chieftiff

As a lifelong arachnophobic I can tell you none of those spider scarers work! We have tried everything, starving spiders by removing their food seems an impossibility as depending on their type they eat virtually any other creepy crawly known to man (even each other) and can go for weeks if not months without eating. We have found that a 50/50 mix of clove and chestnut oil repels them, and placing some around openings works but you have to replace it about once a week, don't ask me why it works it just does and we got the recipe from a TV programme about manufacturing mosquito repellants. Personally, I've just reverted to screaming like a girl and getting the hoover out, works for me.

The responsibility transfers during the process, nobody is responsible for the actions of another in this circumstance. Whilst the authority to be in charge of the vessel may be a perk of ownership it isn't going to stand up in court, there is no legally registered or qualified captain as international maritime law applies to only a few, very well known canals (Suez springs to mind). The inland waterway's owner sets out the laws which apply on it and BW haven't seen fit to require qualified registered skippers or endow them with legal powers of authority over their crews. If I open a paddle too fast and flood your boat without making any attempt to correct my mistake or one of your crew fall in and drown or are squashed I won't answer to you I will answer to the courts, you have no legal authority over me and I have no legal obligation to you. Your authority over your boat and the crews responsibility to you may work for your wife (it certainly wouldn't work for mine) or visiting crew but that's about where it finishes.

Then you need someone with the leadership that comes by way of authority to synchronise your multiple brains, not responsibility.

I'm struggling with your logic or a reference for that matter. "Command" of a vessel may lie with the skipper (and after a long career in the RN I'm chuckling at the suggestion that a NB requires commanding), the responsibility for its safety lies with whoever is in a position to do something about it! There are no lines of responsibility, no sloping of shoulders or willy waving about who is in charge; at the end of the day locking of even the longest of narrowboats is an incredibly simple and risk free procedure and can be done quickly and efficiently providing everybody knows what to expect and what they are meant to be doing. Things only tend to go wrong when people fail to communicate, prat around or are more worried about their paintwork than the safety of themselves or those around them. I'm serious on that point, I grabbed an old fella from falling in only a couple of weeks ago, just as the gates were opened by my wife he thought it an ideal time to totter along the gunwhale inserting loose fenders to save his paintwork while his wife (I assume) pointed out the contact points between the two boats and the lock side, completely idiotic. I'm with Mykaskin here by the way, I get incredibly frustrated when I see people fanny about at locks walking up and down slowly and precisely ensuring every little detail is just so, I often wonder if their precious little habits aren't more dangerous than just getting on with it, assuming they know what they are doing I tend to just sit back and watch.

It all depends how you view paintwork! Paintwork is practical, it protects your hull and superstructure from oxygen, it's also aesthetic. There is no need to ever completely repaint your boat to maintain the practical aspect but at some point you're going to want to make it look pretty again. General rule for all corrosion on steelwork, remove it at the earliest opportunity, neutralise it, protect it. If you've ever been on a large sea going vessel you'll see that this process goes on everyday all day, chipping, wire brushing, sanding, treating with phosphoric acid and painting....... it drives you nuts, especially if you happen to be off watch and trying to sleep under woody woodpecker and his chipping hammer. Fortunately the corrosion process is somewhat retarded in a fresh water environment so time is on your side (unless huge scabs of rust are falling off or welds are likely to be compromised in which case you should be worrying about more than a little boats husbandry) Blistering and flaking paint or surface corrosion; even with some pitting, are easy to sort out, a bit of practice and you can re-establish a perfect surface finish, you can get a good complete refinish for under 4k - say every 10 years of which the biggest cost is labour, big things to paint boats.

I don't know the answer to your question but I do have a slight fear of gas, not as much as I do of petrol however and it always amazes me that people are happy to carry around a couple of gallons of the stuff to power generators or chain saws inside their boats - it really is lethal and takes a reasonably small failure of systems or concentration to cause a disaster. My fear of gas comes from being on a small boat that did catch fire, albeit at sea but luckily within about a mile of the shore. The gas didn't cause the fire - an inept chef did, but gas is what stopped us dealing with the fire because it become too ferocious too quickly. Like anything gas is now reasonably safe by way of installation, but there is always the weak link - people! I can see why people choose to reduce all risks to themselves or their families - some more successfully than others, at the end of the day there's a balance and it will be a personal choice, reduced useability or extra cash against something that is accepted as perfectly useable to others. I'm not sure what the ideal solution is either but I like the way people are experimenting with alternatives - with their own money and potentially to their own discomfort, hopefully others will benefit.

