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My water tank lasts a month. My pump out tank lasts 3+ months. It all depends on the size you have installed. I've never used a composting loo so can't comment on them. I love the idea of them but they're very bulky and need a constant 12v draw, albeit a low one "Pump out" refers only to the waste storage and not the loo. There are vacuum, dump through and macerator loos that can use a pump out tank. Personally I prefer the macerator loo over dump through because the waste remains remote from the bowl and the local pump out boat or boat yard empties the tank for me once every few months. Easy. At £15 every three months, a well designed tank layout is cheaper and less time consuming than filling numerous cassettes with chemicals and having to carry them. People use the term "cassette toilet" to also mean more than one sort of loo: the porta potti and the fitted cassette toilet. The former is little more than a glorified bucket which fills in about two days and the top has to be detached from the base and put somewhere while you walk the bottom half to an Elsan point to pour the lumpy waste down a giant toilet. The latter is built in, often the cassettes have greater capacity but the emptying method is the same. I've used both types and like neither of them: too much faff, the need to store spare cassettes or worse: full ones, they often dribble when being transported or removed, plus having to get so up close and personal with one's waste isn't my idea of fun twice a week. Also I've yet to use one on anyone's boat that doesn't smell either of poo or chemicals. People get used to their own loo smelling and don't always realise how it smells to other people.

My last thread on "living afloat"! I've shied away from making a big deal of our decision to return to land but after a trawl though old threads I remember how I used to share stuff so, with glass of rum & coke in hand (probably influencing my decision!), I decided to share. We fell in love with boating in 1985 when we went on a hire holiday with friends (Clubline Cruisers hired on the Coventry arm). It was many years before we could afford it again but when we did we fell in love again - we hired in 2003, 2005 and 2007. In 2007 I was flying high in my career but developed a skin condition called hidradonitis suppurativa which is a progressive incurable condition which can eventually lead to permanent disability, so we decided to suck the most out of life while we could, chucked in our jobs, let out the house and bought our boat. Over 7 years we've travelled widely and had a fantastic time. I can never put into words how great it is to have met so many wonderful people - our circle of "proper" (as opposed to virtual) friends has increased beyond imagining and I'm hoping these people will be our friends for life. Alas the inevitable happened - my HS has progressed to the point where I can't lockwheel any more. Anyone who knows me will understand how devastating that has been - I was the lock queen, walking up to the lock and locking all the boats in front of us before our turn. Many times Dave & I have walked up or down flights before banters and locked boats up or down. It would have made perfect sense for me to then take over steering and let Dave do the locks. But. I don't like steering. I hate it. I did try - I did a course last year to try to get over it, but no - I can do it but I hate it. If I could lock wheel and steer, maybe. But just steering, no. Then Dave & I thought it'd be nice to get ourselves a van (not a caravan!) and explore on 4 wheels, get to places a bit quicker and get to more places. So we can still suck the joy out of life, just not on a boat any more. When things don't work out as you hope you need to spin the variables and find something else that works for you - we're very excited about the new chapter in our lives. So there you go, we've bought ourselves a house in Stoke where I have regular work and Dave's prettying Iona up for sale. We're enjoying the benefits of land living but there's a lot of sadness still there. In the future we're thinking a nice little tupperware that we can trailer on and off the canal - who knows? You might even see us joining the BCN Challenge on a rubber dinghy We'll certainly be keeping an eye out for banters, though we won't be able to bring our own accommodation with us. There's always Tawny Owl - we need to get first dibs with Millie as our persuader. Unkle Richard has a soft spot for Millie the fearsome wolf We've had an amazing time and been privileged to be part of a unique community - thank you for all those that have made it so pleasurable. I'm not leaving the forum - even though we're not boaters any more I still have loads of experience to share and of course the accounts to do. Hope that wasn't too personal - I do have a tendency to spill all late at night after a few rums

I feel you're missing the point, ever so slightly... If a boater is taking the pish by blatantly bridge hopping in London 300 miles from their £500 a year home mooring in the grim north, CRT could use this term as an excuse to cancel their moorings agreement. A one year agreement is bound to be subject to adherence to the attached T&Cs. If the T&Cs could be ignored then there would be no point in having them.

I did resist the urge to get involved in the recent welding for dummies thread!

snnnghhh - huh, what? Richard

Patience Richard, just typing it up and weather hasnt been all that good last few days, torrential rain yesterday and last night, atleast no leaks Hi John, modern welding gubbins tends to that to me at times, now gas welding , light, get the correct flame and away you go Well that has been a week of this and that, dint get done what i wanted due to weather again but not far off, had a day off aswell to chill. As said i have decided to get a Tig welder to do my own rails for the boat this will be got in a few weeks so until then i can get it painted and fit the rest of the deck gear before i line out the cabin. I am in no panic that it is going to be done for mid next summer launch as i will have all winter fit to out now. Hang on....lets not get ahead of myself. Top deck is primed but not the rear end which is going to be done bit by bit this week. What i need to get done is the top screen so todays task was that. The Sapele arrived a few days ago, this is for a few jobs and one is this. I need to thank Steve ( the barnacle ) again, the SS bolts came in just perfct Timber is 43mmx26mm Sapele and the window i made up from cutting and shutting the windows i got the other week. I got the two windows and loads of trim wiht new glass just to make the screen, i got these as they are very similar design as the side windows. From this Not the best wood work but good enough for me, I did mess up on the all frame 45 deg cuts but the rest of the frames had big holes drilled, to big for the bolt heads. Cant have it all as i want it guess. These pics are before it has been glued and sanded, it is now glued and next is the polish of the ally frame, such joys, i need more polish compound now. Pay day week Ay up i forgot to say the Sapele will be treated to Danish oil, i was impressed with the last ones so i will do it again, along with the strakes and other areas. The side frames will be sorted asap, i have the design in my head as usual, front screen will fold back then the two sides inwards on top.

