Grassman

One the Shroppie I think they do it because when they see you moored there they know it means there's a pretty good chance that there isn't a ledge on that section. As for why they do it on other canals I don't know, but I presume they perceive it's more secure, as in safety in numbers.

It drives me mad people who put titles like this that give no indication of what the thread is about, and especially when all they do is put a link because they are too lazy to write anything. Time wasters and inconsiderate!

I wondered about this as well. I think they added it as an afterthought. I'll perhaps have it removed at the next blacking and take a look.

There was no noticeable change to how the boat handled or to the trim of the boat either. After that photo was taken they added a strip of steel virtically to the front of the extension at a 45 degree angle, the idea being that it would reduce the resistance by helping to deflect the water past the tank. I doubt it made much difference though and was probably not necessary. If there had been a difference in the boat's trim a simple adjustment to the ballast would have cured it any way, but in my case I didn't need to.

This was Bainland Camping site in Lincs.

My multifuel stove has come to end of it's life and I'm considering not replacing it and just using our Webasto, because I'm getting to the age when humping about bags of coal is becomming difficult, even with the smaller bags. This would mean during really cold spells it might be running it for around 20 hours a day. I'm a liveaboard (60ft boat) and it's a 5kw Thermotop with 4 rads plus the towel rad. But I've been told that it's not good to run them for those lengths of time on a regular basis, and that it can cause the burner or heat exchanger to bust (or other components to fail). Might this be true or should it be able to cope with that sort of regular use?

Thanks all for your helpful replies, I was thinking along the same lines so it's good that you've confirmed my suspicions and saved me 50 quid, even though I'm sure I'd have found a cheaper one 🙂. I've had a conventional stove top type one for about 12 years and although I believe it helps a bit, I think the difference is negligable, but was hoping that not having the galley worktop side blocking the air flow might have improved it. As some have mentioned, the best thing about one is when the fan stops, and although the fire is still quite hot I think it does at least warn you that the stove will need some attention albeit not necessarily straight away.

I know opinions on the effectiveness of ecofans are somewhat divided, and mine is that they are able to move the warm air down the boat, but the difference they make is minimal. Having said this, my stove is next to my galley worktop, so any wafting of air must struggle to get over the top of that. I’ve seen on the internet those fans with a collar which can be attached to anywhere on the flue pipe, and I was wondering if one of those might make a difference because of being able to mount it above the worktop. My concern is that because the flue is cooler than the top of the stove, would there be enough heat to ‘power’ the fan fast enough to move the air properly, especially as mine would need to be attached fairly high up on it where the flue gets cooler? In other words how do they compare with the stove mounted version? I don’t really want this post to turn into cassette versus pump out type argument about ecofans general effectiveness or not, but just hear from anyone who has the flue pipe mounted one, do they work, and your opinion of them as to whether or not they’re worth shelling out £50 for. Here’s the one I’ve been looking at https://simplyvaliant.co.uk/products/remora

I'm shocked and very saddened to hear this. Over many years we've had 2 chimneys and a new flue from them, and as they operate in my main cruising area we've always paused for a little chat with Kym and Tracy as we are passing by.

We want to do Boston to Wisbech sometime in September. I haven't contacted Daryl yet but I'm mentioning it here in case anyone else is interested in doing the crossing around that time.

Thanks to both of you who corrected me regarding the cottage at Lifford Guillotine lock. I moved away from the area not long after the cottage was demolished and had presumed (wrongly) that the road bridge was widened just after that.

I used to live in Kings Norton near the Stratford Canal, in the days when it was a nice area unlike these days 🙂. In the 'big freeze' of 1963 the ice on the canal was so thick that we local kids built a bonfire on the ice about 50 yards along from the guillotine lock to see if it would melt. The lock keeper reckoned the ice was about 3 feet thick. The lock keeper and his cottage are of course no longer there, the cottage having been demolished when they widened to bridge for road traffic.

I didn't realise you were an American 😮

Theres a Nb that's been moored near Bridge 55 on the T&M just along from Kings Bromley Marina for over 3 years. It has a licence number so it's identifiable but appears to be getting away with it. They are liveaboards and were thrown out of the marina after a row with the then management, so they've so far saved a tidy sum of money, over £10,000 in mooring fees. Whatever reason they've given to CRT surely shouldn't justify being there that length of time? She works locally doing cleaning jobs and when out walking or cruising past in my boat I've often seen her carrying things up and down the towpath, but I don't know about her partner as I never see him.