KenK

No real idea as to the power rating but as they cook through the day as you are moving I suspect it doesn't matter. We bought a small one from Tesco for the boat, brilliant in the colder months, real comfort food at the end of the day. Ken

Some companies, generally the smaller ones are excellent, some appaling. We hired many times before buying our boat and there was always something new to learn, and still is. Most cills don't cause a problem they are often only a few inches above the waterline when the lock is empty, some even below the water, but Bath locks have very high cills in some cases, in the deep lock it must be 12-13 feet high. Showing or telling someone how to do it doesn't work, they have to do it themselves often several times before they are happy. I don't expect it would ever happen but a DVD sent with the booking aceptance, showing the right way to do things, coupled with photographs of what could go wrong would certainly focus most peoples attention and possibly prevent an accident. Ken

How would anyone know you are gay unless you tell them. If they are your friends they know anyway and don't care, if they are not your friends why should you care. Life is too short, follow your dream. Ken

Hi Paul, I used Paul Smith http://www.narrowboatsurveys.co.uk found him very thorough and professional. Good luck with the boat Ken

Hi Stoney, You can get a simple antifreeze tester from Halfords for a couple of pounds. If you're going to top it up mix it with water first. I would not expect to find any water inside the boat, it's certainly not normal. Might be leaking through from the engine hole although mine has a completly sealed bulkhead between the engine space and the rest of the boat, not always the case though. Could be condensation or a small leak, wherever its comming from you want to get it dry and investigate. Ken

I don't have the TV but I do have the aerial / amplifier and to date we have never managed to obtain a signal using it. Instead I use a standard high gain aerial and an extending pole which locates into a block on the roof gives about 18 ft of elevation, this works in most places. Our CRT TV on autotune doesn't show any signal on the screen until its finished tuning, the only thing that changes is the channel number. Taking the TV home and testing it there is a good idea, also take the aerial and see if you get a signal, if it's working you should get one upstairs at least. Ken

To quote a well known radio 2 presenter "Is it me". It seems every time I click on the Narrowboatworld website there is another complaint about this forum. This one is even better or should it be worse than Victor's. Deaths threats silenced boater BOATER Andy Edwards was so worried about death threats after complaining on a forum about the boaters who boast of refusing to licence their boats and bridge hopping, that he instructed the owner of Canalworld Forum to remove his published particulars from the site, remarking: "Since receiving the death threats from this forum some time back over expressing my views on unlicenced vessels, I have significantly lessened my contribution and monitored the threads without participating. It has been interesting and extremely clear that the type of 'boaters' now dominating this forum are those with little or no interest in the boating package and would rather spend their time bashing British Waterways or expressing extreme views that do little but betray their motives for boating as a cheap floating house." He went on to remark that he was astounded by the number of people who openly admit and support such ideas as bridge hopping, owning unlicenced boats and finding 'loop-holes' in the law. He pointed out that the forum was not a community he wished to be a part of, and believes the opinion is shared that this forum is fast loosing its way as a boating forum due to the fact that almost every post ends in slating opinions to a personal level or openly advocating flouting British Waterways. Personally I've never heard of Andy Edwards but I do think he needs to get a life, if he's that worried about members on this forum why publish the above on the internet. I know that some discussions can get heated, who mentioned electricity, but the last paragraph is nonsense. Finally can the potential killers indicate the same in their posts in future so that due respect can be paid. Ken

Just looking through the latest WW there is an unfinished project advertised for £29,000, Josher shell, beta 43 plus bits must be a better bet than a sailaway. In addition there is a 58 ft semi-trad with lots done for £35,750. I suspect the people who purchased these thought building a boat was easy. I suspect the problem for most people is trying to juggle work etc with building a boat and for many the boat loses out. It comes down to do you want to build a boat or cruise a boat. Ken

I guess you mean boat hire, Foxhangers at the bottom of the Caen Hill locks. The other option is Sally Boats at Bradford on Avon. Both have good reps. Ken

