Jennifer McM

Yes, think I'm being mistaken, sorry for not being clear. There was no boat waiting to use a lock. The gates were left open, despite no boat waiting. In the middle lock, if we'd have seen the boat coming down the top lock, we'd have left the gate open, we shut the gate but felt a tinge of guilt thinking that we should have left the gate open even though we didn't see the boat. Just to try and make it clearer, cos I'm rubbish at explaining Two bottom locks empty, one set of gates left open. Two middle locks, one empty and gates left open, the other lock had a boat coming down and when they left the locks they left the gates open Two top locks, same situation as the middle locks. We were lucky, we sailed straight into all three locks as their gates were open. Should we have left the gates open when we exited? I'm wondering if there is an etiquette unique for 'paired locks'?

We went up Hillmorton Locks this morning, while we've done these locks over half a dozen times now, this was the first time we've gone through the locks when all three 'pairs of locks' were working. When we entered the bottom lock (our first lock), both bottom locks were empty, one of the locks had the gates open. At the middle locks, the gates were open on one of the locks, and in the other lock a boat was going down. When the other boat exited the lock, they left both bottom gates open. That made sense, and we thought maybe we should have left the top gate open we exited 'our' lock? At the top locks, a single hander was coming down in one lock, the other lock had its bottom gates open, which meant I could sail right in. So what's the etiquette? It makes sense if one lock is in the opposite 'state' (filled/empty) to leave the gates open. Or does the rules still apply, i.e. paddles down, and gates shut? No lockies were on duty.

Poor boy! GSDs are ultra sensitive. Have a google about Thunder Shirts or Thunder Jackets. I've not tried them, though I have been thinking about getting one for our dog. On a GSD forum I visit, some owners swear by them. Have not tried the pheromone defuser, sorry. http://www.petsathome.com/shop/en/pets/thundershirt-the-best-solution-for-dog-anxiety?size=x+large Did he see his sister's body? A vet told us when we had an older dog pts we should have brought the other one to the vets, they accept death, and it stops them worrying that one of the pack is missing. Hope he picks up soon

While we stopped at Hawkesbury Services this morning, a man approached us saying he'd seen us at Hartshill on Wednesday and did we see 'two guys', one white, one black (we hadn't). The man said the 'two men' had broken into his boat, and he'd managed to see them off by hitting one of them with (I think) an empty gas bottle. Believe the incident happened outside the Anchor pub on Wednesday lunchtime, the Landlord I understand has been informed. The man had previously spoken with the two intruders, one of them asked him for a cigarette. He thought they were casing the boat. We asked if he'd reported the incident to the police, he said he had called the police, and a policeman said that he should keep a low profile as the intruder could sue him for assault Didn't know whether to mention this on here, but seeing this thread, thought I'd just say...... Apart from us being bombarded with snowballs by school kids... I can't remember any incident after CC'ing for nearly 3 years.

Nice to hear 'common sense' stories, we hear so many stories where 'red tape' gets in the way. Your story reminds me of the time I drove a car out of the Port of Tilbury, and drove the car via the M25 to Watford without a set of number plates. Luckily the insurance company insured the car on its VIN#. Before I left the port I phoned the traffic police, the policeman on the phone said I was allowed to drive the car home or to a licence office without plates, and he gave me his police number in case a traffic cop stopped me. I didn't get stopped, also I drove the car (legally) out of the Port without being stopped and questioned

? Nahhh sorry you took me literally? I do block out inane adverts though. Wouldn't it be great if some adverts would aim at a higher age range than for 12 year olds.

OMG don't go puncturing it!

.... and would they replace the wooden trap?

Got to admit I do get confused with biodegradable and degradable ones, there's a big difference though....

Last year speaking with another boater, she said she hangs them up on branches because the bags are biodegradable ???? Errr I'm not sure that's how these bags work. Obviously, there's a misunderstanding by a lot of people.

I get fed up of seeing empty coal bags shoved in hedges ?

