miles beyond

Or you could just not bond your 230V earth to the hull. DUCK EVERYBODY.......................

I can't agree with that! Only the other night I was watching Babestation and the picture kept breaking up and coming back again.

It is ridiculous that a public body should set up private limited company subsidiaries in which they own all the shares to buy up marinas, operate brokerage, pub partnerships etc all of which compete against the private sector in each area on an entirely unlevel playing field. The terms and conditions of a BWML mooring agreement for example state that whilst you have a mooring with them you can only sell the boat through BWML's brokerage. Surely that is a restrictive practice and in breach of competition law, but who has the deep pockets to take them on? BW should be recognised as primarily a heritage body - as it was described a by their former chairman some 15 years ago - just as English Heritage is. No one is suggesting that the latter organisation starts turning old castles into upmarket apartments to transorm their operations into a profit making body. It is not possible. And, despite Robin Evans risible comments about BW attaining financial self-sufficiency, it cannot and never will. Flogging off irreplaceable historic property assets can only be done once, and is irreversible and a great folly. Perhaps, Phil, it would be worth trying to bring into the picture some more powerful potential allies such as the CPRE and the National Trust.

Fascinating. Somehow I suspect that more recent statute would override this anomaly. For example there is still a bylaw in place in Hereford which permits one to kill a Welshman if you find him within the city walls on a Sunday. However, I would imagine if you sought to exercise this right you would still be up in front of the beak on a murder charge.

Is the minimum delivery 500 litres? Where do you store it? Or do you have some other arrangement in which a tanker is prepared to deliver to a number of boats where you are and treat it as a single delivery? Have you any left over at that price you don't want! Sorry, I know this is some long way from the topic, but it is page 7.

Fortunata: Bottle is absolutely right. I do know that if the boat formed part of the estate then it had to be disposed of properly for any transaction to be legal. From what you have written that was probably not the case, and you are now aware of it. Unfortunately any improvements you have carried out are not of relevance if it was not your boat in the first place in law, however innocent you may be of wrong doing. A similar example would be if you bought a boat on a verbal agreement (technically a contract in law but nigh on impossible to establish in most cases) and subsequently it transpired that there was a marine mortgage outstanding. The mortgagees would be fully entitled to take possession as they would have first claim, regardless of any improvements you might have made. Go to a CAB pronto if I were you. Miles B

Unfortunately only the executors of the estate can dispose of the deceased's assets. Any receipts you have from the son are are meaningless as he had no legal right to sell it to you - he was not the owner. If you try to hide the boat you will in effect be guilty of theft and weaken your position further. You must take legal advice urgently.

Heating oil is the same as kerosene and you are right about the viscosity/flow rate. However these drip feed stoves (Lockgate, Kabola, Bubble, Reflecks) all use the same simple principle to regulate flow. My Kabola has a low and high flame adjuster to stop it going out or booming away violently as the topic starter experienced through over fuelling. I think it is worth trying a small amount of heating oil before coughing up the money to replace the regulator (£150+ in the case of a Kabola, around £85 for a Bubble) and playing with the adjusments first. The only possible snag I can see is that it will not be possible to adjust it to a low enough flow rate for tickover, but we shall see. Obviously this luxury will only be available to those with dedicated tanks for their stoves.

I know Chris. The idea just amused me. Like fitting an anti-matter inverse Morso Squirrel for example. Cheers!

Exactly what I am investigating - I have a Kabola Old English stand alone room stove. It's the same as the Kabola Old Dutch in the way it functions the only difference being the shape, and that fact that it is more insular and xenophobic and goes out binge drinking most weekends. I digress. You can buy a replacement unit for these and for Bubbles for domestic heating oil use. The only difference is the slide in the heat setting controller at the back. This is cylindrical and has a slot cut in it to regulate the rate of flow. Unfortunately you cannot buy the slide alone for either make of stove and have to replace the whole control unit - around £85 for a Bubble and an eye watering £150 for my beast. I am going to try using the existing unit with heating oil should our worst fears be realised and the only diesel readily available is at road prices (read those 40 litre a week posts on this topic - that is a heating bill I could certainly do without at between 88p and 100p per litre). I can't see why, if you adjust the low and high burn settings, it won't work.

Well I can't disagree with 99.999% of these posts. It seems that Thinsulate (my specific reason for starting this topic - to canvass views on it) has got to go some distance to establish a firm foothold then and right now the jury's out if only through lack of experience with stuff over the longer term. Mind you I can remember people being highly suspicious of spray 12-15 years ago. Perhaps in another 12-15 years it will be very different again - if this global warming malarky produces blisteringly hot summers lasting 9 months a year we'll all be looking for something that keeps the boat as cold as possible!! I jest.

From memory I think that is an old field pump turbine that has been adapted. You used to find these structures all over Britain and there are still a few decommissioned ones rusting gently away.

It's been a long wait but the answer seems to be replacing the injectors, as it starts perfectly now. Thank you for all the input.

I have thinsulate (TI) gloves. They are superb as long as it is dry. If they get wet they are useless. And you can wring them out so they do hold moisture. So that concerns me. Yes, TI is foil protected on both sides, but not at the ends where you have to cut to fit. I did have a small sample which I can't find now, but I remember dropping it in the sink and all I can say is it held a lot of moisture - it was sodden. Perhaps they have improved it, or I am missing the point somehow. The fact is that it is being used increasingly in some top of the price bracket boats - I believe it is the insulation of choice for Reading Marine and I know Kingsground have used it in at least one recent boat. I can't argue against sprayfoam - applied properly it is superb. Not applied properly or too thinly and you will find parts of the linings going black a few years down the line. Beware cheap lined out sailaways unless you see the foam applied beforehand! But I was specifically trying to canvass opinions on TI.

Thanks Daniel. I've skimmed through a lot of that and while Thinsulate is mentioned, perhaps it is too new to evaluate thoroughly yet. It is certainly very easy to use, and it has impressive thermal and acoustic insulation properties. However I know it has its detractors and wondered if anyone else had firm evidence of any downsides to this material. The negative claim is that it will absorb condensation and that will create both rust problems and a loss of insulation effectiveness. And I have been told that it was used on some commercial aircraft and had to be ripped out for that reason. But whether that is true or urban myth I have no idea. But it's a worry!