John Hartley

I have never once received an acknowledgement from CRT about the number of times I have safely negotiated all the manned locks on the tidal section with the help of employed or volunteer lock keepers.😁 No one ever tells us about the innumerable times the locks have been successfully and safely used, it would get boring. CRT are not perfect nor are the boaters who use the system. Including the so called expert boat handlers. We all make mistakes, if no gets hurt, boats or infrastructure damaged then put it down to experience and move on. Stay safe everyone

I find the weather can have an effect both on the smoke and the ability of the stove to burn well pressure being the culprit. On foggy days the smoke has difficulty rising due to the higher external air pressure. Stay safe everyone

I emptied mine [plastic/glass fiber] and left it insitu for about 12 months after sealing all the holes/pipework. I removed the toilet bowl and associated pipe and electrical fittings and installed its replacement. After last lock down I took the tank out and took it to my local council tip and disposed of it. No problems, no smell and no mess. Good Luck stay safe

Looks like a Petter AA1 to me

I have had two moorings over the years. The first was a marina of sorts in a beautiful location it did not have electric hookup but water supply was easy to hand, it also had a sanitary station. At that time it was one of the cheapest moorings available. My currant mooring is in a boat club. I have electric hookup at reasonable cost, water point close by and a sanitary station. The cost is about a third of the cost of my first mooring which was about thirty years ago. In all walks of life there are those you get on with and those you do not. Thats life accept it and enjoy yourself. The rules of my club are not in the slightest onerous. There are three working days a year where you are expected help with keeping the place tidy. You can do more if you wish. I am expected to cut the grass outside my own boat and keep it tidy. If my neighbors are out then I cut theirs too. They do the same for me. Last but by no means least I am expected to do a bar duty one Saturday night a year. We run the bar for the evening getting to meet and chat to all the other members at the club that night. Its a gorgeous location on one of the most spectacular canals in the country. I love it.

May I ask what the symptoms were

The amount of stability needed in this instance needs to be spread over the whole base-plate as far as is possible. If its all on the center-line or the extreme outer edges would over time cause the base-plate to bend either concave or convex. The thickness of the base-plate would of course help to counteract the bend.

Check the underside of the bearing housing as a lot f older ones had two grease nipple holes. To make access easier.

Tin Worm?

Neither do I understand the relevance to the original posting.

That looks more like a mining disaster and not pitting.? Its a long time since I puled one to pieces and I have not seen pitting that bad before

Myself and two other guys built our first steel narrowboat. 45 ft from a set of available plans. The local steel stockholder did all the bends for us [gunnels]. It took the three of us 4 years and one week. Easter is a movable feast. We worked every Sunday and 2 evenings a week, it was hard graft but we enjoyed every minute of it. Go for the biggest shell you can fit in the build space, because all the work is in the stem and stern. the bit in the middle is much easier. When completed the insurance value was £42,000 the actual cost to us was £12,659, less our hours worked. We did it for love not profit. We rebuilt an engine for it but had to purchase a new gear box and propeller. We bought the correct stainless steel and turned our own prop-shaft. When the shell was completed we filled it water to check it did not leak. It did, about an egg cup full over four days. Its a huge undertaking, do not underestimate that but when you sail away for the first time its a huge satisfactory feeling that last as long as you own it. If you need any help I can give only too happy to help.

Use a mop and bucket?