Québec

Duvet wrestling is currently definitely in the lead. Took two of us an age, loads of thrashing about, and much laughter and shouting to insert new king size duvet into king size duvet cover.

Thanks for the replies and suggestions, and - being new - no suggestion is ever stupid....though possibly my questions are

Still on bilges, but I hope you won't mind me shifting this slightly as I'm clearly dealing here with people who know and care about bilges..... New purchase of 22 yr old nb. Had everything i.e. engine, prop shaft, stern gland etc serviced just after the New Year. Recently noticed drip from stern gland every time we've taken the boat out. Used grease pump which stops drip until the next time we take her out. Is this to be expected? If not, what needs to be done?

Respect to 3 ! We recently bought a 3 Mifi dongle. Had a load of problems with getting connected and then drop off. Got in touch with 3 via Jo_ who was already in touch with them. Got a very full and speedy response from them which - as well as the written reply - included finding out the mast we were connecting to, discovering there was a fault and re-setting the mast. Now things much improved. They also discovered that there was a mistake in their printed guide that comes with the Mifi, which explained why we thought we were getting no signal when in fact we were.....just. So, yes, they seem to be doing their best, and can't fault their customer service....and it's not often one can that about customer service generally.

Here the Interftuf spec. Intertuf specifications Looks like you can do several coats, but the critical thing is the drying time.

I've been driving on the right side of the road for c. 40 years. Have I missed something?

Back in December, Johnjo started this thread about a design for a folding 13A plug Folding 13A plug Johnjo's post also included a link to a 3min video that is worth watching if you haven't seen it. Though some were a bit 'sniffy' about it (the idea not the posting), I noticed that it has just won the Design of the Year award. Clicky

Perhaps it was Wharf Factor 5...and they mispronounced it? edited to add: Like the fact (true) that the old name - c. 16th century - for a manager of a wharf, was a 'wharfinger'. That would have made a good Bond film.

If anyone is ever in or near Trafford Park in Manchester, the Daytona Karting Centre seems happy to get rid of old go-karting tyres...both the 'normal' width front wheels and the wide back wheels. I recently turned up on a whim , asked nicely, and went away with six of the wide ones. Getting some for our mooring neighbours this week.

We have a 4kw stove. Built the hearth ourselves. For the hearth back and base used a sheet of the same material i.e. 25mm fireproof Fireboard, that they put inside fires to act as firebricks. Normally pretty expensive but obtained 2 x 1m x 0.5m boards at knockdown price. Hearth side used 12mm board from Wickes as mentioned in previous post. Slate tiles on base, slate coloured tiles on back and sides. min. 25mm air gap all way round between hearth back/sides and wood panelling. For spacers used small blocks of the fireproof fireboard. (sounds similar to posting by Richard/rjasmith) Stove placed at slight angle, nearest back corner to tiles c. 60mm Haven't tested with a thermometer, but after stove full on all day, cannot put hand on hearth back or side (far too hot). Back of boards maybe only slightly more than room temperature. Can send pics. PM me if interested.

Like others have suggested, it's no more than 2 - 3 seconds max.

Thanks Danel and Keith, for the explanation and reassurance. Much appreciated. In fact I woke up this morning...it having gone off again at 4am...and said 'Why don't we just turn the bl**dy thing off at night?'. Paul

In the middle of the night our water pump suddenly bursts into life for a few seconds for no apparent reason. No taps are dripping and we've looked for and cannot find any leaks. (It also happens during the day, also after a long period of water not being used anywhere). It's a Sureflo pump and we have a Zilmet accumulator next to it. Any ideas on possible cause and solution gratefully accepted.

As close to our boat as I can get. You can pan round each image to get the opposite view. (If you zoom in on the cow in the field by double clicking, you can just make out the marina in the distance above the cow. You can also zoom in to see the Swanley lock more clearly). Llangollen at Swanley, looking north from bridge at Springe Lane. Swanley lock in distance. Llangollen at Swanley, looking south from bridge on Wrexham Road

Hi Pete, Finally caught up with this thread. Getting to the boat this weekend. Will take and post pictures to you. So..yes it can be done (that's been established). The choice then is between having a continuous rail of some sort (which we've gone for) or the 'seat on a stick' arrangement. You'll be aware of the huge and intense 'trad stern seating' thread a while back - which has already been mentioned - so don't wish to start that one off again. So just to re-state - purely from our point of view - and following that thread, that we now regard the rail as a 'safety rail' ONLY when we're moored. It's also extremely pleasant to sit on and watch the world go by. When under way it becomes irrelevant as a safety rail as no one goes near it. The person on the tiller stands on the step in front of the tiller, and the counter is kept clear. If someone wishes to keep the steerer company, then they have to stand on the gunwhale or sit on the roof. Paul

For me it's something about our ability/capacity to deal with the unexpected...and how quickly/well we do it. It's also about the difference between the highly-skilled. knowledgeable but narrow specialist who is brilliant at dealing with things within a particular system but is 'lost' when confronted with something different or outside their experience, and the handy and 'willing to have a go' generalist who - having some understanding of theory, principles, etc. + some practical experience, and faced with the unexpected - can work out what needs to be done. As Einstein said: "Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new". He also said something about curiosity and imagination being more important than knowledge Paul