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If you do decide to go for the Kennet, I would just ask you to wait until Mr Norman has completed his "Progress" on the K&A. He has already expressed some dissatisfaction with the amount of "slum boats" there, and whilst yours would not justify such a description, I seem to recall it did have a lot of plants and stuff on the roof.

As predicted, today was a stunning day! I woke up early basically because I was being kicked out of bed! If there is one downside about being on board a narrowboat it's the size of the bed! Maybe we should both go on a diet before we go on our next adventure. So, let us recap! We started off leaving the Wey Navigation at Weybridge and made our way to Teddington to catch the tide. After travelling through the tidal Thames we met up with the Grand Union Canal at Brentford. From there we travelled through some of the nicest and not so nice places along the canal. Eventually, we hung a left onto the South Oxford Canal. This is very much a rural canal. Set in amazing countryside with open fields and hills, this is a very pretty canal however, when it's blowing a gale and the rain is pissisting down, it can be a little bit bleak. From the South Oxford Canal we turned right onto the Thames where we spent the night at Farmoor moorings. We then went back onto the Canal and travelled through Jericho as we'd never done it before. We then spent the rest of the journey on the Thames. During our journey, we had about three days of sunshine. I have lost a considerable amount of money at cards. I broke my foot (or come very close to it if not. It's still very painful!). I've been very wet and very cold. We even put the fire on a couple of times! But above all, I have met some really lovely people, had belly laughs every day and drank copious amounts of alcohol. And, I didn't end up in the water! Result! I also cannot believe that I actually got a suntan on the last day! This morning we left our moorings outside the Swan hotel in Stains and made our way on a very empty river towards Shepperton. We arrived at The Thames Court pub at midday, which was handy as there were moorings outside and empty tables in the garden. Half an hour later, there was neither. We had ourselves a wonderful roast dinner then sat on the director chairs next to the boat and lapped up the rays. If the truth be known, we were just putting off the inevitable. Eventually, we made our way through Shepperton lock and turned right onto the Wey Navigation. I am now sitting at home listening to the washing machine moaning about the amount of washing there is. Tomorrow, I will probably be moaning about the amount of ironing there is to do! It has been a great holiday but, as usual, it always seems too short. Tuesday I will be back at work and by Wednesday it will seem like a distant memory. I hope I haven't bored you all too much?! If you have enjoyed reading my adventures, please would you just take 5 minutes to read the link about a very special little boy. His name is Nicholas Stewart and he's my grandson. On Saturday, he will be flying out to Boston to have tests for life saving treatment. I would be really grateful if you could share the link on your social media sites. Thank you all for your time. 'Till the next time, TaDa! Xx https://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fgogetfunding.com%2Fflighting-for-the-future&h=ATPPd71TvqxFWcB6_CE796rPM_LOljrrNFj5msctJk3CAMLY7vBB_7VA7KZ_5Ytfn-9XObzR0mm1GPR14RIIxNgXg_QsWK5RMR2kHFtVrjgu0s2JGc6-KF45Wg&s=1&enc=AZOF61c17E-AcLS8RG2xQ-Oi_tYjkwDA4GSKRcjK403pnrKMH_OnLrLlMu0t_wawonOw2ysCB40kOtOp5Dhkp-cnwu0U19OHavnp7w7iS3PZRQ

For what its worth you are doing absolutely right. My old Dad did only about four jobs in his life and I have done loads of different things all totally different many with differing courses I have needed by law to take. Being in the one job for my 46 working years would have driven me barmy ( oh hang on a minute ) I have lived and worked in many countries early on and all over England in the past several years and its been fab. Never moved for the money just lifes experience.

I liked the twin seat arrangement, very friendly

You have the housing market mentality - it's ingrained in our culture and it's difficult to avoid thinking in that way. Try to forget about how much your boat is worth and just enjoy it. If you continue to think of your boat as a monetary asset then I'm afraid you will ultimately be disappointed. Unless it's a historic boat or unique in some other way then most boats are just depreciating assets.

