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OK, I'll bite..........Are you really suggesting any member on here Wants to see the moorers at Pillings Lock loose their home? Exactly where in these 75 pages of posts have you come across anyone suggesting anything less than empathy & best wishes for the unfortunate people, who currently find themselves moored at Pillings Lock? On a forum as large as this one, with so very many different members and their opinions; I believe after reading this thread you will find pretty much a unanimous agreement for the well being and concern of the uncertain future for those boaters who have paid money to PL so they can call Pillings Lock Marina their home. Whereby it be for residential or safe mooring for their leisure boats. Just because you don't agree with the posts that suggest or question the unethical running practices in place; and that those people responsible should be held accountable, does not mean those same posts wish ill will on the moorers. There is only one person IMO, who should be held accountable and that is the person who has placed the moorers in this situation in the first place. The person making the decisions of how the business is run!

Still say it would be interesting to know what income the directors took out of this business whilst apparently being unable to afford £45K a year for a known expense.

...could be a busy a busy April this year for you....

So its BW's fault if a Marina doesn't achieve 90% occupancy? What about the quality of the management that runs the place? The friendliness of the staff, the quality and care taken over the facilities, the value for money? The ability to deliver promised improvements on time? Having a managerial style that is consistent and fair rather than shifty, erratic and petty? As usual I suspect Paul is seeking to blame others for problems of his own making.

I am a little confused here. Nothing unusual in that! I must have been reading the wrong threads on the forum as I never got the impression anyone was forming an association until it happened. I read a lot of wishful thinking where people would have liked an all inclusive association but no offer or suggestion that anyone was prepared to set one up. You can't blame people who are of a like mind and prepared to get off their behinds and form an association which fulfils their wants, needs, desires. Particularly in the absence of others offering to start an association which created what they wanted. Surely it is time people stopped going on about something which is old news and done and dusted. There is still the opportunity for those who want an all inclusive association to set one up, but I won't hold my breath.

So, I make a buisness plan. I know the fixed costs and have to budget my return on capital expenditure versus return. There will be a contingency built into the calculations. If the buisness fails, I blame a portion on the fixed costs imposed at the outset? Methinks the original model was flawed!

I am just surprised at how folk seem to feel they have reason to complain about an association for CCers when they aren't themselves CCers. Its a bit like me grumbling about a ballroom dancing association! If you aren't a CCer don't grumble, if you are a CCer decide if the membership is good value and either join or don't join. Personally as a non CCer I wish them good luck and hope it helps CCers with problems.

Well it's certainly something to look into.

Now that is funny. - greenie we'll deserved.

Apparently Ken Dodds got two new diddy men...diddypaycrt and diddyhell

I was nearly mown down by a hire boat while swimming in the Llangollen during a WRG work camp at Welsh Frankton. But it was 30-odd years ago.

You should have made your offer based on what the boat is worth to you. If they want more, then walk away. Plenty of other boats around. And in future, don't post your thoughts on a public forum until you have got the final decision on a deal! The sellers may well be on here too.

Well - it is likely that the access road will be the only BOAT (or whatever it is now called) going into and out of the Marina come April

All I want is a close family member of mine, as a newbie to live out her dream on her newly built narrow boat without all this mess having took up her liveaboard mooring's very recently....I like to protect and look after my family unlike the Lillie's However, I have contacted Paul Lillie directly who refuses to speak to me, and has banned me from Pillings facebook page...for what? Speaking my mind? What gets to me is that he constanstley states 'oh all the boat owners on the marnina are happy' funny how the comment from some folk are duly missed..... ''As a moorer at Pillings may I say thanks to all those messages of support - we are not all mugs but honest folk who decided to moor here in good faith. There is only one thing wrong with Pillings Lock Marina and that is Paul Lillie - I fervently hope that the Liquidators use all their powers against him (including criminal prosecution if possible). I have already made arrangements to move elsewhere but there are many who are far more exposed than myself & my sympathies go to them.'' ''I'm aware of what's happening Rachel. Paul Lillie is an arrogant fool. " it all comes back to bite us on the bum " did he really think any of believed the crap that came out of his mouth at Friday nights meeting. Wouldn't trust him as far as I could throw him. He doesn't care about his berth holders, doesn't support us, so he isn't going to change now!!'' So as you now have blocked me from your personal FB page aswell Mr Lillie Jnr I would like to reply to your last message to me 'Practice what you preach' on here Resign, get out and let a properly assigned director who know's what they are really taking on, take over the runnings of the marina...those that the moorers can trust... I can't practice what I preach because I didn't sign on that dotted line and agree to the terms and conditions to run Pillings as a director...you did

