MtB

True. If only it were used to calculate licence fees proportionally, the flooding of our canals with massive boats might slow down. Or if it didn't, at least CRT's coffers would fill up a bit. At the moment, a boat twice the width and therefore twice the size, only pays 20% more.

Thanks for the link. EREBUS has been discussed at length here previously. I think some doubt has been expressed about the wisdom of putting a tall steel (i.e. heavy) cabin on such a tender, round-chined and narrow hull. Is that what you meant about getting wet feet standing on the side?!

I disagree. 1) I leave my fridge turned on when I'm not on the boat. This alone makes a "low cell" disconnect mandatory. Agreed the alarm perhaps falls into the 'nice to have' category but I think without the advance warning alarm, one only has to be left sitting in the dark unexpectedly once or twice, to begin to see it as essential. 2) Separate channels for load disconnect and charge disconnect are essential too. If you get say, a high cell disconnect you NEED the load circuit to stay connected or how will you discharge the battery to a safe level? Similarly with low voltage disconnect. You NEED the charging devices to remain connected to correct the low SoC. That's a pretty big 'as long as'. To rely on whole battery voltages one also needs the cells to be closely matched in capacity. If one top-balances, then the cells need to be close to each other in capacity or when fully discharged, one cell will get low first. It strikes me that a lot of users focus unnecessarily closely on balancing, possibly because it's an easy concept to grasp compared to some of the other more important things needed to be accounted for in designing a lithium battery installation.

I'd second jetzi's question. Which BMSs do you have in mind, because I can't find any that have all the basic functions needed. The basic essential functions in my opinion are: Separate charge disconnect on any individual cell voltage rising above a value the user can set Separate load disconnect on any individual cell voltage falling below a value the user can set Pre-disconnect advance warning (e.g. audio alarm) at user settable values Charge disconnect at low temp (e.g. 0 degrees C) High current capacity (say 150A) so use of relays is not required Anyone building such a BMS will surely sell millions!

Yet new boaters are flooding onto the canals in droves with their monster £250k brand new widebeams. You suggest raising the license fee would put people off, but it looks to me as though that might not be a bad thing as the canals are markedly rammed full of boats these days in many areas that were once quite unpopulated. Re-balancing the fee structure might be a better way forward. Base license fees on boat value, like Council Tax on houses perhaps. Mr and Mrs Moneybags with their £150k or £250k new builds who could easily afford £10k or £15k a year would then start contributing proportionally. It does seem iniquitous to me that a young couple in an old 60ft ex hire boat they paid £18k for, have to pay nearly the same licrense as a widebeam worth ten times as much and taking up almost twice as much canal 'real estate'. Just an idea for everyone to shoot down...

It's not just boats that have contra-rotating blades:

One again I trailed a bait, and guess what!!!!

Doh! And there was me thinking we were discussing canal boats, silly me. Assumption is the mother of all cock-ups, as I tend to blurt out, randomly.

Angling is not as posited a few posts previously, analogous to fox hunting. The angler does not set out to catch and kill the fish, rather to catch it, admire it, weigh it then bung it back unharmed. A few people who 'look a bit foreign' kill them but that is because they set out to catch them them for food. Which sort of makes it ok, unless one is a vegetablist.

I don't follow the logic. WHY does every rule have to have an exception? Surely a rule without any exceptions is more true than one with an exception. An exception illustrates a rule is NOT universal, surely?

You haven't had a BSS done recently then or you would already have a CO monitor! There is no choice, they are mandatory now, or so my BSS bod insisted when he made me fit them. (Not that I had any objection to having them.)

And there was I thinking this thread was about the Kingston boats...

Exactly. The following reads so much more powerfully, In my view. "Sadly foxes suffer greatly at the hands of the hunt criminals…imagine being chased for miles running for your life until you are exhausted then being ripped apart limb by limb. Hardly a quick death…."

Not sure I'd go that far! It does seem rather sad though, that CRT is reduced to thinking an award from "Keep Britain Tidy" is a big deal worthy of a press release. Noting CRT's proud statement that they have over 400 miles of towpath that carries KBT's "Green Flag" status, prompts me to note they therefore have over 1.500 miles of towpath that doesn't.

Use of the word "scum" to describe people tends in my view to detract from the strength of an argument being put forward in any field, be it politics, hunting or anything else. It indicates the person using it is allowing themselves to be driven by emotion rather than logic.

Anthracite was always expensive, as the calorific value of the stuff is way higher than cheap rubbish manufactured ovals which are diluted with ash, cement or whatever to increase the weight. AIUI.

My father-in-law was a scientist at BP specialising in lubrications. He always used to tell me Tesco branded oils were particularly good value as they specified as good an additive pack as any of the top priced oils on the market, but sold it at wafer-thin Tesco profit margins.

I disagree. Firstly thats a big "if", which is vanishingly unlikely. Of all the stove doors I've had with broken glass, I've yet to have one where the screws don't snap off, even if you can get a screwdriver into the slots. Secondly, it isn't ordinary glass, it's "quartz glass" or something like that, and glass merchants don't routinely sell it.

I have a old Velvetdrive in my garage that came off a BMC 1.5, complete with bell housing. I was only looking at it yesterday and noting that the two rear engine mounting feet were on the bell housing, not the engine or gearbox.

Same here. So the burning question is should one sell equities, stay in cash for a year or two and take the inflation hit? Or stay invested, ride it out and and hope the dividends hold up in the meantime? Or something else... I agree about the price rises. Even if bulk coal prices to the merchants stay level, they will raise prices and blame in on Brexit as people will swallow that in the current climate of all fuel prices going up. (So maybe there's my answer - buy the coal merchants!!)

No I planted the inconsistency, fishing for pedants. And guess what!!!

Depending on the stove, another idea is to just buy a whole new door from the manu. Then just swap them over and get the old one fixed at your leisure as a spare. I did this with my "Boatman" stove rather than spend ages messing about changing the glass, which is rarely a straightforward job.

I don't think you need to take the door to a boatyard in particular. There are 'fireplace' shops in most towns and I'd imagine any of those would be able to replace the glass for you, if you take it to one.

Yes awesome opportunity identified there, EIGHT signs per lock, one on each side of every balance beam! Now I know there are approx 2,000 miles of track, but how many locks are there? My finger in the air guess would be about 3,000 but does anybody know for sure?

I never understood why they always wore suits when they were called The Swinging Blue Jeans". It seemed obvious to me as a brat they should always be in jeans.