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We have to be careful what we wish for though. I'd rather common sense prevail instead of being swamped with regulation. Most of the time if you talk to the appropriate people, they will try to accomodate a difficult situation. The trouble is that those who take the P undermine any good will and risk creating biased views. This works for both sides of P taker BTW. Living aboard often gets mixed up with CC'ing. They are two separarate things (of course you can be both). The 1995 act was intended for those who wished to explore the system. (CC'ing) and who wouldn't use a home mooring if they had one because they rarely return to the same place. I don't think the 1995 act was made to help permanent live aboard's but I could be wrong. For me it's a difficult one. On one hand I believe if someone is not doing any harm to other boaters then so what? On the other hand those who are taking the P are makibg life difficult for those who aren't. CRT probably have the same problem.

If we knew where Tommy was I'm sure someone would have helped in person; I know I would if he is local. He's been asked more than once where he is but has declined to respond. If you'd spent more time reading posts and less time pontificating, scaremongering, point-scoring, and offering poor or just downright incorrect 'advice' you would have seen that it's very common for members of this forum to help each other out in person.

For the love of God, we managed 27 hours into 2016 before yet another topic on overstaying

Well if it did, he politely gave himself a patrol notice 2 weeks ago, and the offending boat is now 2 miles north, or so!

Caption: "And 26 years later just out of shot, the Fincher family are still shouting DROP THE PADDLES..."

I once spent an interesting evening with a new Bolinder owner (he was new to it, not the engine that was new) he described locking through on The GU thus: - "Having just passed a boat in the other direction you pray nobody has started turning the lock round. Coming round the corner you can see it's empty and the gates open, phew! Easing the engine down as much as you dare without it cooling and going out, you gather up every piece of rope to hand, I don't know why, rope just seems to comfort you. Next you wave to the two old dears in the bungalow as you straighten up for the lock entrance knowing the by weir will do it's best to throw the front end over. As you enter the chamber you advance the timing to try and get the right moment to reverse the engine and not stall it ... advance ....Advance...ADVance ... BLOODY ADVANCE! ......... Got it! A quick burst stops further rounding of the stem post due to ramming the cill. Now to regain Ahead in order to keep it up against the cill, retard ....REtard ... RETARD! ..... watch the by weir doesn't chuck you across onto the side ..... RETARD!!! ..... wave to the two old dears in the bungalow ...... throw the ropes around while muttering about how wonderful the silence is now it's stalled. Put the kettle on." He described what tackling a GU lock that's against you is like when you live with a Bolinder. "Your heart sinks when you realise the closed gates you can see are not the far end ones. Shutting down to tick over fools the fisherman on the bank into thinking you were doing it for his benefit. Truth is you can't be doing with any more of this Advance and Retard shenanigans than you have to. Having seen an old wooden bollard you're hoping you can strap onto it with your centre rope without ripping out any more history. Leaping for your life and praying you don't fall or slip you run like you're in a forest fire hoping the rope is long enough to take a couple of turns and you don't get your fingers in the way ..... again! Pretending that it's perfectly normal to see your boat heel over to 75 degrees accompanied by a loud graunching noise and a gentle smashing of lace plates you're secretly delighted to observe through the engine 'ole doors that The Thunderbox is still upright. Everything calms down and the boat just gently nudges aginst the rope every time she fires. Whistling confidently you walk down and close one bottom gate, walk back up, cross over and go close the other side. Walk back and lift one set of paddles, whilst pondering why there's never a second boat to lock through with when you need one? Cross over lift those paddles, then open a gate. Walking back to the boat you're surprised yet happy to hear she's still chugging every few seconds and that you remembered to tie one of those clever knots that holds the boat without getting so tight with each tug of the engine that it's impossible to untie. Just as you about to climb onto the counter you realise the fisherman has ambled up to you ..... Oi Mate, your boat don't like me .... as soon as your back was turned it came back up to me, ate my keepnet .... farted in my face and then went back to where you left it!" Still I reckon I'd have one!

