Puffling

Change your browser search engine to DuckDuckGo. And they will.

Don't the company mentioned include rather fancy tilting brackets (the Fastensol ones with extending arms in each side)? Last time I checked these were around £200 per panel.

I've met Amy and seen a few of their vlogs and the title Miss Cross constantly being used in the article seems at odds with a woman I'd taken to be feminist.

Well it just goes to show what you can learn these days. I always thought the pronunciation was WAGG-ohs, as in, "Let those waggos roll!" 🐎 The alternative brand linked by @Jen-in-Wellies looks good, and I learnt that the tiny window at the end is properly termed a Continuity Check Port. Wow, just amazing what value you can add on to your product with fancy wording. For me, seeing the ends of your bare conductor appearing in a transparent window always reminds me of the grubs of certain parasitic wasps, which lay their eggs in live caterpillars. As the grub grows it eats out the still-living caterpillar from inside, eventually appearing in a translucent window in the side of its host. Gruesome yet fascinating.

Yes, I agree about the 773 types being listed as suitable for up to 6mm cable, but seemingly better for thinner gauges. As for reusing this type by the twisting knack, I wouldn't want to trust the metal leaf insert after it had suffered wire pulled out against the direction of insertion, especially with thicker stranded cables. The things cost pennies apiece anyway and the manufacturer prints on the box, "Cut wire, discard connector".

Remember there are two species of WAGO connector. The species under discussion has small keys, which flip up to release the gripper. The other species has no keys but simple holes in which to insert your stripped cable. You simply push the wire into the open end and wiggle it slightly (takes practice to get it right, but do a ceiling of ten downlighters with switches and you'll be expert) as you push. The bare conductor appears in a tiny transparent window beyond the internal crimp to indicate it has been inserted far enough. These WAGOs cannot be reused - you snip them off and start again if you need to make alterations. With rather thick cables (6mm) I find these non-reusable ones are tricky to insert stranded conductors without getting a stray strand escaping the capture. It's for this reason I prefer the belt-and-braces approach of bootlace ferrules with the larger cables. The bootlace ferrule has a small, tapered insulated collar which guides the cable in without catching a stray strand on the way. Crimped, the surface ridges seem to grip better in the WAGO than smooth copper conductors. Or simply use the keyed type for everything and you'll never need a ferrule.

But when I first obtained my licence I had to select whether I had a home mooring or not. Following that, I seem to recall, I was sent information regarding my obligations as a continuous cruiser. So the information is hardly hidden deep. According to this same CRT web page, they have been sharing this info and "boater demographics" with the government for the past 18 months. Odd choice of photo, I agree. Isn't one of the boats a Black Prince hire boat?

Was it not also closed for a year to fix that back then? 😩

Lucky you. I've not glimpsed a red squirrel since being back in the UK. In mainland Yerp they are the norm. I did see a giant Malabar squirrel once, west coast of India. So heavy it looked as if the branch it was walking on would collapse, and I was directly underneath.

I'm guessing your first sentence quoted here should read not a lot. To the OP: I've seen boaters with loose logs wedged under each side of the panel to stop the oscillation in wind. I wouldn't know about that problem as I purposely installed my panels flat and held on by strong neodymium magnets. That stops them even quivering in the wind, but they do creak a little in the morning if there's sunshine early, owing to differential expansion rates of the different metals and glass. I've been through one winter with them and haven't needed supplementary electricity generation once.

The Govt information already linked to says it can be paid into your bank account.

Yay, I'm a voucher vulture 😄💷

Yes, I got one. The headers seem legit. A "paid 80 minute interview" seems a bit scammy, though.

If you can nip down to New Mills, these people make their own and are good quality. https://trafalgarmarineservices.co.uk/

Two shunters in series? If you're prepared for some black smoke occasionally, I'd say go ahead and try it.

I'm really happy with the full EE network access offered by 1p Mobile. So much so that I recently purchased a second SIM for my second phone. If you don't use it much you can keep your initial investment of £10 ticking over for four months before you need to pay again. Which is exactly what I plan to do with this second phone, which serves as a controller for my drone handset. I dislike the faff of clipping and unclipping the phone into the cradle each time I use the drone, so it has a dedicated mobile connected to it. Better use for a retired phone than trying to sell it or recycle. My first phone uses the £10 monthly boosts, on 1p Mobile which give me 10GB of data and unlimited calls and text. But a boost lasts only a month. You can boost more or less than this (200GB data is particularly good value for £20). Use my referral code and get £5 off your first month: https://www.1pmobile.com/index?friend=S159573P

Every cloud has a silver lining. Good news for all except those stranded behind the busted lift bridge: extra lock opening days, no 14th August closure.

ICOM agrees with you https://icomuk.co.uk/Can-I-use-a-Handheld-DSC-radio-on-inland-waters-in-the-UK/4055/1613/

What I am saying is that a person becoming seriously injured though the fall (and thereby unable to extract themselves from the water) may not have enough time to summon help (and I can think of plenty of deep locks having few passers-by) before hypothermia sets in. I'm this case surely a floatable VHF radio with DSC is a sensible pairing of any life jacket. DSC allows a distress signal to be sent and automatically gives your GPS coordinates.

A solo boater falling in a deep lock wearing a proper life jacket would not immediately lose their life due to cold water. However, if they were unable to use the emergency ladder (fractured pelvis, dislocated shoulder for example) they might succumb to hypothermia should there be no other person within earshot for an hour or two. Should we then advocate for solo boaters to carry VHF radios with a DSC feature on their person at all times?

I've always loved this sentence, which is grammatically correct: Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo First encountered in Steven Pinker's The Language Instinct.

Photos of the finished job would be appreciated. Might also help another boater doing a similar job.