frahkn

At the moment I am moored between two boats. One is a Hudson, a nice, clean, attractive boat but with those rivets which I hear are not the thing. The other is a R W Davis Northwich Trader, a gorgeous boat (almost as nice as mine) but with rivets, in fact many more rivets than the Hudson. I don't recall very many comments on here about Davis rivets but loads about those on Hudsons - why is this?

I have encountered no difficulty getting my 70' boat (no bow thruster) around in one go. I don't know if it is the solution for everyone but I go slowly.

It was the arrangement when I bought the boat; I don't know why. Questions on this forum revealed that two pumps are common on long Orions and Hudsons. Mr Smelly removed one of his without any problem. I haven't found any difficulty but I would point out that the hot pump has lasted unchanged for four years while I have had to replace the cold pump 4 times in that period. I have no explanation for this. I have a temperature controlled mixer shower run from the engine or an emersion heater or from an instant gas heater - it is fine (although subtle different) from all three sources.

I have twin pumps but one is for the cold supply and the other for the hot.

Can anyone tell me how I can book a mooring for next year's show? Thanks.

If the Bridge Inn is not to your taste (it's not to mine) there is a choice of two quite different pubs in the village - only a stroll from the moorings.

Does anyone know if Maffi, of narrowboat Milly M (and a member here) is OK? He has a cc blog but has not posted since June. I am not able to agree with almost anything which he posts but I would'n like to think anything has happened to him.

Can't argue with that; perhaps I could have when I was edgy and trendy but I can no longer remember those days. To tell the truth, I struggle to remember Friday!

I fell for my boat at first sight even though (the most obvious point) it was 70' and I was looking for a 57'. Two months later I was very worried that its "quirks" were going to overwhelm me. Now (after five years) I am beginning to get used to them. Throughout, I have really loved the boat. You can moor it amongst many boats and it still stands out (in my opinion) when you return to it. But Cuthound is only beginning to describe its oddities, some are just odd while some verge on lunacy. Frank.

Off-hand I cannot remember being in a chandlery and not buying something (even if I have no immediate need for the item I am always persuaded that "it will come in useful"). So you only need to get me in there - and that depends solely on how I feel I am treated at the pump. By the way, my 2003 Orion has a 400 litre tank capacity so it's not only traditional boats.

I must admit that I was a little surprised at the figure of 130 cc per day for an average adult (that's why I included the reference). Still the fact is that it remains unchallenged. Your own hypothesis, that different figures would pertain if the research were repeated on a boat, would make a good PhD for someone but not me.

The taps at the swing bridge are slow but they are much faster than the tap at the service point below the lock. This is one of the slowest on the system - they don't have a cafe next to it for nothing, a library might be better!

You might want to consider Alvecoat marina. Obviously different folks have different requirements from a marina but if general atmosphere and technical facilities outweigh showers, toilets, shops etc for you.

I am considering a composting loo but I would not want one if the material is not composted or if I had to have more than two or three containers to ensure full composting. Despite 6 pages of dialog, I am not a lot further forward. This is mainly because posters seem obsessed with how others deal with non composted waste rather than how to compost it. I'm not complaining - it's a free forum - but it's not dealing with this topic in a way that is useful to me (or anyone in my situation).

Sorry, I should have said "comprehend" the thread. I do read reviews (by the way I have not had a composting toilet previously) but I take a balanced view of what is said and would ignore any "review" by someone who had no experience of the product in question. There is a tendency to think that your own item is the bee's knees (particularly if you have spent a lot acquiring it) and I am taking this into account but what can I take into account when evaluating the opinion of someone with no experience of the item? I need advice about how efficient these toilets are - I don't need speculation about how others may dispose of the 'product' - I know that I will dispose of it responsibly. Of course I am not attempting to dictate what is said rather what I find useful and why.

Hi Jerra, You might read the thread. Otherwise people will think you are just sticking your fingers in your eyes and singing la la la la! I currently have a macerator pump-out and I certainly don't 'think it is great'. That is why I am contemplating a change. But if I had a composting toilet and found, from personal experience, that it was great I would be insane to be influenced by others saying that it was not. Doubly so if the person saying this has no experience of the toilet he is denigrating but is simply repeating something which he has heard.

1) There are moorings before the first lock in Alrewas, the winding hole is between the two Alrewas locks. 2) I wouldn't try to wind on the river i.e. after the second lock unless you are confident - there is however plenty of space to do so. 3) You can wind just after the next lock once you are back on the canal, you would not need to go to Barton Turns.

I don't know how many days you have left but it is an easy day from Polesworth to Hopwas, and another easy day from there to Alrewas (an interesting village where you can wind). Coming back you have alternative stops at (say) Fradley, Whittington, Fazeley, Alvecote etc.

I am not very experienced with outboards, it's many years since I used one but I seem to remember that I spent some time untangling rubbish and replacing cotter pins. Not however anything similar to your own experience - I think you must have been unlucky. With a narrowboat I find that often (with experience) you are aware of potential problems at an early stage and that a burst of reverse can clear the prop if used early. Also, low revs in mucky conditions can help avoid entanglements.

No, it's not. If you do not believe something which you have genuinely experienced for yourself, but instead chose to believe something contrary to that experience, on the grounds that you have been told it is the case, you are sufficiently detached from reality to reasonably be described as insane.

I am thinking about getting one simply because I have become dissatisfied with my current pump-out macerator toilet. Nothing on this or previous threads has been of much help to me - just folks disagreeing with each other without very much reasoned argument. Can I ask for opinions on a slightly separate question (one that, hopefully, can be discussed without any assumptions about how the final "product" is disposed of). How do you think the change to a composting toilet is likely to effect the future sale of a boat. Not the price (at most that could only be the cost of replacing it, (say £1,500)) but the degree of interest/speed of sale type of thing? Frank

This has been said a few times but I'm not sure it's correct. I posted the following on a similar thread any no-one came back to argue with it. I don’t follow this “huge volumes of shit” argument. I give you these figures and invite you to pull them apart. If I give up a third of my forward hold I can fit a plastic kitchen bin measuring 34cm x 34cm x 100cm in it (I have one there at the moment). This has an internal volume of say 100,000 cc. The average volume of a persons stool is 130 cc per day (**). Add to this, a further 130 cc of coconut fibre (or whatever). So even if there is no volume loss while in the toilet (unlikely given that there is a constant air draft and stool is 90% water) the total daily volume of “product’ will be 260 cc per person per day. Therefore my kitchen bin can hold 380 days worth of product. ** Stool patterns of healthy adult males by Robert C Rendtorff Sc, D, M.D. and Mark Kashgarian M.D. Tennessee College of Medicine. I don't have a composting toilet but I am thinking of replacing my macerator pump-out with one next year. I would not do it unless I can truly compost the output and take it home to my garden compost bin (say) once a year. Frank.

I always keep my stern line on my tiller pin. Over 40+ years I have managed to lose chimneys, ladders, planks, a watch and even food & drink from the roof but I have never had a problem with my stern line. Of course now I will probably lose it backing off the pontoon next time!

A good mate of mine had a partner who worked in local authority public health. She told stories of guard dogs running over crates of bottles in pub yards, peeing and worse. I never drink straight from the bottle.

Bull & Bladder?