Oh.,forget it then

We went to the festival today. Determined not to be parted from my emergency backup tenner by all the nice people waving homemade fudge at me and chutney. It made it intact all the way up until the army surplus stall, and then i waved goodbye to half of it. Still, five pounds left of my emergency fund isn't too bad, until that is, the mrs decided she wanted jewellery and cards.... Grrrrrrrr.

Quite a few (all?) of the current chinese made undercounter units don't have external condenser grids. If the fan only runs when the compressor runs and uses say 3% of the power that the compressor does, it only needs to reduce the runtime of the compressor by 3% to be worthwhile. Generally I'd say that a large slow running fan will move air more quietly and efficiently than a smaller fan. Most PC fans seem to happily run from as little as 5 volts. Doesn't really need to blow air up from the bilge either, just increasing the airflow round the condenser will help.

Living on a boat is rarely more cost effective than living in a house eg the cost of liveaboard moorings could well run to £1000 per month (in the South) and the cost of utilities will be higher. Maintenance cost will generally be higher on a boat and you will suffer depreciation whilst a house will generally appreciate in value. You could always CC and save the mooring fees but unless you understand the 'rules' and, if you are working, have health problems,' family needs' or schooling in the area then it can be difficult to comply. You would need a mooring for your cruiser and if you are ccing then you need to consider methods of getting back to your cruiser. You may make a small saving if you currently have a mortgage on the house and can pay cash up front for the boat. Generally the only people who 'make it work' living on a boat are those who 'want to live on a boat'. Those that want a cheap 'floating flat' generally fall by the wayside fairly quickly - particularly if it is a 'hard' winter and, they are frozen in and having to carry toilet contents miles along the towpath to empty them, and on the return trip gas bottles and full water carriers .

"Above 12 volts" isn't good enough and 12.3 volts is only about 50% charged. Starter battery should read 12.6v at least.

Are your jump leads of good quality? more often than not cheap ones usually with ally cables are useless. Connect The black- cable to neg- on battery, the other end of it to starter body or engine mass close to the starter. On the starter solenoid there should be two large terminal nuts, one of which has the red pos+ cable attached to it, the other one connects to the starters motor. First connect your Pos red jump cable from the battery to this lower terminal nut, the one which serves the starters motor. The starter motor should spin up briskly without engaging with the engines ring gear. Now put the red jump lead onto the other pos+ terminal nut, the one with the red cable on it. Along side these large terminal nuts will be a small terminal nut or spade terminal with a thin wire on it which comes from the starter key or button. Get a short bit of wire and fix it to this small terminal and then touch the large terminal nut with the red+ cable on it with the other end of it. Everything should be by-passed and the starter should work and whip the engine round. But I expect you've already done this. If so, re check all your cable connections. And mind not to touch the engine mass or starter body with the pos+ jump lead clamp, or you'll get a firework display.

I understand (but don't condone 'prissiness' with one's output - must be an upbringing in in the Scouts). However you have to be practical. I t's not only the costs but you have to factor in space for a frequently hot object - not easy even in a broad beam. Additionally it needs more frequent attention to it supplies (if gas powered). It's designed for large vessels - not inland leisure craft.

They eight it when that happens.

An unlikely yarn you're spinning there... (Edit to insert the quote)

For those of us who don't speak Norwegian: http://cinderellaeco.com/us/cinderella-motion/ Technical info Seating height 490 mm Height 510 mm Width 390 mm Depth 590 mm Weight 20 kg Capacity up to 6 pers Standby electric power requirement 0,005 Amp Electric power requirement for incineration 1,3 Amp Gas consumption around 110 grams per incineration Incineration power 3000W Power requirement 12V DC 11-14,4 V Ventilation fan 12V DC Gas Propane (30 mBar pressure) Hygienic Certified product 3-year warranty No water supply or installation of tank required $ 5,295 US

