Wittenham

my experiences as a non-Brit, who was only vaguely aware of these sports before arriving on your fair shores [oh sh*t, not another of those bloody immigrants, just when that Brexit thing is going on] Early 90s, I had only been to the UK briefly at that point. A British friend came over and we went to a baseball game; the home town Blue Jays against major rivals: the New York Yankees. She asked 'where do the Yankees fan sit?'. I didn't really understand the question... wherever it says on their ticket, why? She asks 'don't the NY and toronto fans fight?' I was incredulous: Fight? Why on earth would they fight? The first [of two] professional football matches I attended was Euro 96, England hammering the Netherlands at Wembley [5 to 1, I think?]. I walked for what seemed like a mile with police on either side of the walkway roughly an arm span apart. Young and naive as I was, I kept thinking 'what kind of sporting events needs THAT kind of police presence'. I learned later that at professional games, the visiting fans are LOCKED in to the stadium for some time after the game to limit fights. I found that incredible. The rugby world cup where England lost to South Africa in the final... cannot recall the year. I watched both semifinals and although I could not understand most of the reasons the whistle blew or why sometimes they formed a pack in the middle of the field and other times they formed a couple lines on the edge of the field and lifted some guy up by his shorts, I was blown away by the athleticism and drive of the sport. In the final, at some point when England still had a chance, there was a disputed try that went against England. After the game, as the players were interviewed and asked about the cancelled try, each of them said [more or less] 'it is not on the scoreboard, it is not a try, game on'. Ironically, i was watching with a football fanatic friend and we kept switching over to Match of the Day to hear manager after manager blame the ref for bad calls. Can't remember which football world cup, but after watching one too many players trip over a blade of grass and roll around on the field as if shot, I gave up on watching the rest of the World Cup. At the last Rugby World Cup, I went to Cardiff to watch Ireland show Canada how it is done. At one point, Canada almost scored and while the refs were trying to figure out, all the Irish **who were sitting around me** were shouting at the ref to just give us the try! Mind you, I was at great pains to point out that the only people in Canada who played rugby were those that couldn't skate.... No contest between the sports for me, although to be fair I am not the typical fan. Finally, I believe the other thing missing from elite football in this country is proper performance enhancing drug testing. There is simply NO way that a sport that has those kind of financial benefits to its players and clubs does not have a drug problem. I am a few years out of date, but I would expect that there have been more busts of amateur middle aged cyclists in the UK than there have been in the Premier League.

ah... one of the classics [film, and actor]

oh, oh, let me try, teacher.... **if** you buy a low energy 240V **and** your inverter is efficient enough to not give away too much energy, then it could be more economic. For my situation, the 240V will trump the 12V.

thanks both and you are officially smarter than Siri who said the two units were not comparable.

about the lowest energy mains fridge i see uses 64Kw/hours per year. Can that number be compared to the 30/50Ah?

It was fun pulling our butty through there with the kayak yesterday [from the other thread]. Shortened the rope and made a paddle powered bow thruster

Have you seen the size of my biceps.... As it was a nice sunny day yesterday, quite a few boats were out and about, and lots of comments. My favourite 'are you doing this for a charity?'.

an update: that was easier than I expected... boat moved from Agenda 21 mooring to a few hundred metres the other side of Duke's Cut. The main propulsion was a sit on kayak, with a bit of poling from the back. For the short stretches where there were not moored boats, we dragged our boat with lines at the stern and bow. All in all, it took a couple hours to move a kilometre or so, including through the lock. thanks all for the suggestions, I had no idea I could pull something that big behind a canoe.

Yes, last night. It worked, although the pump kept leaking water into the bilge. We have stopped all repair work until we get the boat to a yard and have it surveyed [subject of another thread]. It was a blindingly obvious solution... [just not to me].

I don't really know the neighbours yet, but could have a chat. Most of the boats there look like they have been in situ for a very long time. I am happy to ask a passing nb to tow me, but I assume I need to some ability to keep the boat pointing where I want it to go... would it not be at risk of a sideways swing with no ability to steer it? There are two very narrow swingbridges in the ~kilometre or so between where the boat is moored and where it needs to get to, so side by side would not work without a lot of tying/untying [and perhaps a problem if we met someone coming the other way]. How about: grab a lift from a passing nb, drag it backwards past the moored boats [assuming I do not need to fear the boat swinging]. Once it is clear of the moored boats, I can drag it by hand with lines at the stern and the bow. That would still leave one of the narrow gaps to get through. I like that idea. Another one of my dumb questions : would a couple canoes [with canoeists in them...] in the water be of any use in controlling the boat?

Can I check the view: can the butty be dragged by hand stern first to Duke's Cut? There are many narrowboats along the towpath, at least for the first few hundred metres, it is much more clear after that. There is no reasonable way to drag it from the other side of the canal [not without lots of chain saw work first]. The rudder has been jury rigged, per below [but would be at the 'wrong' end]. We could be picked up at Sheepwash/Thames, but Dukes Cut is a shorter distance for the tug [and therefore cheaper].

I do mean Sheepwash and the Thames. Dukes is much closer, but not sure dragging (or towing) a boat by its stern is very do-able. Unless the experts here tell me otherwise, I am planning to take the boat to Sheepwash/Thames, turn it around and then get it to Dukes Cut.

I like it... part of the leak is the water pump itself but I will see if it works well enough to do as you suggest.

Any view on my options? I think the water in the bilge is coming from inside the boat, so would rather nail it at source than waiting for it to get into the bilge. The tank sits below the water line so syphoning is not an option and I have been unsuccessful in googling for suitable hand pumps. I earlier tried a drill powered pump to empty the bilge but found the thing not very useful.

To update: Oxford Cruisers at Eynsham will tow us to their yard and haul out for survey. We just need to get the boat to Dukes Cut as their tug will not fit through the lock. Rotting rudder rescued from tow path and repaired roughly. And then then I realise the boat is pointing the wrong way. So... down the Oxford Canal to where it meets the Thames above Osney Lock. Anyone know if there is room to pivot a 72 foot boat at that space? Seems plenty big when I paddle a canoe through it....