debbifiggy

Well, I've changed the cassette, one I rinsed out extremely well and also cleaned the top. The washing (clothes washing) bio liquid is in the bottom and also the rinse. It already smells much nicer than blue. I will let you know how we get on. D

After reading a number of very interesting toilet related posts on this forum we are taking the plunge and are going to try bio washing up liquid in our cassette toilet instead of blue. So for all of you who have already made the switch. What is the optimum dosage of washing liquid? I was thinking of starting with two capfuls (Tesco own brand liquid bio washing stuff) in the base of a standard Thetford 365 portapotti and a capful in the rinse. Will we need to add more washing liquid to the lower tank as we fill it with p's and poos? Will the switch work out cheaper (as well as being more environmentally friendly) than using Blue? What is the best brand of liquid/washing power to use? I look forward to reading your contributions and also hopefully to a more fragrant bathroom, especially in the summer. D

Depends on how efficient your club secretary is :-)

Alan, I think you will find that the office is not closed for six weeks but from 23rd December 2011 and re-opening on 3rd January 2012 so just a fraction over two weeks. However, should you wish to ensure that you get your prompt payment discount if renewing by post you would be recommended to apply well in advance of 23rd December and get a proof of posting certificate from the post office. If you want to renew by telephone using a credit or debit card, again please try not to do it just before the office closes for Christmas but a few days before or even as early as you can. Call the main customer services number and if you quote your customer number and boat index number the helpful people at customer services will look up your renewal number for you, take payment etc. This only applies if your boat safety certificate is still valid. If you haven't provided us with a new BSC and your old one has run out you will need to send in the BSC first. Of course you could just ask for your renewal number so that you can do the renewal yourself using the online system so you don't necessarily need the paper renewal. The licence t& c's say Please allow 15 working days for the processing of a licence. Delays will occur and you may lose the prompt payment rate if you do not include:  correctly completed application form or renewal form marked up with updated information as applicable (including current insurance policy details – note that we no longer require a copy of the certificate (see Licence Requirements R1).  evidence of boat safety scheme compliance (see Licence Requirements R2).  home mooring location (see Licence Requirements R3).  the correct payment  evidence as specified supporting any discount application Payment methods We accept payment by the following:  Cheque crossed and payable to British Waterways  Most major Credit cards (except AMEX) for which a charge of £7.50 will be made  Debit card or Switch (no charge applies)  Cash only if you are applying in person.  If the total fee due is more than £100, we also offer a Direct Debit facility for 12 month licences. There's nothing specific in the licence t&c's that I have spotted about having a land based address but it does make life easier as post remains the most effective method at present for communicating with most customers on licensing issues. It's probably worth noting point 7 under schedule 4: Licence Fees and Payment terms. These rules apply regardless of whether or not we have sent you a reminder to renew your licence. It is your responsibility to ensure that your boat is correctly licensed at all times. We do not issue renewal reminders for licences of less than 12 months as these are mostly purchased by people who keep their boats on the waterways for only part of the year. Customers service contact details. Telephone: 01923 201120 Fax (customer services): 01923 201304 Email: enquiries.hq@britishwaterways.co.uk Boat Licensing contact details. Telephone: 01923 201120 Fax: 0113 281 6849 Email: enquiries.hq@britishwaterways.co.uk renewal forms should be posted to Boat Licensing Team PO Box 162 Leeds LS9 1AX HTH a bit. D No you are not talking c^@£. There are a number of places such as marinas and a number of boat clubs and mooring operators that are BW licensing agents and you can renew through them. You still need your renewal form though or you have to fill in a new application from scratch making sure that you quote the correct customer number and index number. Processing times can be a bit slower. D

the River Gade also connects to the GU somewhere in Hemel, possibly near Two Waters. I don't think the Frays and Pinn actually connect with the GU but the GU certainly passes over them at Cowley and West Drayton, and again on the Slough Arm. Someone here more knowledgable will probably put me right. D

Ooops! Hopefully it's now on its way to Leeds and you will have your licence shortly. Hope you are enjoying your new boat. D

No halo but you can have a greenie for being a good boater. D

This is environmental pollution, a very serious matter. It is the Environment Agencies remit. If you see something like this happening try and take a photo if poss whilst avoiding a conflict situation and call the EA incident hotline immediately on 0800 80 70 60. D

