MauriceMynah

Yes Vanessan, your point... "But if something is put in place that can save lives, that can only be good" is one held by many many people. The problem is that there will always be things that can be put in place. Educate people by all means, but if you legislate to remove/neutralise boating's biggest killer, then something else will take it's place. Logically you would have to end up banning boating and all other leisure activities involving water. Water is dangerous. I realise that I'm exaggerating the issue, but it's the only way I see of getting my point across. I can agree that hire craft should be equipped with these devices, but at the same time there should be full detailed instructions as to what to do should one go off. Evacuate and ventilate is not enough. As I was typing this, BB has posted with much the same question. Yes have the alarms, but will someone please tell me what to do about them?????.

Now, before all the sailies close ranks and rally together (And please remember, I DO know what that's like) lets look at the evidence both circumstantial and actual. There was a major sailie race that day involving 90+ yachts. The height of the marks are consistent with a sailing boat and the direction of them is consistant with a slow moving boat or boats. Being a race there may be excuse for making contact with the owner at a later time, which still could happen. and finally, Merlin65uk has not said this was done by a saily, though I would say it was most likely.

It's just one of those things Vaughan, I fitted gas in a friends boat back in the 70's then changed the installation in my first boat, again back in the 70's. In the 80's I bought a GRP hull and superstructure (complete with floors and main bulkhead) I fitted that out installing the gas. When I refitted St Christopher (mid 90s ) I did the gas installation, and when I replaced the cooker in Nyx, again I did it myself. On all those occasions it was with Butane, I've never used Propane before. I shall have to try to find the book of words for Nyx's current cooker to confirm whether it's ok for Propane but from what you've said Vaughan, it sounds like it should be. One thing I have picked up within this thread is that it's a wise precaution to renew the gas regulators from time to time. I shall in future do that. How often though? Five years or ten?

I did realise that I would need to change the regulators on Nyx to do this change over, and no, I wasn't planning on trying to "Get around that". I had two concerns. Firstly would my cooker need any adapting / replacing and second, Value for money for the gas itself.

I shall get around to it asap. You don't happen to have a contact number for Beccles YC do you?

Whoops, That's a point, Mine isn't tolled either !

And both wines

As William Franklyn used to say... "Tempting isn't it."

Compulsory Co alarms, Compulsory smoke alarms, compulsory wearing of life jackets, compulsory boat handling lessons for hirers, compulsory swimming lessons... etc. etc. etc. Not one of the above is a 'bad idea' the only question is how far do you want to go in making things "compulsory". I will do a risk assessment of my boating habits and will, sometimes, act accordingly. There is a limit to the amount of cotton-wool I want to have forced upon me, and it's already been exceeded. I have no objection to having a co alarm on my boat, I already have one, but I'm damned if I want to be ordered to have one by some pen-pushing bureaucratic doughnut who's total knowledge of boating was obtained by playing in the bath as a kid.

Sure thing Griff, I've just got to work out how to get it to you. It's in Sawbridgeworth and only has a makeshift trailer. Keep asking but I'm there if all else fails.

I understand that the Japanese have developed a camera with a shutter-speed so fast it can capture the moment when a woman's mouth is closed. That's it, I'm outta here.

Hi all, I'm thinking of swapping over from Butane to Propane. Can anyone tell me the pros and cons of such a swap.

Barry, I heard that you failed your first test for driving too close to the poor guy walking ahead of you with the red flag

It's been a year or three since I passed my test (second attempt) and there was a long waiting list back then. I don't know how it is now. Anyway, although your test may be a while down the line, I do have this suggestion to make. When you have booked your test and have a date for it, book another one for as soon after your first as is allowed. The logic behind this is that when you take the first, you can treat it like the "mock exams" you did at school. This does two things, It takes some of the pressure off as you know you have a second test booked, and you relax knowing that this is "just for experience". also you will know how long you have to wait before having another bash. Many tests are failed owing to "exam nerves" having some of that pressure taken away will cause you to concentrate more on the driving and less on it being the test. When you pass first time, cancel the second test and you get the fee back. In the unlikely event that you fail the first one, book up another so again you have one in hand. Oh and first get on to a better driving school (Not BSM) The cars may be a bit tired but should always look and feel clean and tidy. The examiner won't much enjoy the experience of a scruffy dirty vehicle.

