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Oh my goodness, very sorry - apology duly & sincerely given. Sorry again - all the best John.

Agreed! However, there are a lot of people contributing here who seem to think the situation is amusing. They seem to think character assassination is perfectly acceptable, but I find it insulting, rude and downright evil! None of you know all the facts! Stop using the situation for your amusement and if you are not connected directly with the situation, why not butt out and start a thread about something more relevant to your situation. I will be attending the meeting tomorrow and will reserve judgement until I hear what Paul has to say. I hope the marina will be saved as I would love to carry on mooring there. My hope is for a resolution that is fair to all...boaters, CaRT & marina. Unfortunately, a lot of you on here give the impression you would be disappointed if that happened. Some of you are truly sick. richard, i'm quoting your post but this is not aimed at you!

what posts have you read on here that say a servay isnt worth the paper they are written on?? if you dont have a comprehensive understanding of narrowboats youd be a fool not to have one.....the advice given on this forum is always proceed with caution...hence the replies youve had on this post so far......an extra £50 for the servayer to look at the engine is money well spent in your situation....buying a decent boat without hastle can be the start of an amazing adventure you will be entering into a world of many contrasts..the summer will soon be here and the canal will awaken again for another season..........hope it all goes well for you and you enjoy your life changing adventure..

And he got lots of advice but if anyone has had sufficient experience of looking at lots of DIY wiring they will also form the opinion that warnings need to be given. Just remember that 12/24 volt electrics can not kill you and can not usually hurt you directly BUT it has far more potential to set fire to things very, very quickly if mishandled or misunderstood. Cause a problem on a 240 volt hose ashore and the maximum current you can cause to flow is about 30 amps (about 7 kw) for a few seconds. The same thing on a boat can allow many hundreds or even thousands of amps to flow (Say 12 or 24 KW+) for many minutes. Then even if you ignore the potential for the boat's lining and insulation to catch fire you have smoke form burning PVC in a confined space and I am fairly sure that's highly toxic. Now, if he had come on here and initially said "I am a sound engineer and would like to learn about boat wiring" he would have demonstrated a certain level of competence with wires and abstract thought processes so would been far less likely to have rung any alarm bells.

C'mon..., surely you cannot accuse others of 'incoherent inaine twaddle' cheers, Pete. ~smpt~

iv started to strip one of my jp engines today. the big end bearings dont look great to me, they seem dull and have a few grooves in them when you run your finger over them......what are my options as regards replacing them, are they availible as new old stock or is it better to have them re metalled??will i need to take the crank out if im going down the re nmetling route??any idea of cost?

I'm with Haggis. We've got portholes at the back of the boat where our bedroom is but the rest is big windows and our boat has a lovely light airy and roomy feel to it in the daytime. When we were boathunting we very quickly ruled out a boat with only portholes because all those we looked at felt like dark caves even on a bright sunny day. We're totally happy with our choice and have not condensation issues and curtains for privacy - our sofa is fairly high up because of the cupboards underneath and I like it when we're moored the right way round so I can watch the boats passing and wildlife on the canal out of the window - a good vista. It is less secure but (now I'm touching wood and crossing fingers and toes!) we've cc'd for over 4 years, often leaving our boat on the towpath for a couple of weeks at a time while we visit rellies, without any incidents (did I just tempt fate!) Security is more about being aware of your surroundings and being sensible about where you leave your boat unattended, though I appreciate that boats have been broken into in seemingly safe environments. This really is a "pump out vs cassette" or "trad vs cruser stern" argument - it is each to their own - I'm not trying to get into a ruck with porthole lovers but present a balance to their arguments

True, but it's going to be checked, how?

Where's your understanding of geography!

I AM SPARTACUS.

Where's your spirit of adventure............

Mr. Goose, I am sure that many people here wish for a happy ending to this troubled tale, with the marina remaining open. You suggest that some posters have been "insulting, rude and downright evil". May I draw your attention to your comments in bold type: "Why not butt out" and "Some of you are truly sick". Many people would consider these expressions to be insulting and rude also. You are of course welcome on this forum, but perhaps you would consider not trying to reform its other inhabitants after being here for ten minutes.

Well done Rob , I love a happy ending . You couldn't just pop down to Pillings Marina and sort a small problem out there could you ?

