Chris T

At Castlefield Basin in Manchester yesterday, a Claymoore boat was stuck, having seemingly ignored at least 3 signs saying "shallow water do not navigate". They tried poles and were attempting to rock the boat, but it was going nowhere. Wonder if they are still there or have been towed off.

Hello, We have received a stoppage notice for Bugsworth. It says the middle basin arm is closed, but the big red line on the map suggests the whole Bugsworth Arm, and thus the basin too. Does anyone know if this is what it means, or is it (hopefully) just part of the basin? https://canalrivertrust.org.uk/notice/11145/bugsworth-basin-middle-basin-arm-peak-forest-canal- Thank you

Thanks everyone for replies, although I'm not sure I'm any closer to a decision! Meanderingviking - what do you use to paint over the interdeck?

Hello, we want to paint the roof of our 11 year old Liverpool boat. It is cream, in reasonable condition, not flaking and only small specks of surface rust. The existing paint looks matt, and doesn't appear to have any grit or other non-slip additive, so I was hoping to find something similar. I have looked at Midland Chandlers purely because our local chandlers will get stock in from there for us to pick up, but I can only see gloss or else Interdeck or Teamac Suregrip. I am guessing that they are more "gritty" and so will be harder to keep clean, being cream (which we want to stick with). If so, then the next idea is to use Dulux Metalshield which I have just read a post about or Weathershield. Having things delivered isn't really possible which limits our options. Is my assumption about the deck paints correct? And if so, does the Dulux paint seem a reasonable suggestion for an amateur job and done outdoors at the mercy of the weather? Thank you for any help.

Friday's Manchester Evening News letters' page includes one suggestion that they lay nets on the bottom of the canal to make it easer to lift out the rubbish next time, and another suggests a net above the canal.......

Another vote for Edstone being more terrifying, particularly in strong wind. And particularly when hubby says "you're doing fine, we're half way across now" ONLY HALF WAY???!!!! Being stuck scraping against the side is the worst thing, visions of crashing through the side with boat and water still makes me shudder.

We moored at Christleton when there was some sort of medieval festival on and it was a really nice atmosphere in the village (although it was a surprise to see men in chainmail wandering about until we found out about the festival). The moorings were busy then and had we not squeezed in, I think we would have continued to Chester as there didn't look anywhere very appealing after the locks. We really enjoyed our first trip to Ellesmere Port (and still remember getting the cheapest bottle of gas ever on the way) but we didn't make it on our second trip. After 4 stops in about half a mile to clear the weed hatch of plastic bags etc. in we decided to turn back. This was just after the zoo where we had a lovely overnight mooring.

No idea on price, but Lyme View Marina also has a slipway at Bridge 18 - 01625 858176

Apparently Bridge 49 (Fools Nook electric swing bridge) will be shut on Tuesday afternoon between 1pm and 5pm so that a cycle race can go over it. Not sure why they can't use another route, we don't have an alternative. At least we know in advance which is something.

My dad used to do a lot of the woodwork on our beloved wooden top but he is no longer able to, and so we sold her last year (yep, giving up the battle to keep it watertight) to someone who was planning to put a steel top on. Our logic was that (in my dad) we had the expertise and tools to upkeep / repair a wooden top ourselves, but it was definitely a continual maintenance job. We had her for over 17 years though, and probably couldn't have afforded an all steel boat when we bought her, so no regrets whatsoever. She was built in 1971 with a 1/4 inch steel hull, but the hull was in better condition than many much newer boats when we sold her. Ours too had an outer skin on top of the wood structure. Inside was wooden beams and formica type panels (it was the '70s...). No insulation that we ever found.

Update from CRT website 5 minutes ago: Our contractors finished grouting the washwall on Friday and have been on site over the weekend monitoring the leakage and the condition of the bed repair. Observations confirm that the leakage from the embankment into neighbouring land has now stopped and the bed repair is holding. We now plan to place more clay to finish off the bed repair over the next few days and aim to remove equipment and fencing later this week. Based on current leakage and bed conditions we do not plan to close the canal but will restrict mooring immediately over the leak location. We are cautiously optimistic about the repairs and remain committed to keeping the canal open during the coming weeks and months. We will continue to monitor the embankment and bed repairs for signs of leakage and will take steps to safeguard the canal as necessary. We will provide updates if this situation changes. Once again thank you for your continued support and interest.

Good news! Latest update on CRT stoppages page: Following a successful start to works on site we can confirm that we do not plan to install stop planks at present. We've been on site since Tuesday investigating ongoing leakage. We've located and filled a large hole in the bed of the canal. We have observed an immediate positive effect on the leakage into Bollington recreation ground. Our contractors will continue bed repairs and grouting voids behind the wash wall during the rest of this week and will be working on site over the weekend. We are optimistic that the repairs we are making now will avoid us having to drain the canal. We will review the leakage and bed condition on Monday and will provide a further update then.

OK, the manual says: the webasto draws diesel direct from the tank, so that sounds OK. but the webasto does also heat the water via a twin coil calorifier. One coil heats the water, one the radiators. It is a separate coil to the engine. The engine does not heat the radiators. Does this help?