Ange

Hi Sharky - yes I remember meeting you at Skipton. We also had Suzie Joy (Lonewolf's boat) moored up next to us for a while. Dave & I had a debate about how many days the market is (he thought 4). I said don't worry, someone'll soon put me right if I get it wrong We were clearly very lucky while we were there - we moored up opposite the water point and had no bother at all.

We moored up in Skipton for a week or so in October - left the boat unattended for a few days while we travelled to Brum to celebrate my birthday. We had no problems at all, in fact I'd recommend it - you can moor right in the centre of a town which has still retained a huge amount of its character. The twice weekly market is definitely worth a visit. There's young silly people everywhere - lets keep it in proportion!

Fair enough Dave - I was actually feeling a bit sad that someone with little knowledge of the internet could be scared off our site so easily - I probably didn't put it as well as I should have. I hope he can be reassured and feel confident enough to return. To Boatmanalan if he does come back - never click on any links you receive by e-mail or PM unless you are certain you know the sender. The horrible downside of the internet is that there's a lot of crooks out there wanting your bank account details so they can rob you and a lot of vandals out there that just want to wreck your computer On the upside there's a lot of good people out there that'll have a laugh with you and give you good advice when you need it.

Lovely pics Martin - thanks for sharing them with us. You should select one to enter in the "photo of the month" competition (assuming you haven't already)

Just checked the OP's profile and he was last seen on 11th February at 10pm, so he's been true to his word and not logged in since he started this thread. Presumably he'll stop picking up his e-mails as soon as the first spam message arrives! (I'm assuming by his initial naivety and extreme reaction that he's quite new to the internet)

Hi See this thread for battery details :- http://www.canalworld.net/forums/index.php...c=15343&hl= We're not very far from you so dropping off wouldn't be a problem Ange

Sorry, but I'm wondering if the OP enthusiastically replied to the e-mail he received from a Nigerian businessman offering him a healthy share of $10,000,000 if he gave his bank account details

We're dropping by at Vince's on 28th February to pick up some of his £25 batteries. We're getting 3 for us and 2 for another Lancashire resident who's already PM'd me. We reckon we can carry 8 with ourselves and luggage (we'll be on our way back from visiting Kent for a week) in our rather aged Vauxhall Corsa. We're based near Chorley, if you have a need for batteries and can pick up from us PM me (no fee involved - we're going there anyway). First come first served if demand outstrips our rather meagre supply.

The issue of fire extinguishers has crossed my mind as well - not so much what good they'd do but whether I'd be able to figure them out in the heat (scuse pun) of the moment. It'd be all very well someone saying it's easy but if you haven't used something before and you're scared and panicky it all becomes different (slightly off topic but same concept - a lot of air crash passengers have survived the impact but subsequently died because they couldn't work their lap belts - in their panic trying to operate them like car seat belts. The point being that, in an emergency you need to be well drilled.) We have the required number in all the right places, but I've never used one in my life. The trouble is you can't test it out without ruining it can you? Maybe we should sacrifice one for practice. How much do they cost? (ours came with the boat)

Welcome to the forum You've got exactly the right attitude so you should do fine - enjoy every minute of it. We left our 21 year old with his grandparents and let the house out last year

Hi Martin You'll definitely be earning your boating spurs this week - it's meant to turn really cold! Good to hear that it's going well so far - keep us posted

Thanks David, that was very informative. So basically it did have a purpose once, but nowadays is a bit meaningless.

Is it just me or is this thread getting a bit random? But .. does it matter .. course not!

Carry on wandering off topic - I love it - this is a discussion forum and discussions wander in the real world just as they should in the virtual world. Interestingly, I'm feeling like I'm taking a line I haven't experienced since primary school when it was "my game" and therefore I could make up the rules. As the OP is this "my game"? I rather like the idea of being the head honcho on this thread just because I started it.

Hehe - I've never been ladylike in my life - we don't have a working fridge at the moment which is fine while the weather is cold = the secret is to buy the pink wine from the shop's fridge and drink it before it gets warm I really must log off now before I make a fool of myself! Sooo looking forward to Lapworth

I raise my glass of pink wine to you creamcheese - totally understand where you're coming from (well I think my pink wine befuddled brain understands your beer befuddled post ) Edited cos I posted prematurely (it's that pink wine!) looking forward to meeting you at Lapworth in June

Sorry Phil but I strongly disagree. We've bought many cars and none of the above have ever come into the equation - it's always been the case of which car within our price bracket can get us from A to B reliably. The other week we bought an L reg Vauxhall Corsa for £450 - the car was chosen because we had a limited budget and needed a wheel in each corner to get us around - it took us 3 days to decide on it. Our boat took us the best part of a year with huge amount of research. You absolutley cannot compare buying a boat to a car. Just my opinion though Edited because vauxhall needs an x and I forgot I'd reconfigured the keyboard after the coffee incident

Absolutely agree with Richard - I wanted a cruiser stern for reasons of sociability, Dave wanted a trad stern for extra living space and steerer warmth, we couldn't agree so decided to let the boat we liked decide for us. We ended up with a trad stern - there are times when we've got people visiting that I'd love to congregate at the back like we did when we hired cruiser sterns, but we live aboard and that extra space makes a lot of difference. I did start a topic when I was investigating that contains some useful comments:- http://www.canalworld.net/forums/index.php...c=16085&hl= Hope this helps

Edited cos that read all wrong! I'm chuckling about the fact such a simple question ends up with four pages of twists and turns, taking us at times into the realms or paranoid fantasy, then when I nudge it back on topic I get the response "not a lot" Edited again because nudge only has one g!

So .... any other ideas on what "Registered at Wigan" painted on the side of my boat means (I do love the twists and turns of forum threads though )