Boat is on the Leicester arm of the GU, in a currently much talked about marina. My girlfriend and I will be bringing her down to the South West ourselves, via Oxford and Reading. Just a few interior improvements to make first; we will most likely depart early March. So, watch yourselves out on the cut throughout March everyone, I'm sure we'll pick it up quick, but lets just hope it's not your boat we'll bump into first!

....was it digital or cassette...... ??

Just for mischief, as MtB would have it - a case could be made for the marine industry members in future [supposing there will be a future for marinas on the canals] to suggest that CaRT actually pay them a percentage, for every off-line berth, that means a boat that would otherwise be taking up towpath space on CaRT waterways, is kept from congesting the [finite] navigable waterspace – while still being encouraged to be licensed, with all the attendant extra CaRT income entailed in increased licensed boat numbers. According to BW statistics, there are already more licensed boats on the system than there ever were boats [working or pleasure], on the system at the height of commercial freight use, i.e. more now than at any time in the past. If those numbers are to increase still more, as the authority wishes them to, then ‘storing’ them offline when not ‘in use cruising’ is going to be essential. That has to be worth CaRT paying an incentive premium for. Even for those boats that don't actually want to go cruising, better that they are offline than on, causing the sort of congestion problems both CaRT and numerous customers and neighbours complain of. Especially when s.8 is the only solution CaRT see to such problems. Better a small premium to an offline berth provider than a stiff legal bill and bad PR.

The fixed charge is the standard charge. The vast majority of operating marinas know about the charge and, like most business expenses, grudgingly pay it. Are they all lunatics too?

Q. So, would you like to become a Continual Cruiser? a I am already a continual cruiser and want more info on the complexities = Join, and in doing so, join in on their forum b Yes, I am looking for / own / live on a boat and would like to know what is required of me, if I CC and how I'll access services etc. = Join c I own a boat but live in a marina / permanent mooring = You could join, if you wished to keep up to date with CC issues d I own a boat share / hire boats / just holiday cruise = You could join, if you wished to keep up to date with CC issues e I don't own a boat, nor am I looking for one, I just like reading these forums = Pay £10 and join if you'd like to know more about CCing f I have joined many fora but don't have anything to add to them, just clog them up with stupid questions = Don't pay £10, don't join. Hope this answers your question.

I think the bad feeling surrounding creation of the association was the apparent underhand way an exclusive association was formed whilst the founding members were giving the impression that an all inclusive association for all boaters was on the cards. This was certainly what upset me. I have no objection to anybody forming their own exclusive club but it would have been nicer if they'd been more open about their intentions rather than raising the hopes of those of us who would have loved to play an active role in an inclusive association. Now that water has passed under the bridge I wish them well but I have no intention of joining an association which has a multi-tier membership system, even if I became eligible for full membership. Perhaps this is because they were chatting to CRT about forming an exclusive club at the same time they were chatting to us about forming an inclusive association... See the above. There is nothing wrong with a special interest organisation. The problem was not the "what", it was merely the "how".

