furnessvale

A few years ago I was winding SANDBACH after a tug of war in the top basin in front of the main entrance when I thought "she is coming round rather well". I looked down the side to find two model tugs pushing my bows round!

Not sure that using an overhead electric line and trolley pole, with its potential for arcing, is the best solution to a gas explosion risk! It would appear that the overhead line is merely a signal cable and as such would be very low voltage and not prone to arcing.

6' 10" wide? Has she been pulled in at some time?

What they can do on site is to ensure the locks are kept in water rather than drained, thus reducing pressure on the walls.

It can be both. The work that has been done is to a high standard but other areas will require attention.

The new facilities should have been completed BEFORE the old ones were taken out of use, but as usual, boaters are at the back of the queue. I'll wager the new houses on the site are completed LONG before boater facilities, if they are completed at all.

Within the last 3 years OTTER was subjected to a considerable amount of work. A couple of years ago OTLEY won the prize for the best boat at Braunston. I remember confusion at the time as to whether the winner was actually OTTER, which in its own small way, is a measure of OTTER's turnout at that time.

When the pain outweighs the pleasure, it is time to give up. As the pleasure is a different concept to each individual this cannot be assessed as a "one size fits all" thing. For example, my pleasure was visiting historic boat shows which meant long days and many locks. A different concept to living abourd and moving every 14 days. With me and the wife in the mid to late 70s, I have just sold up.

I have always wondered what was there to stop a boatman blowing his horn or cracking his whip early to gain an unfair advantage?

Yes, such surveyors exist, and and highly recommended if you don't want trouble in having a survey of an old boat done.

I believe CRT and BW before them, are reluctant to sell rough boats cheaply in case they go back in the water with a new owner and the whole cycle repeats itself, costing them even more money.

One of my pet hates is a washer josher going past at "tickover" so slow that I can feel for the poor engine about to put a leg out of bed.

Don't know about the CE, but the Petter PD2 had that reputation. I never had that problem but I put it down to only bolting 3 engine mounts down before carefully shimming the last one. Probably all in my head, but I was trying to remove any possibility of crankcase distortion.

Starling, with Ethel, in happier days en route to Ellesmere Port 2004.

Given that there are other railway swing bridges in the UK, what makes this one "unique"?

Especially when the hose clips come loose!🤢

Exactly what happens! When out with ALTON in the ice I would often collect a tail but they would have to wait when I made a delivery. On more than one occasion I stopped mid stream for a brew and a bite to eat with a queue waiting patiently behind. On one occasion I gave up and turned back which left a couple of boats stranded at a winding hole!

I used to steer both fuel boats and restaurant boats. With both sorts I have had to explain on numerous occasions that the livelihoods of people depended on their moving, in the case of the restaurant boat, up to five people. I have also explained the necessity of ice boards for those of a delicate disposition. Interestingly, I was talking to a friend the other day who said he had been berated by another boater for navigating through ice. This other boater went on to say that he had berated me for exactly the same thing about 10 years ago with the restaurant boat. On neither occasion was he deploying ice boards! Some people never learn.

Same year I was riding a 16H Norton. Low compression ratio meant I was able to water the petrol down with cheaper paraffin. A teaspoon of Castrol R in the tank masked the smell from any "interested" parties!

The only non water bird name I can see in Willow Wren listing is Kestrel, which interestingly, is claimed on the HNBC site boat list to be the name applied to Triagulum!

Most boats these days sem to be fitted with tinny car horns that wouldn't blow the skin off a rice pudding. The first thing I do with any boat is fit a Klaxon. Not necessarily the genuine article. Cheap copies are available which fit the bill.

Then don't blow your horn, simple. Unlike many countries we have no compulsion to do such things or be treated as a political prisoner.

Marina entrances on narrow canals need to be stanked off by CRT at, say, 8' 6" width so that fat boats in the marina stay there. I have posted before that, if a fat boat approaches me from the other direction, I tie up on the towpath for a brew and HE can have the fun of the offside shallows and overgrowth.

Boats often do, some voluntarily, others by mistake. Don't get too precious about the blacking and there's no problem

Thanks for that. I remember on another occasion with a different satnav, I ventured onto a short new bypass near home. As I had not updated the poor device was quite confused as it thrashed away in a "field" until I regained the old road system.