PaulJ

Marsh Lock on the Thames yesterday morning🙂

Today at Richmond Wier/Lock. Sign said not to go past so phoned locky who apologised and said he'd forgot to switch it over with all the commotion going on- but not to worry about Fire Brigade and crowds it was just a couple of dolphins - which swam past me heading downstream 🙂

Thats my point. Im always a visitor. Its often hard but not impossible to find a mooring. If you spot a hole then grab it or be prepared to travel a while longer.. Ive never rafted up in London even on 70fters- but to be fair I rarely try to moor between Viccy Park and Whatdyacallit Cemetry/Paddington. On the move early one morning I was just passing one chap who shouted at me that he was just leaving soon if I wanted a nice spot. So not so visitor unfriendly as Id never met him before- its not so bad

It was (presumably) an opportunist towpath scrote who just walked on the boat while I was moored at Tottenham for the night. 70 x12 widebeam so I never felt/heard anything despite the scrote walking in right behind me as I was dozing on the sofa. Lost me phone and wallet but had a lovely undisturbed snooze😀 @IanD I purposely dont comment on other boaters. They often turn out to be my customers. Besides in my case its the buggars that move that cause me to que at locks 😀 I do however like to put my side forward when it comes to London Boating- challenging it can be sometimes but its not really as bad as some would have you believe- 😱

I collected a boat from Hartford in January heading upstream as there was a short window in the SSA then. Levels were OK and the Offord flow guage said the flow was well down(cant remember what now- maybe 12-17 ish) I kid you not the narrowboat nearly stopped a couple of times😀- Ive since heard that in fact the true reading never dropped below 30m3 in that period which was probably a bit more like it.

Lol Glad you explained that. 😀

SSA seems to be somewhat broken at the moment , at least on the G.Ouse. Locks have Yellows boards on them but noone seems to have had any emails, txts etc.Even my Teamup was showing Reds until today when it miracously back dated itself to the 10th!

Couldnt agree more. Ive often found London to be one of the friendliest places to boat and often had my new neighbours stop to say hello, offer help etc. Though to be fair it was also they only place Ive ever been robbed too 😀

Someone may find this useful if thinking of heading this way- I know quite often visiting boats either miss these or dont know were to find the info. @matty40s When I said I cant believe its not opening until the 20th... 😀

I does happen sometimes 😀- was quite a novelty finding the offside bottom gate paddle at Lot Mead Lock working a couple of weeks ago. Cant remember the last time I used that one.

Dont suppose this will affect many if any (other than me)- not very pleased this has now been extended three days after the finish date (extended to 12/04) Notice Alert Ure Navigation Location: Milby Lock (3) upstream of Milby Lock Footbridge, near Milby Starts At: Milby Lock (Lock 3) Ends At: Milby Lock (Lock 3) Up Stream Winding Hole: N/A Down Stream Winding Hole: N/A Monday 19 February 2024 08:00 until Friday 26 April 2024 16:00 Type: Navigation Closure Reason: Repair Update on 15/04/2024: Due to flooding on the River Ure, the Lock at Milby has been underwater for much of last week and is still under water again today (8th April). Predicted levels set to rise by a further 1.2m tomorrow and Wednesday 10th April. Although the works have been progressing well with both upstream and downstream gates now fitted, unfortunately, this most recent flooding has been a setback as we cannot access the lock bottom to fit both pairs of cills. The Lock at Milby is in a canalised section that by-passes Boroughbridge weir on the River Ure so it is particularly prone to flooding from both above and below. In order to allow the levels to reside enough for works to continue in the lock bottom and to repair the two upstream ground paddle frames and doors, unfortunately a decision has been made to extend the closure by a further 2 week. Apologies for any inconvenience this may cause.

If you have the screen and top I would have thought any canopy maker could help. If not then I would ask this on Facebook- Dawncraft Owners - where I am sure someone will know 🙂 My Centre Cockpit Dawncraft (first boat 86-89) never had either so I made a wooden folding screen and roof with canopy sides. Things were a bit more basic then though 😀

My Dawncraft (outboard) never had a bilge as such to fit a pump into- it had a sealed and glassed in floor. Remember this as when the bilge keels (?) rotted and needed replacing you had to cut holes in the internal floor to get access to the bolts underneath. Horrible job. A friends Dawncraft does have a shallow access hole cut out near the rear between the outer and inner skin but sure this was done by a previous owner and this boat was very unusual for a Dawncraft being widebeam and fitted with a dirty great lorry engine and Sternpower outdrive.

Speaking as someone who likes to stick bits on properly with weld and I have always done it exactly how David Mack describes. Having read a few threads on this though I think I would now be tempted to weld on a stainless fitting (think Magnetman suggested this) and save anymore future maintenance of cleaning the threads, reblacking them along with the tank etc.

Or a standard shower waste with one of these https://www.screwfix.com/p/floplast-hose-connector-40mm/48625?tc=OT8&ds_rl=1241687&ds_rl=1245250&ds_rl=1249404&gad_source=1&ds_rl=1245250&ds_rl=1247848&ds_rl=1248151&gclid=Cj0KCQjwlN6wBhCcARIsAKZvD5hOA-eQoFsBXjZX54saBi3ACwjMcfwBMBF5fmKZl_1c_xFPOcMRt-IaAtTBEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds