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I think I'd approach this as buying the best boat for the job. If you wanted to run away to sea, you'd probably look at second hand yachts. If you thought you'd like to cruise the European waterways and/or limited coastal waters, a Dutch barge (or UK replica) are tried and tested and the right scale. If you're interested in luxuriating on rivers and a limited selection of wide canals, a widebeam might be just the ticket. Or maybe one of those small 'shallow' Dutch barges -- about 40-50 feet long with a 2.5-foot draft, low air draft and fold-down or no wheelhouse . As many here have said, if you really like the idea of cruising a good chunk of the UK system, a narrowboat is the only home to have. As to size, when we were looking for a second-hand boat to live on we came across an 8-foot wide widebeam. A sort of 'wide-ish-beam'. It did seem noticably larger inside, but seemed like a narrowboat on the outside. Of course, in the South, with this or any widebeam you'd be restricted to the GUC short of Birmingham, the Thames, and the Kennet & Avon Canal. That might be enough for you, or it might not. My personal taste in boats are ones that look 'boaty'. Hard to define, but I know them when I see them. Inside lots of solid fittings and varnished hardwood and nicely proportioned cabins making clever use of limited, intimate space. Brass or chrome seem to regularly feature. Outside I suppose they look solid with nicely crafted steelwork and curves clearly designed for easy handling and cruising. These things are something I see in a good number of narrowboats and Dutch barges, but less so in widebeams. I'm not really sure why. Maybe I should get out and see more. Is it because the raison d'etre of most widebeam designs are to GIVE LOTS OF SPACE (in a UK canal-scaled boat)? And maximising space will naturally compromise some of those traditional 'boaty' features I'm vaguely pointing to? Anyway, a couple of thoughts. BTW, two of us and our cat have happily lived aboard our 53-foot narrowboat for over seven years now. I suspect a 58-foot narrowbeam would be more than enough to live solo on.

I was wrong. The size of the boat does not affect the amount of water used in a locking.

That's half way there! If you could please reduce it by a further 5 (to zero) it will be much better. On a mobile, in particular, they add absolutely no value whatsoever.

I thought it may help to record the diagnostic thoughts so far. 1. The test with the voltmeter and the short length of wire suggests the alternator is probably OK. 2. The test with the ignition on and the thin cable disconnected from the alternator suggests there is a short circuit to negative (earth) somewhere between the warning lamp and alternator BUT: there is an unidentified charge splitter involved that may or may not be connected to the wire from warning lamp to alternator. If its a normal split charge relay connected in the usual way a shorted relay coil could give these symptoms. 3. An "alternator switch" has been mentioned that has yet to be identified or explained. 4. There is an unidentified component hanging down from the ignition switch that may be resistor. What the end that looks as if it is wrapped in insulation is doing has not been clarified. The Warning Lamp Assuming this is the charge warning lamp: 1. The talk about it indicating when the engine battery is fully charged is confusing and almost certainly just plain wrong. This suggests whoever told the OP this does not have the knowledge to advise. 2. This style of warning lamp sometimes has a non-replacable grain of wheat bulb inside. These often do not pass sufficient current to energise an alternator - especially if it is also supplying a split charge relay. 3. One way to solve the above is to put a resistor in parallel across the bulb. There may be one half in place. 4. Trying to energise an alternator via a grain of wheat bulb will always be unreliable so may be the cause of the symptoms. 5. A split charge relay coil on its own MIGHT be a sufficient load to allow a grain of wheat warning lamp to illuminate but at a lower brightness to normal Potential results of there actually being a short circuit. If we reconnect the warning lamp and energise the alternator with the piece of wire the field diodes would try to supply the short and may burn out so it is vital that we ensure there are no shorts before manually energising the alternator. Next steps. Identify the charge splitting device, a photo will help. It may be a split charge diode, a split charge relay or a voltage sensitive relay. Whichever it is will affect the diagnosis. As Wotever says inspect the split charge relay thin wires and the warning lamp wire for chaffing or being trapped & report. Identify exactly what the silver thing hanging off the warning lamp is and report. If it is a split charge relay see what happens to the warning lamp with the thin relay wires disconnected & insulated, the ignition on and the thin wire on the alternator disconnected. If the bulb stays off then: reconnect the thin wire to the alternator, start & rev the engine and manually excite with the ignition on using the small length of wire. The bulb should go out. ensure the silver thing is a resistor an reconnect it across the warning lamp OR fit a proper warning lamp with a decent bulb in it. I would like at least 1.5 watts but Biz who knows these things well has suggested 6 watt warning lamp. measure the resistance across the two small blades on the split charge relay and report back. If its 50 ohms + its probably fine so reconnect. If its less teh coil may have burned out. If the bulb stays on then: You either still have a short between warning lamp and alternator OR the field diodes in the alternator are open circuit. If so fit other alternator. Hope this helps.