Calm dow. Don't blow a gasket. I'm not here in an official capacity and neither are you, we are here for fun as we are boaters. And on this forum I am me, not an official mouthpiece for work ok? The old glass of wine before bed was talking as I was heading towards my DVLA analogy which a lot of new boaters find easier to understand when trying to work out what they need to do now they have acquired a boat. And for the DVLA an owner is a registered keeper in their terminology? Still goes well with some of the other rubbish on here from all parties. What I meant to say is that the owner of the boat should apply for a licence not someone who isn't the owner of the boat as the owner will be signing the application to say that the boat and its occupants will comply with the licence terms and conditions and it's the person who completed and signed the application form who will end up in court and/or have the boat seized if it all goes pear shaped for various reasons. A bill of sale is not required but is often recommended in case of any dispute over ownership at a later date which would be a dispute between parties other than BW to be sorted out by solicitors. Quite often happens with divorcing couples, seen it a few times. Obviously most private boat sales don't usually involve a bill of sale but sales from reputable boat brokers normally do. Happy now everyone? Probably not D

As far as I know all should be clear for passage tomorrow. The Clitheroes emergency stoppage is sorted (we won't say anything about a wide beam craft damaging gates .... oh no ... sorry I'll get my tin hat now ;-) ) and the Hanwell stoppage was finished today so passage should be possible tomorrow. Any problems ring the London enquiries line on 0207 985 7200 and if you are really unlucky you might end up being put through to me D

The only people/person who should licence a boat is the owner. If you purchase a boat you need to make sure that the old owner and yourselves have completed, signed and dated a "boat ownership transfer form" which can be downloaded from the www.britishwaterways.co.uk/license-it website preferably enclosing a scan or photocopy of a bill of sale if applicable signed and dated by both parties and sent to BW a.s.a.p. If you have purchased a craft and you know when the licence runs out and the new owner hasn't bothered to send in the transfer of ownership form and you are on BW waters it is still your responsibility to ensure that you tell BW that you are the new owner of the craft and to licence it promptly. As a new owner you will also need to fill in a brand new licence application form with all your details etc. You cannot use a renewal form from the old owner. A simple way to think of it is a bit like buying a car and what the DVLA require of you. If you sent off a licence application form on the 7th direct to the Leeds processing office I would give BW customer services a call to see if it has been received and if it is in the system for processing as it should be by now if receive by the 8th or 9th November. If you are still having problems feel free to PM me with details of boat, index number, your surname and postcode and I will see what I can do to track it and trace it and sort it if I can. Boat licences done by marina's/boatyards etc can sometimes take a bit longer to process depending on how often the licensing agent sends their paperwork off to Leeds for processing. Maybe it's been a bit delayed on its journey to Leeds. D Yes, I do work for the dark side in during the day :-) so if I can help find out where your licence application has got to I will do my best to assist. But when I'm posting on this forum I am primarily myself, just another boater. Following up on Chris Pink who said ask for licence from 1st December. No don't ask for a licence that starts on 1st December if the licence has already run out. If you bought the boat at the end of October and the licence had already expired and you are now the new owner you need to licence it from 1st November, technically it should be 1st October but it depends on when the last licence ran out, whether the craft has been on trade plates, out of the water or whatever. Lots of possibilities. Off to bed now. D Edited to keep people happy but they probably still will find stuff to pick holes in but then it wouldn't be CWF.

I doubt it. I would imagine that every gateway onto the Tidal Thames towards the Olympics will have some kind of restriction but I guess we won't know until closer to the time. D

I understand things didn't quite go as planned and so the stoppage is slightly longer than desired. Sorry about that. Hope not too many people have had problems. D

Agreed. One year when we were really skint we burnt house coal. We had to clean the flue every week without fail or the stove wouldn't draw properly. It was also not so good for keeping the fire in and we seemed to use a lot of coal for the amount of heat we got. Over the years we've tried different things and now only burn Taybright as we find it the easiest to control once alight and it will also stay "in" for up to 36 hours without intervention. The only downside of Taybright is the the amount of ash it produces. We always let our ash cool completely (24 hrs at least) and then dispose in the normal household waste on our weekly trip to the tip/recycling place. Never, ever tip your coal ash into the cut due the the pollutants in the the ash which can harm wild-life. HTH D

If only I had the time to come too. I've never done the trip that way. Every time I've done it, its been upstream. I would love to experience the other way as crew before attempting it myself in my own boat. Hope you have a great trip. D

I had a quick chat with some of the maintenance crew tonight related to another issue and thought I would ask if there is any slight possibility of passage between 91 opening and 92 being closed. If there is, there is possibly a chance of passage Thursday afternoon up the flight but you had better PM me or better still call me on my work number early Thursday morning and I will check for you. There is a slight chance that works might slip an extra day but it all depends on what they find as they continue. Everyone is working their hardest to get the works complete to the original schedule and the crew doing the work are going to try and let boats waiting through if they can between the two different stoppages. If I get a mo I will try and look into why Waterscape not 100% accurate but as I am totally snowed under since returning to work after my little accident I really cannot promise anything for certain whilst I prioritise my main stuff to catch up. Normal service to resume a.s.a.p. Rest assured that if we can help we will do because that it what we are here to try and do to the best of our limited resources. Oh, I guess I might just have opened another can of worms. Do I need my tin hat and coat yet? ..... Runs for bunker. D

