johnjo

Don't touch Norton in any form, it'll slow your PC to a crawl plus it ain't that good. AVG free will only cover virus's but you won't get any tech support, whereas AVG internet security V9 will cover everything including ID protection and you'll get free tech support for the duration of the licence, cost is around £49 for two years and you can legally use it on upto 3 PCs. A lot of people like Kaspersky and Avast both of which I believe have a free version but again the freebies will normally only cover virus's and nothing else, but there is a free version of MalwareBytes which is very good and will obviously deal with the malware side.

Using IE8 but can't get to the letter, just get the same error as MJG Edit, loaded Firefox, no better.

Hi can you not write in caps please as it denotes shouting, on here anyways, thanks. Regarding fixing new wood I'd wait to see what's holding the existing in place and do the same, more likely to be screwed. The thin rubber is probably some sealant put there to stop water getting behind it. Several coats of varnish won't be a bad idea.

They are there alright, I moor just across from them in Harefield marina, got several pics of them in January. To my totally untrained eye I would have thought a great deal of effort would be required to recover them. It would be nigh on impossible to get a crane or low loader in there because of all the trees. One or two have trees growing up through them, but loads of drawing could be made of their construction and I'm sure that with real enthusiasm some if not all could be recovered, but as I said, to the untrained eye what do I know.

I think there's something wrong with this poll, I clicked 'Whats thick' and didn't get an answer, what am I doing wrong.

We were at Paddington Basin earlier this year, there is still a lot of building work going and the furthest pool is not accessable. The first pool has no official water point, well we couldn't find one, and one of the permanent moorers said they had to use M&S outside tap, also no waste points, but they used a waste skip in the builders yard. We were told you can moor there for 2 weeks which if true is handy if you wanted to have a good look around London, it's also right next door to Paddington Station so really easy access to trains to just about anywhere.

http://www.denham-marina.co.uk/ These people have one, if it's too far away they may tell you where they get them from.

Surely not! can't see that for one minute, would have to be an extremely amateurish fit out.

If covered it would be a great place for damp to accumulate. We had to remove some of ours and found it quite easy and no damage to the wood panels under. Quick sand down and came up OK, depends on what was used on yours to fix it. Personnaly I'd remove it and recover it with whatever your choice will be, wood or paint ect.

I agree with both David & Carl in that it needs to be easily readable, not flashy or ultra modern, if we have to upgrade so be it. Having had a look at what's on offer, I had a preferrence for the 'Blue Velvet', dark writing, light background and reasonably similar to what we have now. The present layout is easy to read and intuative, so as long as what is used to replace it is of that ilk, I can't see too much of a problem. Edit. Discovery is OK too, think I like the Blue Velvet because the headings are very similar to what we have now.

Bought a topper off Ebay, slightly larger than our NB bed and trimed with a sharp carving knife, job done.

Hi Alan, hope you're feeling & getting better. What antivirus software have you got? John

I use one of these, reasonable length of cable and the correct connector for the 3 dongle, works well. http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...e=STRK:MEWAX:IT John

Anyone got any experience of using 'Jotaguard 85' two part epoxy coal tar on their hull please.

Thanks for the info BEngo, looks like I've a bit of reading to do John

Sorry Pete, I've no idea, everyone I asked for advice so far just refers to either standard blacking or 'Two pot' hence my posting. I hoped to widen the net for advice here, as having never blacked a boat before, I'm a bit in the dark so to speak. I'm sure I could get advice from chanderlies ect but I'd prefer advice from 'thems that's done it' warts an all. We're doing the grit blasting for two reasons, one is to get down to bare metal, seeing as how it doesn't seem to have been done for a while, this would remove any chance of whatever we do end up using, reacting badly with the remains of whatever would be left on which may cause the new stuff to peel off. The other is too see what condition the steel is in and whether we need to put some weld into any thin spots, as there appeared to be some reasonably wide but shallow rust areas showing when she came out for a survey in Oct 08. We intended doing it last year but SWMBO had to have some urgent surgery on her back which obviously took priority, [no I didn't do the surgery ], but she needed a lot of running back & forth for appointments before and after and a fair amount of care during that time, thankfully all is well now. Thanks John

