Keithmt

Aha! That's what I'm doing wrong then .... leaving it to dry. Thanks Mick, I'll give it a whirl. Keith

I bought some of this last year for my 3 year old (shiny) boat because so many people said how good it was. However, I have a real problem applying it as it's hard to out on and doesn't leave an even finish. What am I doing wrong????? Keith I bought some of this last year for my 3 year old (shiny) boat because so many people said how good it was. However, I have a real problem applying it as it's hard to out on and doesn't leave an even finish. What am I doing wrong????? Keith

We have a 58' narrowboat although we don't live-aboard. For the 2 winters I've had the boat I've had 2 freestanding oil-filled rads both set on "medium". I was warned against relying on the built-in thermostat as they are inherently inaccurate but use specific frost thermostats which we set at 4 degrees. Our marina got these for me but I've just done a google search and found some (cheaper! ) at this link . Obviously we run these from a shoreline and my entire winter running cost is around £50. rgds Keith

Just wanted to throw in that we've bought a Roberts SolarDab radio which I put on the cabin roof to charge up during the day whilst chugging along and the thing has never run out of power whilst we use it. Great reception as well. Cost around £70. Keith

Like many people I have those horrible white plates from BW propped against a window to display my registration number. But I also see many boats with their's painted onto the rear upper side together with the BW logo. Where do you get these from? They look too uniform to be handpainted. cheers Keith

We have a brand new boat with a brand new lock-gate and the few times I've fired it up the flame has only ever been yellow/orange. Also, as others have mentioned, ours had a tall cowl (a good 18") and during a really windy weekend last Sat/Sun in never blew out. Keith

Sincere thanks to everyone for the kind notes and humorous/terrifying tales of similar woe. SWMBO's plaster is off earlier than expected and it's now down to time and TLC for the swelling to go and the break to heal. I'm just thankful that a) it wasn't worse and it's not the start of the season. I'm sure we'll spend a few nights on the boat even if we don't go out. Keith

Just found this on the InterWeb http://www.inventingtoday.co.uk/Inventors.html (scroll to bottom of this link) rgds Keith

This is going to sound so obvious that it hurts........ Brand new narrowboat, maiden voyage last weekend. Weather perfect, canal not too busy ......... what could possibly go wrong We approach our first lock (Buckby top) one boat already in, both gates open, just need to gently slide our pristine, gleaming craft alongside. I'm 2" out and I'm going to nudge the other boat........ my wife, in the front well makes and instant decision that we shouldn't be hitting the other boat and reaches out to push 16 tons of moving steel away from the rear of the other boat. Crack ! 4½ hours in A&E and one broken hand later........ Anyway, the point of recounting this is twofold :- 1) for all other newbies on your first trip, remind everyone on board to keep all their bits inside the confines of the boat. 2) to publicly thank Len off NB Mariner who I've never met before and who I dragged from his pub lunch to help me turn the boat round and go back through Buckby top lock. Len, you are an absolute Saint and proof (if proof were needed) that canal folk really are the nicest people in the world. Hopefully in 6 weeks time (when the plaster is off) the weather will be kind enough to try again. Keith

I've searched the forum and can only find some old references to this. We've just taken over our brand new 58' semi-trad and we obviously want to keep our fresh new interior free of mildew and the like caused by damp and cold weather. So, in talking to a few people it sounds like putting a couple of 1kw oil filled radiators in (we have a shoreline) and setting these to 5 degrees would be a good idea. Any thoughts on this from anyone? 1) is it really necessary 2) oil-filled versus fans 3) built in thermostatat versus seperate frst-stat (whatever that is) 4) 1 x 2kw versus 2 x 1kw 5) anything else thanks Keith