Denis & Betty Anne

'The water road' By, Paul Gogarty. Denis.

I've just been to B & Q and they have some battery powered led lights with 3 led's that are totally free to be moved around for £4:99 each. Ideal for inside wardrobes, cupboards or as a safety light on board for any youngsters, obviously they aren't as useful as fixed lighting but for a safety light for when you have any children on board they're ideal. I bought two, one for inside a wardrobe and one for the cockpit on our centre cockpit boat so that when we go out in the evening we can leave it on to light up the cockpit for our return, you can't go wrong at a fiver as an experiment with led's can you. Denis.

Just an aside, when I was commercial fishing we used purse seine nets which surrounded the fish like a open bottomed purse and then we closed the bottom of the net creating a 'purse' that caught the fish, and we used bow and stern thrusters to 'guide' the fish away from the boat and against the net to stop them escaping past the boat. Oh, and they were just the job when in port as well, we could virtually turn in our own length if there was no wind and any 'spectators' where always impressed. Sorry for being off topic but you can have some fun with bow and stern thrusters if you have the room. Denis.

HI,we are cruiser owners and we've had one or two of them but our current boat which is a Viking 26 with the aft cabin is the best by far, she's a dream to steer,lots of space, storage everywhere and strongly built. We really found her by accident but after being on board and having a good look round it we decided she had to be ours, we paid £13,000 which was a good fair price and have never regretted it. By the way our last boat was a Shetland which we bought new, we had her for almost 5 years, used her for holidays and lots of weekends away and we've just sold her for £500 more than we paid, the notion that GRP cruisers always lose money is not really the truth right now, as the licence, mooring and fuel costs of larger narrowboats are going through the roof then GRP is once again becoming the option that's open to people. So there you are, Viking is the make I'd suggest, maybe a 26 or 32, try David Mawby at Nottingham Castle Marina he specialises in just the type of boat you're looking for, we bought ours off him and found him to be spot on, if you're anywhere near Lancashire you're welcome to come and look at ours, bring a cake and we'll supply the tea! Denis.

Phil, you're a hero, you maintain all the traditions that are dear to us as canal users, you've singlehandedly brought boat painting into the 21st century with some fantastic paints and skills. We can tell that your tether is at it's end, but you've so many friends and admirers that your contribution to the canals must carry on, without people like you the traditions and skills will simply fade away and once that happens they'll never be replaced. You deserve a medal but I haven't any but if you're ever in Lancashire I'll buy you a pint or two!" Deal? Denis.

I made myself a member of 'River Canal Rescue' (a bit like the RAC for boats) who sort things out if I can't manage the problem, worth every penny to me as I'm not the most practical of chaps being disabled. Some basic tools though are handy, spanners the right size for your engine bits, some electrical insulation tape and lengths of wire for repairing a broken wire, some gaffer tape's always handy and then just one of those tool kits you can buy at B & Q or Argos that have in them the general tools you'd have in a house. If you're really in a jam other boaters always offer help if asked and often ask you if you can manage it anyway so don't be afraid to ask. If you're confident in handling tools and such then you can kit yourself out with tools for almost any eventuality, but really you don't need that many, just don't forget the spare parts for the most crucial parts of your boat, something to put on a leaking water pipe, something for wrapping around a leaking fuel pipe, some spare fuses and light bulbs, a torch is really useful, as is a headlight that fits round our head so you can see what you're working on if it's dark, some gloves to stop you from either being burned by a hot pipe or to protect your hands from fuel or oil, a book of basic boaty systems is handy as well as aquainting yourself with what's where on your boat. Denis.

We've just sold one boat through Bridge House Marina on the Lancaster Canal at Garstang. They're very nice people and look after you and your interests, I can't praise them to highly. Denis Kirkham

I've just read on a Maplin email that they are selling a plug in mains power and energy monitor. It measures voltage, amps, watts, and other factors such as volt-amps, hertz and power factor. It's uses are for measuring the power your appliances are consuming, very handy when you're working to the output of the invertor or choosing fuse sizes. The cost is £14.99p, saving £20:00. I saw it on an email I get from Maplin but use their web-site for more info' I've ordered stuff from them before and they deliver very quickly and their stuff is usually very good indeed. Thought it may be of use to us boaters as we're always trying to sort out our electrics! Denis.

