KenK

Hi Penny, There is a way of doing this. Some hire companies will build the boat, it is added to their fleet and rented through them. You get to use it for a set period each year and at a pre-determined time it is handed over to you. I understand you are paid some income for the time the boat is hired. Obviously you have to buy the boat in the first place. I suppose the down side is that the boat would have to be suitable for hiring, lots of berths etc., so not everybodys cup of tea. Of course the hire company want the boat in the peak season when they make the most money. Have you considered one of the boatshare companies in the short term, far less outlay and ongoing costs shared. Ken

Hi Mike, Welcome to the forum. We have a boat based on a Dave Clarke shell. Bought her last year, given the money he charges for his shells I think they are excellent value. Our survey comented on how well the welding was done and we've had many compliments since. Good luck with your boat hunting. Ken

Also signed, hope the new PM actually knows about them! Good luck Simon Ken

We moored there last year on the secure pontoon. It cost £5.00 and you pay at the service desk inside the shopping center. There is a board by the BW station next to the bridge giving details. As we had already had the boat set free at 2.00 am by some drunk at Gas Street I figured it was worth it. Have a good trip. Ken

Welcome, If you buy a Gold license it runs from the 1 Jan to 31 Dec and you don't get a refund or a discount if you apply later in the year. Ken

Engineering as we understand it today was in its infancy, hence no training. They were great natural engineers without in many cases a formal education but they were the pioneers so a lot of what they did was trial and error. You have to remember the canal system evolved over at least 100 years, Telford was a very different engineer from Brindley or Rennie. Ken

I just love the way you go off on one without actually reading the post. Brindley was not a trained engineer he started as an apprentice millwright, had little formal education and was apparently taught to read and write by his mother. The fact that he taught himself engineering and had the vision which gave us the canal system is to his credit. It does not change the fact that the vast majority of the people employed building the canals were illiterate, that the resident engineer would be absent for long periods and that the work would be supervised by people less skilled. I was simply trying to explain in simple terms why in my opinion cills are not all the same uniform size, shape etc. Oh and by the way I have been an engineer all my working life and have a great deal of respect for all branches of the profession. Finally where is this perfect lock that has been in existence for 200 years, all of them had constant maintenance during their working life and a great many have been completly rebuilt over the last 50 years. Ken

The canals certainly the early ones were built by men who were not trained engineers. Even later on the engineer might supervise the build but not actually be present. The people building the lock would not have been concerned about the operation of the lock just getting the job done and moving on. The decision about the size of the cill was probably made on site using whatever size materials were available. Later on many of the locks have been rebuilt its possible that the gates have been moved further back to extend the lock. I don't think there is a simple answer, it probably made sense at the time but the reasons are lost in history. The only thing you really need to worry about is not getting the boat caught on one. Ken

OK. I am an engineer not however a civil engineer. A door because that's what a lock gate is, needs to be sealed, against in the case of a house against the ingress of wind and rain. A lock gate needs to be sealed against the ingress of water. If the bottom of the gate does not rest on something soild originally stone latterly concrete then water would wash away the bed of the canal / river and the lock would leak. Eventually the lock would cease to function because the amount of water entering the lock even with the gates closed would be greater than the paddles at the other end could remove. Or both sets of gates would leak and the pound would empty. Why build the cill inside as well as outside the lock, I suspect because it looked to the original designers like the best method and it helps to protect the gates from impact by the boats. Originally the boat was powered by the horse but stopped by ropes, get it wrong and you crashed into the lock gate. Don't forget most of the early canal designers / builders were not engineers, they were self taught, they made it up as they went along. If it worked they used it if not they tried again, I guess the cill worked. That's my explanation, might be right possibly wrong. There may be a historian who has a better explanation if so I for one would be interested. Ken

Yes, at the end of the day, those horses need their rest to you know Ken

I'd agree why did you ask the question, what's the point. The system is over 200 years old, there are many different types of lock but they are all still functional, many after decades of neglect. I'm sure with modern engineering methods and techniques a better method could be devised but why? Most of us are romantics otherwise we wouldn't spend a small fortune trying relive the past. The waterways network is all about, for me, stepping back in time to a slower pace of life, relaxing, etc. If the worst I have to worry about is keeping clear of the cill and of course how far to the next pub, then that's just fine. Don't question it just enjoy it and try to preserve it. Ken

