saltysplash

We have a Square stern on our 70'X13.5' and have never had any problems with mooring, going backwards or with the uxter plate flexing. Plenty of room in the engine bay and on the back deck. And its a better stern for launching depth charges

The image looks like they have used arch No 5 which is outside the 70m zone but it could be the zoom angle, will have to wait for Tim to confirm

Its the horrible green weed that acts like rope, floats on the surface and is strong enough for moorhens to walk on.

Is that correct? I thought Tadworth was moored in private waters? Are you confusing OB with Kris?

I wasnt suggesting you were having a go, I was just saying im not convinced due to the high number of residential boats in Packet Boat, with no problem and lack of residential boats at Hanwell that does have a problem. Its all very odd and yes, Im well aware of the weed's location along the arm as I cycle to Uxbridge regularly along the towpath. Following the dredging, which wasnt done to full depth by the way, we were weed free for a couple of years but this year it has returned with a vengence. Is it something to do with the clear water and the Sun having a direct path to the Mud rather than being diffused by normally murky water? eta glad you visited the Arm, we do need more boats visiting even if at this time of year it can be a bit of a mare

This horrible clingy weed has always been a problem on the Slough Arm. Im not convinced its all the fault of the moorings, Just pop down to Packet Boat and they dont have the same problem, yet move down the GU to the top and middle of the Hanwell flight and you do have the same problem.

My out of date flares are currently resting on the seabed also.

heres the Notice to Mariners. The chart clearly shows the exclusion zone. The Bouys are the 15mtr zone, nowt to do with shallows but like the trip wire in the Great Escape, the guards open fire if crossed http://www.pla.co.uk/assets/p16-exclusionzones2013readablecharts.pdf

The system used by many livaboards in Holland with residential moorings is a mains pipe connected to the boat by skin fitting which is then connected to the water system bypassing the tank which is isolated by a cock. result is mains pressure at the taps without the need for the water pump or the tank which are only used for when cruising. If sinking your boat is a worry then you can always fit bilge alarms and turn off the mains when the boat is left unattended

But they are navigating, every 14 days. And they are Navigating, every 14 days

Was going to rise to this but then thought, no, it will only get edited

When underway its obvious where TDC is. Its when manouvering and shunting back and forward that a tell tail is handy and yes, once you get a feel for your boat it is used less. My old MFV had appx 10 turns from TDC to full lock, and a handle was attached to the wheel when doing a lot of rudder work to assist in spinning it quicker. My Tell tail display was part of the Auto Helm system and was also a good indicator of when to stop winding the wheel to avoid the rudder banging the stops too often. One had to remember to remove the handle prior to engaging the Auto Helm as it stopped for no one when correcting its course

If you do choose Wheel Steering then make sure there is a 'Tell Tail' to indicate the position of the rubber

is it this one? http://www.canalworld.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=82607 eta actually pobably not as you said it was a video

Nice to see Kingswear Castle back down south but I do miss her from Chatham

Ditto

Unless you have a spare cassette and you place the full one in the Bow or back deck or even on the roof till you reach an elsan and in the meantime some 'ner do well' turns up and thinks it funny to either walk off with the thing and dump it in the hedge as its too bloody heavy or the chuck it in the water. Which ever is the cause, its not on and any one found doing such things should have the contents of the cassette poured over them. or, similar to the old 'stocks', they should be chained to an elsan point for a couple of days and they can empty cassettes for weary boaters

They will be trellis'd when they get to that stage. They are in roof boxes but currently residing bankside

We currently have beetroot, peas, onions carrots and cucumber all on the go. Tomatos in waiting

The Land Wights take care of the Trees and the Ivy. Our Chickens love Ivy and mullered the stuff on our moorings, The Wights wernt impressed

We also use personal radios when out. The Memsahib, normally while relaxing in the bow likes to comment on people and boats that we pass. The downside to this is that she normally waits to speak in the radio when she thinks the people are out of earshot of her....this means they are well within earshot of my radio as I pass them making a mad grab for the radio volume button.

I have no problems with hirers. I was approaching Braunston bottom lock once and a shiney private boat was just entering the lock. The crew of a hire boat was standing at the lock landing holding ropes and one of them called out to us to go through if we wanted as the other boat didnt want to have them in the lock with them. As we approached, the memsahib decamped to assist working the lock but as she got to the steps the boat i the lock closed the gates on us. She came back and informed me that the couple didnt want to share a lock with anyone as they said they prefered to do them alone. I pulled alongside the hireboat which had about 8 crew members. We shared the locks to the top with them insisting on us staying on board while they did the work and had a very pleasent time with them.