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What a strange comment. £27,000 of the award is funding the restoration of a historic working boat, and £20,000 is funding a volunteer work boat that will see local schoolchildren out on the water, tackling litter and graffiti (as well as, yes, creating wildlife habitats). Presumably the remaining £3,000 is the portion that's earmarked for the vole and otter habitat project. Yes, there's some overlap between these projects and projects that you might expect to be undertaken by a countryside restoration charity, but since there's some overlap between the countryside and the waterways, that hardly seems surprising. When you talk about 'the primary remit that BW were once entrusted with', I assume you're talking about the sort of waterways management, maintenance and restoration that relates specifically to navigation? But it would be absurd, in 2014, to treat the waterways network solely as a transport network for boats to move around. Their future depends on our recognising their wider value to the 99% of people who are not boaters - as cycle routes, as places to go jogging or for a picnic, as a 'living museum', as wildlife habitats, as an educational resource, etc. How much money would you expect to come pouring into a waterways charity that promised not to create wildlife habitats, not to restore working boats for members of the public to visit, not to give schoolchildren the opportunity to experience boating for themselves while helping to look after their local environment, but just to keep the waterways navigable in order that a tiny minority of people can indulge in an expensive hobby (or enjoy an eccentric way of life)? Quite. And surely the more of these 'public-facing' (non-boater-specific) projects the CaRT can fund through charitable donations, the more of its state funding and commercial income will be available to spend on projects that benefit us directly as boaters?

So nine pages on the fact that ACC have started a Chat forum on their Website!! I must say I am rather disappointing that nearly 6 months after the launch of ACC it still seems to attract such diverse views. What I do know and what I have read on The ACC Facebook Page and now on The Chat Forum is that the members seem very happy with what is happening, ACC was most probably the first Boating Association set up in the internet age, this has enabled them to take full advantage of the new technology to ensure all members participate in the decision making process and most important are aware of progress as it happens. I guess one of the advantages that ACC have is the fact that they are a very focused group of boaters with a common lifestyle this does mean that there is at present very little internal disagreement. I guess as it has been mentioned I need to touch on the subject of names used by Jenlyn. I am very happy to call him a friend though we have had many heated debates over the last 12 months. The one thing I do know is that he has worked tirelessly at great cost to himself to try and be part of a process to help boaters and ensure their viiews are heard by CRT I think anyone involved in any Association will know the work involved for no reward. I tend to judge a person by the actions they take especially when not for any personal benefit. I know of many cases where Jenlyn has spent a lot of time helping boaters on a one to one basis this sort of work goes completely unseen but please believe me when I say that for the individual boaters involved it has made a big difference. I have seen a few threads where people have complained about things that CRT have done to boaters, well Jenlyn has been one the people that has actually got stuck in to help boaters to ensure these things do not happen. I know of one boater that was having treatment for cancer that told me his recovery was greatly helped by the fact that Jenlyn was able to help liaise with CRT at a very difficult time. Can I suggest that people move on and allow ACC to get on with what they are doing for their members.

Right you read into it what you want as part of your investigation but I will tell you before you speculate to muchI have a 92 yo Mother who needs and deserves my time firstly because she is not well. This is not helped by her coming to terms that her only daughter has terminal cancer while all this is going on my son and daughter are both getting married this year, my son twice so I have far more important things to deal with. And yes it is unfortunate as I would have wanted to be part of the council but for me family comes first. I trust this statement will stop your petty speculation on why I am no longer on council.

What, the whole city??? Take some big pumps to raise that, bet it's a shambles....

I have the choice of supplier to who I pay my bills. Currently its the Co-Op a business not known for power supply. I went to them through the 38 degrees/Which magazine 'big switch' along with tens of thousands of other 38 degree supporters. My tariff for gas and electricity is much lower than any other current supplier. Each time the price goes up - I get an extra warm feeling because mine is still on a fixed rate for a fixed period in time and it still has some time to go. To you its an illusion - to me its money in my pocket. I have the choice to change my supplier or tariff if costs fall below what I am paying now.

The narrow boat industry is still on its knees. Hudson may have eight in "the undercoat club", a similar set up below Atherstone had the same just before it ceased. Not that I am suggesting this is the case at all. It is not rocket science to do a little research and make the obvious conclusions. From Hudsons website he now finds himself condescending to build Semi trads, shock horror!! Moreover he is offering fully fitted at sub £75k. And still a Hudson wtf ! This is not a business enjoying post recession order books, this business has its head above water (as far as I know) and trying its hardest to stay there. I sincerely hope it makes it as there are not many left. A

i got divorced........for cleaning engine parts in the dish washer

three heads reconditioned...valve seats recut and ground in a few guids replaced...

