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First post in any type of online forum in my life, so please correct me gently in the event I go about this the wrong way! My partner Catherine and I are a couple of horticulturists from the eastern US. I spent time at the RHS garden Wisley, in Surrey, in the early 1990's. We're looking for an affordable narrowboat holiday in the UK, and had the idea to offer up our Appalachian mountains wilderness cabin in trade. However, in doing my homework on this site and others, I've learned of the several potential pitfalls for a private boat owner in the UK, who is not in proper compliance for hire, loaning out their boat in this way. Seems some of that is up for debate if no money changes hands, but just the same... l fully appreciate the concerns of the many boat owners on here who might tangle with a private boat being operated by someone without the owner aboard. So, having said all of that, we're not at all opposed to having the owners on board while cruising for a holiday of a couple of weeks, and of course we'll pitch in with all of the duties! Seems a fantastic way to learn the finer points of canal boating, and make international friends! In return, either before or after our UK holiday, we'd like to host the boat owner and family as our guests at our mountain cabin. In truth, while things are far less complicated compliance-wise on our end, we really need to spend at least a day or two getting visitors to our cabin acquainted with its functional quirks, and oriented to the forest. We want to be excellent guides and hosts, so that our guests can make the most of their wilderness holiday amid 190,000 acres of protected state forest--after we depart and let them have the cabin to themselves! We would love to discuss this opportunity further with anyone interested. Just like you, we want to have a great time, without exposing ourselves to undue risks in the process. Catherine and I have prepared a document fully and honestly describing our rustic, secluded cabin and it's amenities and limitations, as well as all of the opportunities for recreation in the surrounding forest. It also outlines our intent to allow you to have this holiday for little more than the cost of your food, as we intend to provide ground transportation and generally facilitate your family's needs as your hosts. And since a picture is worth a thousand words, we've also created a Google video and photo gallery where you'll meet us and see exactly what Raven Rocks cabin and the Moshannon State Forest have to offer. The Hilton, it is not, but with a little effort, you can have a hot bath or shower, and the forest is sublime. Please reply in the forum, or email interloc001 at gmail dot com for further information. (Apparently, if I type it out that way, the spambots won't pick up and abuse my email address!) Thanks for reading! -Glenn and Catherine

Hi, Lately, I have been dabbling with rope work. I have been using Synthetic Hemp for the mats and white cotton for the Turks head. My problem is I found that when working with the white cotton that the strands which make up the 3 strands become very lose fast, which when trying to make as cabin string the crowning looks uneven and a bit messy. I ordered some White Polypropylene Rope, but this looks very plasticy. What is the best type of rope should be used for the cabin strings? It needs to be a white. Thank you in advance

Hello all, Just a quick one to see if anyone has any photos of the BW drop in cabins that were apparently made for the river class butties. I own river class Yeo and, following advice from Pete harrison I found a glimpse of her in the background of a shot in Roger Alsop's book WORKING BOATS (page 70) in which it seems she may have had something like this fitted at some point. I have lent to book out unfortunately otherwise i would try to attach a photo. But if anyone has any shots of them or knows if any still exist I would be interested to se first hand. many thanks.