Denis R

Dory was there. Ron's reversing was an object lesson in boat handling - and he made it look blimmin' effortless....

"I guess that so long as those who flout the rules are in sufficiently small numbers not to bring this about then they have no motivation for enforcement." A BW guy was telling me last week that on the GU "wherever there's a bridge with reasonable road access you'll find a line of five or so boats which don't go anywhere" and "we don't have enough people to do anything about it".... Perhaps if this is true it's as much a resources issue as a motivation one?

....and if my understanding's correct, the environmental dividend is supposed to come from the production of the fuel, not that it kicks less s**t out the exhaust?

An 'old local' was telling me that there used to be 7 pubs on the stretch of G.U. between Blisworth and Braunston. Apparently one of the cottages at Arm End was once a pub and I know of the Crown at Bugbrooke, but does anybody know where the others were and what they were called? Any sources of reference material that might help?

Regarding the pronounciation, I think Tom Rolt referred to it in Narrow Baot as Chol-er-mon-dest-on? I think I remember he thought it would be called Chumston but was even more surprised to hear it pronounced with the extra 'er'....?

Just looked out the BMF contract I had when 'Whirlwind' was built: The Builders shall give the Purchaser 14 days' notice of the anticipated date of completion of each stage of construction as provided in Schedule 2. On expiry of such notice the Purchaser shall certify that the stage has been satisfactorily completed (such certification not to be unreasonably withheld) whereupon the relevant Stage Payment will become immediately due and payable in full without discount, deduction or set off. Sounds to me like your stage has not been 'satisfactorily completed' hence builder does not pass 'Go' and does not collect 200.... I share Stuart and Freetochat's concerns here. The builder's had 70% of the contract price so far. To be on the safe side, I'd be inclined to go and round up anything littered around the builder's that's destined for your boat and make sure it's clearly identified as your property. Looking back I had paid 80% by the time I stood looking at the finished boat in the water, engine running and ready to go out on its acceptance trials

Exactly John - That's the way I feel about them at the moment and why I'd like to see them redeem themselves by getting on this case with the sort of zeal that carlt advocates!

Isn't this where the IWA should jump in somewhat pronto?

The Victron Multiplus has an 'AC Waveform Check' function, called 'UPS Function' on the latest versions, that you can disable with VE Configure. The unit should then accept the scruffy input - mine does and I'm running a Briggs & Stratton genny which really is a rough bit of kit.

You might find that engine designers are quite particular about the 60 degree cross hatch honing on a cylinder bore and go to some lengths to specify the profile of the surface. It does retain the oil film and is essential to the correct functioning of the piston rings, on all engines but especially on a racing engine.

£391 per quarter sounds pretty good to me if it's a genuine residential site.

Getting back to the original request.... From the Beta Marine guidlines section a BD722 20BHP running a 13" x 9" prop through a 2:1 gearbox is their mid-range recommendation for a 30ft boat. Go with that, you won't be disappointed I'm sure.

I binned my suitcase sized breadmaker when I moved aboard and am thinking of (finally) replacing it with a basic Kenwood BM150. From the power consumption perspective, when it's on the timer delay, don't forget that nothing happens dramatically power-wise until it gets to the pre-determined timing point (say timer setting minus 3 hours or so depending on loaf type). The only problem I had with the last one was the sudden dream-shattering noise at about 4 o'clock in the morning when it kicked off and started kneading the dough....

I think T.O.P. should be quite safe on the G.U. Snibble. There seems to be quite a number of boats likely to appear on the next edition of the Ordnance Survey map! - There's one near my mother's that's been on the 48 Hour mooring since before Christmas! Sorry if this sounds flippant but if T.O.P. has to bridge hop for the forseeable future, he's probably chosen the best area for it!

My interpretation of the proposal is that the prices achieved by the 'tender' process will be used as a basis for setting the future mooring fees for those already having a mooring. That could make life quite interesting for those new moorers deemed responsible by the existing moorers for their vastly increased charges....

"OOh, who are they and what do they do?" - I guess you mean RBOA? Residential Boat Owners Association - www.rboa.org.uk

This issue must have been confronted at some point by the travelling community. I can't imagine that all members of that community are self employed and don't have bank accounts, etc. Also, within that section of society there's no shortage of quality vehicles costing a small fortune that must be insured and taxed somehow. And benefits can be accessed so some mechanism must be in place. Perhaps one of the traveller's support groups could give some guidance here? On a philosophical note, I lament the loss of a freedom in this country, that of anonymity. Ooops, sorry, I'll move into the pub! Good luck whatever happens, your wait for a mooring might not be as long as you might think, sometimes these things move very quickly.

I seem to recall from somewhere that BW won't offer a mooring for a wide beam north of Berkhamstead, so that might narrow your search somewhat. There's no easy way, I'm afraid it's a case of having to tread the well-worn path of asking around all the non-BW moorings. A combination of luck and dogged persistence seem to be pre-requisite and a wide-beam might make the job somewhat more challenging. Good luck with the search.

The marina shop at Braunston had all these books last time I was there. I think the little shop half way up the flight had them too.

Viv, that would be great. It hadn't occurred to me that one of the other women might have kept their copy. If an original from any of the women could be found, it might make a fascinating facsimilie as a limited edition print run....

I was just about to recommend Dave Thomas too. From my vantage point at Braunston last year I saw him do this sort of work, for which he seems to have a bit of a knack. I'm led to believe that his prices are reasonable too.

From Margaret Cornish's tribute to Kit Gayford: "She compiled a detailed 'book of words' for the benefit of her trainees. It was a route book of the whole trip with all the names of locks, shopping addresses, details of boat management and lists of tips and useful information she had accumulated for her own benefit. It was known reverently as 'The Book' and was invaluable to those who survived the two training trips until they knew the contents as well as Kit herself." I'm led to believe that this was transcribed into a map, possibly by Kit herself, but certainly by at least one other boater. Otherwise, does a copy of 'The Book' exist?

Did Kit Gayford's famous map ever get copied or published outside the few hand copied versions that boaters made themselves during the war years? Does anybody know what happened to the original?