David Mack

My wife's brass band hasn't been allowed to rehearse since about April, let alone perform.

!!!

Probably because no one does. If I had one I'm sure I could find a use for it, but it would be a very long way down my list of useful tools.

Rigas Dizelis PM24, 2 cylinder, 1560 cc - 24hp@1800 rpm. Tick over 525 rpm Imported by Marine Engine Services, Uxbridge (Peter Thompson). According to Graham Booth's Narrow Boat Builders Book. Imported to satisfy the desire for more traditional slower running 2 pot engines, after the Lister H-series engines ceased production.

Kate, Several people have asked where the boat was last seen and you have not responded. If you want our help you have to give us something to go on. We regularly get newbies on here with a problem, and sometimes it is like pulling teeth to get the information we need to solve the particular problem. If you detect a bit of scepticism in some of the posts, it is because we have had a number of 'missing boat' threads over the years which have turned out to be anything but what the original poster said. Not saying this is so in your case, but some of these 'missing' boats have turned out to be disputed ownership cases e.g. when a couple split up and both claimed ownership, or when one person claims they were just renting the boat out but the other claims they were buying by installments while living aboard and had now paid in full. I remember another case where the boat wasn't missing at all, but an abusive ex was trying to find out where his former partner was now living. In another case, a hire boat failed to return at the end of a three week booking, and it was later found painted a different colour and miles from the hire base. You have already said Grace was 'on loan', which does sound rather dodgy. So how about giving us a description of the person/people the boat was on loan to, so that we might recognise them, even if the boat is now a different colour and name. Most missing boats are soon found. If you have an idea where Grace might be you could do worse than get on your bike and cycle the local towpaths. I will keep an eye out while boating next week.

Most of the BSS rules are fairly sensible, and not a significant problem when fitting out from new. The BSS has stopped some of the really unsafe installations you used to come across. And probably has saved some lives, but I seriously doubt that they number in the hundreds. How many people died of boat safety issues in the years before the BSS? It can only have been a handful per year.

Freehand or masked?

I appreciate that you like to and choose to work long days when boat moving in summer. But I do struggle with your logic here. Would you expect your boatbuilder or engine repairer or electrician or plumber or... or... to work long hours for a standard daily rate just because it isn't dark outside until well into the evening?

And how long does it take to recharge the batteries between flights? The whole airline industry operating model relies on fast turnaround to maximise the utilisation of both aircraft and airport gate space. Currently refuelling is done in the time it takes to do all the other things between arrival and departure, but add in another (say) couple of hours charging and the economics may look very different.

Just extend the cabin a bit and you would have something like the piano raft!

Where is "here" and what is the primer/sealer product you are using?

Well it won't have gone far with a draft of 22 feet! Grace Built by Dave Clarke Boats - Length : 12.19 metres ( 40 feet ) - Beam : 2.08 metres ( 6 feet 10 inches ) - Draft : 6.7 metres ( 22 feet ). Metal hull N/A power of 28 HP. Registered with Canal & River Trust number 504062 as a Powered Motor Boat. ( Last updated on Wednesday 22nd May 2013 ) May well be, but the CRT sighting system is not comprehensive, so if the boat has been kept away from the regularly patrolled honeypot sites, it could quite easily avoid being sighted. Especially if the index number has been removed/covered.

Missing since July? Could be anywhere by now, painted a different colour or changed to be unrecognisable. Where was it last seen? And whilst it is perhaps none of my business why was this boat lent? Did you know the person who borrowed it? Was this a genuine loan or an unofficial hire, or a buy-by-installments arrangement? Is the boat insured (presumably it is if it is licenced)? And if so did your insurers agree to the loan arrangement?

A mistake fitting the lamp glass with wing nuts in such a public, but unsupervised location I think!

"Unique"? Hardly.

I noticed the same a fortnight ago. As well as avoiding the Shroppie shelf, mooring here avoids tangling with the boats queueing for the Llangollen.

Lots of houses round here are still fitted with them, including mine.

https://timberclickyorkshire.com/gutter Although I bought my last lot from James Chambers timber merchants in Halifax.

Afloat or on land? The latter will give you a much bigger choice - farmyard, industrial estates etc.

Same here. I live in the country half a mile from the public road. There are 8 properties that share our access track. The residents clubbed together to pay for the track to be paved, it never gets swept, there is no street lighting, we clear the snow and occasional fallen tree ourselves. We have a private borehole water supply and septic tanks. But the binmen and postman come down to collect and deliver at each house. And we don't get a CT discount either.

My eccentric hippy English master at school (this was the early 1970s) made his own clothes. One day he turned up in a smock he had made himself. With hindsight that must have been quite brave, in front of a class of 13 year old boys wearing suits/blazers and tie.

The walls and roof of my house aren't covered with gloss paint. They are made of materials that will last decades with a minimum of attention.

Thames registration requires that each boat based there has a unique name. So number suffixes are quite common, especially among the fleets.

Isn't that looking at warships?