Paul & Julia

Thanks peoples for the very informative info. That answers all my concerns. Paul

Thanks Mike

Thanks Jen, look after those wellies Paul

Horace Quite unbelievable the response to a very simple question. In answer to your comment, if planning is required then planning I shall do and whilst having some knowledge of this section of canal ie, tunnel, winding hole and locks is it not reasonable to seek guidance from better informed folk? Referring to Mrsmelly comment on my number of posts I must have missed part of the briefing as silly me I didn't realise that the comparison of 6000 odd posts against my 31 meant that a disregard of sensible dialogue became an entitlement. End of question.

Machpoint005 I asked a simple non confrontational question which others had the capacity to answer in a constructive manner. Your answer alas not fit that assessment. Please give a little more thought should you choose to respond to similar mail. Thank you to those who gave a sensible reply.

Thanks for the reply. Do I opt for the Yes,or No?

Hi all Just a quick question. Not having a Nicolsons handy for the Grand Union can anybody tell me if it is possible to turn a 63 ft boat in the winding hole immediately south of the southern Blisworth tunnel entrance or do I have to continue through two locks before turning. Thanks Paul

Thanks team, all very interesting and informative but it seems that like me nobody has actually had a shot with Wet & Forget. I wait with baited breath just in case somebody out there has experience of the product on canvas and I guess would it need reproofing?

Has anybody any experience of using "Wet & Forget" mould cleaner particularly on canvas covers? It boasts miracle cures on stone, wood and other materials and maybe canvas but I haven't read any reviews to confirm this. Thanks Paul

To all who responded thank you very much. I will work my way through the responses and then maybe come up with my location which with my navigation will come as a surprise.

Hi peoples Does anybody have knowledge of an App that would give an accurate location of your boat on the cut if you were to require immediate aero med, fire service etc assistance. Basically it would need to be an accurate Lat & Long that the emergency services could feed into their kit as "just north of Bridge 27" is meaningless to a co-ordinating Ops Room or Helicopter crew. I'm sure that I should be aware of some programme but.................. Thanks.

Hi People's Does anybody know of a service engineer/company for Victron Inverters in the Daventry - Northampton area of the G U in Northamptonshire. Thanks P

Thank you so much people's for your very quick and knowledgable responses. As best I can I will reply to your questions. First I guess I should say that we use the boat throughout the summer as constant cruisers. The remainder of the year is on an as and when basis but quite regularly for three or four days at a time. The remainder of the time the boat is in a marina connected to shore power which is running through the inventor and is supposed to be trickle charging the batteries. Nothing on the boat is left on when we are not on board on a regular basis. In answer to the following: Paul C I do have a Smartguage monitor which gives both battery voltage and percentage charge. nicknorman 1.During running the batteries as you would expect are being charged from the alternator which in my case I believe to be 45 amp for the domestic and 110 for the leisure batteries. This is the factory set as delivered but I am at home right now and can't check the exact details but I believe this to be correct. 2. A good point, well made but as a result of previous problems the batteries have been over checked for several seasons and are when on board topped up every two or three days and certainly no greater than 7 days when on the boat(problem there). The batteries are not way out expensive but are not low level range batteries based on my previous experiences. You get what you pay for. Dave P Charge when running shows around 14.2 on the Smartguage. Only thing running overnight is the mains TV (240 volt) and only for a couple of hours at most and a very small fridge also 240v. Batteries I feel are well attended and I am very aware of topping up. I never let the batteries voltage fall below 12 volts even if that means running the engine after a short days cruise and on the Smartguage not below 50% Alan de Enfield On shutdown the batteries will show 14.2volts but once settled will show 12.5volts So that is where I am at right now. Thanks for your help chaps Paul

Details are that I have a Beta 43 HP engine with associated alternators for charging starter and deep cycle leisure batteries (4x110 batteries and one starter battery.) The past seven years have always been fraught with battery issues and I now have a situation where the batteries are once again shot and will dry out at the drop of a hat. I have been replacing wet cell batteries every couple of years always with the same problem of dry cells leading to knackered batteries. On one occasion I did see a flicker of "overcharge" on the battery monitoring system but it has not repeated this indication. The invertor is a Victron 2.5 inverter/charger which seems to do the business and at the end of a five hour cruise having settled will indicate around 12.5 volts which overnight will drop to around 12 volts. Where do I start looking for the source of my problems? Inverter, charging system of the inverter, batteries, alternator. The starter battery is still the original from way back and is always unaffected. Bit poor on detail I'm afraid as not being into all these wiggly amp things I am uncertain of what detail is required. Any thoughts?

Thanks Richard and Nick I feel better now Paul