NB Watersnail

Another vote for Dyson here. Deliberated hard before forking out for our DC34, but it's the best vacuum we've ever had. On or off the boat. I was sceptical the battery would last long enough, but we can do a thorough clean without running out of juice

We did lengthways. 4 battens if I recall. Screwed into the steel roof bearers. Then 6mm ply over the top, and t&g on the ply. Meant we had fixing for the t&g wherever we wanted. But, my interpretation is that you're not t&g liking, just ply. There will be some pics of our battens in Watersnails build blog on this forum.

Slightly slow tickover speed or slipping alternator belt causing alternator to slow down and trigger the buzzer? Had that happen on my Bukh DV20 once.

I tried these once years ago. Caked the stove in soot, didn't burn for long and gave very little heat.

There's been lots of discussion on LPG outboards, but a quick search doesn't bring anything helpful up. It would be a wonderful thing if you could do a calor gas conversion on any outboard!

I think the OP was looking for a narrow beam ideally, so the two Seamasters above would be out if the beam is a deal breaker. I reckon a Nauticus 27 would make a fairly comfy liveaboard, but the linked one above doesn't have a shower. I suppose the bathroom might just be big enough to covert into a wet room. Having owned a small cruiser for a few years, the only way we could be comfortable on it in the winter was when tucked up in the marina with electric heating on. The minute the heating was turned off it got cold very quickly. Admittedly, we didn't have any other source of heating and it was a Norman 20, which is predominantly single skinned, but I still think my biggest concern with a GRP boat would be heating.

How bizzare, we've just got in from walking around Farnborough, including the lake!

Bossoms looked very empty last time I passed a couple of weeks ago. Not many nb sized pontoons, but they are cheap, by Thames prices anyway! Bossoms looked very empty last time I passed a couple of weeks ago. Not many nb sized pontoons, but they are cheap, by Thames prices anyway!

I had one of those self inflating key rings inflate in my pocket while out on the motorbike on a wet day. It popped and gave me one heck of a fright. Thought I'd hit a bird!

Have you got a better overall shot, so we can see the line of the bow from the cabin onwards? Does look decidedly Colecraft to me.

Certainly not Colecraft. If we keep saying what it isn't, maybe we can work it out by elimination!

We've had unknown epoxy on our hull when purchased. We were advised that epoxy over epoxy wasn't the best idea as the existing blacking was unlikely to provide a good key for the new.the advise was (I forget who advised this) to overcoat with Intertuf 16, a single pack blacking. I've done this several times now with faultless results. When we were lengthened the new steel was blasted and epoxy primed at the mill. We applied dacrylate 2 pack to this, let it cure and then Intertuf over the top, as the Intertuf has a very different finish to 2 pack. Been back in now for over a year and all is still well.

I've had my first dip in the Thames this week. Admittedly it was part of a British Canoe Union course, so there was a lot of role play and rope throwing involved, but I would have been in for a dip within a few weeks anyway. When moored on the Thames we would swim regularly from the boat, the Oxford is far less tempting now! I've had my first dip in the Thames this week. Admittedly it was part of a British Canoe Union course, so there was a lot of role play and rope throwing involved, but I would have been in for a dip within a few weeks anyway. When moored on the Thames we would swim regularly from the boat, the Oxford is far less tempting now!

Hi Martin, we were in you shoes a few years ago and went with the stretch. It could have been a fairly easy job, but with one thing and another it turned into a monster of a job. I still wouldn't have done it any other way, but we like a challenge. I wrote a blog of the process, but it's not totally up to date yet. http://www.canalworld.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=64266&page=1

Just checked the tub. We've been using B&Q own brand wall tile adhesive and grout. We did the stove base and sides first about 8 years ago. No failure in that time. Have redone it again this year as part of the refit. Hoping for exactly the same results!

That's always worked perfectly well for me!

We made a 38' cruiser work for two of us for over 6 years, but we did have land based storage for tools, camping gear etc. I was surprised when we bought it, I'd been looking for a boat over 40', but this one had a layout we could easily adapt and shouted out as the one. It's now 57' and refitted after the lengthening, but it's still the one for us and it now suits us event better! Key reasons for the lengthening are in line with comments above. We now have a dining room that doubles as a second living area, more clothes storage and the all important dishwasher! Should we have bought a longer boat to start with? I doubt we could have afforded the costs of running a bigger boat then, but we can now so it's probably another big consideration for you.

I only know one boater with a Collingwood boat. They bought new and we're less than happy. They could well be in the minority as I don't know any other Collingwood customers to judge them by.

Here's some pics of our shower. I'm still trying to sort out a glass door, so the curtain is temporary. We used it on other walls too:

Another vote for shower wall here. We got ours from: http://m.abbuildingproducts.co.uk Who have a great showroom in Andover. They supplied a kit with all the glues, seals and jointing strips. It took a long time but I'm very pleased with the results!

Our D61 doesn't like lighting the main burner if the flow of water through the pipes isn't fast enough. I had to play with the accumulator pressure a bit when I added one to make it all work. Try boosting or dropping the pressure in the accumulator tank and see if that helps at all?

2013 wasn't a great year for sound. The main field didn't appear to have correct coverage that year and I remember things not sound great much above halfway up the field. This is unusual, normally coverage on the main field is very good. Conversely it sounded great for Alice, who I did enjoy, but he was certainly a controversial choice! The Brasnose stage was very audible at the top of the main field in 2013x I remember standing inline for tickets listening to it. The chap doing sound there had a new system and was on a bit is a 'show off' I think. I believe the current landlord at the Brasenose wasn't overly happy. It's not happened again since. So, don't let that taint your view of Cropredy. The towpath isn't in the best of states, although they have rebuilt a large section south of the mill bridge and north of the village is much better too.

Hi Bill, The canal has been freezing north of us for a few days, but not enough to stay through the day. It's clear from Shamah down through to town this morning. We went out in similar conditions last weekend and found thin ice south of the bankside winding hole, but nothing you couldn't break through if you wanted. PM if you'd like my mobile and I'll give you a report fri morning if you like.