RufusR

My inlaws boat was built in 1980 and is 65XXX so this may mean his boat is 1981 ish unless it was registered a while after it was built

coz ze lady in ze expensive uber modern kondo next door has an offensive niff of poo poo up er hooter and she complaineth to friends in high places ... would not be surprised to see them closed for good .. thought this when I saw them buidling " Exclusive " canal side land dwellings next to a poo pump and elsan .. inevitable outcome wasnt it ??

Good info and explains alot thanks , I couldnt get my head around why 6XXXX boats seemed older than 4XXXX boats but this makes some perverted sense . with the six digit numbers going up in 10k blocks does that really mean 23k boats have been registered since 2000 ? thats a lot of boats . with all the previous to 2000 boats that says that about 65k boats have been regsitered since 1980 .. where are they alll ? last I saw there were about 30k odd on the cut ... and dont tell me London lol

this is typical of crazy numbering sequence boats built in 1990's regestered at 40XXX where as yours is 63907 reg in 1968 my in laws is 65XXX and our old one 1972 62XXX makes no sense .. lots of random plates coming from unsequenced boxes since 1980 makes some sense but 1968 reg in 6XXXX doesnt make a lot of sense .. BW just liked to confuse everyone me thinks

Nah got one on our mooring numbered 1xxxx and is steel narrowboat ( very rusty so def not plastic lol ) and seen at least 3 others in the locality all steel narrows

rubbish point was still at next bridge last week ( used it ) havent seen one at new development

LOL that explains a lot and there was me thinking there must be a logic to it like car registrations , So one thing that has been answered then is that any boat with a 6 digit number was registered after 2000 ? although may have been made before if on EA river etc etc , Why were vinyl numbers a different sequence ? I have seen a few 1 XXXXX boats but not many most being 5XXXXX I am guessing that there is no logic there either lol

Ok Sorry in advance this is a bit trainspotterish but it has been bugging me in a sad git sort of way so I thought I would ask . how do boat regsitration numbers work and is their any link to a boats age ? I ask as I read on here that a boat with a 5 digit number in the 47000's was about right for a 1990 age but our last boat was 1972 and was registered in the 62000's and my in laws boat is 1980 and is regsitered in the 65000,s My boat is 2008 and has a 6 digit code starting 5 ( like many newer boats ) and is 517xxx , the newest boats seem to be 523XXX , When did 6 digit codes start and when did ones beginning 5 start and is there any relation to numbers and age ? or are they just sequential and how do the old 5 digit codes work age wise as they seem all over the place . As said I clearly have to much thinking time and its a bit sad but its bugging me

our pump out pipe exits the top of the tank too . indeed all three go into the same area . Its a Vetus tank so one would thnik they know what they do . It seems to work as it punps out ok

I agree it shouldnt and yes I agree something it wrong but finding out what is the issue . I think its a case of trying different things and seeing what works , ours does not smell in the bathroom but in the bedroom where the tank is , We have ascertained that the tank is fine , we have replaced the pipe from toilet to tank and that has helped , the tank itsself does not seem to smell so next we think it might be the breather pipe , we removed the filter which was there to stop smells getting out of the boat and thus stopping air flow in , We think that lack of air might causing a bacterial imbalance so I have added some good bacteria this morning to see if that works ( cheap option to try ) if not then we will remove the filter housing which as it has a u bend is impeding air flow and replace the breather hose ( this is no easy job on our boat hence trying everything else first ) The problem is probably one that could have been sorted back on fitting out but its too late now and it didnt smell in the winter ( hence my thinking of bactieria imbalance ) and previous owner said it never smealt , BUT he did have some Blue on the boat so me thinks that may not be quite true and he had bought blue as a last resort . as said it is quite a bit better than it was and does not always smell but in certain conditions we get a whiff in bed which is not pleasant , it is sort of a stale smell not one of effluent .. weird .. love a challange me ..

thanks guys

I wondered this so decided to investigate at Crick and after discussing at length have to come to the conclusion that a) they are not the wonder product that some are painting them the small ones are just glorified cassettes as you have to remove the tank when full and either store on roof until it composts or dump the contents in a home compost heap ( defeats the object IMO ) plus you have to empty pee tank like a cassette anyway c) the ones that compost in situ are so huge that you would need a butty just to accomadate it ( the one at the show had a step to climb on . d) the above required with a full time fan in 240v ( bye bye batteries ) or 12v full time ( again big draw continuously ) but the 12v one would need major modifcation of boat as pipe needs to go straight up and out the roof . Conclusion : stay with pump out and make the bloody thing work as it should .. I will stop the bugger smelling , I will it is a mission . After changing the pipes and seals and removing the silly NSF from the breather pipe I am 90% there ... gonna try silky RX if I can find it and if that dont work then modifying the breather pipe might do it . But after the show moving to composting does not convince me at all

