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Saw a very nice boat on the Weaver last year called "Stannier". In LMS colours of course (and very smart it was too). (Edited to correct spelling cos I never read them before hitting 'post')

As I understand it, the batteries do not need t obe in a box, but should have a raised edge or something t ostop them sliding sideways. Secondly they should be held down: a suitable webbing strap should be sufficient : doesn't need to be held down by bolt clamps etc. Thirdly there should be some sort of cover over the batteries with a suitable lip so that it is impossible to drop a spanner or anything else across the terminals. Of course Each BSC inspector has there own interpretation of what is needed, there are still too many that make impractical or unneccesary demands.

Rusty: I hope you don't start a trend; if people actually start reading their posts before sending them, these boards won't be nearly so entertaining

Hey, not just on Manx Nortons either. I have friends who would suggest that the chain on my Triumph goes quite quickly (and with two of us up, it carries a fair load). Speed is limited by a pain in the kidneys (caused by wife on the back trying to indicate that perhaps I should slow down just a little).

They are dual purpose: they act as a step, also as a handle - used when on the towpath and you want to hang onto the boat. Fitted properly they will carry any reasonable weight, they are certainly happy with my near-on 16 stone.

Richard: Still think you should (probably have to) run the 230V AC in separate conduits to 12/24V.

Problem is Col, finding someone else with a gold hull to connect up to!

This reminds me of threads on an electricians forum (screwfix). With the advent of "Part P" which will attempt to put similar controls on electrical work as currently exists for gas, there are lots of high-minded "qualified" electricians moaning about "amateurs". I agree absolutely with Maffi: I've got a science degree with a fair amount of physics in it; I've been playing with electrical stuff since I was about 8 (I had an enlightened physicist for a father); I think I know what I'm doing. Which is a damn site more than can be said for many so-called "qualified" electricians. It will come one day that you won't be able to change a light bulb without calling in a "professional". Feel a rant coming on - better stop now.

I am sure I said this recently elsewhere, but if your stove can leak smoke, it can leak CO. A stove should not leak into the cabin; not when you light it, not when it is ticking over, not when it is flat out. That is the point of a stove. You light it and shut the door, air draws in at the bottom and goes up the chimney. I find it remarkable that a stove can be sold with designed-in leaks between panels. CO is an insidious cumulative poison, don't take risks. But do check your monitor, and don't bother with a cheap one, get a decent one that is reliable.

Of course the real answer is to have your hull gold-plated. (And at the price of some narrowboats I've seen quoted, I wouldn't expect anything less!)

does you CO monitor have a digital readout or does it just go off? The former will give you an idea of what sort of level you are getting - some are oversensitive. Aerosols can set them off, and at quite a distance, as butane & isopropyl butane are used now and the detectors can pick up on that. If the door seals are ok on your stove then you should be OK, but check that the chimney is sealed ok - fire cement cracks too easily - use a black HT silicne sealant at the top of the stove. Check the back of the stoves for cracks, squirrels etc can crack if they are used too enthusiastically with coal. Better to have one too sensitive than one that doesn't go off at all! you can check that they are working by holding it over the exhaust. I much prefer the one with a digital readout, which also stores max level.

The Llangollen is also notorious for the ferocity of the lock bywashes, partly due to the volume of water (the canal is used to bring water down from Llangollen to the reservoir at Hurleston) and also poor design which means the water is directed across the lock mouth. Some of the Cheshire Locks flight on the T&M can be pretty entertaining as well. It's all down to practice and experience, but when you have it sorted, it is very satisfying to head towards a lock at 45 degrees and have it all straignten up at the last minute. Of course this only happens when no one is watching; when you have an audience........... Back to your original question: I go in at an angle with the bow well across so it gets pushed into line. You then have to push the tiller well over the other way to keep the stern in place. The trick is to use plenty of power and speed; go too gingerly and you will finish up sideways.

Electroplating is the same process in reverse, i.e. you apply an electric current, and deposit metal from the electrolyte onto the cathode (at the same time, metal atoms lose an elctron at the anode and go into solution as metallic ions. Richard: It is not the softness of the metal that determines what goes on, but their position in a table the order of which is determined by their chemical activity. Gold is at one end of the scale, with reactive metals like magnesium well down the list. When connected in an electrolyte, like our lemon battery, the more reactive metal will be the one that goes into solution.

To Quote : Interesting debate going on here, if you were to hardwire bond the boats together they would then be of equal potential and being of equal potential the problem does not exist. But this is the key point: making a hardwire connection between the two hulls does NOT render them at the same potential. Try connecting a thick wire across the terminals of your starter battery and then tell me they are at the same potential!

Methinks he was having you on!

It may be cheaper to live in the cottage rather than on the boat, if you already own both. Surely the "cheaper" bit in favour of a boat comes in when you are faced with having to borrow money to buy your home. Despite the high cost of boats these days, they are still cheaper than cottages.

And it is because of the higher resistance of canal water compared to sea water that you must use mag anodes on your narrowboat. Zinc ones are cheaper, but only work in seawater.

Great minds Gary, Great minds!

You would have to pour it in from a jug to get a hydraulic lock!

THink of it this way: Put two different metals into a jar of suitable electrolyte, e.g. dilute acid. The metals will, depending on their composition and the strength of the acid, corrode. This is straightforward chemical corrosion, akin to iron rusting. Now connect the two bits of metal with a piece of wire: a current will flow, probably enough to light a torch bulb. A number of people above seem to think that because the two bits of metal are in contact via the electrolyte or the wire that they must be at the same potential. This is clearly not the case, or else a battery wouldn't work (and that is what we have made above, even if it is a bit of copper and a bit of zinc stuck into a lemon). With the current flowing, not only do we get normal chemical corrosion, but also corrosion due to the current. Those electrons have got to come from somewhere, and they result form one of the metals going into solution. Now with two boats tied up near each other, we have two dissimilar metals (different batches of steel) and a weak acid (very weak, the canal water). Connect the two hulls with a wire (the earth/neutral wire on your shore supply) and a current will flow. It will be a very small current, you certainly won't be lighting up any torch bulbs, but a current nevertheless. Whilst the current is very small though, it has 24 hours a day to work it's disolving effect on the hull. Cut the wire in our "battery" and you stop the galvanic corrosion - put an isolator in your shore supply attempts to achieve the same effect. Alternatively, unplug it. If the effect was over the whole hull, the effect would be unnoticable, but unfortunately it gets concentrated in small spots, hence the holes due to pitting.

For about the last sixteen years, we have alternated christmas day with friends, they come to us one year, we go to them the next. Last year we decided it was time for a change, and so, rather than having a blowout mael and falling asleep for the rest of the day, we decided to go out on the boat. Along with No 1 son and a friend, we went out about 10ish, stopped for a christmas lunch of toasted bacon & mushroom sandwiches, and later went home and cooked a more conventional dinner (but roast beef rather than turkey). All involved considered it the best christmas day for years. It was good to be acxtually doing something rather than slumping in a chair after eating too much, and of course everyone else was in the best of spirits. I was actually quite suprised at how many boats were occupied by people, many tucking into full-blown festive dinners. Not many boats were actually moving, but many were in use. So I would recommend to anyone fed up with the usual overblown christmas day to get out there, - go crusin'

Martin: please don't put that wooden spoon away!

Thanks for that folks. What threw me I suppose was the fact that the box for "daylight saving time" WAS ticked

Hello Jon, Isn't it time the clocks went back?