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Tom Foxon in his book 'No. 1' writes about horse drawn coal boating in the '50s. Regards Pete

After struggling down Rushall Locks on Sunday and reaching the deeper water of the Tame Valley, I was happy to get a bit of speed on so as to get to Perry Barr before dusk. Halfway between Scott Bridge and Chimney Bridge in the middle of the channel we suddenly rose up and came to a dead stop. I could get the back end against the bank but couldn't get off the obstruction. No amount of pulling from the towpath and/or reversing worked, not even after taking 200 kgs of coal off the roof so had to wait for CRTs team to arrive. Between us all we managed to drag off although it was dark by then meaning we had to stay the night. I've had an email today from CRT to say it is a hay bale. God knows how they got it there, deep in the cutting. However, CRT say they can't get it out without some mechanised equipment which presumably means after the stoppage further up the Tame Valley. So, if you're going that way, be careful. On the good side, it wasn't raining, it was the quietest mooring we've had in a long time and the sun rise at the end of the cutting was fantastic. Regards Pete

I'm not too keen on buying from Amazon anymore because of the small amount of tax they pay. A lot of their stuff was shipped from Guernsey to avoid VAT. Has this loophole now been closed? So its back to Waterstones. Regards Pete

That's what I use. I have a 12" length of rigid plastic pipe on the suction end cut at a slight angle so it will go to the bottom without bending up on itself. Regards Pete

Ah but that states 6.3mm blade so that is standard blade fuse, not maxi fuse. From years in the motor trade I don't recall seeing such a thing but most single maxi fuse holders will clip together to make a bank as large as you want. Like 0-377-00 here: http://www.durite.co.uk/pdf/2012/4/04.15_Cable_and_Wiring-Panel_mounted_In-line_fuse_holders_Diode_and_Boxes.pdf Regards Pete

The Towpath Angler in Novembers Towpath Talk complains that too many boats are moored close to eaxch other and that it doesn't give fishermen a chance and that walkers don't like to see lines of moored boats! He also complains of the high fees that Clubs have to pay! My wife's Uncle complains that he has to pay £20 a year to his Club so as to fish. We pointed out that we pay over £800 to be on the canal. Saying that anglers on lock landings move their rods out way when boats come in to moor would be fine if it was true. At Thorne earlier in the year a fisherman on the lock landing below the lock had so many road out that he complained we hadn't given him enough time to get his lines in, despite he could clearly see us in the lock and exiting it. Regards Pete

Where in the Midlands are you? We are currently moored at BCLM. We used to have one of these but it became too troublesome so was replaced by an Onan. However, did learn quite a bit about it when we had it so might be able to point you in right direction. Regards Pete

Bonfire lit at 7.50pm, fireworks start at 8.00pm. Oh,beer tent open from 7.00pm to 11.00pm. If you're not here by boat already, plenty of space on the New Main Line but you'll have to breast up, 3 abreast! on the Old Main Line. Regards Pete & Jeannette Joanie M

No real mention of Coalite. Last winter was spent in Yorkshire where the local coal merchant sold Excel and very good we found it too in our Boatman stove. The summer being so wet and cold we had to buy some more fuel when on the Witham which was Burnwell. This was also good but by the time we got to Birmingham last week we needed more fuel. There was a coal boat moored in front of us at the back of the Sea Life Centre but all he had left was Coalite. Not having tried it before he gave me half a bucket to try. It seemed Ok but we had only used it for the day. So I bought 6 bags. Firstly being stored under bags of House Coal and logs it was very broken up with lots of wet 'slack', it generates prodigious amounts of ash and it is very difficult to keep in overnight. Have now bought a couple of bags of Taybrite (don't like to store more than 6 or 7 on the roof) which we'll use overnight and the Coalite in the day until it's gone. Regards Pete

This is what we have with an adaptor on the outlet to take two hoses. http://www.diavia.it/eng_aura.php?categoria=89&sottocategoria=0&marchio=0&id=117 We were lucky is as much as the company we owned before retiring installed vehicle air conditioning and we had a couple of these in stock. We often fitted a second air conditioner and heater in the space above the drivers head on Transit minibuses. A bugger to bleed the air out of the coolant but once you had it gave no trouble. We later bought a thing from Hella that evacuated all the air from the cooling system which made filling a piece of cake. Regards Pete

We went up there twice in the 80s before the Spine Road was built, on the first occasion staying overnight, on the second time breaking a tooth whilst having lunch. Tried to go again in 2000 but only got about 200 yards before the prop was badly fouled and evil smelling black muck was being dragged up from the bottom. Ended up pulling the boat back to the junction by rope. Will be heading to Walsall and Brownhills after the BCN Bonfire Rally but won't be trying the arm again. Regards Pete

In 1982 we hired 'Gamecock' from Alvechurch and spent 2 weeks around the BCN. Went up the Walsall Arm then. Had to moor on the coal wharf shown on the right in order to get off the boat. No pictures unfortunately as I forgot to reset the wind on lever on the camera so took about 20 shots on top of each other. Regards Pete

Coming up this lock yesterday the boat started listing badly and look a bit of freeing. On examination the stone/concrete coping stones on the towpath side overhang the brick lock wall by about 2 inches. By only opening one paddle had pushed us to that side. No damage other than cupboard doors open and a chunk of paint./ So take care. Regards Pete PS. Posting this reminds me that I need to put a coat of undercoat on. Primed it yesterday.

Ah but! Your modern motor car has loads of ancillaries driven from the front crank. High output alternator, air conditioning compressor, air or vacuum pump, power steering. Most modern car engines will run for 200,000 miles without major problems. Regaeds Pete

The closed signs were out at Barton Turns yesterday.

Although a continuous cruiser, this wouldn't affect me, even if cruising the K & A. But I can't see those 'overstayers' already there accepting these. They pay 80% of the average mooring licence but still have to move every 28 days! And who amongst them is going to be stupid enough to buy a winter mooring, even with a 50% discount. Given that the situation already exists, why not just regularise it by designating the community moorings, taking the 80% fee from them and leaving it at that. At least then, those that don't pay/wo'nt pay, can be evicted and it would save money on all those enforcement officers who are going to visit every day. Regards Pete

If Victron are true to their words, the repaired unit should be waiting when we get back from Italy. My wife has said 'sod it', she'll just empty the freezer and sleep soundly! Regards Pete

If it was 230v it wouldn't be a problem as I've bypassed the inverter/charger by joining the mains input to the mains output. Getting something from ebay not an option as we leave tomorrow! Leaving the smart charger on overnight took the SoC from 90% to 91% so a 2 amp charger ought to cover it OK without excessive gassing. Regards Pete

A couple of days ago the mains transfer switch in my Victron Multi-Plus failed so it is no longer charging the batteries from the shoreline. We are leaving the boat on Thursday for 10 days and want to leave the freezer on so need to keep the batteries charged enough for this. I've put a Smart charger on them but, it is too smart and shuts down after 24 hours with a fault code displayed which because the battery hasn't gone into float mode after 24 hours. If I bought a cheap 2 amp charger and left that on for the 12 days am I likely to cause any problems? With a 540 amp battery bank that is having a 16 amp load every few hours I would think not but what do others think. Regards Pete