Psychalist

NW had the Ellesmere Port episode. I thought it was Ep1 but apparently it is Ep4. "Still Open All Hours" was on BBC1HD. The Canal Diaries were only on SD - a tad confusing.

I appreciate your efforts Ray. Thanks

The best bit of this rant is the lovely church bell at Kildwick. Someone warned us not to moor there because of the noise keeping them awake, another example of useless disinformation one receives or sees on the cut or Intercut. As they say 'Your mileage may vary', so I guess the same as one's perception of any situation. In Jo and Michael's case they were clearly so concerned they made an official complaint. Most wouldn't. Having seen work scheduled for the winter, we didn't raise any concern with them despite a boat we shared with had a half filled engine room. We also saw hire boat so low a

The issue isn't so much the rating of the sockets but the wiring that supplies them. There is probably a fuse or cut-out at the distribution panel or whatever is between it and the battery. That might show the rating. The other way would be to pop out the existing socket and check the size of the cable. See previous posts about cable type/size etc or posters on here will no doubt advise. It is worth mentioning the reason for the sockets you have rather than the 12v cigarette lighter type is they are usually fitted because of their superior current carrying capacity. The connections

The device in the link has two of them and is similar to the Lidl version. The difference is whether you adapt the wall socket, or this sort of device, that you then plug in the existing unmodified socket. /G

Quickest route is plug a converter in with a 3 pin plug on the end (which you wire, having removed the cigarette lighter plug - only two wires are connected, -ve and +ve so a rewire is a simple task) E.g. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/12v-2-Way-Car-Cigarette-Lighter-Power-Socket-Charger-Adapter-Dual-USB-Port-Twin/253861363478?epid=12023559096&hash=item3b1b50ff16:g:syUAAOSwMKFejD54 Is your issue the lack of 3 pin plug? /G

Lidl occasionally offer Silvercrest USB/12V chargers/converters. I got one in January. Design seems to vary each time they feature in the 'middle of Lidl' offers. Mine has 2 x 12V 3.4A (max 4.3A) sockets and 3 5v 2.4A USB (max 3.4A) sockets on a lead with a 12v (max 5A) plug. Like you we have the round pin sockets, so I cut off the 12 plug and put a round pin plug on. Can't find a picture and the model number (HG05634A) isn't coming up in any results search. /G

Different rules altogether in France. Where hydraulic gates are used, they are disabled automatically out of hours. Then there is the French lunch to be respected too...

The situation is fluid. Don't expect it to be the same from one day to the next at the moment. Go online (you did register didn't you?) and check your communication preferences with CaRT and make sure you sign up for notices for your waterway. If they are all set, there is some technical reason for you not receiving them. As you're getting other mails, maybe check your spam etc.

Even without covid-19 restrictions, I would suggest more experimenting before venturing onto rivers to be confident nothing will fail. I understand you have 40+ boaty years but not with your current boat, which isn't new and hasn't been moving. I'm still not confident everything on our boat is up to extended cruising after 9 months. On the face of it, it should have been fine but now have a growing list of repairs that, had they happened on a river, could have been a lot more serious. Little used boats give reassurance on short runs but as soon as something more demanding comes along, things s

From: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/budget-2020-documents/budget-2020 "In addition, the government will promote air quality improvement by removing the entitlement to use red diesel except for agriculture, fish farming, rail and non-commercial heating." And more detail... "Red diesel: Removing entitlement – The government will remove entitlement to the use of red diesel and rebated biofuels from April 2022, except for agriculture (including horticulture, pisciculture and forestry), rail and for non-commercial heating (including domestic heating)

Probably was oxters - heard in an Ulster accent by me as uxters. Dictionaries have oxter as armpit, originating (mainly Scotland and Northern Ireland) from the C16 old English oxta, and Latin axilla (which refers to the underside of birds' wings). Seems to make sense but doesn't explain the u though. Perhaps it was an accent thing.

Seems to be used in Northern Ireland to refer to the armpits - as in "Have you washed your uxters?" Corresponds with the appropriate bits on the boat. Can't explain why.

The reason may not be obvious as the tolerance is quite small. If the selector shaft pushes over in one direction or another, it can force a tiny gap on a harder worn complete older o ring enough to cause the leak. If you've changed the gear cable recently that could be a possibility. The extent between forward and reverse can be too large. Most controllers have two stops to mount the cable at the remote end from the gearbox so it's worth checking the selector position in both modes to see if it is beyond the box's natural detente positions. I reckon that was the issue with mine. Fine for 20yr

I borrowed an e-book from the library about narrow-boats and promptly forgot about it. Browsing CWDF I came across this thread and his name and about the same time got a reminder my loan was expiring. Turned out the book was by Steve Haywood. I let it expire. Don't know what it was about but my appetite for reading it seems to have evaporated. <g> /G