frahkn

I think that, like much else, it depends what you are accustomed to. For example, I recently went to hear Laura Marling, before the set the PA played a couple of Cohen albums. The sound quality was appalling but there was no apparent disquiet in the audience. I went to the bar because I literally could not remain listening to music being destroyed. On the boat I mostly have the tuner for radio 4, when listening to music I use good headphones. Obviously, it goes without saying that what you put up with at home is indeed entirely up to yourself - best of luck with that! Frank.

I don't see the point of putting decent speakers in a space 70' x 6' x 6', you will never get good reproduction. For less than you need to pay for reasonable small speakers (say £500) you have a good choice of headphones, these are IMO, far better on a boat. Frank.

Absolutely but I imagine that it's not the other boat's paintwork that they are seeking to protect. As someone who's paintwork (above the gunnel) could never be described as 'shiny', I have seen others attempting some strange manoeuvres to "protect my boat" from collision damage. Frank.

I agree, anyway you probably wouldn't want the loss of quality that mp3 versus cd would involve.

I got the lacquer off my mushrooms using acetone and wet & dry sandpaper. However I have access to a cheap source of acetone and the paintwork on my roof could be more easily be protected than that under a porthole. I don't know how practical it would be on a vertical porthole but if you could make a 'poultice' of acetone and cotton wool, you could tape it over the porthole for a few hours to soften the lacquer. Frank.

Has anybody had experience of requesting/getting this help? I am going from Marple to Castelfield in May and have had two kind offers of help but from forum members, not CRT. Frank.

I agree, took my 70' boat from Oxford to Thames Lock last May and had a lot of aggravation with moorings - particularly in Windsor but elsewhere as well. I would not object to paying if there were decent visitor moorings but I came away with the impression that the Thames was not for full length narrowboats. Frank.

I'm retired but when I was working I do not think my degree helped much with the day to day activities of the job. And yes, I took the degree in the days when the costs were all met from public funds. However a requirement of applying for the job (rightly or wrongly) was a 2.1 or better degree. Most of my working life I was a higher rate tax payer (again, rightly or wrongly), so made a significant contribution to the exchequer. I can't prove that I was worth the money nor that the degree helped - but in the end "society" gained rather than lost as a result. Frank.

Our boat was at Mercia for a year. The facilities are the best I have seen anywhere and there is excellent security. There are a lot of liveaboards and there is certainly a "community" but as I am not a "joiner" I did not find this to be an advantage. Clearly it would suit others. It is also fine for those (like me) who have dogs to walk - lots of interesting walks, including a pond. The short walk (about 10 mins) to Willington, which has a rail station as well as 3 pubs, shops and takeaways, is a strong point in favour of Mercia. I did not find the staff to be particularly friendly (not that this is necessarily a disadvantage) but when my wife broke her leg on site, no one made the effort to even ask if she was sorted out or in need of any extra assistance. Obviously they have insurance considerations but we made no claim so someone might have at least said 'hello'. On the whole I would recommend Mercia but we are no longer there. Frank.

While I am not in a position to refute this, I never saw it in the 12 months that my boat was there. Frank.

The other day there was a message explaining how to do this (11 steps I think) but I can't find it now.

I never fail to be astonished at my fellow posters. Sometimes it's your depth of knowledge, today it's amazement at your courage. If I compared Mez to a tool in public I just cannot imagine her reaction, and it's not that I have a poor imagination! Frank.

Thanks - I can see it now that you have told me where to look!

Thanks for that NickF, I mentioned the boat's length in case there were issues like this. A stupid question and I am sure it is clearer on the ground but from the Google photo I cannot see where the canal continues next! Frank.

Thank you very much Bill, we can certainly manage tea or something stronger at half time. I doubt your lock wheelers are more superannuated than me! Frank. Quaffer, Thanks, this is just the sort of info which I wanted.

Thanks again, we have been to Bugsworth some years ago (in fact we were moored for a year at New Mills in a previous boat) and intend to make it part of this year's trip as well. Similarly, we have moored overnight at Castlefield - just never done the bit in between the two. Frank.

Thanks for those helpful replies. Captain Birdseye, thank you very much for the offer, - I will certainly message you, it is likely to be during the first or second week of May. Frank

I am planning a trip (a couple of months or so) for later this year and need some advice. Part of the route will be from Marple Junction to Castlefield basin; a section of canal that I have never used before. We are not young and I have a slight disability - we deal with this by taking our time and doing short days normally. I take the usual precautions but am not overly concerned about stories of 'bandit territory'. Given the above, can anyone discuss potential problems, possible mooring sites (for a 70' narrowboat), decent pubs or indeed anything which I might find useful on this part of the trip. Thanks very much. Frank.

It seems to me that taking this post with nos. 21 and 26, the answer must be that you are imagining the water in your bilge. You have ruled out any possible cause of the problem you first asked about. Frank.

If you are going to put the cash in a bank then you are defeating what is probably the primary purpose of accepting cash in the first place. Tom and Bex (post 16) I think asking £30,000 for a boat which the vendor thinks is worth about half of that, is wrong. Of course there is a element of 'buyer beware' but your post made me feel uncomfortable. I don't think I would have continued with the transaction if I thought the seller was so dishonourable. Maybe I'm a bit naive. Frank.

It's rather cruel of you to post this now rather than three years ago. If I had realised earlier I could have lost some weight or sourced some 'tile walking splatchers' before the tiles cracked! Anyway, I don't understand the technical issue - surely I put no pressure on the tiles, the boat just sinks a little deeper in the water when I step aboard. I expect (though can't check) that if I jump in the air while aboard, the boat comes up a little. Frank (puzzled)

My diesel stove (a Refleks) is in the front cabin - about 50' from the diesel tank. It does have a pump but once running for a bit, it will still continue whether the pump is on or not. You do need the pump to light it initially.

When my boat was built (2003) the original owner had it tiled using 12" quarry tiles almost throughout. It looks nice but gives no access to the cabin bilge. Also, the tiles (themselves, not the grout) have now cracked across the whole boat, in two locations. I put this down to movement in the underlying floor but know nothing about how this is constructed as I have no access to it.

Seconded (as somebody who lives in Acocks Green).

The OP has deleted his post in the face of very mild hostility towards it (I for example, refrained from pointing out an obvious error in the story). IMHO this is an odd thing to do - why not defend the purpose of the post, if not it's complete accuracy?