Thanks Chris, given the nature of the discussion I wasn't sure whether you were ignoring the external load and just considering the charging circuit. Ken

Sorry if I'm missing something here but if the load resistance is the total resistance of all the batteries then it is going to be lower than the smallest resistance of any individual battery. Resistances in parallel R=1/R1+1/R2+1/R3 etc. Ken

OK I'll do my best 1 Create an album. Go to My Controls, on the menu panel on the left hand side select Your Albums, the album manager panel will open. Select Create Album, you can then give the album a title etc. and don't forget to tick the public box. The finally press Create Album. You now have a new empty album. 2 You put the pictures in the album one at a time, as follows. Open the album manager panel as before, the album you created will be displayed. On the right hand side click on the down arrow next to select an operation, select Upload Image, a new page will open similar to the one used to post a reply etc. at the bottom click the Browse button, this will open a page allowing you to find the image(s) you wish to post, select one and the image name will appear in the box next to the browse button, then select Post Image, repeat as many times as required. Hope that's clear Good Luck Ken

Most likely reason catching the rear of the boat on the cill when locking down. If its a deep lock and there are some then the boat can end up with the bow under water. Happened at Bath deep lock a couple of years ago. The other alternative is opening gate paddles too quickly with the front of the boat close to the gate when locking up. Some of the larger locks especially on rivers have a huge volume of water coming through the paddle and if your not careful straight into the boat. I saw someone do the on the Avon at Weston lock the water went straight through the boat and hit the lady steering. And of course everyones favourite leaving the fenders down in a lock. I'm sure there are other ways, locks are straightforward if you take your time and think about what your doing, but every year someone has an accident. Ken

Clovey, I have a simple to use programme called Autosketch. Its is a light version of Autocad. Its too big to e mail but if you want a copy PM me with an address and I'll send you a CD. It's open licence. Ken

That little lot and a glass of wine has improved the day no end. Thanks Ken

In some ways a widebeam on the K&A is easier, it fits the locks so your not bounced around so much. Trying to hang on to 17 tons of boat which wants to head for the other side of the lock isn't fun. There is a girl living on one I see from time to time along the canal, she seems to cope. Ken

No such thing as dumb questions, dumb answers a plenty on here. Online is generally a basic mooring alongside the canalbank, mostly British Waterways controlled but can be private. Not usually much in the way of facilities. This is a generalisation there will no doubt be someone with an online mooring with every facility known to man but they are few and far between. Just seen Bottle beat me to it. Security would depend on the area but of course nowhere near as secure as in a marina. I had a quick look in the back of one of the recent mags. Saltford Marina 01225 87226 are advertising liveaboard for wide and narrow beams. They are Bristol way on the non tidal Avon. There is also a new marina under construction at Hungerford but as yet there are no contact details. The other option is the Thames and Kennet marina its on the Thames right at the end of the K&A but it's not cheap. Given that your a newbie, have you been on a narrow/widebeam? Ken

As Gillie said there are widebeams on the K&A, lots of them however I suspect finding a mooring for one would be more difficult. I think in most marinas you would be taking up almost twice the space of a similar length narrowboat but I doubt whether anyone would pay twice the mooring fee. You would really be looking at an on line mooring. Chris Polley is up Bristol way, I thought he had a widebeam, might be worth a PM. Ken

Hi Mutters, The K&A is somewhat short of moorings, especially residential. This link takes you to a trade association web site they have a list of boating services including moorings. http://www.katrade.org.uk/ We are at the Newbury boat company although they don't advertise as such there are some residential moorings, so it's always worth asking. I have also seen ads in the canal magazines for residential moorings near Bristol. Good luck with the search. Ken

Yes, but only because it's Friday Ken

Margaret Beckett ended up at the FO as well so I think the comment is valid. I didn't notice Milliband solving the problems he inherited, did you? Ken

Well Milliband has gone to the Foreign Office, Hilary Benn is the DEFRA minister. Haven't heard anything about Barry Gardiner yet, fingers crossed, Minister for the North Pole would be good. Funny how making a cock-up at DEFRA seems to make you an expert at foreign affairs. Ken

And if that ain't enough http://www.batteryfaq.org Ken