Theo

Thanks for all the interesting information. There is much more to this than I originally thought. Nick

We fitted secondary double glazing to our bus windows. We bought precut 3mm acrylic on line. They are all the same size so that was easy. We stuck draft excluder around the edges and drilled the acrylic to attach each sheet with 10 SS screws into the wooden surround. We have found this very successful and keeping out the drafts and preventing condensation. It didn't cost much.

Just come through there from the SU. We locked up about six inches. Now, unless I am sadly mistaken the SU was cut after the Staffs and Worcester. I wpuld have thought that the owners of the S&W would have been very keen to ensure that they didn't lose water to the Shropshire Union, Question: Why is the rise of the lock from SU to S&W? Doesn't that mean that any water is lost from the S&W very much against the interests of the earlier canal?

I think that you are right on that. I haven't done it myself. It was an idea that I got from a fellow boater who was busy changing all of his.

Forgot to mention that I fitted a "gas fuse" which shuts of the supply if there is a sudden drop in the delivery line frinstance if the flexi gets cut. N

I see that the residents have been allowed home. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-derbyshire-49261977

Afternoon. Mr Catweasel Sorry that I am late replying to the query. Vastly cheaper to run the gennie on gas. Turning up my records I see that I have run the generator for 250 hrs, used 3 and a bit bottles of gas and 5.3 litres of petrol. I have been advised that it's a good idea to run it on petrol from time to time. The Generator is a Kipor IG1000 and if I had my time again I might get a more powerful one, but a more powerful one would be heavier to lift on and off the boat. So I don't know. I fitted the gas conversion myself and use neither of my two 13kg propane bottle to run it. I bought a third bottle which fits in front on the other two in by bow locker. I don't take the bottle off the boat when I use the generator. I use an extra long flexible hose. The conversion was pretty straightorward. I got the conversion kit from https://www.sailandtrail.co.uk/.

I didn't measure the pressure when I fitted my accumulator. I experimented and set the pressure so that I got the maximum amount of water from the cold tap before the pump switched on.

I think that it is a good plan to convert all the round pin sockets to cigar lighter sockets. N

I would echo what Matty said. Very lovely and worth spending a night there.

Something that I don't understand and don't think has been explained in the thread: Why are they using pumps? Won't the draw down valves do that job and not use any energy?

I suggested this in a post when we encountered the duckweed on our way to Keadby. The idea is to have a duckweed fuelled steam narrow boat . The first lot of duckweed would need to be died by some means but thereafter the drying would be provided by waste heat from the steam condensers. I did not add that the whole process can be enhanced by chucking the ash out of the back. This provides fertiliser to enhance the growth of more duckweed so that more of such boats can use the technology. A further benefit of the ash will be that it will float about in the water column busily blocking up any leaks that it finds.

I wonder if they had their anchor rigged and ready to deploy.

Does it need to be uncontrolled? If they are valves can't they be partly opened? If there is a problem with the capacity of the rivers it doesn't matter if the water comes from pumps or drain down valves. Ah! I see that the same point had been made by Graham.

When the news of Marple and Bosley being shut we were just on to the Peak Forest and ready to go back to Tardebigge Old Wharf by way of The PF, Macc, T&M, Staffs and Worcs, BCN and Worcs and Brum. We have a deadline of the 11th August and decided that the only way of meeting the deadline would be to turn around and go bakc the way we came. That is down the Ashton, Rochdale 9, Bridgewater, T&M, Middlewich Branch, Shroppie, BCN and Worcester and Brmingham. We stopped for lunch half way down the Ashton and saw the latest announcement: Marple and Bosley are open, CanalPlan said that it would take only a little longer each day (7hrs 45mins instead of 7hrs 15 mins) to turn round again and go back up the Ashton and carry on our original intended route. If we had been idle and hung around where we were we could have just carried on. What a b... N