One thing I'm fairly sure neither I K Brunel nor his father did was get offered what appeared to be a basket case of an old abandoned boat by a 'mate' and then consult a bunch of folks he didn't know on an internet forum as a key part of his decision making process. I think IKD's achievements and failures both show him to be rather more objective, and I'm not convinced he and the OP would have that much in common. Doing up an old boat and being a world renowned engineering pioneer who pushed the boundaries at the very forefront of technology are a wee bit different. Edited for auto correct.

I might agree with you....... but it has become relentless ( and because of this your complaints become rather devalued) .....and so tedious.

Completely agree Same old...same old...same old. This site and these topics are getting tedious. When I joined this forum several years ago it was much more interesting and useful......now it is just overrun with CRT bashers

You should have 'zero' free play. You should not be able to turn the wheel without moving the motor. You should not be able to move the motor without moving the wheel. A 'wobbly' steering will just mean that your engine is oscillating left and right and is very inefficient . There should be adjusters at both ends of the steering cable. Ensure that the G is tight and correctly adjusted Ensure that the outer sleeve is clamped tightly at D Ensure that the cable to outboard attachment is tight at H There will be simple adjusters connecting to the back of the 'wheel'

Sorry - as I say, its just my opinion, but anything that is 'planned in advance' ( fuel top-up. hospital appointment, funeral etc) allows sufficient time for alternative mooring arrangements to be made. How long does a hospital appointment take ? If its multiple appointments over a number of weeks - take a temporary mooring in a marina. Sudden illness, breaking a leg, engine breakdown etc are not planned and allowances should be given.

In my opinion that 'excuse' would be extracting the urine. You don't suddenly run out of fuel, you know you are getting low(ish) if the fuel boat is not due, then you cruise to somewhere that sells fuel. Who in their 'right mind' doesn't 'top-up' whenever the opportunity presents itself - if nothing else it helps to keep fuel bug at bay.

What you need, is a deeper trolling lure - done very slowly. The denizens can't resist!

Cyclists are not a 'group' any more than boaters are. There are some unpleasant self centred bigots in both groups. Just as there are among pedestrians and anglers on the towpath. The general thing is that people tend to think that whatever they happen to be doing on the towpath, is more legitimate than what other people may be doing. Given the slightest opportunity to demonise another group, people welcome it and thus people on cycles are transformed into speeding life threatening menaces. A bit like the speeding boaters who always spill the kettle just as it boiled. I suspect that statistically one is most at risk on the towpath from pedestrians who are quite often drunk, high, and inclined to violence and assault or criminal activity. Or, to judge from some of the violent fantasies of posters here, from psychotic boaters nursing vengeance paranoia. The towpath is a valuable public shared space and people just need to rub along and accept that others probably won't conform to their own ideas of precedence.

I in the last two years have lost both of mine. They once did the Leicester Ring with me they started me boating in the 60s on the Broads . Dad was a seagoing man he did Dunkirk when on trawlers also did D day and convoys he also steered a big boat through an open tower bridge when in the Merchant Navy. Still think must tell them about new experiences or places that they will have been. All those still lucky to have a parent give them a call while you can.

Volunteer lock keepers sometimes get a bad press. Last week we took our historic camping narrow boat William to the IWA Festival of Water at Northampton. We had a great run down the flight with a volunteer lock keeper at virtually every lock. They were all fantastic, it was busy and they had it running smoothly, many thanks to everyone involved that day. Generally speaking, since volunteer lock keepers were introduced, my experience with volunteer lock keepers has been good. They are here to stay and this could be a good thing. At a recent seminar on the subject of volunteering, it was made clear that recruiting volunteers is not easy and it's already known that CRT haven't managed to recruit as many as they were hoping. We need to look after the volunteers we have. I appreciate that you do get the odd dud and there have been some unacceptable incidences but the key is education and feedback to CRT which should, in theory, help improve the standard of volunteering as time goes on.