MauriceMynah

"How many of you use the moisture traps?" No I don't. Actually I try to remember to go to the toilet last thing before I go to bed.

Ahh I have a very lightweight sleeping bag, it's one of the doubles from 'Go Outdoors' plenty cosy enough for me, even in the winter.

My experience as a claimant of insurance companies differs greatly from yours and my further experience from within the industry does not align with your reports so, as I said, I think we shall have to agree to differ on this one Dave. I'm sorry Speedtriple, but no I cannot agree with you either. We all pay for crime. We pay for the shop lifters in our supermarket bills, in the same way we pay for fraud in our premiums. That's the way of the world. I seem to be the lone voice on this so in the spirit of forum harmony, I drop the subject (though I shall still be reading the thread with much interest. )

Sorry Dave, we will just have to agree to disagree on this. You have many stories of the insurance people ripping off the customer. I would think I could match them with stories of the customer ripping off the insurance company just as easily. As I said, I was in the insurance business for a while. If you were to answer "hand on heart" which do you think is more common, the insurance companies ripping off their customers or vice versa I think you might just start to see it from my point of view. The only point I would raise to you is that it is you who pays for insurance fraud, and that indirectly it is those assessors who are trying to lower your premium. As has been evident here, prove your case and you get full payout but given the number of fraudulent claims, you need to prove your case. Finally you say "What annoys me is that they are quite happy to take your valuation when they insure you and charge the premium accordingly, as soon as you make a claim they want to knock it down!" It is your responsibility not to over insure, If you pay a higher premium because you have, then that's not their responsibility!

Poor old insurance companies cop the flack again. I have no doubt that the assessors are trying to keep the bills down, and that some might be over enthusiastic in their attempts, but think on what the insurers have to cope with. Apart from the "Rayburns in the glove box" routine, there are others trying to get their noses into that trough! When you take a vehicle in for a repair, usually the first question you're asked is... "Is this going to be an insurance job?" Why do they ask that? Would it be because the price is different??? There are many examples I'm sure, where insurance companies may have been found wanting, but generally speaking they have to behave honestly. Not to do so would lose them hard won business in a very competitive field. Insurance fraud costs us all, and very probably more that you'd like to think.

"Spot what's wrong!!" Shouldn't it be attached to an engine or something?

Having worked in the insurance industry for a while, might I bring it to your attention that the reason insurers demand t's to be crossed and I's to be dotted is the number of fraudulent claims made. Suddenly there was a pair of Rayburns in the glove box and a Pentax in the boot. You know the sort of thing. In reality they like to pay both quickly and fully, it does their reputation good, it's just that they rarely get the chance! Now I've got that off my chest, might I agree with Strow and re-iterate the importance of not moving casualties more that absolutely necessary, and learning the basics of CPR, and most importantly,... however many idiots there are out there, don't become one of them. Take care of yourselves first, others after.

Hi Tim, I live in Sawbridgeworth and have relations in Sidmouth, which was why I asked. I used to work opposite you in Pitney Bowes! Small world aint it!

Stainless steel pants? Now there's a thought!

Doh!

Hi Tim, Where in Essex were you? and come to that, where in Devon are you? Nosey whatsit aint I! Oh and Welcome.

Dave, You have to get your jollies where you can!

Hi all, A friend of mine has shown an interest in owning a small cruiser. Trailable would be handy but not essential He's looking in the 18 to 22 ft range, with an outboard. I've described the Norman 20 and he likes the sound of that. The boat would be on the canal system sometimes and occasionally on the Broads. It would be presumptuous of me to talk of budgets but again I think the Norman 20 is going to be about right. Any ideas anyone?

I sometimes wonder about that myself Mike. Welcome to you both from me too.

Lower Bure close to Yarmouth?

I'm not sure if anyone has ever put anything on my bottom (one would have thought I'd have known that) but I had just assumed they had at some point. If push comes to shove, I could always have it jet washed, I just wondered if soaking it in sea water would achieve anything.

I am aware that in some areas there is a "fresh water mussel" problem, also certain algaes form in fresh water. There are similar issues with sea water with barnacles etc. My question is this... If sea water kills off the fresh water mussels etc, and fresh water kills off the sea water problems, how long does that process take? My other question is... If my boat is normally moored in fresh water, and I moor for 24 hours at the Berney Arms, what would the effect would that have on whatever was growing on my bottom? My other other question is... Would this work better than antifoul or should I still treat my bottom to a coat of something?

Sailing boats are exempt from speed limits.

Oh, one final thing Peter... FEWER!

As we are all well aware, there will be many factors leading to the answers to your questions. Yes I'm sure that there will be those who were boating on a shoestring budget and that the recession has lead to the necessity of selling the boat. It will be more likely than not that this will hit the owners of the smaller boats more than the owners of the larger ones. Add that to the people who are upgrading and the effect becomes more noticeable. Many hire fleets are upgrading too so here are quite a few boats like mine (27ft Elysian) on the market. The price of those is dropping slightly, leading them to be only a little more money with far more accommodation. Whilst I agree that the rates of the tolls could be fairer, I don't think it's the owners of 18 to 24ft craft that have drawn the short straw. In my opinion it's the dinghy & outboard owners who are really hammered. The bottom line however is that whatever rates the BA charge for the tolls, there will be legitimate shouts of "Unfair", as there is no "fair" way of doing it.

What is a "Friend"? I have had several people who have very kindly "become a friend", which is very nice. Now I have heard of this concept on things like facebook, but I have no idea what it means, what it does or what further actions are required. The last thing I wish to appear is unsociable on a social network, but as I have little or no understanding of what or how these things work I find myself in an albeit very pleasant, state of confusion. For my part, I consider everyone on the forum as my friend unless they prove to be otherwise. Finally, If I made someone my "Friend" and they replied that they thought me a feckless **** who'd be the first against the wall come the revolution, what happens then?

In the case of the red duster, I believe the union flag should take 1 quarter of the overall flag. Would this not also be the case for the St. George's cross in your Tudor flag? Or am I just being too picky?

The article said... "They're big, they're beautiful and they have to fly the flag for other species." Yeah, right!... I'm with you Tim!

I'm a little confused BB, I think you have just described the very system I was suggesting and asking if existed. A wet system for sustained warmth but with blowers for immediate heat. This, for my mind, is the perfect system. or have I read your post wrongly?

The problem with the "wet" system (radiators) is that they take rather along time to actually heat the boat. Normally on board someone will say "oooh, it's a bit chilly, turn the heating on" . That's when you need the heat, there and then. What's needed is a combination system that sends hot air puffing out whilst the rads are warming up.Does such a system exist? If it does, it needs to go through the diesel usage meter (if that also exists, see other thread) so you can tell your total fuel consumption.