GSer

Yes, the back panel was painted over by the previous 'owners' but some of your work still remains!! It needs the panels painting again if you're still doing that sort of thing.

Its took me three years to realise that i needed to find some respite cover to give me a break from 'dad duties'. Hopefully the new arrangement we've set up will work well and i'll have more than 2 days off a year!! I hope all is going well with yourself and perhaps our paths will cross again at some point.

Yep it's still moored at Tattenhall, not getting a lot of use from her at the moment but that could change at any time, should get a few trips in this year fingers crossed!

I'm guessing its not "Making Oil' at all? A small amount of coolant leakage into the crankcase can be hidden for a while by the engine burning it off, it happened to my 2LW.

When i took the rotten Jotul stove from Cygnus it was resting directly on a metal plate, water had got down the chimney and had rested between the stove and the metal plate, and consequently rotted the stove out. When i installed the classic it just sat better on its legs, plus it gave me somewhere to store the stove's tools and ash trays under the range.

I did a similar thing for my workshop, but i did choose a full length butty, to be honest If it were just for a workshop i'd be able to do away with the back cabin and one of the bays that would reduce the length needed to perhaps 45' but i would consider that a minimum length for a wood workshop (for my tastes) Paul

Mick Brown from Newbury area.

Bought a boat because i've always liked canals, then i didn't go home for a few days ,then a week, then a month etc etc within a year we were livaboards

i'd had a few hire boat holidays, and really enjoyed the experience and had vowed to buy a boat as a toy as soon as i retired, at the time i was living above one of my shops, nice place to live but my customers started to realise i was, in theory, available 24/7, this extra service started to get more frequently used, i got more and more fed up with providing 24/7/365 service so we decided to move away, after a couple of property deals fell through, i'd managed to gather a few quid together so we went ahead and bought a boat, with no intention of livaboard life at all, but then i didn't go home one night, then a weekend, then a week, and before we knew it we were living afloat and commuting to work. This week we moved off the boat, a very sad time for me BUT, so far, house life has not been too bad, all of a sudden i don't have to think about what address to use, stuff i order gets delivered to my door! Whatever next! Broadband!!!!! Water on tap!!!! 24hr Central heating!!! Post delivered!!! A strong phone signal!! I suppose it won't last but for now its not too bad, I think the crux point will be when i visit the boat again in a few weeks time only then will i know whether i can handle the split!

If its any consolation rust often starts next to the strakes/ guards as small spots are often missed when blacking those areas. Wait till the boats out and checked before getting too stressed about it, fretting about it won't change anything.

Glad your all safe, how far have you got? We got to tattenhall yesterday, seems ok. Shared the last few locks with some guys who left the K&A three weeks ago! They did 12 hr days but came a different route straight through brum, when i told them it had only taken me 8 days they were gutted, i let them stew for a few locks then mentiond the lorry at the start

CRT were made aware of the trees a couple of weeks back, thats what i was told by a boater that came through upstream from the Thames. He struggled, but perhaps he didn't really report them?

Just arrived today at Tattenhall Marina, seems OK. It signifies the end of my life as a livaboard, feels strange all the planning coming to an end! Everybody we've met here today have been very friendly so i'm sure visits back to the boat will be pleasant Paul

Ah ha! I thought you might have been the guy with the beard Nice to meet you! And its nice to know you're a 'good' one as well

Really sorry i must have appeared a bit thick ( nothing new there!)

You could have introduced yourself

Looking at saltwater stuff for myslf at the moment, but now i have serious boat envy That looks lovely, a bit big for me but very lovely all the same, i hope she's all your hoping she will be

Bright sun but a cold wind. Its been a great trip, the last couple of days frome stone to wheellock have been the best by far, new to me, interesting and at some points challenging, great stuff indeed. I'd imagine in the height of summer, surrounded by far more boats than now, heartbreak hill could be a bit of a long drag i suppose.

I think i've just come down 'heartbreak hill' over the last couple of days, I left the tunnel at about 1:30 yesterday, moored at Rode Heath last night, then carried on down to Wheellock this morning, if this is heartbreak hill, its not too bad really, a few groups of locks rather than a straight line like cain hill. Quite a few of the locks are duplicated, ie you have a choice, i just took the fullest ones, it worked well for me, it was very windy this morning and that was a bit of a bugger on the more exposed sections. Biggest problem was the lock gear ittself some of the bottom paddles were quite stiff, and we needed an extra long windlass on one. Other than that i really enjoyed it, great lock structures and plenty of interesting bits and bobs to wonder over Good luck, for us it was not as bad as the name suggested. Paul

Just navigated the tunnel, northbound, got stuck behind a couple who did tickover for the whole length! Took an hour. Passed a boat called Tawny Owl on the way down the locks on the other side, looked to be doing well!

I think perhaps Hilmorton/rugby i think iwas breaking ice earlyish a couple of days back when i passed you. But i could be wrong, i certainly passed you i know that at least

When i had a similar incident i gat an engineers/boatyards report on the damage and the hire company paid up, no recompence for any incidental expenses though. Nowadays i might be tempted to be a bit more stubborn with the expences bit, it didn't seen fair to be out of pocket over the incident.

Another cold start, ice was broken by a hire boat at 05:45, very keen indeed! Bones came for a visit, not at all what i had imagined

I passed you today, i remember you moored up, those windows are quite distinctive, good luck Paul