Chris Pink

perhaps you could dry your coal with the spare heat from the alternator. Always assuming the heat is spare and not used in some post-Newtonian parallel universe.

Worth bearing in mind the difference between an Aga and a Rayburn. The Aga is a heat storage cooker is always the same temperature hence the number of ovens - each oven runs at a different temperature whereas a Rayburn is a range, has one main oven and its temperature is adjusted according to need, probably an easier beast to manage on a boat if used for cooking or hot water in the summer.

It is the sadness in your (aunt's) story that makes me determined to make my lifestyle on the boats work for me and others around me for as long as I am able. At least she had someone to worry within a couple of days, i am sure that a lot of people would be there much longer. Community; the young give their vigour to the old, the old give their knowledge and wisdom to the young. I know that the canals are not the only expression of community but they are an example of one that, broadly, works. If I leave the boats it would be only for a place with a similar sense of community (or possibly - in your armchair dreams, they cry - a last blow out adventure). I knew someone, don't know what's happened to him, that didn't have the use of his legs but managed, with help crewing, to live aboard a boat. He did not have a mooring but as he spent most of his working life co-ordinating the emergency services in times of disaster my view is he can make his own rules. Hopefully he's still at it . Reading Christine's earlier topic and another current topic about the cost of energy it seems that the world, as exemplified by this forum, can be be divided into two groups, those who see themselves as a continuum with the world and people around them and those who would avoid drowning by standing on the heads of others. I'd rather be amongst the former. Now... anyone want that coal bag carrying?

My what an aggressive little man you are. And my mummy says i'm not to tease you any more. bye bye.

Well gosh that told me didn't it. sophistic arguments apart and not really feeling the need to add a physics degree to my armoury i shall content myself with burning my, fairly dry, coal, in my, fairly inefficient (I notice no heed is actually given to real world efficiency in this discussion) multi-fuel stove, topped up 50/50 with that wonderful price per kilowatt fuel, collected wood. I have no problem with your knowledge, I have great problems with figures spouted, nay, rammed down my throat, with no attribution simply to make a point. A point which kind of ignores the common sense problem with heating (or cooking) with electricity. Would you like me to explain that in a way a graduate such as yourself can understand? (edited by Mrs Malaprop)

Very very nice. In such good condition, obviously loved and compared to narrow boats, quite cheap too. I shall resist the temptation to race you to it - good luck. I would love to bumble about the Western Isles on a boat too. do you know what sort of real world fuel consumption this kind of engine/boat would have. I saw a 50' trawler for sale recently quoting 8 gallons an hour (and they used the word 'only').

I am sorry, Chris, if i haven't explained my point simply enough for you; I shall try again; If wet coal has a lower calorific value it is, at least in part, due to the water in it. For example, if a kilo of coal has 30% water (i shall ask Mr Tamblyn if this amount is feasible) then it will have 70% of the calorific value as the same coal dry. Got it now? A range of calorific values for various coals would, sensibly, go from wet poor quality coal up to dry high quality phurnacite or similar, or, in the figures I am using, 2.8 to 9 KwH/kg. Therefore the prices for your hypothetical light bulb vary accordingly. And Pete is right, the wise boater chooses his coal, and his figures carefully. or if it is kept in a yard before being bagged and it rains perhaps - as my coal (not quite Phurnacite) was, hence my wait for a week while it dried out.

No! I am truly shocked.

Then the water will give back its heat to the surrounding area when it condenses? I think the issue with wet coal (according to the nice Mr Tamblyn who delivers mine and who said I should wait a week until his coal was a bit dryer) is that the water is part of the weight and doesn't give off as much heat as coal.

Well... the web is a big place. The most authorative figures i can find on 'the web' give 2.8KwH per kg - worst case. so 313kg to light your hypothetical light bulb for one year. Which seems to suggest you're buying your coal from the wrong person. The moral of the story; never buy wet brown lignite and never massage your figures to make your case.

What? Where?

And your figures come from?

I always understood that the licencing laws for cruising (trip) boats was much more relaxed than pubs etc.

Hi Ray I am confused as to your point here, surely there is no implication in this topic that mooring on lock moorings or having an unlicenced boat is a good thing. I don't think any number of unlicenced boats is good for anyone. The fact that there are more and more boats moored online (hey.... poetry) is as much down to BW in my area as anyone else. I don't think any sensible live aboard would want to obstruct you on your trips. There are grumpy people everywhere but my experience is that they can come from any of the groups mentioned. The passengers on the trip boats i encounter seem to thoroughly enjoy the boats they see and will generally wave and say hello. Chris

one of these; http://boatersphone.com/antennas.htm but watch out that the first one requires a metal cabin to work - won't do it on wood.

aha, i see, thanks Tim. I would hazard a guess that this was the lightest of the woods mentioned and thus easiest to heave about. It does seem very difficult to get sizes of any timber that's not in general construction or joinery use. Especially thicknesses over 1".