This topic seemingly has now changed to a stealth tax on boaters by CART because any charge to marina will obviously be paid in the mooring fees.However before people turn this into an argument against CART please remember that not all Marina boaters have to be licenced !so only money to CART will be connection fee. The original thread about Pillings is about a person/company not paying their agreed dues to CART. Which as a licence payer I believe I am an affected party by this omission, as my licence fee has to go towards covering the running and maintenance of the system. So I say pay your dues Paul as the moorers have paid you or get out of the business.

Hi Tom Firstly - all the very best to you. We've just gone through the buying process for the first time also as novice boaters. Absolutely not a clue what we were doing when we first started out, but with loads of advice received from forum members we now have our new home floating at Braunston Pieces of advice I'm happy to share through our experience..... (I'm not associated with any of the companies mentioned below, just a Very satisfied customer passing along info) - Owner had her pulled out of the water at his own cost to have her re blackened (and his license was up for renewal as well) - Full pre-purchase survey completed by Trevor Whitling (Highly recommend and he did a new BSC for us included in the cost of the survey) he found a couple of things that needed to be corrected, gave the list to the owner. The owner completed the work, sent Trevor pics of the completed work and Trevor sent us our BSC when he was happy the work had been completed to the correct standard. - If you need it moved (road hauled) at all AB Tucky's are Brilliant and their crane operators were also brilliant - completely hassle free and did exactly what they said they would do when they said they would do it. - If you looking for insurance, give Collidge & Partners a ring, Chris provides exceptional customer service and didn't try to oversell us, if anything he thought we were putting our contents coverage too high - Capt Fizz (Simon) if he's offering to go through things with you, I'd Highly recommend you take him up on his offer. Extremely well versed, knowledgeable and a Great laugh as well. He came down to Braunston and gave Bettie's Blessing the once over with Dave & I. We learned loads (tip of the ice berg, of our learning curve I'm sure), but very valuable none the less. Again - All the best, hope you enjoy your first night aboard as much as we did B~

At two hours, most of the BCN is near the sea! Richard

Hi All - sorry for the delay with pics, we stayed an extra night on the boat as we were enjoying it so much and it was calling for rain again last night. I Love the sound of rain on the roof (new fav sound I thinks) So many thanks to Capt Fizz for all his guidance and help on Tues & Wed...from getting the ignition switch turned on my stove to introducing us to the extremely "high tech" diesel gauge we will need to invest in and going over how things work and what to look out for in the future. Your help, suggestions, humour and the time you spent with us will always be treasured and remembered, somehow "thank you" seems quite inadequate. Ray T. also deserves a special mention as well for supplying the christening "requirement" and the bubbly for the first toast aboard along with all the antidotes, stories and pictures Anyway, won't bore you all with too many pics but here a couple which shows the highlights of the day.... Extreme excitement -http://s1020.photobucket.com/user/Bettie-Boo/media/LaunchDay003_zpsd8f684c7.jpg.html Fear & Worry - http://s1020.photobucket.com/user/Bettie-Boo/media/LaunchDay040_zps6bfda396.jpg.html Utter Joy & Bliss - http://s1020.photobucket.com/user/Bettie-Boo/media/LaunchDay053_zpsa6607767.jpg.html 3 really nice and professional guys from AB Tucky & Crane operator - http://s1020.photobucket.com/user/Bettie-Boo/media/LaunchDay057_zpscee80c56.jpg.html Ray has a pic of the moment of christening...she's now known as Bettie's Blessing

Hi all, Firstly, wow! What a crazy adventure they seem to be going through at Pillings Lock! Thanks for showing me all that.... We would leave the marina by early March at the latest, before any concreting action takes place! Secondly, boat is coming out of the water at owners expense for blacking and survey will take place at the same time (therefore saving on the lift out costs). He is also paying for new boat safety (same time, with same surveyor). He had the BSSC done recently, and it failed (fuel lines and cracked casing in the wood burner) but these things will all be rectified within the sale price. We have had an offer accepted which is considerably lower than the asking price. Thanks for all your replies etc! Tom.

So a CV is required before advice is given

Exactly, I am sure that as the freehold is owned by a separate company they will appoint another operating company which in turn will seek to sign another agreement. You have to assume that CRT will seek to stick to their standard access agreement and as the marina is upand running there is no need for the to introduce the charges over a couple of years as for a brand new marina. So the new marina operator controlled by the same shareholders will have the same fees to pay so presumeably will have the same problems of paying them and CRT will have lost £180k and may yet lose again.. I doubt they can recover the £180k but they can seek some guarantees regarding future payments and I hope that they have the commercial nous to do this.

