Alan Wheeler

Thank you all for some wonderful and helpful advise. I will re-read them all in more detail. Another concern I have is apparently the maintenance of locks and moorings have gone downhill over the last few years, but this could be subjective. Also, I have heard it can be very difficult to find decent over night moorings on-line. I'm lead to believe some boaters block moorings the 'one nighter' boaters as they have an arrangement amongst others that every two weeks they play musical boats, i.e. one boat moves off and the other two or three slightly move up to block the site until a replacement boat comes from another blocked mooring site. I'm not sure if this is true or if moorings are few and far between on the K&A.

Hi Neil2. Thanks for the reply. We have traveled up and down the Oxford and recently found it very shallow. There are also very few pubs north of Banbury along the Oxford Canal. We also want to try other places and have heard the K&A is beautiful.

We are planning on moving our permanent mooring from the Oxford Canal to the K&E next year after enjoying the winding Oxford Canal and Grand Union. I've never cruised on rivers and I am researching as much as possible. I've read about mooring the stern before the bow, travel upstream to moor, right-of-way to downstream traffic, etc. My main concern is navigating the Kennet junction without being washed down the Thames to London and advise on how and where to moor on the Thames. We have a 60' narrow boat with bow thrusters and would welcome any tips, advice, books and websites that would prepare us. Also, what anchor and chain length should we check we have? Many thanks. Alan

One recessed ceiling downlighter has failed and I would like to replace it. However, I tried to carefully remove it and there seemed to be some resistance. I got sight of a spring-like mechanism on the recessed body of the light fixture. The light fitting is a circular downlighter with a chrome bezel and opaque lens. I think it is a LED fitting. I know this is very little information to go on, but can anyone suggest how to remove this light fitting, what is the potential resistance and the best place to get an exact replacement? I'm worried I'll damage the ceiling or wiring. Thanks Alan

Hi, no I meant turn just after the top lock in the pound. We may brave the flight, but we won't have much time on Saturday.

Thanks to all, you have been very helpful.

We bought our first canal boat last month and I'm enjoying finding my way around the boat, especially the engine bay. The boat has a Nanni N4.43HD diesel, 4 cylinder, 43hp Kubota engine. I noticed the fluid level in a reservoir container raised above the engine was below the minimum markings on the side of the capsule. I assume this is the coolant recovery tank. The engine's manual states it should be topped up with clean water. Is this correct? Many thanks for any technical guidance. Alan

Likewise, Trevor surveyed our boat and issued a BSS certificate. Lovely man, very helpful, friendly and thorough.

This Saturday I am planning to cruise down from Crick marina and through Crick tunnel towards Watford top lock. Is it possible and permitted to turn our 60' boat in the pound after the Watford top lock nr.7 to head back to Crick? Should we contact the lock keeper? We have recently bought our boat and want to gain experience with locks before bringing the boat down to Cropredy. Also, it's a good opportunity to see the Watford staircase. Many thanks for any advice. Alan