RufusR

We use Anthracite small in our Squirrel and are very happy with it but they dont sell it at our new mooring so getting it from now on while doeable will be a bit of a ball ache as merchant cant deliver here . They sell Winter Blaze eggs here so might give that a go anyone got any experience of it and how does it compare to Anthracite for heat and longevity etc ? it is cheaper so can afford to burn a little more if needed but Anthracite is soo toasty and clean burning I am loath to change

minus 7 at Grove this morning , car door latches frozen solid and hand brake frozen on .. Canal frozen solid as well, sounded like we were aboard and ice breaker in the arctic this morning all creaks and bangs ... even Rufus was shivering under a blanket on the bed

Death to Maccerators are wet wipes , avoid .. indeed best to avoid putting any paper down there to be safe

there is a more expensive one underneath that has dual sensors but this one and the one above are integrated in the unit .. bloody useless as far as I can see . Better to spend teh extra £30 odd and get the one that does the job . yours seems eminantly sensible does it need to be hardwired to 12v or is it battery powered / internal cell ?

ok can someone explain how this works then please .. its a combined gas detector for propane etc AND co but as it has an integral sensor how can it properly detect both as the former will sink to bilges and be at best at floor level and the latter will be higher up as its lighter .. surely this is a very bad compromise and is only any good detecting one or the other http://www.midlandchandlers.co.uk/store/category/1440/product/50671.aspx the one ( more expensive ) below it has 2 external sensors which would work but it needs wiring into the 12v system which is a bit of a ballache as we dont have any 12 v sockets so would have to be hardwired ( can be done ) does anyone bother about propane detectors or am I being paranoild and should just stick to CO and Smoke

thanks Chewbacka we only have the one at the moment ( boat had none when we bought it and its not an old boat , shouldnt these things be compulsory and part of the BSS ? ) I think I will get another stand alone CO and smoke alarm .. belt and braces and all that .. Where have you put yours ? I have the current one in the about the only location outside the bedroom that meets the requirements not to be a certain distance from stove , cooker or bathroom .. new ones will put in bedroom me thinks

this is what we have , is this any good ? I was thinking about getting another one as they combine both functions but I notice it is no more expensive than most standalone Co alarms so is it inferior as a result ? just want to check before adding to my alarmshttp://www.midlandchandlers.co.uk/store/category/1442/product/e124.aspx Edited to add said link .. DOH

omg So true ... love it

With a car policy you can insure the depreication with a gap insurance for an extra cost , this ensures you get the full new replacement value of the car .. It maybe that the Collidge policy has gap insurance built in so read the policy . We are with Collidge and I am pretty sure thats what they told us but I will check later when home .

Fair enough as said I dont know what the deal is . Sounds like a bit of a risk to me , better to buy and sell if not for you / end of the period as has been said

maybe a bit late and I have not read the whole thread but there is a decent looking boat moored on the winter moorings at bulbourne past the grand junction towards Tring Station that has " to Let " in the window . If I am passing at the weekend will get the number for you or you could have a wonder down if you are not too far away . . As its on winter moorings one has to assume it is CCing therefore I would have tought to let means CC . dont know how long a lease they would be looking for though . house min is 6 months . Good luck

Hi Folks just arrived at our new home mooring and since we had the luxury or a mooring tv system at the old one we need to be self sustaining on this one .. we have just found out the maxi vision system we have aboard is bust so we need a new ariel .. We have decided that since we need to sort it we are going to install a sat dish system for free sat now with the possibilty to upgrade to sky later if needed ( if I cant manage without my cricket ) Any recommedations for sat system suppliers / installers ? I have found this guy www.travelsat.me.uk/ any one used him ? or any other recommendations please . We have all the TV's etc just need the dish and box supplied and fitted thanks in advance

We have the kit ( came with boat ) but have yet to use it , Guy I bought the boat off used to apparently use it all the time so must be some Elsans that permit it . As with OP I think we would only use in an emergency . We had a cassete in our last boat and after regular elsan trips over serveral years I aint going back to that .. could do with a bigger tank though ours is 215 lites which is about a 100 ltrs to small for my liking hence we keep chucking bacteria in each pump out to chomp up the solids so it we get max usage out of it gives us an extra week on average I reackon

excellent little film , amazing to see working boats still running in 1968 thought they were gone by then .

