James Bell

What I wonder about all this is where all these extra boats are going to be put. UK boatbuilders are churning out over a thousand boats every year, and most builders have a waiting list of eighteen months to two years. If hundreds of boats are imported, it may bring the waiting lists down, but more and more marinas will have to be built. As it is, if everyone were to take their boats out on a particular weekend, no-one would be able to move. It would be like the M25 in the rush hour. (Why do they call it the rush hour when you can only crawl?) I made 15 visits to our boatbuilder last year, and I valued the opportunity to do that. I am not sure I would have got the boat I wanted if I had been able to do that.

We sold our last boat through Virginia earlier this year, having had a good discussion with her at the IWA National at Beale Park in 2003. She was running the stand there by herself for four days. The boat sale went though completely effortlessly as far as we were concerned, no doubt with lots of expertise and effort on Virginia's part. She was very knowledgable, and totally fair and honest. She will be greatly missed. James Bell

I had to have our new 55ft narrowboat delivered by road from the far end of the Montgomery Canal, near Oswestry, to Shepperton on the Thames, and I understand it cost around £900, including the crane at each end. We didn't pay, and would have preferred to cruise it instead, but the boat was late and we ran out of time, so the boat builder paid. Where are you sending your boat? Much more fun to cruise it unless it's to ireland or France or somewhere inaccessible. James

I had an incident in Braunston Tunnel a couple of years ago. There was a boat following us quite close behind, which was very annoying, blinding us with his tunnel light. We couldn't go any faster, as there was a third boat a liitle way in front of us. Another boat came the other way, travelling too quickly. As he passed us, both of our boats swung into the centre of the tunnel due to the suction effect. He went smack into the boat that was too close behind us. We were fine, not a touch, but there were lot of raised voices behind us as we left. So: Slow down when you meet another boat, and don't go too close behind the one in front. James

You can get London Bridge tide tables at www.portoflondon.co.uk All the 2005 dates are already there. Make sure you have at least two people who can steer, as otherwise you have to stand at the tiller for several hours. Others can bring you coffee, but there are certain things that you might need to do (especially if they have been bringing you coffee!) that they can't do for you. You'll probably go up with the tide as it comes in, but if you should be out on the river when the tide is going down, don't get too close to the banks. I once spent five hours on the mud outside the Millenium Dome waiting for the next tide, because I tried to cut a corner. Fortunately the mud is flat there, and so is the bottom of my narrowboat, so we had a meal and watched the sun go down.

Thanks for the hospitality We look forward to the next time "The nice people from the Boaters Christian Fellowship"