tehmarks

The way oil from boats comes into conflict with wildlife is at the hands of the ignorant, and these have the same effect on everything they do in life and are not unique to boating. The same specimens generally drop litter, have fires in stupid places and so on, whatever they are partaking in on the day.

That might be your way forward then. They're not too expensive at least, and I'd bet (though I've never done one) that you'll learn some useful stuff that you might never pick up on your own no matter how experienced you become.

Can you let me know what your tricks are? I have the same stove, and while I've managed to avoid having to remove the baffle plate thus far, it will have to happen sooner or later! I've been putting it off because it looks like a disaster of a job...

And you thought shopping trolleys were bad...?

If my chosen sport were to walk up to random strangers and slap them around the face, it wouldn't do lasting physical harm but it'd be most unacceptable. Illegal, in fact. Skewering fish by the mouth of the end of a barbed hook, just for shits and giggles, is barbaric. That they so often inflict suffering on other animals too is unacceptable; you only need to see one duck or swan clearly in discomfort with a fish hook sticking out of their body to understand that. Anglers preaching about welfare of the local fauna is hypocrisy of the highest order. Is my opinion, at least.

GJW must have change the wording of their policy (or I was a very naghty boy in 2015); they were my first insurer, and until I bought one I'd never been on a narrow boat in my life ?. Would they accept the RYA inland helmsman course in lieu of experience?

Same. I did take advantage of the first lockdown to spend the entire period in the lovely rural bit just south of Stone, moving up Aston Lock every fortnight for water and shopping, but I've been aboard and otherwise living like a liveaboard since the pandemic arrived.

My apologies, that I did not realise. It is, unfortunately though, the case that I can't imagine you'll find any demand for such a service because it is like I said. That said, a friendly boatyard may be willing to help if you explain that it's difficult for you to do the job yourself.

That's because it's a bit like the boat equivalent of getting someone to wash your dishes.

It's a basic maintenance task of the sort you're going to have to get used to if you plan on keeping the boat any length of time. Pump it into a container (with a manual bilge pump or similar) and take it to the local tip for disposal. Follow up with degreaser and arm power, and then consider putting a water/oil absorbant mat under the engine to catch future minor leaks. Two hours, minimal outlay and the job is done! And give any rust some attention while you're there (though I'd probably wait to paint anything — bit cold at the minute!)

And one more from up North ?

A few from up North.

?

Ricky Tropman just surveyed my boat in Ashton for insurance reasons. He's based in Chesterfield, but might be worth a call? I can thoroughly recommend him — cheerful, friendly, full of good advice, and the written report arrived by email the next day. Hull survey or full survey: are you a handy and practical sort of person? If you're confident in doing a thorough inspection of the internals and machinery yourself, then I'd go for doing that as you'll learn an awful lot about the boat and its systems in checking them. If not, if you get a full survey you'll know where you're starting from and what things should appear first on your ongoing maintenance list.

It seems I may have been wrong when I said: ?

Thanks all. It's not that I don't think that stakes won't cut it, it's that I need a couple more and was wondering whether a rond anchor might make a useful addition to the toolkit instead of a fourth stake. @BEngo: that's really useful information, thanks. I somehow missed this reply entirely. Interesting — I've seen them mentioned in a Broas context a few times, but I came across a post on here earlier recomending them for soft ground. It was the first I'd heard of them, so I thought I would ask

It's unfortunate, and CRT should certainly be flexible in finding a solution, but...the cost to you is still the same regardless. You can't blame them for your lack of money management skills leaving you short. It's not like they've overcharged you. Take their offer of splitting it over the remaining months and suck it up, I'd say. The direct debit is over a period of ten months anyway, so if they split it over the remaining months (the remainder of all twelve of them, that is), it may well not increase by a huge amount.

No; I have all the time in the world for people who express different viewpoints. It's all in the manner of expression.

Appreciate all of those points, and I'm acutely aware of my lack of river experience. That'd be why I want to start with the Weaver and see how things go. I'm very happy with my handling skills on the canals, so it seems like an obvious next step. As per the yacht thread, I'm not suicidal ? Also appreciate the differences in mooring — but it's better to have the tools on boar, unused, than it is to not have then on board and be wishing that you did! My mooring hardware in general needs a bit of an update, and a few more stakes or similar would definitely come in useful on the canals too.

I've done a cursory search but it doesn't seem to have been definitvely covered before. I'm probably going to go down on to the Weaver early next year, and plan on doing a few more rivers in the future. I currently only have a couple of stakes (one bohemoth, one 'regular chandlery'), and I'd like to augment my selection to be able to rig spring/other lines as required. While poking around the Internet I came across the rond anchor; a completely unfamiliar concept to me. Two questions: Are they any good for mooring the average narrowboat to the bank, or are they really for lighter craft? Are they any good in general?

The Phoenix and Multiplus are very similar product lines. There's no reason for an inverter to take AC in unless it has a changeover feature, so I'd imagine it almost certainly has. I'm not sure even the most determined moron would miswire one so egregiously (and not notice). That said, I can't see any obvious reference in the manual to such a feature. Stanby. Is it definitely this particular model? Edit: The manual and datasheet imply that there is not such a feature. Is there any chance you can take a few photos of the inverter and the installation?

I feel that we could learn a lot from aviation when it comes to standardising procedures, and briefing and managing crew. Alas, general aviation actually often has the opposite problem; over-reliance on the checklist as a to-do list to fill in for knowledge and airmanship, rather than as a tool for catching omissions.

I must admit, from periphery of the community, that I find the entrenched 'grumpy old person' mentality that seems to prevail a bit depressing and off-putting. I've been actively involved in other online discussion forums for all of my adult life and most of my teenage life, and while they all get quite lively and personal when there's a difference of viewpoint, I can't remember any ever coming with quite the amount of vitriol and inability to consider the other side of the argument that seems to be the default here. This forum, in my humble opinion, can be truly unpleasant really quite frequently. It makes me sad.

The inverter self-selects the correct power source (if it is the same as my Multiplus of the same size). With the Multiplus you can switch off, on, or charger only. When on and connected to shore power, it will source 230V from the incoming shore power and charge the batteries. When on with no 230V, it will invert. Charger only charges the batteries but doesn't supply 230V to the domestic side. Off obviously means exactly that — no 230V supplied to the domestic side even with the shore power plugged in. It's a much neater solution, in my humble opinion, than having a manual changeover switch. Plug and play — just remember to unplug your [immersion heater/kettle/fan heaters] if you wander off your mooring ?