Still moving on slowly

Hi all, it's been a bit quiet on the moving front this last week, the solicitors are doing their bit and the mortgage is sorted and survey on the bungalow all done.  The solicitors are doing a great job (surprisingly) and are ready with the contracts but the mortgage company are being a real pain in the arse.  Not only did they loose our application and documents only to find them two weeks on but they have approved the mortgage but only sent us 11 pages of the 40 page offer and not the bit we needed to sign to say we agreed with it.  All this is slowing things down much to our annoyance.

So for now we are slowly packing up bits and pieces, selling furniture we cannot fit into the bungalow.  No completion date yet but that should be sorted soon.  I dare say others will follow this path so I may add pages covering these sort of stages before a boat build for now.  Might be of use to someone else following the same path as us.

At work I attended a Fire Marshall's course this week  and was given some food for thought.  I wonder how many of you out there ashore and afloat have checked their fire extinguishers lately?  What sort do you have, are they easily accessable, and does everyone know where they are?  I bet some will have dry power extinguishers?  Did you know that most D.P. (Dry Power) extinguishers compact the powder when vibrated and then go solid so are useless after a prolonged period?  Or that the power is actually corrosive?  Check to see if they are rated for Class A fires, if so get rid of them.  Only DP extinguishers rated for class B and C fires should be used on a boat otherwise you could find corrosion a problem after you use one, besides in an emergency the powder cloud in an enclosed space actually blocks your vision and the route to safe exit so consider a water of CO2 unit instead.  If your extinguishers are more than two years old think about replacing them with new ones.  Regularly check the pressure is in the Green and if not replace them.   Do remember use CO2 or DP on electrical fires NOT water types.

A fire in a canal boat can become lethal in just 20 seconds so have you discussed what you would do in the event a fire does break out?  Do you have a fully charged mobile phone at all times in case you need the emergency services?  I do not mean your every day use one that you may have on you while you are ashore and your partner onboard with no means of contacting them but one always to hand no matter who is onboard.  Interesting points that maybe, like me, you had not concidered perhaps?

Well that's all for now.  Take care in the winds and stay safe.