much a foregone conclusion, surely? Since Alan had said that Outlook continues to work and that he can access the other PCs on the network. By definition that means he has to be networked correctly & on line. I'm not sure I follow your rationale. Since this laptop is so new, Vista SP1 will surely have been part of the initial Windows install & not an update. I can't remember when I last bought a Visa disk without SP1 but it was certainly some time ago. Anyway, since I feel that I'm largely talking to myself, I'll buzz off and fix a paying customer's PC...............

If MalwareBytes has come up clean, I doubt whether he has anything significantly nasty on the PC. Alan I would suggest if the problem continues, you try the system restore someone else suggested earlier. Assuming that the problem is of recent date and you have it running. It doesn't affect your data but will remove any programs/updates installed after the date that you restore to. (Start>All Programs>Accessories>System Tools>System Restore) The alternative would be to boot into Safe Mode with Networking (Repeatedly press F8 as you boot to get the menu with the option). If you find that you don't get the internet drops, this would then pretty much point the finger at some sort of software running in background in Normal mode. Then back in Normal mode, you can experiment with preventing various things running at Start up using MSConfig (let me know if you need an explanation on how to do that). I should mention that whilst in Safe Mode, AVG won't be running in background so obviously exercise care on what websites you browse. Provided you do, you'll be OK.

Well in essence, you are rebooting the modem so restarting the connection. But USB modems can be notoriously unreliable. I always call them the spawn of the devil, since they are getting USB to do something it was never really designed for......... If you've got a network port on your PC, you'd really be better off investing in a cheap router/modem. You should get a much more reliable connection.............except in Alan's case obviously............

Just to definitely remove the spyware possibility, might I suggest that you download MalwareBytes The free trial version. Allow it to update & then run the Quick scan. Your symptoms would be classic so it would be good to check for certain. If that doesn't find anything or solve the problem, then I'd suggest switching ZA off. Your router will almost certainly have a hardware firewall so you won't be at risk. I recall that ZA in a previous update managed to screw everyone's internet connection so again it would be good to check that they haven't been up to their old tricks. I'm pretty certain the AVG update is fine as I've plenty of customers with that and my phone isn't ringing...........

I'm afraid that the outcome of neither case surprises me. Anyone who has attended several merchantable quality cases (as I have) knows that the courts bend over backwards to side with the 'consumer' if he presents anything approaching a case. I have seen some completey fatuous arguments upheld in my time. Which is why large companies will settle MQ cases out of court if they can most of the time. And why prudent small companies are wise to carry adequate liability insurance and pay strict attention to checking out the financial stability of their suppliers (in case you need to join them into the action as the OP really needed here). Unfortunately a lot of small companies just rely on the fact that they 'do good work'. Which doesn't in practice protect them. Unfair but a fact of life.