Hey Sea dog , where are you getting your Silky I have been looking to try this but Midland is the only place I have seen it and they are now out of stock perminantly it seems . Is it still available from somewhere ?

we have a PVC tonnoeau cover on the front and have just ordered a complete cratch at Crick to give us more space , we are having a frame version rather than a cratch board so we can remove it easily and have a zipped front to allow gas bottle to be put into locker easily as our pontoons are shorter than the boat . I like having the front au natrelle in high summer when the sun is beaming but having the option of sitting out in winter or when cihillier with just one side open with a beer is really nice . Just think they make the front a more versitle space esp when living aboard as its effectily an extra room . Same at back we have pram over stern and its a god send with large dog when raining and for drying the washing etc I do agree that PVC is way to go as just wipes clean and no green mould or bird poo problems . Dont look quite as nice as pristine canvas but canvas dont stay pristine for long in my experiece

our boat had a name change by previous owners which I agree with whole heartedly as it was called Mistress Mine .. Eek .

Rufus always drank tank water , then the missues said she could smell a funny smell from it as we had left some in the tank for a while so I put water purifing tablet in and that made the dog sick lol .. now he is on mineral water until it clears , spoilt mutt ... as said canal water , dead fish , poo of all types dont seem to bother him but water purifier tabs a big no no .. says it all really

we use Boat mail .co.uk and they are great , they can forward to post offices etc if you want or anywhere

I have a Chinese MPPT controller and it works fine and has been faultless ever since the last owner ( known to me ) installed it 2 years ago , You will probably find most western brand MPPT controller are actually made in China any how .. pretty much everything electrical is made in in China , Turkey or India these days . If the installer is willing to put his name and warrenty to it then he must have faith in aint gonna pack up tomorrow .. remember I phones and I pads are all made in China .. nought wrong with them

we have a 215 litre tank and Vetus maccerator , lasts 2 of us 2 weeks , could last longer in summer when in marina if we walk to the marina loos but its a long way espcially on a cold winters morning so one gets a little lazy . If we have guests espcially non boater guests who dont / wont use the econo flush then the worst I have had is 3 days for 4 people , alot more beer drunk during this time though ;-)

yes this narks me no end , we are moored in Grove Marina and I am forever closing the gates on the lock when walking the dog or passing . The lock leaks like a sieve so if the top gates are left open the pound and the marina will soon we drained and we sit of the bottom .. To be honest during the winter month its less of a problem as most movement are sensible boaters but as soon as the sun comes out the summer numbnuts all get aboard and the gates are often left open and the water draining . . grrr

try Levis farm at seabrook on GU outside Ivinghoe , I cant remember the actual farm name but they have a sign just before seabrook bridge on the right . It has water but nothing else and access is tricky in the winter unless you have a 4 x 4 but IIRC is reasonable price although it was 10 years ago we had a mooring there , not sure how much spare space they have now but they are advertising on the canalside for moorers

My thoughts exactly so cant afford is no excuse for not taking a mooring then is it ?, cant afford translates to cant be arsed or dont want to ... neither IMO are valid excuses as to why you cant put your kids through school or keep a job down , We had a very nice family on our mooring who loved their boat and living aboard , they had a mooring so they could work and kid could be schooled then they found they couldnt get into the right school next due to not having an address in the catchment area so they had to abandon the life and move into a house to do the best for their child .. no moaning they just did it ... maybe these people should to face up to the fact they chose to have a family so they need to bite bullet and do whats necessary until such time they have freedom to return to the live they want . " Life's a shit sandwich come take a bite " as my old boss used to constantly tell me

question , how would these people rent a house or a flat then ? private sector rents , indeed most rents from any sector are more than most mooring fees surely ?

we have 330 W of solar , while cruising in summer this pretty much runs the 12 v Fridge and Freezer we have , in winter we have shoreline at mooring so dont need more , But its great to get lecy for nought so I would have more if the Mrs would let me cover more of the roof lol ..

Aylesbury arm is lovely , we moored Hawthorn our old boat at Aston clinton merry mead farm for some years and my in laws have lived aboard there and now in the ACS Basin . We moored from Nov - Jan in the Basin on winter moorings before moving up to Grove and it has some of the best facilites anywhere for a mooring , including a very nice bar that opens at the weekends for moorers and members . the Arm iteself is very pretty but can be very shallow and in some cases enpty ponds if some one leaves a paddle open on one of the 15 locks ( happened to us in Jan had to let water down 3 locks to fill while boat sat in lock bottom ) Apparently I am told there is a difference between a Basin and a marina , ?in a marina you have a designated mooring that you pay for and you dont move about , in a basin you have no such designated mooring and could be asked to move any time to another spot .. Aylesbury is a definite basin . As said its at least a couple days cruise from Milton Keynes if not more so if you are planning only to as far as MK the arm is probably out of range for you unfortunately