we have a webasto and the timer is frustratingly basic and looks older than the one above , you can program it to start but not stop which seems very odd , I gave up trying to figure it out and like Brian we just switch it on and off manually

I think it is mainly the smaller Greek Islands where the pipes are very old and narrow , its certainly the norm to use a bin there . Was also the same in some of the smaller Turkey resorts as well .. As I said was probably TMI so we shall leave it there lol

this is probably TMI but to completely avoid the chance of toilet paper blockage and to go longer between pump outs as we have a fairly small tank we employ the Greek and Turkish holiday method of avoiding all Paper going down the loo and using nappy bags and a bin which is emptied daily , We all do it on hols to those fair lands so why not on a boat I say , no issue ,smell etc ( as in Greece) and get extra days between pump outs and less worry about a possible tangle up and pipe blockage .

FIL sleeps longer than 8 hours a night hence issue .

this , with more and more red tape being put on business employing people the flexibilty of contractor out sourcing is increasingly attractive . in our industry we are seeing increasing use of agency staff for the very reason you can get them in when busy and send them home when not and dont have to deal with the red tape and employee issues . The rise in zero hours contracts ( which I dont agree with BTW ) is IMO a direct result of the aforementioned red tape and people managment issue If you legislate too much on business especially small to medium business ( CRT would fall under the latter with its size of £180M ) they will seek ways to be more effcient and lose the red tape . The Govt will claim they are all jobs but you end up with lots of un secure and part time emplyment rather than skilled loyal and secure workforce . too much employment legislation on SME's will drive down the quality of jobs for the worker not increase it IMO

We have a squirrel , Inlaws have a Boatman .. comparing notes . The Boatman is a good little stove and generates teh required heat for FIL 40 footer but it wont stay in over night and he has to get up 2pm every night ( even sets the alarm ) and bank it up to keep it going , no ash door is a pain as well . Squrrel will stay in is economical and controllable , Rake system does soom flimsey though and almost packed up yesterday , Cast does seem to radiate heat well but does seem that it could be brittle if tossed about . I cant comment on reliabilty as we have only had Squirrel for 2 months but it has been on the boat since new 2008 although not heavily used until the last 2 years . FIL Boatman has given them almost 10 years flawless service ( IIRC ) and they are pretty happy with it though he covert the squrrel every time he comes around , but it woudl be too big for his boat any how There must be a reason that Squirrels seem to be fitted to most newer boats as they are not cheap so they cant be that bad reliabilty wise ( he hopes )

Vetus here , all good but if NSF fitted make sure you change the element annually or you could have serious issue like us when it breaks down and blocks the vent pipe I am assuming others have this set up as well depending on the fit .. If you dont know you have one check ( we didnt or another Vetus user here on the mooring and have both suffered the same fate , the filter tends to be buried deep inside the boat and may not be very accessbile nor does Vetus mention the bloody thing in its manual other than in passing hence we didnt know we had it let alone that it had to be replaced regular .

another vote for Kinver here ..

Hey Tim as an aside we are moored on the same pontoon as your magnificent boat and admire it every day . its a beauty , What year etc ?

dont know as we have a poly tank but I dont see why not , I emailed them to check suitabilty for narrow boats and they said they had alot of use in Narrow boat black tanks but he didnt specify materials of tank construction .. If concerned contact them , they were very helpful

Ha Ha no not drunk it ... Water is there words not mine but then I guess its liquid which is better than solid and pumps out easier , take a look at the site , I am just a happy customer not related to them . You do have to mix the bacteria with warm water first for 3-4 hours before flushing them down the loo . dont they claim you can drink the water after treatment though ? it was some one on here who works at water treatment plant that recommended this as they use it IIRC it is just pro-biotic bacteria at the end of the day though so probably similar to Siky 65 etc but I couldnt find that for sale anywhere