Athy

Harrumph. BBC Weather promised us light rain from 8pm to midnight. Ah, we thought, four hours of steady precipitation, just what the garden needs to slake its thirst. We waited. About 8.30, the sky sneezed. Then nothing further. Back to wielding the hose pipe this morning!

Take heed of the wise words of Mr. Mack and Mr. Ling. I&A.

R.W. Davis boats have the reputation of being very sturdily built and having very handsome lines. I am not a great fan of fake rivets either, though if I were seeking such a boat they would not be a deal-breaker. Your impressions of engines are interesting. As RN is still a working engine builder, why would you think that parts would be harder to come by? Gardner last built an engine in 1999. A rump company called Gardner Parts still exists and can supply parts for many of the engines. I don't think the RN is noisier, it is however slower: maximum revs about 1,200 against the Gardner 2LW's 1,700. I have a 2LW (of exactly the same kind, rebuilt by the same very good firm of Walsh's) but I do get envious when an RN-powered boat clunks slowly by. The three-cylinder RN is a quite rare bird, by the way. I have looked at the specs. Go for the Gardner-engined tug if you can afford her. The other boat is nice but that one is drop-dead gorgeous AND it has a kitchen range. In fact, be quick, before either I or a certain forum colleague who collects trad-type boats gets there first.

It was probably one of those "official" announcements calculated to shock and cause panic to a large number of people. Compare and contrast the announcement, some five years ago, that cheques would be phased out by 2018. I'm pleased to report that I have paid my utility bills by cheque this month, as normal.

As long as you don't flounce out instead.

As you'll be commissioning an out-of-water hull survey (won't you?) all will be revealed and explained by your marine surveyor. "Aarrgghh!" I hear you say, "That will cost me hundreds of pounds!" Yes, I shall reply smugly, but it could save you thousands if he spots potential problems and/or money-pits..

I&A, if you are not too fussed about where you'll go, you could consider a space-effective widebeam boat; these are increasingly popular on, for example, the Grand Union Canal, but will not penetrate canals such as the South Oxford because the locks are too narrow. Regarding your comment about ABNB (a trustworthy company by the way) it would scarcely be a labour of Hercules for you to find out where the various places are.

Well, yes and no. She looked grotty when I bought her and pretty when, several coats of paint and upholstery later, I sold her!

A greeno for teaching me that word, which I had never seen or heard before. The Oxford Dic. says it's "an unattractive woman", I suppose by extension it could be applied to a boat too. But even if one didn't know the definition, the very ugliness of the word itself shows that it's not complimentary. However, my overplated boat was a 26' Springer, not that special but certainly no munter. It has totally dry bilges so evidently there was no water ingress, suggesting that the work had been well done.

I'm sure there are lots of them and that you'll find some which will suit you. Let us know how you get on when you try them out.

I bought one. It was entirely waterworthy but I had to have the engine's exhaust outlet raised by a few inches because the extra weight of metal had brought it down too close to the waterline. I sold it on. The new owners were happy (I assume, as they haven't come banging on my door since). As far as I know there's no hard-and-fast rule about steel thickness and insurability. Many 1970s and 1980s boats were built with hulls only 4 or 5 mm in thickness, and they seem to get insured, and to stay afloat.

I know the name Peter Bardens. He was an organist - first came to attention with Them (Van Morrison) circa '66 and then had a band called Village. I guess Camel came next.

Mostly, I much preferred soul, blues and reggae. But I did go through a slight hey-man-that-s-heavy phase, during which I bought Doors LPs and went to see Led Zep. I had largely recovered by the end of the '70s (though I still have my 'Strange Days' and 'L.A. Woman' albums.) So Camel was a bactrian? I remember Peter Frampton, from The Herd, forming a group of that name but I didn't know there was another one.

Yes, often. No.

I don't think mine has that capability. It's a Roberts Vintage.