Would it be mischievous if someone were to bring this activity to the notice of the Planning department?

But as has been explained, marinas which pay less, or nothing, have long standing agreements to that effect -- drawn up before the national standard agreement was introduced. Are you suggesting that CRT should tear up these agreements? And if they did, wouldn't you accuse them of abusing their position? And wouldn't it send shudders down the spines of all marina owners, because it would mean that CRT couldn't be relied on to keep other agreements. It really would cause far more problems than it would solve.

He isn't BEGINNING to do anything of the sort

Its simple. Just select a winding hole that has nobody watching. The is the crux of it. Fiddle and experiment for as long as you like. Eventually you will notice that the boat is pointing the other way. You could (in a 42fter) close your eyes and adjust the rudder & throttle at random and the boat will eventually face the other way. Your problem would then be knowing when to open your eyes...

Anybody with an interest. There really is no need to be so defensive John. You weren't so reticent about the 14 new members you say joined yesterday.

Here's the thing, you seem to think that that tiny minority of people who navigate the waterways should bear the main burden of maintaining those waterways, not only for their benefit, but for the benefit of everyone. Where is the fairness in that? Your waterways are a national treasure. Why should they be supported only by user fees and handouts? As you so aptly point out, many people other than boaters enjoy the waterways. Those people all pay taxes - they pay taxes to drive there; they pay taxes to eat there; they pay taxes to sleep there. All those taxes should be going to the canals to maintain them. The people that throng to the waterways create jobs in the local economies. Those jobs, and the people doing them, are taxed in multiple ways. Those taxes should go towards the canals. When you look at the canals in the broader aspect of their overall contribution to society and the economy, it seems obvious that they should be maintained as part of the national infrastructure and not by a Trust with a limited budget.

Ivor Caplan has used his position as Council Member to talk about your plans for this coming years cruising and why you should visit new areas. He talks about his experiences last year on the lower GU, Paddington Arm and the L&S. "Travelling south, one might expect that the Grand Union Canal heading to London would be busy but we found the southern end very quiet last year even allowing for the National Festival at Watford. At times we dutifully waited unsuccessfully for a boat to lock share with. Maybe this is a result of the towpath telegraph (read for that NarrowboatWorld and IWA spokespeople) exaggerating the problem of finding a mooring in London. Yes there are issues that the Trust is committed to resolve but we had no problems and an excellent week based in Paddington Basin. Whilst there, don’t miss the Lee and Stort, it’s a waterway of great variety from the Olympic site out into really attractive countryside." Perhaps he will share this experience with Vaughan W and Jeff Whyatt..........or maybe they will read the latest boaters update and stop wasting money on new complicated signage and restrictions.

Average age of boaters 50s buys 25 years lease for car park Doubles up for a nice burial Plot. Sorted

I must be careful here. Is it ok to direct members to the "For Sale/Wanted " section? If not scrap this please.

Yes, but they'll be letting members of the public on board! And it's the same with this workboat. Can you imagine - our charity spending our money on involving a bunch of plebs in our waterways? These are people who don't own even one boat! The little swines had bloody well better do a good job with the litter picking and graffiti removal, that's all I can say. I'm so angry I can barely face this plate of otter stew.

I'm guessing you don't know that "Ferret" is an old boat once worked by "old boatmen".

When I read Allan's small extract from the Aquasolve information, it got me wondering so I took a look myself. Sadly, the bulls**t detector mounted on my desk went into overdrive! "Hydroxyl migration"? What is that? Water is one of the most stable molecules known to man; it takes electrical energy with a soluble catalyst (salt for example) to break it down into hydrogen and oxygen. Hydroxyl ion is a negatively charged entity that must have a balancing positively charged entity present to keep the system stable. If not, we are into the realm of nuclear physics which Aquasolve most certainly is not. It does the job of emulsifying water into oily media including diesel fuel, quite why they have to try and confuse the issue by introducing spurious reasons for it to work is a bit OTT in my view. Keep it simple.

yeah, me too, but i find that bi am being pushed towards getting a smart phone because all the deals include data.i dont need a smart phone and dont really want one.i dont use a phone very much because every body hates me and i have no friends but am finding that i have no choice and that is why i am thinking about getting a tablet. the wife has had blackberrys and iphones but to me ,i cant be bothered with the internet on such a small screen.AAAh! the hell of living in the first world.

Didn't Phylis buy it as a liveaboard?

Welcome to the club.... "99% of forum users are decent, law-abiding citizens. The remaining 1% are outlaws"

I agree with that. But the scrutiny is normally done by the media, not CWDF

I am beginning to worry about the direction this is taking. Is this forum the proper place to 'out' or expose somebody, no matter how justified the exposer feels? It has aspects of persecution in it that make me feel uncomfortable.

