Big Steve

The Saga policy on my 35 year old boat says it won't ever need a survey while I'm the owner and reinsuring it. If you read the small print and it sinks because of lack of maintenance, or something that a survey would have spotted, I get the impression that you are on your own.

Sounds interesting, show us a picture Woollymishka!

Most domestic oil boilers run on kerosene, when did you last hear of someone cleaning out their oil tank at home? I think that's an urban myth. If you're worried you can get additives to stop gunge growing in the tank. I should think that the only problem on running a combi, designed for kerosene, on diesel, would be the dent in your wallet, and having to clean the burners more often. I currently pay 35p a litre for kerosene for my domestic CH, I believe red comes in at over 50p (this is in 1000litre lumps) My delivery man would have no problem delivering to a boat, but it would have to be a big tank to make it worth his while.

Morning shower? That's what wet wipes are for.

My boat is plumbed like that, engine heats hot water, hot water heats calorifier which heats rads. By gravity, no pump, takes a while to get going but warms the whole boat eventually. It is 28mm pipe though. Never tried it in the depths of winter.

I'd be happy to do it for the price of a beer or two. Just got a milling machine too, so can make almost anything. If anyone is stuck , mail me and I'll see what I can do, don't really want paying, (it's a hobby) just enough to cover the costs of the materials. Call me on O1302 84OO29 e mail steve.wainATbtinternet.com (use @)

Last year I bought a 2.8kW Chinese gas generator for £250, new. It's good, But the regulator is very primitive. It will run straight off the standard gas regulator , but there is a "thingy", which I can only call a regulator, on the gas input to the genny. It doesn't regulate in the same way as the main regulator, it only allows gas through when the engine is running (by means of the inlet vacuum generated, if the engine stops, the gas flow stops) and provides primitive mixture control. If the genny isn't under much load , it "hunts" (technical term old petrol heads will understand) a lot because the mixture is too rich, but if you weaken the mixture (knob provided) it stalls under load and is a bitch to start, solution= put up with the hunting! It will be interesting to see how it fares in the examination next year. Mine lives under the cratch floor, it needed a bit of angle grinding on the frame and an exhaust outlet in the hull, but it's out of the way and tolerably quiet for a quick ding in the microwave or battery boost. It can be started with a decent battery drill on the crankshaft end if you don't like pulling string. When I get the installation finalised, I'll post some pictures. I think the benefits of gas far outweigh the few minor snags I've had. A £150 conversion kit must be quite hi tec, I'd like to see one in the flesh.

Not seen one like that, why not put a readily available type in its place?

Alkathene pipe AKA MDPE, comes in blue , black and yellow. Find a town having new gas or water pipes installed, there will be loads of offcuts 50-60mm diameter. ASK though. I've got a stack of 60mm in bright blue if you're interested and near South Yorks. I'm sure I could spare a bit.

Those UV lights/zappers they have in butchers, bought one this year for £20 on special offer, 2x 16" tubes, much better than the small ones that Maplin try and sell you, only problem is the smell if you get a big juicy one caught on the wires.

The screw fitting bit should only be hand tight. When I've found them too tight, a pipe wrench does the job. You can buy spares, all you need are the grab rings. Sometimes you can reuse these but they can be hard to get off and if you have spares it's easier just to snip them with sidecutters. If you really need them off in one piece, screw them while pushing towards the end, they cut a fine thread and come off. Off course, you then have to wire wool the pipe to get rid of this thread. I use Speedfit nowadays, similar idea but readily dismountable, same price. If these are the grey plastic fittings, I've got some in the shed and could send you a few grab rings if you like. Make sure you note the order of the bits as they come out, some of the older fittings had quite a few components. These things don't work with stainless pipe, and only with chrome pipe if you sand off the chrome.

if he's a big dog make sure you can lift him, one went in near Stainforth and drowned because the youths looking after him couldn't lift him onto the bank, by the time they had finished panicking and got help, he was a gonner.

Is it the little tap, item 28?