Doug Scullery

Steve Hand of http://www.handsonmarine.com/ came to Saul in Glos to survey Phoebe for us a couple of years ago and just charged his standard rate of £10 a foot for a full survey. He's a very friendly chap, and I found his survey far easier to understand than others I have read (full of photos he took while doing it, which I found especially helpful), he was also happy for me to keep calling him with questions, even months after the survey. You could also try David Williams (http://www.marineboatsurvey.co.uk/) who's based near Bristol, he did our Boat Safety examination this year, nice guy, although I found a pre-purchase survey he wrote for some friends of mine harder to understand as a layman than the one Steve did for us.

Will be very interested to hear you results.

Me too. Much less stinky than the green chemicals that both Elsan and Thetford do. Never heard of the washing powder thing, but my two concerns about trying it would be a) What it might do to the seals? and Could it cause expansion and make the tank puff up? This has happened a few times to us when using Thetford chemicals, usually on very hot days. edit: I'm gonna leave the accidental smiley in

We've lost two plates and a Leffe beer glass in separate incidents of this, so yes, it does happen.

Damn it. I was going to ask you.

I think the point of Davids post was mainly to say "watch your bikes". Clearly we are all very concerned about the whole shotgun thing, but it is up to David whether he chooses to share that information or not. I think he may have ethical problems with 'naming and shaming', but also if I was in his position I would be very wary of not just the legal implications of this (which I know nothing about at all), but also of angering someone who sounds like he could be potentially dangerous. While I would love to know exactly who this is, I do not blame David for being unwilling to share. Hopefully the law will be able to deal with this man now, if he ends up in prison then none of us will have to worry about it.

I very much hope so.

I am in theory, but in practice I think I would be reluctant to cross a criminal with a propensity for carrying firearms.

That would be great.

While I would love to know this guys identity, I would definitely be afraid to name a criminal who carries illegal shotguns. Absolutely right.

Edit: That didn't seem to work. Never tried that on this site before.

This site is always worth a look http://www.jim-shead.com/waterways/boats.php

Wow. Thieving is bad but a thief with an unlicenced firearm is really frightening, I hope the law is able to throw the book at this guy, he certainly deserves it. Glad your mate got their bike back.

Too true. I met a bloke in Breda last year that didn't speak much English. Turns out he was Italian.

I nearly asked if it was one of those French words that has made it into English. You learn something new every day. May be a safer bet to plug the washing machine straight into the generator then? Seeing as we have no other high wattage appliances on the 'want list'.

Wow I've never thought about that before. I've heard that word spoken but I can't think I've ever seen it written, absolutely no idea how it might be spelt. Anyone?

My guess would be that they're keeping a portable genny outside the boat and plugging it into the shoreline socket on the boat. It's something we've considered doing to run a washing machine so watching this thread with interest. edited to change landline to shoreline. Doh!

Drinking tea, reading, drinking more tea, drinking beer, sleeping, eating bacon and eggs. I think that pretty much covers it for me. edit: ooh, I missed out procrastinating about learning to speak Dutch.

Well you must have done some reading up on it in the last 24 hours because yesterday you seemed to believe it had something to do with some pseudo-Freudian claptrap about parental failings. Right. Distorting it how, exactly?

I never read that thread, but had I read that and felt I could add to your arguments, or that you were being unfairly attacked, I absolutely would have leapt to your defence. As it happens I have read plenty of, er, heated discussions on this forum and opted to stay an observer because I felt that you and others were making the points that I would have made in a clearer way than I could have myself. Sexism is something I have spent quite alot of time reading about, discussing and thinking about. What I have learned has led me to the conclusion that ther is no such thing as harmless sexism, just less harmful sexism. As I said before to Magpie Patrick, not trolling, just voicing my opinion in an honest way. Just because my opinion differs to yours does not make me a troll. Yes there is plenty wrong with society. However I will continue to "pick my targets" based on what I believe, as you will based on your own beliefs.

I said that I believe nurture is the source of the social and phychological differences we observe between men and women. I fail to see what this has to do with what you term "my failings" (maybe this is one of my failings?). Do I? I very much said that society has nurtured me, and you, and everybody else At no point did I lead this discussion in the direction of my, or anybody elses, parents.

I know what they wrote in their posts, which are exactly what I was responding to when I offended you. Seriously. Grow up.

I raised the Nature vs Nurture debate, which is a long running debate within academia. While parenting is clearly part of what is defined as "Nurture", it is one of a whole host of factors. You do not know my parents, you know nothing of how I was raised, and your assumption that the reason we have this disagreement is anything to do with them is a personal insult levelled at people you know nothing about.

You raised parental failings, not me.