Mac of Cygnet

As are electrocution and asphyxiation, I would imagine (but not of course explosion). My near-drowning experience (falling through sea ice) is unsurprisingly etched on my memory even after 40 years. My main thought was "Mervyn's cooking scones for tea this afternoon. I'll miss that."

Drowning is possible, though. Perhaps they should include it.

Thank you all. The answers are in fact rather reassuring. Cooling is not an issue, being raw water cooled. By 'labouring' I assume is meant what happens when the prop is fouled, for example (as happened last year just as I came out of Salter's Lode, so had to limp up to Denver before I could stop - but again no harm done). Normally there is a smooth acceleration up to maximum, so I assume no stress. Mac

Cygnet has the smallest Vetus (Mitsubishi) 2 cylinder 11HP engine, and most of the time I'm quite content to pootle along at 3MPH, for which I need about 1800 RPM. On rivers 2200 RPM gives me about 4.5MPH. However on occasion I've had to push it up to the 3000RPM maximum, e.g. once when the tide turned against me on the Trent I needed half an hour at this speed to get to West Stockwith. No harm done, but how long will the engine be happy at maximum revs? Indefinitely? The handbook, apart from warning against altering the 3000RPM maximum, gives no guidance. Cheers Mac

See post in another thread: http://www.canalworld.net/forums/index.php...st&p=476593 Very relieved.

First of all, you have made a very good choice in hiring from Shire Cruisers. They have one of the best levels of customer service of any hire company, and will be able to answer any questions you have about the situation with the Rochdale, bookings, routes, etc if you contact them nearer the time. As a large proportion of the boats using the Rochdale are Shire Cruisers, they have a good contact and relationship with the BW staff on the ground. It is quite common for their boats to transit the summit and come back after a couple of days, but of course the Easter holidays may be quite busy with people doing the same thing. The best half of the Rochdale is the east anyway, and you may find that progress is such that up to the summit and back in a week is quite enough work! It's sometimes quite hard to moor at non-recognised spots. Three of my favourite non-frequented mooring spots are beyond Brearley Bridge 8 for the first night, just above Gauxholme Top Lock 24 for the Masons Arms pub, and above Sands Lock 32. If I haven't set off for my summer travels by Easter, give Cygnet a wave! Cheers Mac

A lot of the Calder & Hebble saw these 'improvements' recently, with more planned. I'm waiting for the first serious cyclist/pedestrian accident, and hoping I'm not the latter. (A woman suffered a fractured thigh from a hit-and-run cyclist on the speedway by the Bingley Five Rise last year). Edited to say that the only good thing is that BW apparently isn't paying - it's the local council.

Seems a shame to have actually got an answer to this. It could easily have gone on as long as the "Enforcement Notice" thread, and been almost as entertaining!

A slight thaw and a breeze getting up has started to dislodge snow from overburdened trees. Both I and the dog had narrow escapes from large branches falling, especially from pines. Need the firewood, though.

Can I just say thankyou to this thread for at last forcing me to find out what a semidiesel is? Previous such topics might have been in Serbo-Croat for all the sense they made to me. Is it true that semi-diesels can run on such weird fuels as creosote and old engine oil? Mac

I also have a Carabo on Cygnet. I don't know whether there is more than one model, but mine is a very simple little stove. I only burn wood, but the previous owner burned coal, and it has a grate for this, so theoretically should be better for coal, but it's a tiny grate and I suspect that it could easily become choked and restrict airflow from below, which coal needs (there is no riddling mechanism), thus leading to slow burning. When burning wood, the gap in front of the grate allows sufficient air in at burning level, so wood burns well, even if the grate is choked (in fact this is preferable - I've considered removing the grate, but that would entail extra firebricks. I may put a solid plate on top of the grate). Incidentally, I never close down the flue baffle - it's always fully open. I can control the stove perfectly adequately with the bottom vent, and closing down the flue baffle is IMO dangerous, as it can more easily become blocked by falling soot and tar, directing flue gases into the cabin. Cheers Mac