Jim

They are always trying and as has been mentioned here before, just roll your mouse over the so called link and look at the URL which will just be obvious as a scam. We had a viral attack on Tuesday which AVG quarantined but I had to use Malwear Bytes to get rid of. That threat locked up the PC saying I had to get a Ukash account and then send the money to the Met/EU web Police..............................Righto LOL

With the benefit of hindsight, I should have been there but I expected our Marinas own examiner to do the test (they don't have one any more). To be honest, it is quite obvious to identify why the inspection hatches are where they are and also what they would allow an inspector to see. They are pretty standard items on boats and the insert is easily unscrewed to allow access. I removed all the inspection hatch covers yesterday prior to the retest which should help. Like many other owners, I feel a bit aggrieved that having passed the BSS in 2005, the next examiner failed her in 2009 and even after alterations, we have just failed again. In our case, it wasn't possible to retain the original examiner due to retirements etc and as many have said here, it is down to interpretation of the regs. I know you inspectors can't be expected to pull owners boats to pieces to check the relevant items but as a responsible owner, I would be quite happy to know that the inspection was thorough and all was safe.

From my BSS status report following our recent inspection:- "2.3.5 The vent pipe needs to be changed to ISO 7840 or equivalent" I went over to our boat yesterday, removed the access covers which allow inspection of said hose, and guess what? . The vent pipe is clearly marked ISO 7840

Totally agree Andy. Ours has just failed on items that were deemed fine on the last inspection. It seems now the filler hoses and breather hoses also have to be compliant on a petrol boat as well as the fuel lines. The last test involved us having to change the fuel hoses from BMW manufactured flex wire armoured/crimped to ordinary hoses with jubileee clips with the correct numbering on them. Off the cuff, the examiner said that he had rendered our boat less safe that it was before....ridiculous. Not only that, when he returned to do the burner trials on our gas rings and hob, he'd left the grill turned on which nearly resulted in me blowing myself up!

I can help them with that Brian!

Hi Martin, Used the service since it began and I have had no problems

I'm really pleased Jill started this thread as it just shows the variations in connection speeds that we all experience. It has also highlighted the fact that I need to speak to BT about our package which was set up in 2004 and it seems I could do with some improvement for what we pay (embarrassingly expensive). Okay, it is an unlimited download package and performs very well but I'm only getting a max download speed of 8Mb which bearing in mind we are only about 900 metres to the exchange total cable distance, could be better. Having said that, if we do get a fault (very very rare), when I call BT, you end up speaking to a UK tech bod within less than a minute who always fixes the problem. We get this service 8am to 9pm seven days a week. Also, thanks to our resident retired GPO tecchie, I have identified three out of four sites where I work that could benefit from a BT I Plate.

Pleased to hear your news Baz. Good Luck to you both!

That is what the router stats show for that site which as you say is nomally reversed We only use the Netgear DGN2200 router for CCTV because the port forwarding is easy to to, we have remote access and out DVR supplier support them. On all other sites, the broadband performance is as you would expect ie 512 upload and 10Mb download. It could be the router has a fault, maybe the line or even the single device that is attatched to the router.

Thanks for that Strowie. I didn't realise it was just to isolate the bell wire so it will make no difference to one of my problem sites as it is only a two wire connection. The broadband there is still provided by BT and was never fast from day one. The router stats show download at 220Kbts and upload at 770. We have done a "quiet line" test which was all ok so it has been passed to BT as a potential fault.

On the subject of broadband, has anyone got experience of a device called BT I PLate? I've never heard of this pice of kit before and BT claim that it can speed up your connection by as much as 1.5Mb. They do emphasise however, that it can make no difference at all. I think their study was based on 36,000 lines

There is another website http://www.saynoto0870.com/ This will give a normal telephone number for many businesses.

One of my customers uses Talk Talk and compared with BT, they experience quite a bit of dropout. One site is south of Norwich and the other is east of Reading. When the line drops out, someone has to attend site to reboot the router (Netgear DGN 2200) which is a real nuisance when it happens out of hours. We are now fitting our own "router rebooter" device that uses old fashioned technology to dis and reconnect the 12 volt supply to the router.

Hi Jill, If I'm correct, EE was formerly Orange Broadband. A friend of hours signed up with Orange and I found it very slow, even though his house was closer to the exchange than us. I use BT which is very fast and rarely suffers from problems and talking to others, it seems BT is pretty popular in most parts of the UK. I can't compare my speeds with ordinary broadband users as we are in a different situation here. As I work with CCTV and need to download large files quickly, we are on a low contention ratio package costing more than most would want to pay. We also have business broadband on a residential line which BT will no longer provide to new customers

Talking of posh boats reminded me of one of my customers, a retired successful buisnessman. I noticed there were various pictures of him sailing in the Solent and then a couple of Brooms. When he noticed I was taking an interest on the pics, he asked if I had a boat. The conversation went something like this..What boat do you have?....Falcon 22 SPC. Where is she moored?...Horning, Norfolk I asked if he still had a Broom....no we have gone up a peg since then. What boat do you have now?...San Lorenzo 72. Where is she moored? Cannes. http://www.yachtworld.com/boats/2009/Sa ... ENS/Greece Hope the link works

Goodchilds have built several of these workboats over recent years. They were trialling one on Breydon in May 2008 at the same time as the NBN Goodchilds get together. One forumite got a trail run on Breydon on the Friday afternoon and another (yours truly) declined the same trip as I'd just completed a 4 and a half hour solo cruise from Horning to Goodchilds I needed a drink after that

I'm thinking it could be fitted in the bottom of the storage area forward of the heads. I'm pretty sure Falcon 27's and 22's have a similar layout from pics I have seen. Where is yours Trev?

Crikey Julz. Sounds more like Stalag 13 than a holiday park

Thanks Mark, I was certain about that one! If I do go for Propex, I'd get Ferry Marinas Gas Safe engineer to install it. I'm hoping it can be fitted very close to where the Thermax heater is which means we already have a shut off tap where it should be. Easy to get power to that location too plus there are spare breakers on our Axon panel for the supply.

I remember the one in Bognor very well and it looks a whole lot different today. I was taken on family holidays every year between the age of 6 to 11 and we always stayed in the same guest house. There was a big wire fence around Butlins that my mum always jokes was the keep the camper inside lol

Good question

How much space do you need around the combustion unit Ian?

I've been thinking about having a Propex heater installed for some time as our boat runs on petrol and I'd need to fit a seperate fuel tank for a diesel heater. I know Ian has good experience of the product so I'm tempted to go for one although the gas consumption is relatively high. We only have a single Thermax catalytic heater at the moment and I would never leave it running overnight because bedclothing could easily fall over it We do have room in the gas locker for up to three 4.8Kg bottles and I like the idea of having a seperate bottle for heating only. Don't know what the weather is like in Norfolk this morning but it's freezing here in Herts.

Hi Rod, We're not normally there at 5am sadly We have very restricted hours of work there when they are unloading the wood pellets from ships. Good view of the Thames from the canteen though but a shame the food is worse that school dinners I'm back at Marchwood next week so I'll get some piccies of the big fellas at Southampton

I saw a fairly large one pass Tilbury power station back in January and some I see in Southampton Water are massive.