XAlan W

That was Ike`s standard practice on his boat Amy the pup[9hp bolinder] & any bolinder direct reversing powered boat he boated on, providing the lock gate was fitted with the upstand on the gate. He always said it was easier & more reliable than reversing the motor, but as David said you have/had to be skilled at it to get it right, more so with a full length boat. BW sought to stop this practice by, when replacing top gates they omitted the upstand, I received a rollocking from a young BW guy for doing this in Deptmore lock as far back as 1972. His older work companion sided with me in the disagreement, his words being ``What do you think they are there for then`` shook his head & walked away.

I believe this photo to have been taken 1904/12 as I.m pretty sure that the man holding the second horse is my paternal great grandfather.I need to find some old photo s to check, as he worked for the canal during that period, He was one of the many that did not return from WW1

Looking at the rock formation possibly in the Gnosall area by the Tunnel

Your first blue list is pretty much spot on for late 60/early 70`s, IIrc it was stressed to leave a bottom paddle fully up so as to make following boaters a ware there was a paddle up [not just a nick of paddle to save wasting water] it seemed to be about 20% of boaters took notice & I once got told off by a BW guy for doing it, when I pointed out the notice to him he walked away shaking his head & muttering some thing to the effect [A complete load of bo***cks] so from then on I didnt bother draining it if I was going uphill { can`t remember which one it was though]

If that engine in the video is similar to most 2 smoke semi diesel`s the guy will not stop it quickly, as it will have a second air valve on the silencer side of the crankcase that will still be sucking in air to the bottom end. Would have to block both to get a result, some what scary though.

I`m pleased you have possibly got rid of the ar**troll, Seem rather strange that the way of life that he so dispises, he is trying to become part of [re his efforts to obtain a boat] you guys had better keep an eye out in case someone takes him up on his buy & don`t know what scheme? Per haps he has worn out his welcome in his land based area

I cannot say when after the mid 70`s this bylaw/rule came into force, but during my time afloat 1958/mid 70`s there was, as far as i was aware, no such rule. At that time there was as far as I remember no 2/14 day moorings as long as you didn`t moor up in places to cause problems, no one seemed to mind. I suppose there were a lot fewer boats in those days, so bigger demand = more rules, more rule benders/breakers = even more rules, Shame it seems to raise peoples stress levels rather than lowering them.

I think you will find that stabiliser does nothing in regard to bettering fuel consumption the main purpose is to lengthen the shelf life of the fuel

Quite a few of the better quality 2T oils suitable for air cooled engines [ in my case pre mix for chainsaws] contain a fuel stabiliser . came about as the petrol the US in perticular contains various quantities of Ethanol causing the fuel to ``go off`` very quickly I presume the oil suitable for liquid cooled motors is similar

Each time I`ve visited this stretch of the Du Midi there has been a lock keeper & it has been done this way, Most of the locks are manned

The one on the forth row down & four along is the one Iv`e had the most sucess with It has tiny teeth inside the strap so doesn`t tend to slip

Looking at photo`s of his boat I `m sure he has a dry exhaust coming out of the cabin/engine `ole roof, would suspect a blocked mud box, or failing water pump if it`s not a constant stream of water coming from the hole in the boats side. Or it could possibly be the passage ways in block, exhaust water jacket restricted by crud, as I understand the engine stood pretty much unused for quiet some time