Perhaps I shouldn't comment as I don't actually live aboard a narrowboat yet but I do have several good friends who do so am fairly familiar with the way of life, your husbands concerns about being perceived as poor or odd made me laugh, a very good friend of mine is a Barrister and Director of a large UK company, he lives full time on a narrowboat and it's far from the gin palace you might imagine - a bog standard 58' boat albeit brand new, I can assure you he isn't poor, maybe a little odd but I'll be honest; I like that in people.....there aren't enough odd or eccentric people in the "normal" world for my liking. As far as the actual living I'll leave that to those who know far more about it than I, but it's the very things that would put off your husband that attract me and my good lady to canal life, I couldn't actually give a hoot about other peoples perceptions of my life, as long as the people I love are happy that's all that really matters.

Would be interested to hear what the issues were with the diesel cooker, I've been looking at these and they seem the ideal solution (apart from initial outlay but I can afford it) for those of us who have VERY bad experience with gas and prefer to avoid it like the plague. (sitting in a very small dinghy waiting for the lifeboat whilst the burning yacht keeps you warm for a while...... just before it sinks)

I have things made for a living, sometimes it's a physical thing, sometimes it's an intellectual thing and sometimes it's in between (software! what a nightmare) The rules within my company are pretty similar to any other, If I'm going to spend more than £25k on a project then the contractors have to go through our full financial health check, if they don't want to go through the healthcheck then they obviously don't want the work. If it's less than £25k I may still make them go through the healthcheck if my spidy senses tingle about any aspect of their business - it's a risk limitation exercise. Ask for the last 3 years accounts, a letter from their bank manager stating that they are not in any financial difficulty, confirmation from 2 or 3 creditors (normally suppliers) that they are paying their bills and have no outstanding debt other than their normal agreement, at least two character references and two product references from recent customers. Now this might sound like a pain but it is really very simple and takes only a few days. If they won't provide those minimum references (or at least the significant bulk of them) then walk away. Even when they do provide those guarantees you need to minimise risk, that means you pay the absolute minimum up front..... ideally nothing until you are satisfied with the product. In the real world with small business' this is almost always impossible, agree a deposit and then pay the rest upon satisfactory receipt of goods or the bulk on delivery and say 20% after an agreed period during which time satisfaction can be assured. There is a standard boatbuilders agreement that I've had several boatbuilders bring up when I've discussed payment terms, I can't say that I'm entirely content with it as there may be significant periods of time (and money) when actual ownership will be difficult to establish for items fitted or work carried out on your property - if you've ever dealt with a receiver you will know what I mean. It's not a bad agreement but by no means reduces risk to the absolute minimum. If you absolutely can't risk the money, and if I'm honest this is the only way I would do it, pay a deposit - 10%-15% seems reasonable, 70% on receipt of the boat when you take ownership (and the builder transfers ownership to you!) and the balance after one month only when any problems have been addressed. Draw it up in a milestone agreement as part of a contract, spend time writing the contract to specify exactly what you want and expect and when ownership will be established (I appreciate that most people will have difficulty at this stage as they have no idea what constitutes a contract - a visit to a lawyer at this stage is probably worthwhile and for a few hundred quid it may save you a fortune, all of my work contracts are reviewed by a barrister who specialises in contract law and it generally takes less than an hour of his time) You are going to get a few nodding heads from "experts" and boatbuilders alike but at the end of the day you are the customer, it's your money.... do not under any circumstances allow the contractor to dictate the terms of your agreement unless you are happy with those terms and understand the risks associated, both parties sign a contract; it is a legal agreement not the builders terms of payment. Someone further up the thread also mentioned paying by credit card, what a brilliant idea if you have the credit limit, why risk your own money when you can risk somebody else's. If a stage payment system is agreed in whatever form use the credit card to make the payment and then transfer the cash to the card company before the interest period, under UK law credit cards offer added protection in the event of no, or even unsatisfactory goods. Job done, a reasonably low risk way of purchasing a boat. Some might say what a pain in the arse but if you were buying a house at similar cost you wouldn't just wave your checkbook and pay for it like it was a TV...... would you?

If you fancy a slightly different experience I can highly recommend the lunch and dinner cruises: http://www.bateauxlondon.com/dining-river-...er-cruise.asp#7 I've been on a few of these over recent months, mostly lunch, and I still enjoy it as much as I did the first time.... of course it helps that I don't pay