In a nutshell I think there is no passage this week but should be ok at the weekend. From a colleague who should know. Notice of essential works. Please note that at Hanwell lock No 91 there will be no navigation through the lock on the following dates. Thursday 17th November Friday 18th November During this period British Waterways will be carrying out essential leak prevention work to the lock gates. British Waterways London apologise for any inconvenience that this may cause you. For further information please check www.waterscape.com or call Tel: 020 7985 7780 And Notice of essential works. Please note that at Hanwell lock No 92 there will be no navigation through the lock on the following dates. Monday 14th November Tuesday 15th November Wednesday 16th November During this period British Waterways will be carrying out essential leak prevention and maintenance work to the lock gates and structure. British Waterways London apologise for any inconvenience that this may cause you. For further information please check www.waterscape.com or call Tel: 020 7985 7780 So, in summary, there is no passage through the Hanwell flight until they have finished this Friday. They are not planning to overrun. If I hear anything more I will let you know. HTH D

You may wish to factor into your plans that little sporting event lower down the River Lee next summer ...... D

From personal experience narrowbeam craft much easier to single hand. Fewer gates to open and less weight to manage in windy conditions. If you are going to be a boat without a home mooring you will need to be able to cruise in all weathers and some distance. British Waterways recently updated their mooring guidance for boats without a home mooring. (go to the boating bit on www.britishwaterways,co.uk ).There are plenty of threads on the forum about this and also narrowbeam vs widebeam. I've lived on a narrowboat for over 11 years with a man and cat and find it plenty big enough. Housework takes less long too so that's a bonus. Don't forget to research your mooring options before buying. You might be in luck buying as there seem to be quite a few people out there that bought big and found the craft too difficult to manage without having a home mooring. Could be some bargains out there. In fact there are loads of great second hand boats out there for sale. Just do your research carefully, don't let your heart rule your head, view lots and lots of boats and you will probably find one that is perfect for you. Best of luck. D

It's always good to do your research before you commit. I've seen far to many people come unstuck because they didn't realise what they were getting into before they appeared on the cut with the boat they just bought from some geezer/broker/builder without the full facts. The cruising life style doesn't suit everyone. I wish you the best but my gut feeling is that anyone without a home mooring in London between now and until after that little sporting competition in East London is going to find life just that bit harder than other places on the canal network. And it won't be BW's fault either. Major events require major security and the security forces will be pulling the strings. Might see you around sometime. D

Get a winter mooring before they all sell out at www.bwmooringvacancies.com There's a couple of coal & diesel boats plying their trade along the Grand Union in London so you don't have to rely on marinas. This link is useful http://www.britishwaterways.co.uk/license-it/boating-essentials/boating-facilities I would also suggest you read this very carefully http://www.britishwaterways.co.uk/license-it/boating-essentials/mooring-information especially the small print and bear in mind it's going t get very busy next year on the Grand Union because a big sporting event in East London. http://www.britishwaterways.co.uk/newsroom/all-press-releases/display/id/3190 D

We have an integral water tank and our boat is 24 years old. As far as we know the tank has never been painted with anything and we certainly haven't done anything about it for more than 12 years. We drink our water straight from the tap without filtering or boiling although as it tastes rather flat it is usually used to make orange or blackcurrant squash. We've never ever used Milton or thin bleach either to clean the system. We've never had any health problems drinking water from our tank. However, I would say this is because we make sure we fill our tank every week without fail and use that tank for the usual washing, washing up, cooking, drinking, showering. One tank on our boat lasts 2 people, and two washing machine loads each week. The cat however drinks Tesco Value Spring water from a cat water fountain! I suspect it is the regular through put of well chlorinated water that has kept our tank ok. Must be much harder if you are not using your boat every week or living aboard without a home mooring trying to make one tank of water last 4 weeks or more so that you don't have to move for a bit or can't move because you are stuck by being iced in or some other problem. D Edited to balance out last nights large glass of wine.

Looks lovely to me. When can we come and play? Simon and Debbi Beer overdue as didn't see you this summer Pint or three? P S did see the WWW go past but was too late to acknowledge and run through our poor little nb set up find the stern doors and yell. Not that I can run these days with what I did to my foot. C u soon? D

Oops, I guess I owe you a beer. Well spotted. D