booke23

These lifejackets are a great find @Alan de Enfield Of you so wish, these type of lifejackets can easily be configured from automatic/manual to manual only operation (and back again) with this. https://www.crew-safe.co.uk/acatalog/United-Moulders-Blanking-Cap.html#aB_2dCAP It's a simple blanking cap that can be swapped in seconds. Personally I would only do this if I was using the lifejacket in an aircraft.

^^^This + Wilts & Berks canal. It would add over 100 miles to the network! But might need more than £144m

No need to apologise my friend. It was, after all, a few years ago now and as you mention there was quite a bit of tabloid speculation at the time. I remembered that he took voluntary redundancy then about a year or so later he went back to work for BA (rumour is he paid back his redundancy payment), where he has worked ever since. But I had to re-read the article to acquaint myself with the exact details.

I'm not sure that is an accurate summary of what happened. He is still flying as a 777 Captain to this day (or at least upto covid).

Remember every time a jet airliner flies, the fuel tanks are exposed to extremely low temperatures. Typical air temperature at 35,000 ft is -56°C and the fuel typically cools to -30°C on long flights. This would seriously inhibit any bug growth. It also means any water in the fuel could cause serious problems (2008 British Airways 777 crash landing at Heathrow) even though the fuel passes through a heated filter system.

You're quite right, I was referring to narrowboats. You'd probably need double that budget and to be looking outside London to find a reasonable widebeam. Good luck with the search!

If you have a budget of £40k, I suggest you keep looking. £40k will get you a very nice boat with no major issues. That springer will be a money pit, and in the end it'll still be an old springer.

I’d say that’s still inconclusive! You’ll find out soon enough. Winter innit........You get 14 days at most of them now.

In that case, my sincere apologies to both Nomads.

Post #56 Are you any relation to @The Happy Nomad , or is that just you again with a duplicate account?

The first time I hired a narrowboat I reckon I was reasonably good at the basics after 2 days. This translated into about 15hrs and 10 narrow locks. By ‘reasonably good’ I mean I could routinely get the boat in and out of the lock without bashing the sides on the way in, stop the boat where I wanted and navigate very narrow parts of the canal without hitting anything! The best lesson I learnt on that first hire was that you don’t rush things on a narrowboat...ie don’t rush into a lock/mooring and go hard astern to stop, slowing down well in advance makes your life much easier.

If £25k is your total budget then you really want to pay no more than £20k for a boat. That way you have budget for the items mentioned by @Alan de Enfield plus a bit for unexpected costs. Whatever you do, don't buy a steel narrowboat in this price range without a survey. I'd say it's just possible to buy a useable boat in this price range, but there will be plenty of wrecks too. Also consider that your budget would buy you a very nice condition fibreglass cruiser, and if you are not planning to live aboard that may be the better choice.

Hopefully not. Although this was a spectacular incident, I imagine it’s quite rare for a BBQ to cause a boat to burn down. Much more danger from Carbon Monoxide, especially from a cooling down charcoal BBQ.

Happened on the 4th November according to that article. So not ‘Last night’ as mentioned in todays CRT tweet. Here’s a (slightly) better version.

Indeed. Shockingly, from that photo it looks like the BBQ might have actually been inside the boat. Not that I can find. It only happened last night so there may be a full story somewhere in due course.

Someone got a good bargain there. It's particularly cruel when health problems force these type of decisions.

That sounds like a North American style RV. I have hired this type of vehicle in America/Canada and travelled extensively. As you say there is a single large dump pipe (5" I think) connected in a Tee arrangement to the Grey and Black (toilet) water tank. To empty you attach a supplied 10 ft flexible pipe to the outlet and put the other end into the RV dump......usually a hole in the ground leading to a septic tank. You then pull a lever on the black water tank that opens the dump valve and out it comes! When it's empty you close the valve and open the grey water valve and that dumps through the same pipework, thereby cleaning it of all black waste. It's a very good system, which is much more pleasant to use than cassettes. In North America nearly every petrol station outside cities have RV dump facilities which makes off grid motorhoming very easy over there. However there is very little infrastructure to empty this type of toilet in the UK.......I've seem a few campsites that have them but I don't think it's common.

Ah yes, I've seen a few of their videos. A lovely looking vessel.

The narrowboat market is so crazy at the moment, I don’t think it matters when you sell. I’m sure there will be a lull with lockdown/christmas looming, but at this moment in time that means instead of 10 potential buyers for every boat on the market, there will be 7 potential buyers per boat!

It is great.......an absolute mine of information and experience on here. You will get great help with whatever you need to know. Mind, it can get a bit fighty at times!!

In that case I suppose it might suit ABNB to close. Seems a shame for long serving staff not to continue........North Kilworth is only 10 miles up the road. I was thinking that brokers that are staying open might use the 'estate agent' excuse, but it's shaky ground. Officially, GHBS are saying on their website that their offices are closed to the public.

I'm only the messenger........Tell that to the BMF/YBDSA and the Governement!

I had an email from ABNB yesterday, where they said they had been advised by the British Marine Federation and the YBDSA that boat brokerage is a non essential industry and that they would be closing for lockdown. Virtual viewings may be possible and they advise that some surveyors and boat yards are still operating, so boats can still progress through the sale process. I notice most other brokers seem to be staying open for now, but I think they are on pretty dodgy ground in doing so.