I think there is a fundamental problem, when discussing the actions of the police. The vast majority of the police do a difficult, pretty thankless job and do it well (or far better than I could). There is also an element of bullying, institutional prejudice and heavy handedness in the police force that is far more notable and newsworthy than a Bobby on the beat apprehending a criminal. There is also an element of society that will not recognise the good police officers and the good they do. I have concerns about the element of the force that displays the bad side of the job but, on balance, I think we are loads better off with them than without. One thing I do know however is that all rapists, without exception, are bad people.

I don't know why people even worry about this stuff. Just do what you want. You're hardly going to inconvenience other boaters by staying an extra day in the middle of winter. Does everything really need to be clarified and spelled out in such precise detail? For me it detracts from the fun and freedom of boating. We all know that there will always be a minority of people who abuse the system, but how about we trust the majority of reasonable people to act reasonably without the rules being read out every time?

I remember the good old days when the electricity industry was a public owned business. It was a monopoly industry. Thatcher and the government of the day sold it off to create competition to reduce charges through competition. No one had to have new cables laid. No matter where you were connected within the power supply system. You could buy your electricity from any one of a number of supplier. If you become unhappy with your current supplier, you can choose another. No need to move your property, no need for new cables to be laid. Private companies can set up in business buying electricity in bulk at cheap rates which allow them to offer discount prices therefore breaking the monopoly. Thus encouraging the risk of a cartel. So there is a regulator OFGEM to keep an eye on the suppliers. To ensure they are not colluding to do a bit of price fixing. The same was done with the gas supply, No need to move your home. No new pipes needed to be laid in the ground. You did not have to choose where you are connected to the system you could choose any one of a number of suppliers. You could build a house today then be connected to the gas and electricity network and choose any of the suppliers, you can change your supplier any time you want. You don't have to lay new pipes or lay new cables or even have to move home. The Office of Gas and Electricity Markets (Ofgem) regulates the monopoly companies (there are more than one monopoly company - like there are more than waterway authority) which run the gas and electricity networks. It takes decisions on price controls and enforcement, acting in the interests of consumers. Pilings marina has a connection to a CaRT controlled waterway. To find a new connection to the inland waterways they need to move the marina or alternatively they need to excavate a different access point to a different authority. Plus its hard to be in a cartel of one. In this instance - it then falls into the remit of the monopolies commission. There are instances under BW when the monopolies commission have looked at the way BW was implementing its charging. Now as a charity, CaRT also becomes subject to the strictures of the charities commission. I imaging at some time either one of the pseudo regulators (monopolies and charity commission) will get involved. It will be interesting to see how they view the lack of competition and disparity in charging. Therefore CaRT is by definition a Monopoly and not subject to competition.

It's all ways a sad sight to see the end of ship. But most of been one hell of a ride for the captain in charge of her beaching.

No offence intended

I have already said that I am expressing an opinion, not facts. In the long running ACC thread, however, I did support my opinion with relevant facts and quotes. In your opinion. Nobody has presented any evidence that supports that opinion so you are unlikely to change mine. Why on Earth would I want to present what happened the way it is in your head?...If that were possible. Why do you feel you are entitled to dicuss youropinion yet feel I am wrong to discuss mine? This is not made up but is a fact. I am a honorary life member of a natural history society because of my contribution to it so what I said is, in at least one case factually correct. I mentioned it in a light hearted manner and it is up to you how you interpret it I have no resentment towards anybody and am happy that John is posting again but, if somebody raises the issue again I will cheerfully discuss it within the forum rules. It does, however, become tiresome that some people think they are free to express their opinion but mine should be restricted.

How to say this carefully When reading and observing your posts on some subjects, you seem to have the measured and polite manner of a Jack Russell with it's jaws locked firmly into a leg. Yes, he's right to be doing it, yes it's natural. You are polite and carefully avoid insult. You are almost unerringly correct as to the facts. And yet, it seems as an observer that it would be better if you let go a little sooner knowing you are right (as can be clearly seen by other readers), or didn't bite in the first place. Richard

If you've ever been to Swinton then yes you would be worried.

...you actually are one of the more sane/balanced amongst us... I have to say carl, I sometimes find myself questioning this when you post ;-)

It's an aerobic bacteria that lives on the interface of diesel (hydrocarbon energy source) and any water (oxygen source) that's accumulated in the fuel tank geneally as a result of condensation (remember diesel floats on water). I might be wrong but don't think that it can just develop in the tank so there has to be a source of infection and that's just a bad batch of fuel. If you use the fuel regularly then in all probability a small amount of fresh bacteria that's just got in and hasn't yet formed a mass will go through the filters and get used by the engine, but if you leave fuel in the tank for years then it can grow inside the tank and form a slimy black mass.