We have a GRP cruiser which fits our needs exactly, I am disabled and find a steel boat of the same length (26ft) beyond my power to pull it around on it's ropes even bringing it into the bank for mooring. We have a lovely quiet 15hp outboard which is new (Mariner) and it charges our batteries at 15 amps which we find to be ok, it's easily serviced,and we're in 'River Canal Rescue' who will loan an engine if yours breaks down and they can't repair it at the waterside. Our boat is a Viking 26 with an aft cabin which gives it a separate bedroom which we've converted to a fixed double, it has a centre cockpit which is important for me as among other things I have balance problems and may fall off a narrow boat stern, it's not definite I would but I may easily do so. We find GRP to be easy to clean, it's well insulated and warm inside, dry, it's got more in it's length somehow than a comparable steel narrowboat. It was considerably cheaper than a steel narrowboat at £13,000 in really good condition, we thought of the danger of being run into by a stray narrowboat but we've never experienced this, we don't know anyone who has or anyone who knows anyone who has, so though it can happen the chance is remote. Pound for pound I think second hand cruisers are good value, it's gets us on the water when both physically and fiscally we wouldn't be able to in a steel narrowboat, with costs escalating and boat length being the factor which other costs are accounted by maybe more GRP cruisers will be resurrected, buy well and you can sell well, the costs of our engine are really reasonable, so with the loss of fuel tax relief it's equatable to diesel. We looked into a steel boat and both found the 'pencil case' feel of the layout not to our liking, but it's horses for courses, even though ours is narrow beam we don't feel like we're in a tube, and I don't mean any disrespect by saying that. New GRP is pricey, but a well fit out used one from a good owner is a bargain, maybe more people could get on the water if they just tried one, the pity is that people don't except on the Norfolk Broads. So there we are, our thoughts and the why's and wherefore's of our boat choice. Happy sailing, Denis & Betty Anne.

This is 100% as a fact: Over 70% of males drowned at sea by falling overboard are found with their flies open! Denis.

I had a loo disaster when I first began canal boating, we had bought our first boat and the loo was a porta-potti which was something I'd never seen before (so I guess not to uncommonly) I was a tad embarrassed to be seen lugging it around to the elsan point. I tried to be inconspicuous but felt I was being watched by those who knew the potential for a mere male to get something so simple so wrong! I made it to the elsan point without mishap but with a red face and lifted the loo to the disposal bowl when it began to slip through my fingers (they are much heavier than I expected). I had no choice but to grab it to stop it from dropping onto the floor and my fingers found an amazingly handy handle which was in just the right place, you must have guessed it was the opener, the contents poured at speed from the cassette right over my legs and then onto the floor which was awash with the daily droppings of two people with a smell the like of which I'd never ever had experienced before. Of course there was a queue waiting for the elsan point as there always is when things go wrong . I had to rinse the elsan point out with the hosepipe, rinse myself off and then find a way to clear up the mess on the floor before anyone else ould possibly use it, while all the time trying to apologise. Now, I have a pronounced stammer which gets worse when I'm under stress, so the kind folks waiting were subjected the sight of a stammering buffoon who was pulling funny faces has he tried to speak and with specks of spit coming from his mouth while his shorts,legs and shoes were covered in poo all the while wishing he was almost anywhere else while he began attracting hordes of flies, my day was complete when I realised I'd failed at the most simple of tasks and that I had to walk past all the other boaters back our boat:banghead:. So with the cassette being carried as nonchalantly as I could while smelling like a very smelly thing with shorts and shoes covered in smelly poo I made it back to our boat. However, since then I've mastered this most simple of tasks and would happily say to anyone that for us they're the best choice for boating. Denis

Hi, if you get up to Salterforth which is just before Foulridge tunnel you pass the 'ELWY' (East Lancs and West Yorkshire) boat club moorings, we're on there, a Viking 26 GRP cruiser called 'Nancy', if we're there give us a shout and call for a brew. You can't miss the moorings as the first thing you'll see is a 56ft by 12ft dutch barge called 'Travis', we're just 100yds past it if you're going West. Denis & Betty Anne.

I have had a wooden hulled boat when I was fishing and to be honest unless you've got oodles of skill, time and money then wood has had it's day. This is only my opinion of course but having owned wooden hulls, GRP hulls and sailed aboard ferro cement hulled boats I have to say that unless you are into nostalgia and annual slipping and painting then wood is not for you, it does have aesthetic qualities and in the right hands does look well when varnished and brightened up but for year round use with associated bings and bangs then personally I'd steer clear of it as a material. Nothing I admit looks better than a Thames launch varnished and brightened up but the upkeep is beyond most of us, don't forget that the skills needed to repair wooden hulls are rapidly being lost and also the types of wood available for use aren't cheap either, wood's okay if you have deep pockets and skill, if you haven't then don't bother. Denis.

One thing I do when we leave our boat for long/lomgish periods is to put the mooring rope through one metre or so of plastic tube, the clear stuff that you use for water etc., and place this where the rope passes through or round a bollard or mooring pin. This saves lots of wear and makes sure that the rope isn't chaffed away or damaged by someone standing on it. We use it as well if we're mooring overnight and we use mooring rings or the rings on mooring pins, anywhere where the rope chaffs. Denis.