Phil Speight is a good painter

Am I missing something? As I understand it other marinas (OK not all) are being successful with NAA fees to pay. If CRT had given in to pressure and allowed this marina to"get away" with lower fees what do you suppose would stop all other marinas asking for the same. Following that how would CRT have made up the short fall (ever increasing as more marinas backed out of agreements) in their income? I don't think they had much choice really.

i would advise getting an mppt controller that can handle more amps than you need, giving the room to expand or change panels or beefier ones in the future

2x200W will be fine. We went for 2x 100W, partly because we cruise a lot and the impact on roof space was also an issue. But if you have space for 400W of panels, no worries. Solar panels are pretty standardised using an MC4 connector which latches and is weatherproof. We bought a 10m pair of cables to extend our panel wiring (wired in series, at the front of the boat) to the rear where the MPPT controller and batteries are located. Also we got a weatherproof cable gland to allow the cables to enter the interior of the boat, where it was integrated into the existing wiring runs (a lot of disassembly was required to get to this!) You'll also need some kind of brackets to mount the panels to the roof. We didn't use a tilting bracket, partly for air draught reasons (plenty of low tunnels and bridges on our preferred routes), partly for security, and partly for resistance to wind damage. These things need to be taken into account with a tilting mount system. In addition to the MC4 extension cables, you'll need cables from MPPT controller to the battery, and an inline fuse in these. We wired ours after the isolation switch (so that we can electrically isolate the consumers, but still have solar charging if the boat is left for a long time) but if the solar needs isolating too, the fuse can be pulled (doesn't need to be isolated often/ever really!)

You buy a house next to a canal and then complain when boats arrive? This just sounds as silly as buying a house in a village with a church and then compalining about the bells! There are people who try this, and they should be told in no uncertain terms to go and try procreating with themselves! Bob

Really, why? It seems much more reasonable to me that if you buy or rent a house next to an existing navigable waterway, you put your big kid pants on and accept that boaters will use it.

For sale: short narrow boat, stove installed with chimney exiting through side, double glazed panels to all windows glued in with sealant (leaking), innovative pump out system. Gas lockers will need work to comply with BSS Would make excellent strip and rebuild project. Offers in the region of £1500 Richard

Come on then - lets stick to the facts- Moorers have paid the NAA fee within their mooring fees and it hasn't been paid to CRT- Fact!. So how can the residents all be happy with the service when the NAA hasn't been paid and their futures have been placed in this situation. If someone had collected money from me and witheld - I wouldn't be happy with the service by any means and would certainly want my money back- That's sticking to the facts. As you feel so strongly in defending the behaviour of PL- perhaps you could provide some facts- Do you moor there, have you any connection to PL, have you paid NAA fees that havent been paid to CRT??? etc etc..............

We are on the Lark which is on the same pound as the Ely Ouse and have been hovering just off or on the bottom for the last couple of months. The Ouse upstream of Earith has been on and off red boards for the same period, we are lucky that EA open up Denver sluice to create a gradient which protects Cambridge from flooding, the level is dropped from datum of 1 metre at Ely to about .41 / .45 metre.Phil

The simple answer on mooring with the flow or turning to face up stream is immaterial to the OP It's a 62' narrow boat - moor it in what ever direction your going or happen to be facing at the time. If the flow of the river is at such an extent that it will effect your ability to moor, you won't be moving anyway. It's a hire boat - as soon as the yellow boards come out you have to stop and conact your hire base for advice. Anything less than yellow boards and mooring isn't a problem (apart from the usual cock ups )

You could spend your money on any off these but since they're all £1000+, I'd say you must have more money than sense. What are you looking to run off this inverter? IMO these inverters continue to sell because of a long held myth about electrical devices not working off MSW inverters. I suspect this was more of a problem in the past but far less so now. I also think there's an awful lot of 'badge' going on here. Yes, I'm sure Mastervolt etc inverters are well built, but they bloody well ought to have a 20 year guarantee at those prices. An earlier poster hinted at the truth - the desire to have matching equipment with a fancy logo in the hopes that visitor see it and go 'oooh - nice!' For £1000 I'd expect an inverter / charger to wake me up in the morning with a cup of tea, entertain me with amusing anecdotes over dinner, and look like Natalie Portman. Anything less and I'll stick with what I have thanks very much. A 2000w MSW bought on Amazon for around £120. Performs faultless and runs everything I want.