Jess--

After 30 years I'm back on the water (ish) currently no safety cert or license (both being sorted next week)

check for air anywhere in the system, air expands much more than water when it heats up.

Thanks for the comments. Have now spoken with CRT licensing and they have said that as long as the boat is licensed within 2 weeks of taking ownership there is no issue with licensing it from the 1st of June and we still get the prompt payment discount. so that's all sorted. Looking forward to getting back on the water

I have just bought a boat (agreed purchase on friday but made the payment today) which is currently unlicensed but is currently in the brokers wharf at crick and under their "trade plate" the boat is currently having some minor work done for the safety cert (and obviously cannot be licensed before that is complete and a pass issued) my problem is trying to work out what should be paid for licensing at 43 feet the price should be £779.69 (or £701.72 with prompt payment) here is my problem, I don't know how long the boat has been unlicensed for (paperwork is on the boat which is around 150 miles away) The broker is happy for the boat to remain in it's current position for 2 weeks which takes it through to the 1st of next month, suits perfectly when I can actually get time on the boat to move it and gives a few days for traffic to ease after the crick show. can I license the boat from the 1st of next month and get the prompt payment price (as it will not be leaving the wharf before that date) or will I have to license it from the 1st of this month and pay the higher price. worse still will I have to pay the extra £150 charge if CRT think the boat has been unlicensed on their waterway for over a month (assuming the old license expired at around the same time as the safety cert it has been unlicensed since October but as yet I have no knowledge of dates or where the boat was) it seems to me that a 12 month license could cost me anything from £701.72 and having the full 12 months to £929.69 and having a license that is valid for under 6 months.

After 30 years off the canals I did a bit of shopping on friday with my partner and am now the proud owner of a 43 foot narrowboat (1991 Stenson / MCC). Work is currently being done for safety cert (nothing major, the worst thing noted was that the diesel shut off valve was weeping) although on my own inspection I noted that the water header tank has a broken bracket which will need attention (engine is a lister lpws4 with just over 2000 hours, sounds smooth and no smoke) Looking forward to getting back on the water purely for leisure for now (work and other commitments doesn't allow CC yet) Boat becomes mine on monday but cant do anything with it for another 2 weeks, expect all sorts of stupid questions over the next couple of weeks from me while I try and remember everything I learnt in my youth. it should be noted that the last time I was on boats properly I had to stand on a crate to see anything of where I was going. Seriously tempted to stick a set of L plates on the boat for the first week or so (even if it's only to give anyone that sees it a good laugh)

since the logical engine control would be similar to a normal radio control servo a failsafe similar to used on radio control models could be used (no signal for 3 seconds = move server to a preset "safe" position) add in range sensing front and rear and it should be possible to make a very safe system with regards to forward / reverse (the boat could even be made to move away from another approaching object) biggest problem I could envisage is finding something with enough torque to control the tiller without placing an excess load on it when moved by a human