I worked in the semi-conductor manufacturing business for fifteen years. All this type of manufacturing uses dangerous and environmently unfriendly chemicals, gases etc. The processes require large amounts of energy, for example a diffusion furnace might run for many hours at 1200 degrees C and its not uncommon for a single semiconductor device to take up to two weeks to manufacture. Solar panels are simple devices but the above applies to them although the time scale is shorter. I'm going back some years but then you would never repay the energy costs over the lifetime of the panels and that was in sunny Spain not the UK. The latest panels are better but they are only green if you ignore the manufacturing cost. Ken

Hi Steve, Welcome to the forum. There are quite a few "how to buy a boat" books around look on the IWA website http//:www.waterways.org.uk and there is a fair amount of useful information on the BW website Waterscape http//:www.waterscape.com look under boating. The fitting an engine question is a "how long is a piece of string" type. Depends on the boat, the engine and how much needs to be done to get it working. Ask yourself do I want to go boating or build boats, then base your buying decision on that. Good luck Ken

When I bought my boat last year, I didn't have a mooring, so I organised a winter mooring with BW. In their eyes it's the same as a normal on line mooring, you can live on the boat or not. It's also not cheap, half the price of a years mooring, in my case over £1000. Fortunatey I aquired my current mooring before I needed to take up the winter one and the cost for a fully serviced marina mooring is about the same as BW's on line one with no facilities. Ken

Hi Dak, Click on my name next to the little head, that will open a drop down list, click on send message, then you can e mail me directly. Ken

Foxhangers and they are very good. Ken

No flogging, just covered in slime, probably mostly thrown by their "friends" no "badge of honour " there. ASBOs make you look hard in their eyes, slime just makes you look stupid. Ken

I prefer the stocks, old fashioned, not PC, but I suspect any teenager or adult for that matter faced with a few days subject to ridicule, ripe tomatoes etc. would think twice before commiting vandalism. Cheaper than prison as well. Ken

Dave Clark is a good builder, he built my boat and I don't have any problems with it. I still had it surveyed as Gary said the hull should be fine but Dave did not do the fit out. The other option is a value for money survey, surveyors see lots of boats and have a good idea of the state of the market. I had my boat surveyed in Penkridge by Paul Smith did a good job and produced an excellent written report. Have a look at his web site http://www.narrowboatsurveys.co.uk Ken

Hi Dak, I'm always looking for an excuse to get the boat out. We are moored in Newbury so if you would like some experience of locks send me a PM and we'll set something up. By the way I'm over 50. Ken

When I bought my new boat I had a survey, why, because I'm not a expert. My surveyor, a good one I believe, was working for me not the boatbuilder, his opinion was unbiased. I looked at lots of boats before deciding on the one we bought, so why did we pick that one, because we both liked it from the first time we saw it. So do you let your heart rule your head or do you get a second opinion from someone who knows about boats and is using his head, yes you are right a surveyor might miss something but he's less likely to than a buyer with rose tinted specs on. Ken

Hi Andy Welcome to the forum. Hope you have a good trip, not a bad time to do the Llangollen it should be fairly quiet. Have you checked the stopage situation for November there is some maintenance scheduled for the first week. Ken

Hi Kelly, Yes still enjoying it. Tell Bill she's still afloat and nothings gone wrong so far. Went to Bristol in the summer, we got the two / three good weeks in August. May get another week at the end of October weather permitting. Ken

Hi Kelly, Welcome to the forum. We've met as Bill built my boat. We already have one member on the forum who is a professional boat builder Gary Peacock. In fact he's posting a build from start to finish at the moment. He builds mostly barges so it would be interesting for all of us if Ben posted photographs of the progress of his fit outs. Gary's not too keen on ditch crawlers. Give my best to Bill and Lorraine when you see them Ken

Thanks Snibble I'll give it a go. Ken

OK I'll bite why the blowlamp and for how long. Are we talking well done or rare? Ken

I can see the flaw in this method, it's only going to work where there is road access. Is the lady driver an optional extra? Seriously I did manage to answer my own question, I found a supplier of scaffolding boards http://www.sgb.co.uk a 10 ft by 9ins board brand new £6.00 and they have depots around the country. Thanks for the ideas Ken