Hi all, My name is Mike and this is my first post so bear with me..... Regarding the Aintree Beetle, I have owned one since January, the first 30 foot model they produced in March 2015. Not the standard layout as it was built to the original owners design [ two berth with larger galley]. I must say it does everything it says on the tin. It floats, it goes forward, it goes backwards [well sort of], you can do pirouettes in a winding hole. I've just taken her from Fenny to Marston Doles and back, she drew many admiring glances, one bloke asked if she was for sale , another asked if she was electric. Construction seems pretty robust , interior fitout passes muster for the price [I am a Joiner]. Good little Japanese digger engine working fairly hard under my feet. Highly maneuverable when a hire boat comes charging out of a bridge hole on your side of the canal and you have to pass him on the left........ All in all, yes, I'm pretty pleased with it, especially the extra five foot in length. The standard 25 footer with four berths might be a little, shall we say 'cosy' though!

Surely the price only matters if your buying or selling. I couldn't care less what our boat might be worth. The only costs that concerns me are the maintenance and mooring costs.

Our garden backs onto the canal. Our rescue GSD is often in the garden when the local swans (still with cygnets) come along. Frequently they have end up nose to beak, barking and hissing at each other, until I call Zeus in. However it never seems to progress beyond a noisy Mexican standoff.

Didn't Aintree Boats introduce the Beetle range to enable them to stay in the boat manufacturing business when the supply of steel became a problem due to the change over of cars to alloy wheels and the subsequent lack of 'hub-caps'. By introducing the Beetle they could produce twice as many boats using the same number of hub-caps.

WOW! We have been on the boat for three weeks! Three weeks of rain ish, but not today. We woke up again to a beautiful morning. Our geese were still hanging around to see if we were gullible enough to give out some more bread. Tuff luck geese, it's not happening today! There was a little bit of a drama with a boat trying to turn round to moor up. Unfortunately, they hadn't accounted for the current and their bow thrusters weren't able to cope with the turn. They ended up blocking the river with another Boat's occupants shouting: "You're going to hit the boat, you're going to hit the boat!" It has to be said, this did not help the poor bloke trying to turn his boat round. Mick tried to help by taking the rope but, as hard as he tried, he couldn't hang on and rather than end up in the water, had to let go! Once the bloke had finally moored up, he was nice enough to come and say thank you. We eventually made our way down the long bit at Henley where the racing is usually carried out. It's not the prettiest of sections but, when the sun is shining, all is good! I put some sausages in the oven to wait for an ideal opportunity to stop and have lunch. This turned out to be Marlow. However, at Hurley lock, a pleasure boat came through with a brass jazz band on it. What a sight! It was really nice to see. We were amazed to get a mooring spot at Marlow! Although, I think the eight or more swans on the bank where we moored weren't very impressed and there was a little bit of hissing going on. We had lunch, washed down by a beer or two then, just after 2 pm, when the lock keepers had finished lunch, we made our way down river. We were on the lock staging with a really pretty day boat. Unfortunately, it had major problems getting into the empty lock as it didn't steer very well and ended up across the lockbentrance. It then had to be helped into the lock by the lock keeper dragging it in by its rope! Eventually, we got in the lock after it. When the lock emptied, we were told to leave the lock first but within seconds, the day boat was overtaking us! Clearly, it was ok on the straights! As the clouds built, we made our way steadily down the river. We have ended up mooring at Bell Meadow, Cookham, under a willow tree. Literally, under a willow tree! We will be fine if it rains but the solar panels think it's winter already! Cook ham is a very pretty little village and, if you can get moored here, it's well worth the £6 to do so. I am now very stuffed after having a meal in The Crown pub. Good food decent prices. I just need to sink a couple more drinks before ambling back, through the graveyard, back to the boat for a night under the trees. Amazingly enough, it hasn't rained for the second day on the trot! Let's see what happens tomorrow!

Yes, and a lot of people used it to post pictures on CWDF which have now all gone. One of my interests is traditional boat decoration, and there were some excellent examples on the forum, I have posted a lot of work by Ron Hough over the years which could be accessed by members, it has all gone now. When I have more time I may start a thread to which people can add their "lost" photos. I will also be deleting everthing I have in my Photobucket library and will be cancelling my membership.