frahkn

Alternatively; each day becomes a much bigger percentage of your remaining life. Just saying. Is that glass half empty?

Don't know but Sodastream charge my more than £18 for 1kg of CO2 (not including the canister).

If you have suffered no ill effects from using the water in the days just prior to changing the filter then surely the bug count (however stratospheric) was not dangerous.

I thought many of the posts, including all the early ones, were helpful. Really only post no 10 was a bit out of line and even then it couldn't be described as "ego boosting" or as trolling. You are being too sensitive, it's a very useful forum and worth putting up with the silliness in return for what you learn.

Ow!! Savage.

I couldn't find the Bistro but I came upon "The Inn on the Green" (apparently it had been called the Dolphin) which seemed fine. It was certainly dog friendly.

Yep, I absolutely do but I'm into self-denial this morning. 'T'is tempting though - no, I can resist.

I took my 'A' levels in 1972 so was still in the slide rule era, two years later they were starting to be superseded and by the end of the decade young people had forgotten them. Unlike you, I doubt that I remember how to use one, except for multiplication or division.

The OP said that the photo was taken with the water level higher than median, if so surely it will come off the guide rail when the level falls?

That won't support much of a lowering of the water level.

I got a volunteer last year, when I contacted CART I was told to phone a lady called Mez Hellard, on 0161 220 2960. She contacted a volunteer who got back to me to sort out the details. Of course arrangements may have changed since then, it was about a year ago.

You will find plenty of friendly, and very good, advice on here. But you will also find a certain amount of 'point missing' and that almost anything can cause controversy.

Yep, don't take much notice of folks with the tiller hard over and water splashing everywhere, 'slowly does it' is the answer (particularly if you are a novice or you're in unknown waters). If you are already going slowly you won't need reverse to slow down.

Take it really slowly and have someone on the bow with the long shaft just in case it is needed. It usually is not. My boat is 70 feet plus the fenders.

There are any number of routes, one possibility from the Oxford is Norton junction, Foxton, Leicester, Nottingham, Shardlow, Burton, Fradley, Autherley, Birmingham and then the GU south to Brentford and the Thames. This would give you a wide variety of rivers and canals and both the most rural and the most urban of canals. It could be done in a summer month but also offers a good 3 months cruising.

Got mine from Midland Chandlers when they had it on offer but I'm sure you can get it elsewhere. It has worked well on my tug deck (be sure to let any paint under it dry completely before installing it). If you haven't seen it look for interlocking "carpet squares" but made of tough rubber, mine is green but it comes in various colours.

The drive has always been clunky and noisy while I've had the boat (5 and a bit years). The boat yard say that the UJs are shot. I cannot confirm that myself but have no reason to doubt them - it certainly sounds like a bag of spanners but always has since I have owned the boat. There are no issues with the stern gland. The drive is a two piece aqua-drive, the first part is about 12 feet long and the second about 3 feet. I should be able to work out the angles but can't at this time of night. It says it is maintenance free so nothing has been greased - it runs in a dry, clean environment and looks fine. I've only owned the boat for a third of its 15 years but I don't think there were any problems under its two previous owners. There is a total of 7894 hours on the tach.

I have attempted to post 3 photos, they are not the clearest but are all I have (not on the boat at the moment).

It's a Beta 43 with, I assume, the original starter. I'm not good at posting pictures but I'll try to sort some out.

It was suggested to me, albeit tongue in cheek, that I should have a hatch cut (below the waterline) in the side to reach the starter. I appreciate that this would be a clumsy solution as the boat would have to be partly out of the water to change the starter but would it be possible to keep such a hatch watertight? I've never seen a boat with such a hatch but then I have never seen another boat with the engine at the foot of the bath. Moving the engine would be both expensive and inconvenient.

The only reason that I have not researched this is that it would not be a complete solution. The off-set engine also makes the starter motor inaccessible - well it looks inaccessible and the boatyard say it is.

Yes, I have an engine that was deliberately offset to one side (god knows why) but does not have hydraulic drive (GKW). Yes, I do want someone specialist. Yes, it is a highly unusual situation, that is why it's so potentially recognisable and why I don't want to upset a trusted (but not specialised) team at the yard. There is almost certainly an expert out there - he/she would have to see the set up for theirselves in order to give useful advice - but I don't know who that is. I am not disrespecting the huge body of expertise on this forum but I could not take seriously any advice based only on reading about the issue (apart from anything else, I don't know enough to be certain that I would not miss a relevant point in my description).

Thank you for the Ashwood suggestion, I hadn't considered them but my boat is an Orion and there may be some Orion guys still there.

I absolutely understand your point but I am certain that were I to give details, you and the rest of the better informed posters would say " I would have to see the situation for myself". Which, obviously, the vast majority could not do. I am not 'teasing' and do not want to identify the yard concerned because I do trust their advice but they are 'generalists' and I would like a more specialist opinion. I mean, amongst other things, moving the engine about 3 feet to solve a drive shaft problem.

When I was still working there was a certain type of behaviour which I detested. A colleague would come to you for advice; you would spend time looking at the issue and advise as best you could. Some time later you would notice the guy approaching someone else with the same issue. So, I have received a detailed proposal for addressing my problem, I may accept this proposal in which case the work will be done over the winter. But it's so radical (and costly) and though it sounds reasonable I don't really know enough to suggest alternatives. Therefore I would like one and only one alternative view. As I'm only looking for one, I would like it to be authoritative and independent, problem is I don't know enough to pick someone to approach.