SteveO

A reasonable turnout again, given that it is half-term week. The winner this evening and next week's QM was Grendel with NikO and Bern in joint second place. Well done and thank you to all who joined in.

It's one thing being bold and brave while taking someone else's boat under. Not quite the same as when you take your own.

You can always varnish someone else's woodwork

Lovely holiday tale, thanks Jean. You must have been out and about when we were up last and out paths probably crossed without knowing it.

It falls to me to set next week's quiz. We are off boating tomorrow and won't be back until late Thursday. I have set the questions early, and so next Friday's topics will be: British firsts and inventions Proverbs and sayings Down in the potting shed Half time break Countries Science and Nature Accidents come in 3's We will start at 8.30ish in the chatroom Enter Username - no password required; https://www.nbnplus.co.uk/chat/ All welcome.

I am afraid you have missed my point entirely. Read what I said again, carefully. If you want to change something, focusing on the "here and now" and not what happened 200 years ago might give a better outcome. I could turn what you said around and say that the historical focus is "whataboutery", willfully focusing on what you can't change rather than doing something about things that you might be able to influence, however uncomfortable that might be.

We had this problem and learned a couple of things that are worth repeating here. One was that, depending on the architecture of your waste system, "blue" introduced via the pump-out hose may not actually ever make it to the tank. Our tank is on the starboard side of the boat and the pump-out is on the port deck, which means that there is a long transverse length of pipe crossing the boat at bilge level. If not carefully back-flushed into the tank, the blue will just sit in the pipe until the next pump-out. For this reason, I tend to add the blue via the heads and pump it into the tank from there. The other point is the diameter of the vent pipe, which I believe the BSS stipulates as no less than 12mm. The only problem is that over the passage of time, a 12mm pipe can become significantly narrowed, especially if the tank is overfilled, leading to anareobic conditions, which produce the smell. We had ours replaced with a 1.25 inch pipe with appropriately sized fittings at either end. The result is a properly vented tank which stays in "aerobic" mode and doesn't emit a noticeable odour.

I should have thought it quite obvious that the "they" to whom I refer are those people who are making the most noise about historical slavery but I hear nothing from them on social or any other media about modern slavery. Where are the pressure groups and demonstrations against people trafficking, sex slavery or any other modern manifestation of this abhorrent practice? I can only conclude that these so-called "sensitized" people are much more comfortable with focusing on the past because the past doesn't argue back or offer violence. I had to look up "whataboutism" as I do not deal in "flip" political terms, but I find your use of the term in this context offensive. I am merely pointing out that if one truly wanted to do something about slavery they would focus on the here and now rather than revisiting the past.

The trouble with the past, Bill, is that it is the past. We can't change it, we can only learn from it and vow never to repeat it. We are more likely to learn from it if it isn't continually reinterpreted, "curated" by those with a particular social or political angle or airbrushed away by removal of visible signs of anyone who had anything to do with it. Depending on your definition of slavery, I think we have generally reached the conclusion that slavery is a bad thing, the exceptions being those "modern slavers" who seem to occupy a blind spot in our society. This is happening here and now, largely ignored by the very same people who have been making such a noise about historic slavery via social media, demonstrations and mob removal and defacement of public statues over the last few years. One can only wonder why they are focusing on things they can't change rather on on those which they could if they but had a will to do so.

Nik and I are cooling our heels in Norfolk - almost literally - this evening. Normal service will be resumed next Friday.

Even up North the river levels are incredibly high at the moment. Not surprised you are having problems with bridge clearances.

Am I confusing her with another boat, or did she have work done on her keel hog a few years ago? If so, the statement about "first time in decades"doesn't bear scrutiny.

Now there's a thought... Manipulate supply to create a shortage, then use the shortage to jack the price up. Now why didn't I think of that?

I hope you rated her plate.

Curtains for privacy and the little bit of insulation they provide when boating in the colder months.

Yes I was caught in the gridlock on my way out to the NDR.😠

When I said idiots, I was referring to the people I saw filling a selection of small, often unsuitable containers after brimming their fuel tank to a value of £15. There were plenty of these about last week when I last filled up. As regards the minimum limit, I would have thought £40 or so. Obviously there would have to be exceptions and exemptions for vehicles whose tanks can't hold that much fuel. I can't say that people should use their common sense, as clearly this does not apply to fuel.

The filling stations might better off imposing a minimum purchase limit to encourage people only to fill their tanks when they really need to and discourage idiots from filling up gallon cans.

And a pair of sunglasses.

Our current supply arrangements are too global, too interconnected and not sufficiently resilient. The world seems to be lurching from shock to shock and each shock now seems to affect everyone. We need to have more by way of fire-breaks , more safety stocks, more checks and balances, more flexibility and a much better appreciation of what constitutes "strategic infrastructure". This probably flies in the face of the current "just in time" philosophy but maybe that has been rolled out beyond the point where it is useful.

Oh good. I'll be well gone by then.🤣

We have a Toshiba with a 24 inch screen. Gives a great picture, good sound and runs nicely on the inverter. I'd go for. Cello, on the basis that it is made in the U.K., but I will run this one until it dies first and we have another identical one at home, so Cello won't be getting my cash any time soon.

Easy enough to do with gas and radiant electric rings today. I suspect we will all be kitted out with electric induction hobs if and when all this comes to pass. I don't know whether or not these will burn a carelessly placed tea towel.

I don't think that not being able to see a hydrogen flame is a big deal. Our modern Worcester Bosch heating boiler has a blue LED which glows when the boiler is heating water. The actual combustion process is buried in the guts of the unit.

Diesel vs petrol is an interesting one. By shifting away from diesel, we are hopefully reducing the number of local air pollution problems but adding more to global CO2. Apart from the posturing of politicians and environmentalists, I have to wonder how much the world really cares about this stuff. The house builders are now building more and more housing estates close to motorways and major roads and we are all buying more and more cheap cr*p from China which in terms of CO2 is the world's biggest polluter and has no intention of ceasing it's relentless burning of coal until 2060, by which time coal will have run out or we will all be dead.