more than happy with my lot,still kinda in shock to have acquired a Tyler Wilson boat before my 29th birthday. I've come along way from my tupperware,although was gutted to have had to of parted with my barney boat. I did my homework and was quite ruthless in the viewing and got damn lucky with my offer. As much as i like reading your opinions,im my own man and do my own thing,and as a dirty hippy with dreads down to my bum,a shower would only lead to my drowning....I'll have a historic motor one day,even if it means another ten years of bein a slave in a bakery,but until then,all the best to all of ya,I doubt many of you would give me the time of day in reality,but id be very touched if ya did

And today in Luton two men escaped when a prison van was in a collision with a concrete mixer. Police have warned the public to be on the lookout for hardened criminals.

Not if I've been eating me fruit and veg, but if I've been on a diet of eggs, yes. A lorry load of plums was stolen in Romford today. Police are looking for two men on the run.

Many car engines of years ago that were capable of revving to 5 or 6000 rpm, ''and were'', that used dynamos and must have run their dynamos up to around maybe 7,8 or even 10,000 rpm without exploding.

He was been sarcastic. Well hopefully.

As I get older I find gravity to be getting stronger and stronger, especially near to steep hills. Can you drain your gearbox at the bottom of a flight of locks? .............Dave

Perhaps you should defeat by wit, debate and skill rather than just keep wittering on about a poster you have a fixation on. I am quite sure that our CWDF software would be able to spot Onionbargee if he was still using the same kit he used to, if not, then it's more difficult. If it is indeed him,He also brings to debate some issues of CRT management having been proven untruthful and bullying in their non issue of licence. I also see nothing in theT&C of joining this site that Rich has to admit to MTB that he has previously been someone else. I'm sure Lala Minnow will be along shortly to back me up on this.

Why not have a vote if the admin team are still reluctant to remove this annoying intrusion. No gallery, gallery with user option to not display it or gallery as it is now. I think it is obvious what my vote would be! I still cannot see any benefit in having it hogging screen space and bandwidth. What is its purpose? Most of the pictures are irrelevant without context and can only be seen distorted anyway. If someone really thinks their photos are so good that everyone should see them they can put them in a post. Then people can ignore them if they want to.

Hello from me too! I have known Ezra for years ever since she was on the Macc and the only powered means of access to his cottage for Jack. The "so called" pecking order of boats is all in the mind of some people. Tupperware or ex-working boat, we all enjoy the canals. You have a nice boat there, enjoy it. George ex nb Alton retired

I find Google Chrome one of the quickest and best browsers ( it's also one of the most secure ) It does like to eat memory tho if you like leaving tabs open, but this is due to each tab been in its own sandbox.

I for one, and I'm sure many others, are grateful to you early adopters for testing this stuff. Only time will tell – if your blacking is looking good in two years time it will be at least equal to the usual stuff.

I'm not sure that the precautions regarding where to moor and leave a boat apply only to large urban areas, they apply to everywhere. Personally I wouldn't consider leaving the boat moored unattended out in the sticks anywhere with no other boats moored nearby. I'm more than happy to moor up in such a location and stay there if I'm on the boat however. A boat left unattended has a level of risk(albeit statistically small otherwise our insurance premiums would skyrocket) wherever you leave it, the risk is reduced if there are other boats moored nearby. For this reason I would suggest that the centre of Birmingham around the Barclaycard Arena/Brindley Place area is probably as safe as you are going to be anywhere since there are often a few other boats around and quite a lot of people legitimately passing. It takes a determined vandal to operate with an audience. The point I was highlighting when making my original comments was the lack of concern by the perpetrators that there was someone on the boat at the time when they were throwing stones, spitting, banging on the boat, casting it off and walking off with the boatpole. To me they are effectivly saying, "...and what are you going to do about it?....".

With very few exceptions, there is nothing special about the standards; most intelligent design and fitting out practices will comply, after all the standards are only a statement of what is considered to be good practice. The art of RCD compliance is to document how compliance has been achieved. To be honest, most of the compliance is just 'tick box' stuff, as long as documented CE products are used throughout.

Hot off the press - he will NOT be showing up. Tom Deards has belatedly stepped in to do what he ought to have done in the first place, and will appear at court in support of everything that was put into the 'Grimes' statement for him, with its exhibits, filing a short Statement to that effect. Leigh has just sent the new Statement, but I have not read it yet.

Yes and same from me. Happy Birthday Mr Boat! P.S. The whispergen is in my back cabin now and part installed. It's proving a slow job!!