6oz ?? 6OZ ?? What use is 6oz ??? A pair of 8oz as a starter... now you're talking !!!

2 out of 3 (or even all 3) would tell me that there IS a problem and it's time to act. fair enough, life saved, investment justified. Now I need to prove "was it outside coming in or inside and not getting out" the latter will be most likely if no engines / c-heating is running so sleep in over ventilated boat. Now, if there IS an engine running (or central heating unit) place co detector on deck outside, next to the window nearest to the probable source. if it fires off again (assuming its not MY c-heating) ... well I'll leave that option to peoples imagination. Yes, 3 detectors seems to be a satisfactory solution. Next question is... "At what level of CO should the alarm be set at?"

Fair enough DeeBee, but I find myself having even more questions. How can you test a unit to check that it's working properly? Should I put the unit where probable sources are, or where I'm most likely to be? Richard, Yes, 2 votes out of 3 is a good idea, but lets say two of them are screaming "Get outta there" , after evacuating and ventilating, then what?... actually I think I have part of the answer to that, it's occurred to me that the best option would be to wrap up warm and then sleep with all doors and windows wide open. Further investigation to take place in the morning.

I shall say again, I am not against co alarms, I have one. Where I do have a problem is that it seems to have made people paranoid. Question. If you were to stand in Oxford Street holding one when the traffic levels were reasonably high, would it go off? No, I don't know either but I suspect levels there will be higher than when the boat next door to you runs it's engine in Salhouse. Sorry Richard but this is kinda what I mean. Ok, Its 1am and its raining slightly. The co alarm has gone off. I can find no reason for it to have done so, so I'm standing on the bank and all the boat windows are open. I've also left all the doors open too. There are no other boats close and no engines/c-heating running. Now what? What's next? What do I do? In the morning (having stood on the bank all night) what do I do now? Who can tell me what happened? How can I prevent it happening again? From whom should I take advice? Has the device saved my life or am I going to die of pneumonia for nothing? I'm not just 'banging on' about it, I genuinely want to know the answers to at least SOME of those questions. At home when it went off, I finally managed to silence it and my sister and I went back to bed.(our separate ones before anybody gets any ideas !!!) We each slept quite badly wondering if we were going to wake up again but apart from that Nothing! The alarm proved itself as useless purely because we didn't know what to do!

Ohh and it's a Slow slow quick quick slow... I tell you, It's not just the dance that needs to be committed.

He probably will Grendel, but it's handy to have a 'plan B'

Timbo, If the weather breaks or you find 'camping' is for kids, go to the pleasure boat and use Nyx as a base. you know you are more than welcome.

Hmmm, Time to duck me thinks. Much has been said about CO and the detectors for it. Don't get me wrong, I have one, I just don't know what to do about it. We have one at home too, and lt went off last winter. We could find no source of CO and it was a devil to reset. It was 1am and raining. I asked the members here what action I should have taken, but nobody really knew. Perhaps more importantly, I still have no idea what to do if mine goes off on the boat (for no obvious reason). I have been boating for fifty years and I've never yet died of CO poisoning. I take the view that common sense and proper ventilation is all that's needed. Check flames on the cooker for yellowish tips and if present GET THE UNIT CHECKED OVER BY AN EXPERT. Smoke and CO alarms can be used to back up your own instincts, but don't live by them alone.

Hiya Minifer, My boat lives at Hickling too, moored to the Pleasure Boat.

May I be the first to wish you all the very best of lurk.

My vote goes to the Pleasure boat, but I think you'll have to try both. Have a good time, wish I could be there.