frahkn

When I am at home, or at work, I can live my life without the need of a "guard dog". Perhaps surprisingly, nothing changes when I am out on the boat. If you feel safer with a "guard dog" perhaps there is something about you, your attitude to other's reasonably expressed opinions might I suggest, which could usefully be modified? Unless of course you are a teenager - in which case don't worry, there's every chance that you will grow more confident with time.

Leaving the “alas” aside, your statement that “all men are created equal” is itself only an opinion. It may be one I share with you but there are respectable arguments to the contrary. In any event, it does not logically follow that all opinions are equal. A persons opinion will necessarily influenced by their experience of the world, their intelligence etc. These factors differ unequally from person to person. In my view: You are entitled to your own opinion. You are entitled to express that opinion (though you may be locked up for expressing certain types of opinion). The opinion expressed may be brilliant or may be completely and obviously barmy. The opinion which you express will be compared with “reality” by others in accordance with their knowledge of the subject concerned. A philosopher (or a quantum physicist) will tell you that there are no guarantees of correctness but the chance of a judgment of your opinion being correct grows in proportion to the knowledge of the person doing the judging. Not by mere weight of numbers. There are subjects where my opinion will be better than your's and vice versa, depending on our areas of expertise. My expertise does not lie in waterways legislation - that's why I have not posted more often in my four and a half years on the forum.

Hi, I haven't noticed that "helpful" and "friendly" always go together this forum. I am reasonably friendly - but of almost no help whatever. On the other hand, the person who has been a source of extraordinary help to me (Gibbo), has never struck me as particularly friendly. The usefulness of his site outweighs almost any peculiarity of personality, as far as I am concerned.al Only my opinion of course but all opinions are not of equal value.

If the above is correct you are at a great advantage when using the NHS. Say your GP refers you to a specialist for an opinion - I would have to wait for a consultant to be available - you would be willing to take the advice of the first porter you met.

The propellor is driven by a shaft that runs from the gearbox, through a hole in the hull, to the propellor. This would be a problem (leakage into the boat) and this problem is solved by having the shaft surrounded by a tube where it passes through the hull. Within the tube there is a gland which allows the shaft to turn but reduces the incoming water to a few drips. There are various types of gland but of course a new one is good news.

au fait

It is poorly written, I agree. The point is that eutrophication in rivers is a bad thing,it reduces the oxygen in the water so fish die. Your link is saying that only expensive denitrification (nitrogen removal) at water sewage works will cure this - unless you solve the problem by peeing on the garden instead of the toilet. Otherwise it will contribute to eutrophication or to expensive denitrification. Read it again and you will see.

I think you have misread the info given in yuor link - I read it as "use your wee on your garden, it will prevent it being released into rivers and polluting them".

Thanks very much for your helpful replies - looks like it's quality rather than quantity this time, which is fine! I've got till Thursday, if anyone else would like to add anything. E.g. is the staircase in Chester difficult, do visitors moor outside the museum, whatever. Ta.

Hi, We try to include some "new territory" as part of each trip. This time it will be the Shropshire Union north of Barbridge, which will be new water to us. We plan to take 4 or 5 days for the return trip, as part of a longer journey. Any tips about moorings, pubs etc would be useful. I do have the Nicholson for the area but it is the 2004 edition and is not completely up to date, judging by some more recent blogs which I have seen. Thanks.

A club would have an argument that any trading which remained solely amongst its members was "mutual". If the trade was mutual and all profits were ploughed back into the club, neither CT nor IT would be payable. Speak to a friendly accountant, its not quite as simple as I have explained but mutual trading is not taxable.

Mostly for Jo or VMU (posts 17 or 32) but help from anyone would be appreciated. Assume I'm a technological idiot but I do have a laptop which can get wireless internet (from a router on Virgin cable) but someone else set it up for me. Could you explain, in simple terms, how I get a "MiFi" and how I then use it on the boat? For example, what shop do I go to and exactly what do I ask for? Then, how do I get it and the laptop to speak to each other? Thanks very much.

I'm a complete idiot with computers (my daughter set up my PC for me). Recently I bought a laptop to use on the boat and last Friday I got a pay-as-you-go dongle for it. The dongle seems to work correctly, it loaded OK, but when I click on the internet logo (the "e" sign) nothing happens. Is there something obvious that I should be doing? Re-reading this, I sound a total berk but that's the sad state of my computer knowledge alas. If anyone is good enough to reply - please keep it simple (no, simpler than that). Thanks.

Hi all I wonder if anyone can suggest a company which hires day boats within a reasonable distance from Birmingham. My wife wants to organise a day out for colleagues. For obvious reasons, they would prefer not to have to drive to the yard, but use some form of public transport. I have tried a web search but Sherborne Wharf and other obvious choices don't do day boats. Thanks.

I have been an ownerships menber for eight years. I bought a share in a new boat and its only now (as the boat begins to show its age) that my annual contribution has reached the £1000 range. I have never been to an owners meeting and have always "gone with the majority view" when asked to express an opinion about changes/expenditure. I agree that there can be high feeling about apparantly trivial issues but there is no obligation to become involved. Because I am very flexible about holiday times, I have been able to take 5 weeks on the boat in six of my eight yaers and have twice had a three week break. This makes it very good value compared to hiring.

I think that suppliers insisting on 60:40 is a temporary thing and will die out as the new rules bed in. I am aware of only one member of this forum who is also a tax inspector (of course there may be many more), but of those I do know, 100% would not consider reporting a retailer or a customer in such circumstances. Leaving aside the question of principal, the amounts of duty involved are insignificant.

Thanks Jim - no wonder I couldn't find it on the EA site.

I plan to go from Stourport to Worcester as part of a trip in a couple of weeks. I tried th EA site but to no avail. Can I buy a temporary licence at Stourport or do I need to apply in advance? What is the approximate cost? Thanks.

I think HMRC do have to give you a definitive answer to an issue under a formal proceedure which they call "COP 10", or "pre-transaction clearance". Certainly they did for me on a corporation tax issue. You do have to have a specific transaction in mind - not a theoretical question - but that shouldn't be a problem for (say) Gary.