Wednesday 5 November 2008

Back in the water on the Llangollen Canal

0 Locks, 1 Mile. Now moored by bridge 4 Llangollen Canal.

Well seven days has flown by and today was the day we were going back into the water. We more or less got everything done but it would have helped if our paint had arrived on time, the main thing is that there is now 4 coats of blacking on the hull. The paint finally arrived at 11.30 this morning so at least I now have the paint to touch up with in the future.We spent the morning putting all the gear back on the boat and tidying up the shed and the trailer finally arrived just after lunch.

Once back in the water we moved across the marina for diesel, pump out, gas tank and settle the account for the shed and power. The latter worked out quite reasonable, 7 days in the shed plus lift in and out with power came to £340.

We were the first customer to buy diesel at the new taxed rates but not before we had some lengthy discussion over the percentage's. The marina had a form with the 60/40 split on it and their computer was set to charge out at this rate. We told them that as we have an all diesel boat we were claiming a 90/10 split as majority of our diesel was used for power generation and heating. Eventually they conceded to changing the form to the 90/10 and charged us accordingly.

After hosing all the dust and dirt off the boat we finally got underway and just travelled a short distance from where we are in a handy position to make a short run into Nantwich tomorrow.

1511 locks, 3190 miles, 51 Tunnels, 42 swing bridges and 39 lift bridges since Nov 2006

4 comments:

Roger said...

Nice to see that you were able to get the marina to change from their insistence on 60/40. But surely you are 10/90, not 90/10.

roger
Windsong

Derek and Dot said...

Hi Roger
Yes perhaps I didn't explain myself too well, I meant 10% for propulsion at the full rate and 90% at the discounted rate for power generation and heating. Took a bit of doing but we stuck to our guns.
Take care Dot and Derek

Paul (from Waterway Routes) said...

Remember that the declaration is for your intended usage for the diesel you are putting into the tank at that time and NOT your estimated usage of the fuel you have just used and NOT your average annual split.

Your estimated split will probably be different in summer and winter as you cruise different distances and use any central heating and power for lighting more or less.

90/10 may be right for you in the winter but it's likely to be different when you fill up in teh summer.

Derek and Dot said...

Hi Paul
Yes you are right we realise this, thanks for the info you supplied. Some of the boatyards have obviously misread it so we will have a copy in hand in future when we fill up. Thanks for your help.
Dot