Use the advertising time to make a cuppa, or in our case, ask questions like, "What did she mean?", "Who's Jim?", "Now what film is she in?", "My money's on the gardener doing him in!"....

It would be much easier for all if the BBC went down the advertising, product placement, path. The antiquated funding system has hardly kept up with progress.

Thanks for that. The reason I thought they were his keys was that his father borrowed a flat screwdriver from us as his partner/girlfriend was locked out of the boat.

Once you start digging, it's scary what could be found I turned all switches on the 12v panel off, but the panel still showed -4 was still drawings (inverter switched off). Then I realised the 12v fridge was running (surely it shouldn't have been?), so I turned it off manually. The 12v panel now registered '0'. Turned on the inverter and the 12v panel didn't change, waited for a few minutes, and still zero. Just been told by OH that nothing will register until a 240v 'something' is turned on. There's a fear I'm off topic here. As it stands, we don't have a problem, but you've got me thinking...... which is not always a good thing

Thanks John, I discovered he was on Twitter yesterday. As we don't follow each other I couldn't DM him, but I did send him a tweet. I also 'followed' him so he would be able to DM me. Could you please let him know keys were found by the bridge (two on a ring) and were handed in (as far as I know cos I didn't do it myself) into the CRT Office near to where he's moored. Thanks muchly Just to add, they may not be his keys, but I've reason to believe they might be.

That's very true

I don't know that answer at the moment, tomorrow we'll turn off switches, leaving just the inverter on to get a reading. Thanks

Yes, I've seen you've mentioned this before, and it piqued my interest then. In the depth of winter when there's no solar, in the main (unless we're not moored near other boats) we spark up the engine to top up the batteries in the evening, turning off the engine before 8pm, and turning on the engine after 8am. During the nighttime, our batteries drop from say 12.8 to 12.2 before we start the engine again after 8am. If we'd left the Victron 3kw sinewave inverter on, the batteries might not cope. Perhaps it's our setup, though we only use the 12v TV, 12v fridge/freezer, 3 or 4 LED lights, and charging up a laptop through 12v. We've got 4 x 110 domestic batteries.

We got a new Shoreline fridge/freezer last year. tho' I think they are expensive for what they are, but needs must. The fridge freezer is a bit of pain at floor level, you've to get on the floor to get to the back of the shelving because of the freezer hiding what's 'there'. This was solved when we refitted the galley, we organised the fridge/freezer to be at waist level - one of the best things we did.

I've not heard of charcoal granules. Will have to do a bit of googling for that, thank you! It's a case of being 'cruel to be kind' I know, it's for his own good

Thanks for asking... Rusty the dog is being a bl***y pain! We've forked out a fortune for the vet's anti-allergen food, hauled all 22kg of it (supposedly 2 months supply) from the vets to the boat, Only for him to turn his nose up at it He's always been a picky eater, and since he was a pup we've had to entice him to eat by titivating his taste buds with a bit of butter, cheese or something to get him started (my fault for making him soft). How I envy owners of labradors.... I'm not allowed to give him anything except for his new food. He's been on the 'diet' now for 3 days, though he's only eaten about half of what he should, and his 'constitution' does look appear to be a lot better. Think at the moment it's a battle of wills between us, he's being stubborn, more than him not liking the food! The vet's given us a course of antibiotics just in case he has a bout of trouble, and if he gets a dose of diarrhoea we've to start the course and give the vet a call. We've now got two months before we see the vet again, time enough for us to do the Leicester ring before we're back in Atherstone. Hope to cross bows with you again, on the Leicester line

Yes that's right, it's a nice boat.

This morning, just when we pushed off a walker found a set of keys and he wondered what he should do with them, thinking the keys was a boater's. We told him to hand them into the CRT Office, by the Clock House on the Coventry. We watched him walk over the bridge to the office. There's every possibility thinking about it, these keys could have been lost by the woman/girlfriend of Miner Bill. The guy handed the keys into the office at about 11am this morning. So if you know the owner of Miner Bill, please could you pass on the info. Thanks Just to add, CRT mission control have been informed