Recent content by ashley

Try this site Apollo duck as they have barges from £2K. Better off to travel to the french waterways where you can pick up 38m barges for just a few thousand euros. I know 'cos I've been offered them! Even if you have money the french waterways will result in better value for money than UK...

Re: \"Classic\" boat insurance hmm. "Age of boat" question has stupmed me. It doesn'tt seem to have fields for boat ages greater than forty years old. I require a filed that says "100-110 years"!!! I'll be calling them though

Re: \"Classic\" boat insurance Oh Kristal you tease. So you fail to mention WHO you are insured with. Is it one that can afford full page adverts in normal sailing press or a small independent? aside, I thought I was possibly a bit old to own a classic boat but you have less years than me if...

I am glad there is one voice of approval from among you. I have a canoe shaped vessel and the bow is quite sharp and square so i don't think the installation of a tube would reduce the rigidity much. May pay more attention to the installation of another waterproof bulkhead though.

I have no real mooring issues in the waterways of France, I am actually quite good. It would help to reduce the velocity at which i am tossed into the lock walls by selfish 130 foot barge owners using their engines as mooring aids! I am concerned about getting to the coast and having issues...

So can it be done. Can you reliably glass a grp thruster tube into the hull. No quips about real seaman need no assitance etc as I've got too much windage and half the amount of engines I should have (1).

Re: \'the best\' designs for europe I don't think they make a boat that fits all those criteria! If you want to do the rivers/canals with that much floor space then it would be a penichette or tjalk of no more than 24 metres long and 5.1m wide and most would be flat bottomed. If you want to do...

\"Classic\" boat insurance Can anyone suggest compaines who will insure wooden boats. Last time i tried i was quoted over £1000 but then decided to stay in France and pay £30 per month instead! Have requirement to bring the boat back to the UK now and don't want to start paying through the nose...

Suggestions. yep. do as i've done and rewire pairs of lights in series so you can use much cheaper 12v bulbs on 24v power. save yourself a fortune especially if you're about to buy 20 of them!

Buy a couple of proper bits matched to the screws The ones supplied with the drills are made of soft metals They will then grip so well they can break the head off the screw rather than slip as i've found!

Also, if you do not need to surf the internet but are happy with email, voice "messaging" and fax, you could try skymate which is much cheaper than satellite phone and SSB options It will also update a website daily showing your world location to friends/family/boat operator if required

Sorry, it seems to be only Britain that has ADSL at these slow speeds "Recently BT increased their connections from 512kbps to 1mbps for free. woo-hoo On my boat in france I've had 8mbps for six months. Had to turn down a 15mbps service because of the tie in period. My how we get ripped off...

Be careful My friend just got skanked for €2,400 with paypal's "guaranted" escrow service Do you think he'll see a penny?

Having used a solid fuel stove for the past two years, I have now switched to a drip feed bubble stove. The solid fuel is a very flexible option as you can burn wood from the riverbank or coal which is easily bought and stowed on deck. It takes practice to get the heat output right as each...

Orange in France offer a wifi/gprs package "]http://www.orange-wifi.com/offre_abo_OW.htm]