RuJ

Wow - fantastic advice from a whole world of viewpoints: thanks tons to one and all. I know exactly what several of you mean about the "there are useful details, but the amusing / embarrassing bits are the ones that stand the test of time best" theme. My game book is full of dull facts about weights of catch and occasionally flies used until July 1988, when it breaks into "Iona's first fish [ah, the smile provoked by the long-fogotten memory of an ex-girlfriend and a 1lb wild brownie ]" and then in 2003 an entry for an evening's wildfowling with a "beautiful, sumptuous, nuthatch-coloured sunset. The perfect antidote to pre-Iraq deployment training." Now that really doesdoes bring back some memories! Sounds as though these things are better self-constructed: that way you get the columns you want and none of the "VHF frequency"-type ones that we've no need for. We will apply ourselves to the various advice, and start drawing up a template. Thank you all so so much. Oh, and once the painter has worked his magic, we'll get a piccie or two up by way of gratitude! Roll on the end of June

Sorry if this is an absolute chestnut of a topic - I did search the forums (fora?) and found nothing, but that may be my bad searching, in which case due apologies. Does anyone have any advice relating to logbooks? The marine ones seem to have a thousand columns that are of no relevance to canals (absolutely fairly), and from a swiftish trawl on 'tinterweb, I could find only this one, which seemed (from a cursory glance) to lack some of the leather-clad glamour of the maritime ones, but perhaps is more in keeping?...... We're (hopefully) getting her on the water at the end of this month (so excited that had to type that 3 times before I was going slowly enough to eliminate typos ), and are keen to start as we mean to go on. Apart from all the pratical benefits of records of engine hours and similar, I go all misty-eyed when I look back over my gamebooks (or our wedding album actually, but don't tell anyone!) Any advice gratefully received, and thanks in advance.

Congratulations We are terribly jealous - Peggy Kay is due to take to take to the water at the end of the month - and however frustrating it is, it's better that the brilliant builders get it right first time rather than hurry the job... We had as the intriot at our wedding, many years ago - still love that creation and resolution of tension just before the end. (And no, that's not footage of the service ) We shall watch out for you when we (eventually) get afloat.

This isn't strictly a boating thing, and I ought to be excited about the fact that Peggy Kay will be on the water by the end of June, but I hope you'll understand... This weekend sees the 18th annual running of the Grand Union Canal Race. The 145.5 mile race from Gas Street Basin to Little Venice is the longest Ultra Marathon race in the UK, and attracts runners from all over the world. That's right, you didn't misread it - runners In the delightfully low-key event, there are 100 starters and very few rules: 1. It's a race. 2. It's a stupidly long way. 3. You're not allowed to stop in one place for more than 40 minutes. 6am on Saturday at Gas Street and the clock starts, and it stops when you cross the line at Little Venice - it's as pleasingly simple and as robust as a well-balanced lock-gate. Oh, and if you don't finish inside 45 hours, you don't officially finish: if you haven't made it by 3am on Monday morning, you haven't made it at all. This is, of course, all going on along the towpath, and of only very limited interest to people on the cut. But, just for the record, if you see a runner (or, much after Stoke Bruerne, probably a stumbler ) tottering along the towpath with a GUCR 145 number on the front, then they would love a wave. They may be a strange bunch, but they're quite a friendly lot, and their support crews (the patient ones with the tea and food and fresh socks and sympathy) led by organiser Dick Kearn are absolute angels in human form. If you wanted to know any more, or you thought this might be some strange belated April Fool, then the GUCR link might intrigue you. Thank you in advance for your smiles and support, your waves and encouragement, and for the regular and repeated beauty of the boats on the cut that makes a long pound a whole lot lovelier. And we promise to shuffle as quietly as we possibly can past sleeping crews as we stumble on through the dark. Ru Runner 234