canalbabe

It's that time of year when all the earwigs on earth appear to move on board my boat.Come dark they appear from their hidey holes to create terror on board. The come the morning there they are fast asleep in some nook or cranny after rifling through your kitchen cupboards all night. Am I the only one??????? Has anyone got any good ideas on how to get rid?? Unfortunately I do have plants on the roof so guess they are nesting in those but i am not getting rid of my garden..............need to get rid of wigs...........open to suggestions.

My boat is coming up for 8 years old and the original anodes have not been replaced. If i can get away with not replacing them that would be good, just wondered what effect it would have on my hull?

I am a cont cruiser therefore I never moor in a marina environment. Is it really necessary for my boat to have anodes??

You can get a USB modem dongle (payasyougo or contract) from any mobile provider to get internet in the boat. We have one that we use all over the uk system. Vodafone have the best coverage although i have heard that 3 are pretty good. Best to get a USB extension cable as well as modem works much better if you can put it in a window or on the roof etc.

We made the decision to sell up and buy a narrowboat over 5 years ago, we haven't looked back since! We chose to be cont. cruisers as we didn't like the idea of being on a mooring for any length of time and wanted to cruise the network as much as possible. We still cont.cruise in the winter months, choosing the biggest area available during the stoppage period to enable us to do this. As far as docs go, I've had my fair share of probs, broke my wrist in 2007 on the Kennet & Avon, had to call 999, went to local hospital and stayed in that area until i was given the all clear. Then in 2008 whilst on the Middlewich Arm/Shropshire Union I had a lump appear on my neck which had to be removed. I went to the local docs and they referred me to the local hospital where i had scans etc and then finally an op all with out any probs with living on a boat. I need tabs quite often and because we are cont cruisers I'm always in a different place each time i need a new prescription. All i do is go to the docs and get an appointment as a Temporary Patient, you have to fill in a form which details your home address. As we don't have a home address I use my parents address as this is where all our correspondence goes. Have not come across one surgery where they do not allow you to be seen. If the docs is near the canal they are often used to canal people doing the same. We also use Tesco/Asda home delivery when we can find a suitable spot for them to get the van to, ie : road bridge with a lay by etc. This is a godsend as saves lugging all the heavy stuff back on the bus and down the tow path especially as we don't have a car. Living aboard is the best and you'll love it, there's always a way round things! Wouldn't go back to dry land for all the £ in the world now Hope this helps.

Have been down to the basin about 4 years ago, wasn't impressed with the cruise down, quite run down and felt vunerable in places (weirdo's hanging out under the bridges etc). The basin itself was good although there was no room to moor so we had to turn and go back to Hawkesbury! Has it been cleaned up? We are full time live aboards so like to stock up on all the heavy shopping (coke bottles/spuds etc) so any opportunity to bring a trolley as close to the boat as poss is gratefully received. We do do Tesco/Asda online home shopping when there is a mooring suitable for the delivery - not sure if there is one near Cov? Has anyone tried and been successful? We like to moor in the countryside for a few weeks at a time so that we don't have to keep going to get supplies every few days, hence the big shop. We do like to buy form independent butchers etc as you obviously get a much better standard of produce. We also spent a good few hours going around the Motor Museum, brilliant!

Thanks that's great! Coulds always get my partner to help me carry the trolley up and out of the way of the trolley stops or posotion an empty one past the stops and do a transfer of goods! Oh yeh i forgot to ask can you wind ok somewhere without going all the way to the basin?

Has anyone got any idea if you can moor outside or near the big Tesco (near the Football stadium) on the Foleshill Road, Coventry. I'm visiting Coventry in June and wouldn't mind stocking up on supplies if I can get close enough to get the trolley to the boat!

Has anyone got any idea if you can moor outside or near the big Tesco (near the Football stadium) on the Foleshill Road, Coventry. I'm visiting Coventry in June and wouldn't mind stocking up on supplies if I can get close enough to get the trolley to the boat!

Thanks for that. My main prob is that our stove is an Arrows Beckton Bunny and the ash pan hole is quite small so not sure what I can squeeze in there! Noticed on Squirrels that the ash hole is bigger...........prehaps i need to change my stove.................... Will have a go at doing some chops and see how we get on.

Has anyone noticed the lack of speeding boats, or any boats for that matter passing 'Martha's' boat on corrie! I know its filmed in Worsley on the Bridgewater canal but blimey where's everyone gone? Seems to be the most un-rocked boat around!!

We have the same problem. Not much you can do other than put in double glazed windows. What we tend to do is leave a window or two open at night then use one of those squeedgee things to wipe off the excess moisture in the morning. Find that Bounty kitchen roll is good for mopping up the water that forms on your window ledges as it doesn't fall apart. We've got portholes in our bedroom and have lined the ledge with a little strip of high absorb sponge. Seems to help in stopping the water soaking into your wood work. Hope this helps......

Sounds good, do you burn wood or coal? I'm a bit sceptical about taking the ash pan out, we burn only wood so get quite a bit of ash. Do you find loads of ash on top of your goodies when they are done? Obviously it makes sense to riddle the stove before you start to eliminate as much ash as possible. Think I may give this a go!