Phil Ambrose

I did the same to double glaze our Houdini hatches, works great. we have all Portholes and these are permanently D/G with circles of tinted plastic. Phil

I would'nt have thought that there was much to be gained by this. The only thing I can see is the added complication of fixing a skin fitting to pick up raw water and having a weed filter to worry about. I doubt that having a wet exhaust would be any quieter. I say this as our last boat was a Broads Cruiser with a wet exhaust and although weed filter was easy to get at it did manage to pick up a small Perch which was a devil to get out as it's spines fixed it firmly in the perforated tube, likewise freshwater muscles get in and fix themselves inside. Phil

Exactly, given that N.B's have displacement hulls that is what happens, if water is shallow the effect is greater as the water displaced has to go somewhere. Phil

Just check out INTOSOFA, google for address. They are modular design, simple to put together, great quality and very comfortable to sit on and to sleep on. Phil

Search on Amazon, I found arials on there and also on the associated sites at the bottom of Amazon page. Phil

I have a great deal from O2, sim only £10-00 a month, unlimited texts, unlimited landline calls and 300 mins. For the net I uuse a 3 WiFi, 1 gig at £7-00 suits me. Phil

Listen to Teadeamon, Osmosis has been a source of loads of scaremongering, it is not a serious problem provided the blisters are not to big. Reality is most boats with Osmosis will outlive the owner. Phil

There are a number of electric boats on the Broads, mainly day boats out of Wroxham, a few trip boats, Lady of Ranworth for one, Ra on Barton Broad is solar powered and one of the wherries The White Moth is electric, the battery bank being charged from a on board genny ( a hybrid) The charging points are in fact just shoreline hook ups for the use of anyone who cares to use them. I know CCers who use them to hook when they need to use their washing machines. I left the Broads 2 1/2 years ago so it's possible that there are electric hire boats available but I suspect that electric boats are still restricted to day boats. Phil I

We have a Spinflow eyelevel oven and grill, great bit of kit 12volt ignition and a Light in the oven too. Phil

I would suggest that you go with your brood and look at a 45 footer and while aboard discuss the feasability of living in the space. I have always worked on the principle that you can do what you want to your boat to make it work for you, if your budget only runs to 45 feet then make the decision based on what you can do with the available space, There is nothing wrong in ripping out bulkheads or putting them in, I've done it and I know many others have too. Of course you may find a longer boat that you can afford, if you do, go for it. Good luck Phil

I had a 3 dongle and simply asked 3 for an upgrade to a WiFi, got one FOC by return of post, v. good bit of kit. Can now surf while my wife downloads stuff to her Kindle. Phil

Getting interesting tonight, some of the finger moorings under water and still rising, more rain forecast so the Ouse, Cam, Lark, Little Ouse and Wissey all need people to be wary and check lines. Phil

I would hazard a guess and say that the red and black leads are the input leads from your domestic battery bank. Phil

Interesting thread, I have a twist on the various solutions offered, I have a Sterling Battery to Battery charger which runs from any input, in my case a shore powered charger or the engine when cruising (sometimes both) It works by firstly bring up the starter battery to 13.3 volts and then switches to the main bank. Every so often it switches back to the starter battery for a short while to ensure it is full then switches back to the main bank. It will run of solar, genny etc whatever input you have to hand and it also de-sulphates batteries too. Phil

Thursday we were sitting on the bottom as we have been for the last couple of weeks. It was with relief that this morning our dog had to jump down to get off the boat as opposed to jumping up. E.A have had Denver keep the level (too) low for quite a while now on the off chance of getting heavy rain and now it has paid off. The river has made a level at our weir and the river has got quite a bit of pace on it. Phil

Not sure if there is a definitive answer, we fostered many dogs over a period of years and often had as many as 5 dogs in the house at a time. Every so often we would get one which was particularly dominant and the only answer was to pass that dog to another fosterer. We moved aboard with a Yoodle, a Brichon Frise, a Bearded Colllie (all female neutered) and a GSD (male neutered) and the one dominant dog was the Beardie (Mollie the maggot) and we never managed to break her attitude. Phil

I succeeded but had to buy a new lappy. Phil

Not on the Broads. Elsewhere I cannot say. Phil

Exercise caution, when I had my last boat up for sale on Apollo Duck, somebody lifted the whole add and changed my contact details for their own and then put it up for rent. I only found out when a RAF chap contacted me having been in the process of renting it and then saw the for sale advert on Apollo and smelt a rat. Phil

This sort of ties in with "Sick Building Syndrome" at one time this was poo-pooed but now is a known factor in the ill health of people working in large office blocks surrounded by pooters etc . Phil

I've just finished too, a very enjoyable read. {hil