We've got Perch Rock booked in for the last week in April for grit blasting the hull and then blacking. She was built in 89 and according to the surveyor she's never been blacked since! Before we bought her she was a liveaboard and had done very little cruising. I had to go ice breaking a couple of weeks ago, [but knew she was going in for blacking so wasn't too worried] also thought it would be a good time to experience it and to see what happens to what was left of the blacking. No surprise, it went completely, right down to bare metal in places. Some really spooky sounds as the ice broke, but kept the speed down in an effort not to annoy or damage others that were moored. Really enjoyed it, bit cold but fairly dry, and it helped only having 2 locks to single hand. What I need is advice as to which way to go about blacking her. As we're grit blasting her I have been advised to use two pot. If we do, [1] what weather conditions would be tolerable to two pot [2] what would be the best/easiest two pot to use [3] how would you advise applying it [small/large areas, brushes, rollers, use heaters ??????????] I'm told two pot will last for 7yrs and then a good clean and roughing of the surface and you can go over it using the same two pot. Last question, because she's going to be grit blasted would you consider the use of three or more coats of blacking, a waste? and should I use some kind of base coat first. I've been advised that basic blacking will last for 3yrs and then a power wash and recoat with same, may have to do this if the weather is too bad to apply two pot. All and any advice will be really appreciated.

Think you may have meant 'surface mounting', as 'Proper Job' has done.

I don't know the particular Advent you have, but very very few laptops have a graphics card as such, the graphics is normally an integrated chip on the Motherboard, so could be another PCWorld rip off story here, could be wrong, but experience suggests not. Fans on the newer laptops are designed not to run until absolutely nescarsary. It feels as if the laptop is far too hot before they come on but that can be normal. They do sometimes rush but that is normally at start up, then they will stop, or, when the high temperature is reached, then after a while they will slow, then stop. As others have said, clean the vents out, this can sometimes require removing the CPU heatsink as they have very close fitting fins that get very clogged with fluff and vacumning doesn't always work in situ. When refitting the heatsink a very small amount of heatsink paste is a good idea, but clean the old stuff off first. Also check the plastic air inlet vents on the base. The cooling air must be able to get in and out.

Denham Yatch Marina in Uxbridge Middlesex have a corner shower enclosure [Quadrant] with sliding doors, height is 1600 plus the height of the tray [£335]. They have a base which is 800 x 800 [£135] I have some pics somewhere if you need them.

Matter of taste I suppose. We have brass rods top and bottom [bottom just holds them back] with brass rings. Look great, but bl**dy fiddly to clean the rings. Some of the wood poles/rods look quite nice and a lot easier to keep clean, and a good range of natural wood colours. I've always found the plastic 'Swish' type pick up dust & crud and then start to judder & jam after a while. Have seen some good looking roller blinds on some boats. Venetian ones are a bit officey & dust gatherers, so for me I wouldn't want them. As already said, a matter of taste and what goes best with the finish on the cabin sides. Well, that's my two pence worth. Just re-read your post, and between the two you list I personally prefer the Speedy Fineline, its aluminium, so stronger. Not sure if you'd need to bend it, but it will probably be longer lasting. Whatever you decide sounds like you're nearing the most enjoyable bit, cruising. Good luck & above all, have fun.

The fenders hang too low, so useless on many canals when mooring up, they're fiddly & a bugger to get to in a hurry, and one day you'll find your boat hanging in a tight lock cos the fenders are jammed against the lock sides. Hang them off the handrails, you'll be able to get to them standing up and not balancing precariously on your knees from the gunnel with one hand, whilst you hang on with the other.

Wasn't there one featured in one of the canal mags last year? Problem is, what if it goes wrong when locking?