bluegreencanal

The down side to Wiltons is that they will take a 1000 deposit off you - as they did from us in 2008 - and we told them up front we had a house to sell. My partner then signed some paperwork and we paid 700 to get the boat surveyed so you will see we were serious. The owner then took the boat off the market and Wiltons kept the deposit. It was a huge loss to us at a time when we were struggling to sell in a descending market. Butwe got the house sold a few weeks later, fell in love with a boat at Braunstons and bought it there. We lost 13,000 on our house sale. Braunstons were very helpful and polite and sold us a lovely lovely second hand boat. I never regretted not having the first one. It was meant to be. So I vote Braunston Marina.

Hi boaters... I never fail to work out my problems with the wonderful help and support I get here... This one I have been scratching my head over for weeks. Living on a boat is expensive enough as it is but I am having to run my inverter to do anything major and have had to give up hoovering and ironing...I am desperate :-) My generator works. It produces enough power to run the charger and the batteries charge fine but I can only run my 230 v sockets through the inverter. I have SEARCHED for a fuse and tested all those I can see and looked inside everything to see if there are any hidden fuses. There is a bit of a leak on the water pump but who's pump doesnt leak? It produces enough water circulation to keep it cool enough to work in spite of that. Does anyone have any other ideas? I am wondering if it is the alternator but am not convinced as I have been told it must be producing enough (230) to run what is working at the mo. I used to be able to use up the excess power produced by setting the CAM switch to generator instead of inverter. This seems to be ok (it looks ok, it is a big old clunky switch no signs of burning or anything to worry about) do they break? I would be so happy if someone could point me in the right direction. Thanks folks! Sue

I had to remove a broken fin from my raw water impeller and need to reseal the housing does anyone know where to find a replacemnt seal for a johnson 09-810b-1 Or is there an alternative product so you can make a new seal? Long shot maybe... Thanks for reading. Sue

My Mikuni MK60 is a little darling. I got it serviced (cleaned tube and resealed) just before the bad weatehr set in. It did fail after that but it turned out to be a blocked filter further down the line. I looked at our boat manuals and it is over 10 years old - probably about 15 - so you have to be pleased with that.

I have an engine which has 24v starter (2 12 v batts wired upis it in series?? )and my man used to jump start the engine by cabling up the batteries separately with strong jump leads by using the domestic 12v bank attached to one and the gen start batt attached to the other (4 jump leads). Now I KNOW this is a dangerous subject not to be treated lightly, but I saw him do it a few times, but never actually did it myself. And my engine batts are flat as the 24 v alternator is not charging them. how Do I cable them? I really need to run my engine from time to time so it doesnt stand all winter... Many thanks in anticipation...just so you dont worry, I did install 4 domestic batteries this year single handed and it worked first time and I got my spark brother to check it out. I am not a novice and I really do know how dangerous it is to get it wrong! If you dont want to publish this on the forum, please IM me.

http://soundheart.bravehost.com/index.html I am an enthusiastic amateur, have painted a few buckets, milk churns, dippers and Buckby style cans. Everyone's style of Roses is unique to them, I hope you will like mine. My rates are still very low but I think the quality of work is high. Take a look! http:///soundheart.bravehost.com/index.html This is my link for my website which was originally set up for my singing workshops, but is now including my Canal Art. Email me Send me an email and I can give you a quote depending on the amount of work you would like doing and I will let you know if it is within my scope or not.

I managed to kill 3 spider plants consecutively, I came to the conclusio it was too dark indoors, but we have windows not portholes ....

We had a holdiay in France this year and went to visit the Canal du Midi at Carcassonne and the Canal Robine in Narbonne. It was absolutely beautiful but we both agreed not to bring our boat to France - 70 ft colecraft with deep draft and slow moving - simply because you have no control over the locks, the water can flow very fast and waterfall and all the other boats on the whole were grp types. Oh, and if you were waiting for a lock, surrounded by these grp boats, there were places you wouldnt be able to stand on the tow path and grab a rope because they seem to moor end on in little marina style basins.

First my best wishes to all those involved in the incident. But why are people being so polite here? Surely, if the trees were overhanging public footpaths, something would be done about them?

I overheard a conversation at a marina about grey water tanks becoming compulsory. Is this just in new boats or will they make us all fit one sooner or later? I use ecover products to clean with and take the best care I can about my rubbish and waste disposal. But I think this would make living on the canal really difficult.

had a quick look at this and looks amazing. Why dont more people do this?

We had very wet windows and it was pretty cold so did the clingfilm double glazing on the larger lower part of the window not the top openeers as they stick out too much. It made a big difference. However we also have problems in the wardrobe and kitchen cupboards which are below the water line. I have to empty and dry them periodically. I find a hairdryer quite effective. Have thought about putting carpet in the lower cupboards.

Hi there you will probably find the portholes taper slightly and the inside will be wider than the outside in the shape of the window. Make them just a fraction bigger than the hole and they should just squeeze in and stay in place. Good luck.

It seems you can get it from Wickes and there is quite a lot of chat about it on the internet. Havent tried it myself (yet).