frahkn

I was never in the market for a new Hudson or RWD so have not read their published claims. I am a little disappointed that my own maker, Orion (where I believe mine is one of only 11 surviving 70' boats) seem to have made no claims whatever. Despite searching, I have found out little about the history of my boat nor of the manufacturer generally. With non-historic boats, I wonder if even somewhat specious stories are better than none at all.

At the moment I am moored between two boats. One is a Hudson, a nice, clean, attractive boat but with those rivets which I hear are not the thing. The other is a R W Davis Northwich Trader, a gorgeous boat (almost as nice as mine) but with rivets, in fact many more rivets than the Hudson. I don't recall very many comments on here about Davis rivets but loads about those on Hudsons - why is this?

I have encountered no difficulty getting my 70' boat (no bow thruster) around in one go. I don't know if it is the solution for everyone but I go slowly.

It was the arrangement when I bought the boat; I don't know why. Questions on this forum revealed that two pumps are common on long Orions and Hudsons. Mr Smelly removed one of his without any problem. I haven't found any difficulty but I would point out that the hot pump has lasted unchanged for four years while I have had to replace the cold pump 4 times in that period. I have no explanation for this. I have a temperature controlled mixer shower run from the engine or an emersion heater or from an instant gas heater - it is fine (although subtle different) from all three sources.

I have twin pumps but one is for the cold supply and the other for the hot.

Can anyone tell me how I can book a mooring for next year's show? Thanks.

If the Bridge Inn is not to your taste (it's not to mine) there is a choice of two quite different pubs in the village - only a stroll from the moorings.

Does anyone know if Maffi, of narrowboat Milly M (and a member here) is OK? He has a cc blog but has not posted since June. I am not able to agree with almost anything which he posts but I would'n like to think anything has happened to him.

Can't argue with that; perhaps I could have when I was edgy and trendy but I can no longer remember those days. To tell the truth, I struggle to remember Friday!

I fell for my boat at first sight even though (the most obvious point) it was 70' and I was looking for a 57'. Two months later I was very worried that its "quirks" were going to overwhelm me. Now (after five years) I am beginning to get used to them. Throughout, I have really loved the boat. You can moor it amongst many boats and it still stands out (in my opinion) when you return to it. But Cuthound is only beginning to describe its oddities, some are just odd while some verge on lunacy. Frank.

Off-hand I cannot remember being in a chandlery and not buying something (even if I have no immediate need for the item I am always persuaded that "it will come in useful"). So you only need to get me in there - and that depends solely on how I feel I am treated at the pump. By the way, my 2003 Orion has a 400 litre tank capacity so it's not only traditional boats.

I must admit that I was a little surprised at the figure of 130 cc per day for an average adult (that's why I included the reference). Still the fact is that it remains unchallenged. Your own hypothesis, that different figures would pertain if the research were repeated on a boat, would make a good PhD for someone but not me.

The taps at the swing bridge are slow but they are much faster than the tap at the service point below the lock. This is one of the slowest on the system - they don't have a cafe next to it for nothing, a library might be better!

You might want to consider Alvecoat marina. Obviously different folks have different requirements from a marina but if general atmosphere and technical facilities outweigh showers, toilets, shops etc for you.

I am considering a composting loo but I would not want one if the material is not composted or if I had to have more than two or three containers to ensure full composting. Despite 6 pages of dialog, I am not a lot further forward. This is mainly because posters seem obsessed with how others deal with non composted waste rather than how to compost it. I'm not complaining - it's a free forum - but it's not dealing with this topic in a way that is useful to me (or anyone in my situation).