Gaffer

As someone who sells batteries (amongst many other things) including Numax, I'd just add that as usual you get what you're prepared to pay for. Everyone is looking for a bargain and chandleries have to price accordingly and stock products that people will actually buy. The principal factor that affects how well a battery will hold charge is the amount of metal in the battery - and lead is VERY expensive at the moment. If customers asked what a battery weighed rather than what price, they might get more sensible answers !

Best place to get fireboard is a 'proper' builders merchant - not DIY stores. The 'trade' use it all the time. We buy ours (we're a boatyard) in 4' x 4' sheets from our local trade outlet. Don't be intimidated by these places - your money is as godd as anyone elses in these hard times.

We use Rylard's Premium Protection (which I presume is what you have) in our dry dock, and we always advise DIY customers to finish painting AT LEAST 18 hours before we re-flood the dock, to give it time to cure. If you csn't give it that sort of time and it is surface dry (dry not tacky) then provided that you don't bump into any lock walls etc - not that you would of course - then you'll probably get away with it.

One more observation. These units are NOT quiet. Because they work on the basis of sucking the contents of the loo into the cassette they sound a bit like a noisy airline loo. May not be a problem for you but if you need to wander off in the middle of the night then ........

As a chandlery owner who buys from Leesan, your posting really interested me. From experience of fitting these units I know that the Leesan product is actually made by Dometic. Having had a look at the Anglo American website I'm even more puzzled. I have a nasty feeling that the £400 price is for the toilet ONLY - i.e. it doesn't include the vacuum unit and cassette housing/cassette. This needs a bit more investigation with AAL. p.s. I can only say that I've neverr had any problems with Leesan's customer service - in fact as (originally) a retail customer and then a trade reseller I've found them really helpfull.

Get the seller to use the standard BMF sales paperwork. you not only have a Contract then but the seller signs a document titled a Freedom of Lien, in which he states that there are no outstanding charges concerned withthe boat. This way you're covered.

Several points here. I (we) are Licensing Agents for BW. There are quite a few of us but BW don't advertise our existence much. You can go to an agent and renew your license. It's a bit like the Post Office and Passports. We'll check all the paperwork (no charge) and send everything to BW for you. We even give you a receipt to display on your boat. License fees include VAT @ 17.5% so they will have to come down from 1/12/08. However, if renewing during 2009 there'll be an interesting situation, cos part of the license period will relate to 2010 and by then we'll be back on 17.5%. The VAT man may have something to say about that but it's too early to tell. To qualify for the Prompt Payment discount you must pay IN FULL before the start date of the new license - i.e. on or before the last day of the month preceeding when the new license will start. If you pay by Direct Debit you cannot receive the Prompt payment discount. By the way, you don't need the reminder.

Shobnall Boat Services (the old Jannel) on the T & M at Burton accept the boater's own declaration. They also offer a 5p/litre discount if you buy 100 litres or more (cuurent price is 66p for non-propulsion and 109p for propulsion)