Southamptons beaches are attractive as well. As for Football. Well I don't support Pompey, who does? But Soton seem to be holding their heads up.

I take it you are having a bad day..... I think the mods have done a good job letting this thread run....you might have come back in a slightly light hearted moment.....the rest of the thread has been informative and useful in the main. I don't think it's the mods fault if people have moved on....such things happen in real life too....I suggest you cut them some slack or if it really offends you then find another playground. Cheers Gareth

Now that is very useful information. Thanks!

We call such things 'Streams', 'Ditches' or 'Drains' IDEALLY (and if possible) anchor from the bow. Once an anchor is set it will tend to pull down the boat at the point at which it is attached to the boat, Generally boats are lower at the stern and there is a possibility of the stern being pulled down low enough to allow water into. fittings, or even over the deck boards. If you can get the pointy-bit into the flow there is much less resistance and less tendency for the anchor to drag - compared to a 'square' back end with the anchor attached to one side cleat, and the boat pulling at an angle.

Hi, I'm not a plumber but reasonably competent diyer and could have a look/help/offer advice if you like. I'm moored the other side of Bridge 55 at the top of Hatton flight, won't be back til late tonight though and have an x-ray in the morning but should be available around lunchtime tomorrow. Is the pipework plastic or copper? Rob

Glad to read you enjoyed it I did a course over 2 years with Bonnie and really enjoyed it, took me a while but managed to make a window for my boat I also made several bowls and dinner plates and designed some plaques for the doors on which I wrote a few lines of poetry as an alternative to Roses and Castles . I was very pleased with my last project which were tiles that fit under the gunnels. Matty's bright idea to enhance the colours by positioning lights behind them worked beautifully. I may go back in the future as I really loved playing with glass.

Start a post accusing all on here of being pompous old gossips who have nothing better to do with their Retirement and then have the nerve to complain about what you perseve as a personal attack beggars belief.

You're not THE Neptune are you? God of the Sea? The one with the big beard and an outsize toasting fork? I've longed for the day when we started getting classical Gods popping up on CWDF.

Pillings does look to be a nice place marred by poor management. If several occupants offered to pay their share of the NAA maybe CRT could provide a locked barrier rather than permananent piling across the entrance? If there are enough existing and prospective moorers maybe they could buy the lease for the moorings (not the Bistro/Bar etc.) like many flat-owners have? I am truly sorry for and sympathetic to those who may lose money and their mooring. Surely CRT can provide them with a temporary solution, e.g. unlimited tow-path moorings for, say, a year or until they are allowed back into the Marina? Rather than just serving what is effectively an eviction notice CRT could actively find and offer nearby (<50 miles?) vacant moorings. When a decent buiness is let down by a supplier they make every effort to ensure that the customer is 'delighted' with them despite the inadequacy or bankruptcy of the intermediary. CRT directors should be offering to personally visit the affected moorers to explain the situation and reassure them that all is being done to protect their interests. Even if CRT are right to demand £180K from Pillings etc. their ultimate customer is the boater. Alan

From my own perspective it's not the arguments about the rubber and rope per se that get on my nerves. Rather it's forever being told by finger-wagging know-it-alls that what I'm doing is wrong and how things should be done. Quite often these people have limited experience themselves and have never even taken their boat off the confines of the canals and onto some bigger waterways. When I was living on the Thames I'd estimate that at least 90% of river traffic of all types came past with their fenders down, so I think the strict "no fenders" rule mainly applies to narrowboats on canals. As I said, I respect anyone's right to move their boat in any way they wish (within reason of course - if they're drunk or creating a hazard or nuisance then I don't respect that). So if people don't want to use side fenders that's fine with me - it's their boat. I've been living on my boat for the last 9 years and during that time I think I can say that I've never caused a problem and have always been considerate to other boaters. It's a big boat so I always pull in to let others get past or overtake for example. I've taken my boat from one side of the country to the other single-handed without incident, so I would appreciate a little respect too.

I'd be amazed if it really runs for 5 mind every hour unless it's not getting very cold....most run for at least 30-40% of time depending on type/ventilation/ambient temp etc. Cheers Gareth