Something that has puzzled me for a long time, what is 'deal'? I had heard it was a size (larger than a plank) but also that it is a species of wood.

Hi Carl What is the source of your Walker's drawings? Chris

Hiya billybob Hiya billybob Not really wishing to stick my head above any parapet that the mad Daily Mail readers of this forum are looking at, but i wanted to answer your query, and a lot of the path of social history you trace is also very dear to me, hence this post; I have lived aboard without mooring for 18 years and there has always been the same debate. When I started there was strong public and government feeling against people living in trucks and I always thought it interesting that boats were seen as 'cute' and 'quaint' and didn't seem to attract the same, xenophobic, hatred. I have not found much problem with BW in that time, I don't think they have the inclination or money to pursue everyone living aboard so I figure that they respond to complaints. They keep my ditch full of water and my lock gear greased and for that I heartily thank them. The key, I think is to live in such a way that doesn't attract complaint. Rosy tinted maybe but empirically this seems to work. There is no such entity in law as a 'continuous cruiser' (interesting the way it often seems to be capitalised) the law simply says that your boat must be used 'bona fide for navigation' – a phrase that seems to be open to a number of interpretations, yours is as valid as anyone else's until such time as further legal clarification is given. So, my advice; keep the towpath clean and clear, keep moving, David's rule of thumb seems sensible as to how far and how often. Many busy (read choice) spots will always have some boat moored there, a different one every week or so, if you like a spot, someone else will too so don't hog the best ones. Get a pushbike to get to a car if you need a car. Keeping your boats well kept and painted is good public relations. Smiling and helping all users, inexperienced and experienced alike goes a long way. Help to build the sense of community that is boating at its best. You will find on this forum, the occasional burst of the sunshine that is this way of life, the love of boats, heritage, wildlife, simplicity, quiet, dark, movement, community. It is my strongly held belief that to live on a boat one must love boating, not just look for a cheap (debated elsewhere) lifestyle. I have observed people who come to the canals in that way, one winter is usually enough to sort the boatie from the land lubber. It is possible to trace links between housing trends and live aboard boats but, to me, after the amount of time I have lived aboard, it is no longer relevant. I would never believe that any 20th century 3 bedroomed house could be worth a third of a million pounds so I will never be tempted to buy one. Of all the ways of living in 21st century England, nomadic boating suits me just fine and I intend to carry one for another 18 years. Chris Hi Ray Please don't slow down when you pass me, I don't want to hold you up and my pins are hopefully soundly anchored. If you go a reasonable speed all the time you don't need to slow down for my moored boats. Can't see 45 tons of coal-laden narrow boats slowing much for pleasure boats in the old days. Chris bl;oody line feed problem!!!!!!!

On the 1930s GU boats it's 11' 1" from the forward bulkhead, 16' 9" from the tip of the stem on the general arrangement drawings. 11' ish on my butty. The motor is shown as slightly forward of that position. It's intended to be far enough back to pull the boat forward rather than in to the bank. So i guess in some ways it would depend on the centre of turning (which i am sure has a name i do not know).

Hiya CD What colours should we be using for DC +ve and -ve these days, is read and black still ok for new wiring or should we move to brown and grey?

The confusion over the word "licence" is caused by the fact it is used to mean 2 different things in this judgement.The tenancy agreement is, in law, a licence because the term 'short-hold tenancy" doesn't apply to boats. so the tenant has a licence issued by the owner of the boat to live on it. Squats in the 80s used to have licences rather than tenancy agreements because there is no protection under the landload and tenants legislation.The commissioner states the belief that the tenant is in breach of BW's licence (the type we know and love) because of the small degree of movement. Not really his/her place to say in my opinion. http://opsi.gov.uk/acts/localact1995/Ukla_19950001_en_1.htm It is my understanding that it has always been the case that you can claim housing benefit only if you rent a boat from someone and not in respect of loans or licence fees. It has always been a bit moot whether you can claim mooring fees. I think the test is probably whether you are made homeless by not paying the mooring fees - mostly not.

Probably the epoxy. The jury is still out on doing the bottom, i'd like to. It does seem there's no hurry, best advice says don't do anything that i want to last until the humidity drops - April/May next year.

Gosh, how wonderful, looking good. Really authentic look to the finished stem and bends. Well done Tim Chris