Khayamanzi

Double glazing would certainly help but not sure if it would keep a tank of water warm enough for long enough in winter??

Tony knows his stuff clearly! I too used to keep an Iggy in a converted wardrobe bought from the charity shop and adapted with glass doors. Yes, he, (which later turned out to be a she!) diffinately needed to be heated from above and I agree about heat mats. As well as keeping the lizards, (Iguana, Tokay Gekhos, Anoles, Corn snakes etc etc - not all together!) I also kept and bred tropical fish. Since moving aboard, I have had to give up the reptiles, (sadly,) due to the lack of space but do have a small fish tank aboard, although only cold water. I have often thought about starting up again with tropical but am unable to find a 12V thermostatically controlled tank heater. Any thoughts on a UPS? Not seriously given it much thought and I guess the length of time needed for it to run might be a problem but I did think of the possibility of getting a small UPS for running the tank heater when the inverter was off and no land line present? Edited before someone picked up on the fact that I meant Tokay Geckos not Tokyo Geckos!!

Amazing to see this thread! I've just spent the first few weeks of the summer attempting to tighten up the bolts on mine for exactly the same problem!! I'm going to get it welded when next out of the water but only solved it by climbing in the water in the end to sort it out. I had to tighten the top and bottom bolts as well as the middle pinch bolt and only by swinging on the end of the spanner in the water did I solve it! It's been fine all summer since.

Dan, Tons of stuff - pictures, hire brochures, price lists, log books etc. etc from Anglo Welsh dating back to my hire days in the 1970's onwards if interested. PM me or contact me through my website found in my signature if interested. Regards Andy

Thanks all - now sitting just above Fenny Compton heading north! The K & A will have to wait 'till 2008 to be conquered by Khayamanzi! I think Eugene is to be applauded at this very busy time for making the effort to 'mingle' and communicate with boaters through this forum.

Eugene, can you or anyone else tell me what conditions are like to the North? Currently sitting in Banbury town center heading for the K & A which is clearly not going to happen so considering turning round and heading north for the summer eg. Staffs & Worcester, Shroppie, BCN, Caldon etc etc. Are these canals all fine or am I likely to get caught in more stoppages there? Regards, Andy

After a personal email from Tony, I can eliminate the waterfront outside Brinklow Marina, All Oaks Wood and Stretton Wharf - keep looking!

I feel compelled to add! Below is the extract I have just typed on my todays blog entry:

Hi there, try looking at www.brinklowmarina.com if the North Oxford is any good- beautiful location and still some moorings available if quick!

Rob, can you clarify what '....enters the vessel' means exactly? I have a BSS booked for Monday and have a generator stored in the front cratch, (I do have a cratch canopy). Obviously I don't run it in there but it is stored there when cruising- is this acceptible or do I need to move it? Likewise with the petrol, I store the spare cans, (approved type,) in the side locker in the cratch. Does this constitute a situation where petrol vapours could enter the vessel? The cratch well deck is self draining. Thanks for any advice on this one. Edited to add the following: I can confirm that the Honda 1KW suitcase generator is indeed very quiet! In fact it can't be heard from the front of my 55 foot boat at all, (although I have made a sound pfoofed box for it) It covers all my 240V needs perfectly and will even charge my batteries fine so long as I use the engine to whack them up until the Adverc kicks in and drops the charging rate to about 20A or below. I can also confirm that using it in this manner, I can run it for about 4 hours before needing to re-fill with fuel. They are certainly fantastic bits of kit!

I have a Kerston setup from Roadpro which I believe is the most popular for narrowboats. It works fine and no list causes a loss of signal whatsoever, even a loose mooring rope and a fast passing boat causes no problem at all. It does take a while to start with in setting up and will cause frustration if not patient but as you do it more often it gets quicker and quicker to do. Now down to 2-5 minutes although I have sometimes got lucky almost immediately after pointing it in the general direction! A very good bit of kit in my mind. I also have freeview in the back cabin and use a standard aerial on a pole for this.It's a good 'double system' and almost always guarantees a signal of some kind in digital form.