Are these used to clip their wings?

Some here but £20 each http://www.denbigharmysurplus.co.uk/products/ground-anchor-stakes worth checking out army surplus places as they do seem to be military equipment. I have a few and one has Standall stamped into it but Google doesn't find it. I think standall do roadworks/demolition percussion drill attachments. One fairly irritating thing is they do peen over quite badly and need to be tidied up with the angel grinder with a resulting loss of material. One of mine is right down to the top of the eye - normally there is about 1.5" of hexagonal bar above that but lots of whacking with hammers takes its toll !

Passed moored boats

Seems clear on leisure moorings, but the OP has a full residential mooring yet was sent T&C which seemed to say he wasn't allowed to have this as his main residence. As someone on a fully planning-permissioned residential mooring (whose mooring licence now says long-term despite my protests) this is a concern. I am uncomfortable if my mooring rights are being eroded....

Nothing to worry about,unless you have been using a leisure mooring as a residential one.And I am sure that as the C&Rt point out to moorers that you can not live on a leisure mooring nobody would be doing that would they ? And then start moaning when the muck hits the fan. 14skipper

Illustrated of course by the fact that only a fool would ever conclude buying one is a Good Idea...

You simply yell "Oi! Speed Up!" at passing hire boaters!

I endorse everything Tony has said. Newbies should realise that they will not find definitive answers on technical matters on this forum. This is a place for discussion, it should not be used as the prime source of information. There are several sources of information for wiring boats. I would also suggest Nigel Calder's and Alastair Garrod's books (can't remember the correct titles just now). Once the OP understands the basics, that is the time to come on the forum and try to iron out any particular issues that may arise.

If you are really using 15mm rigid copper pipe for gas in a boat, then you haven't bothered to do even the most basic research about gas installation on boats and shouldn't be doing it in my opinion. As they say on Dragon's Den, I'm out.

Stops the wooden hull rotting too quickly, innit. No idea why people put it on steel though.

Any distress flare pack will include two or more rocket launched parachute flares. These go up to around 1000ft, take nearly a minute to come down, and are still burning at over 1000°C when they reach the surface. They will set light to almost anything they land on. Setting them off on land like fireworks is the most stupid suggestion imaginable.

If you are moored on pins then I slow right down, 900rpm, and early. If your ropes are attached to the top of the pins, well out of the ground then you get a smile and another -100 even though it takes all day to get past. If you are on nappy pins on Armco, 1000. Yes I know it makes a noise. If you are on rings, 1000-1100. If you are consecutive moored boat not on pins number 20 or more, then +100. I want to get where I'm going before I die. If it is so narrow that I can reach the toast on your breakfast table then -100. With marmalade please. If there is a strong crosswind then +100. Banging the bow on one side at the same time as the stern on the other is no fun. If you have one of those Tickover notices then +100. If you have one of those disgusting Master Boater notices then +200. If I want to get clear of a difficult area before another boat appears to complicate the situation then +100. (Many boatyards and some junctions.) If you are moored right on a blind bridge then +as much as it takes to deal with the situation. If you look as if you are going to bounce around (long slack ropes) then -100 and a wry look. If your boat looks unoccupied then possibly +100. If your boat is the phantom short plastic cruiser that is tied up in a really awkward position and looks abandoned at every junction (last week at Middlewich) then no special respect. If it is chucking it down and has been for some time and blowing straight into the face then +100 with a slightly guilty feeling. If you are one of the very nice people that I meet so often that offer help generously and happily (not that I particularly need it but it does make it quicker and makes for an enjoyable atmosphere) and I recognise you in time, then -200 so I can say thank you again as I pass. I need some form of notice which is the opposite of a Tickover notice that shows that I am happy for boats to pass my mooring quite quickly as long as they are not very close. With my wheels I hardly notice.

Yes, yes and yes. But a personal visit will I think reveal some idea of whether lack of blacking has been an issue. Lumps of blacking off near the waterline and flaking rust will be pretty obvious even if you are not that familiar (and there will be nearby boats to compare with presumably). As will recent blacking patch-up around the waterline. Take pictures, post on here for opinions. It's possible that if the boat hasn't been used much and there has been no diesel/oil in the water that the blacking will be reasonable. Probably not though!

Which you found on the glowing recommendation of just one forum member but you have been warned about its unsuitability by many. Now either a number of professionally qualified people in the actual or related areas do not know what they are on about OR the person who recommended it and now you do not fully understand the implications. Which do you think is the more likely? Please answer this question. I have not contributed much to this thread because very early on it seemed obvious to me that either you were/are trolling or, more likely, you will just plough on your on merry way until you come face to face with reality and regulation. As others have said you may even kill yourself although that may be rather an extreme outcome. Please think again and take notice of all advice, not juts the bits that suit you.

You can lead a horse to water but you cannot make it drink.

Does not the emptying water initially push you back a few metres before catching you and shoving you forward? I must admit I don't push bow into lock gates "going up" if lock has got signs of water in it as previous experience has not been good. Plus I like to steer boat in on a steady line and hop off and continue up lock steps with centreline.