cirrusvfr

Had a bit of a "moment " myself whilst turning around. 66 foot boat with a bit of breeze and we were also on the Llangollen, which has a current ( 1 to 1and 1/2 knots) as well ! Didn't get stuck, but what should have been a exercise completed in about 3 back and forths, and 3 minutes eventually turned into 20 back and forths and 15 minutes........ oh and the daylight was going fast as well.

We had a holiday on the "Voyager of the Seas " earlier this year. This ship used to be the largest passenger cruise liner when it was entered service in late 1999. There are something like 3200 passengers and 1400 crew............. on the latest liner ,the "Oasis", passenger numbers are about 6000 ! I have to say , that despite the numbers we found plenty of space and had a very enjoyable time ( Galveston, Montego Bay, Grand Cayman, Cozumel , Galveston )

Just did this a couple of weeks ago.....as part of journey to / from Middlewich Surprised how busy it was.......... lots of boats gathering for the Festival at Ellesmere, but many Hire boats (like us ), at least ours had the Traditional looks and features. Agree about the Sun Trevor Inn.....very good food. At Wrenbury you have a choice of two pubs, the food at the Dusty Miller is excellent. The pub at Platt Lane ( The Waggoner Inn ) has disappeared..........well the shell is still standing. Whitchurch has many Pubs and all the necessary other things.......Supermarkets, Banks, Takeaways etc Ellesmere is a quaint smallish town with several pubs. Llangollen itself is quite "Touristy" but not overly so.........lots of traditional shops......Find the Deli shop on the main street and buy yourself a " Welsh Oggie" The Prees Branch is a worthwhile side excursion.... 1 1/2 mile navigation to the marina....but worth walking /cycling onwards on the unrestored section. Lots of Kingfishers spotted on the quieter parts. Very scenic throughout... just a couple of locks with one paddle gear out of action.

Two good programmes.........easy beat the other offerings on TV recently. The "Race Tactician " was a total waste of space , wasn't she ? Lovely shots of the two yachts close quarters in the latter part of the race.

'twas Phantom............there's an aeronautical theme going on.......we hired Typhoon last time. We made sure we were ahead of schedule on the first three days ,( starting off by 08:15 , no long stops in the pub at lunch , tie up at 17:45 ) so that the latter part was more relaxed ! Just me and the missus on board. Really usefull having a pair of PMR radios though !

Like Challenger 33 , we had a excellent time last week from Market Drayton, Saturday to Saturday . We did a anti-clockwise Four Counties Ring, with a only a couple of hours in the rain on tuesday morning ( Stone to Middleport ). This year the best weather has been March / April and September /October.......probably the best times to go boating ?

Any silt / debris / water that has been lying innocently at the bottom of your fuel tank (maybe for years ? ) could suddenly get shaken and stirred up so be aware for potential fuel feed problems..............could be embarassing on a fast flowing tidal river.

This lot might be worth a try...... they have quite a few designs and would custom design.... http://www.dowlingstoves.com/custom_built.htm

Did this company specify exactly what kind of Licence is required ??? Helmsman certificate , Day skipper ??

You could always try these on a standard bike..............Bike Torque Couplings see http://www.sandsmachine.com/index.html#magazine looks like a ideal solution........ I especially like the way you can pack a std MTB into something like a 26 inch box.

We've just returned from a few days on the Shroppie. Last week I bought a pair of Cobra Walkie talkie fro TLC see....... http://www.tlc-direct.co.uk/Main_Index/Aer...obra/index.html and I have to say that they were extremely useful for communication between boat and Lock crew, Rechargeable batteries with included charger, 8 Channels and 34 sub-channels , can also be used as a baby monitor. Recommended !

Have a look at Belle , a new build boat with modifications to take a motorcycle .......... http://www.railwaybraking.com/belle/BLOGtext.htm