Don't know about the CC side of things as I'm not but Collidge and Partners insure contents for liveaboard use no problems - you just specify items above 200 quid.

Having hired since 1976 and reserached for many years, I had an idea of what I DID want in my boat. I scoured the 2nd hand market and didn't find anything that I liked and that fitted my spec and was beginning to think of bespoke. At the Crick Boat show 2001 I discovered that my EXACT design specification was being mass produced by New Boat Company AND at a price below my intention! In my situation, I would have been stupid not to go with them. Yes, I had snagging, (and an engine room fire on the Thames - but that's another story!) but now the boat has settled down, I am very happy and if going bespoke would only replicate the same design! I agree with the posts above, I think it's a case of what fits for you. If you are happy to make compromises or happen to be in the right place at the right time, then 2nd hand is fine -if not go new. As for the time scale, my order was in in April and the boat launched in June, (I did get a cancellation build slot though!) You also get an acceptance cruise before you sign the work off so to an extent you can try before you finally buy!

Oops! Yeah - didn't quite mean that bit - DOH! I tend to run on the gates locking down to hold the boat in place whilst working through but obviously not then use the boat to open the gates - just me being extremely thick for a moment, kinda cross between blonde moment and a senior moment!

Fo what it's worth, there is no official regulation on BW waters regarding this but opening the top gates when locking up or the bottom gates when locking down, (ie. any exit gates,) is considered to be fine so long as it's done gently and carefully howvere pushing open the enterance gates is considered very bad form apparently! Something to do with the mitre and the likelihood of liftig the gates off the collar/spigott. I've investigated this one and the above is the culmination of information and advice from the RYA Inland Waterways Helmsmans course and guidance from BW, (although you have to push BW very hard to get them to agree to any form of this practice!)

Thanks for this Jo. Can anyone add to it as I'm planning on heading exactly that way over Easter. I don't plan to leave the boat there at all though so should be OK but obviously I'm a little concerned?

Can anyone help? Is there anyone here who lives in a marina as caretaker/security moorings? If so, I would like to know something about the arrangements you have with the owner/manager. If you are prepared to let me know either publicly on here or PM me please. For example; Do you pay more or less for your mooring fees than the non-residential boats? How many duties are you expected to perform around the marina eg. how many hours a week or what sort of allocated tasks do you undertake? What is the arrangement regarding security eg. challenging strangers etc. Any information would be really appreciated. Thanks

OK, thanks for clearing that up! A fair point you make I guess, (not that I necessarily agree!) I would just hate to think that I am viewed in a derogatory way by anyone - I guess, I can be a very sensitive idiot at times: strong debate welcome!

Carlt, I really don't want to get into any issues on here and I am very sorry that you clearly still hold a major grudge relating to my comments in the past regarding unlicenced boats, (I still don't know who the person was that left dated death threats on my website relating to this one!) I have in no way intended to judge anyone and apologise if I have somehow portrayed an 'I'm a better boater than you' attitude - anyone who has seen my frequent attempts to handle my boat will bare witness!! LOL. I purely make observations and then comment on them as I see them. I guess occasionally my observations are right and strike a chord with some, (which clearly angers them,) and at other times I am totally wrong and so dismissed as being an opinionated old whatever - either way is fine with me but does serve to illustrate perfectly what a diverse bunch of people boaters are and how easily and quickly rifts can be torn between us! No hard feelings Carlt - there's a pint behind the bar for you at the virtual pub when you next visit!

In support of Stonehenge and to contextualise slightly: Stonehenge has hit on a problem with their marina. I am one of 8 boats who have moved out since around Christmas for just such a reason and the website of this particular marina currently advertises 5 vacant mooring spaces immediately available which should ring alarm bells in the current climate of rare moorings. Don't get me wrong, there are some lovely people in the marina - boaters, live-aboards and boaters who live-aboard, (yes I do make a clear distinction on purpose!) but increasingly the marina has become an over-spill from the local town of people who choose to live on a boat for purely economical reasons. This has innevitably caused some serious cliques amongst people who do not necessarily share the common interest of boating and the subsequent tolerance of other like minded friends. I hope this explains a little of the climate they currently find themselves in.