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A boat is a lovely thing, why give it a silly name?

Who mentioned cargo - "Mason and Smith Carrying Co" is carrying "Mason" and "Smith"; what more do you want?

Smith and Mason - Blackstone

I always liked the story about the bloke who used to try to impress his girlfriend of the time by saying " Dorothy, I love you so much I've named my boat after you." He had, obviously, called it "After You".

You can easily spend a relaxed week on the Weaver and cover it all. All of the above mentioned moorings are excellent and I would add Barnton Cut to the list.

I have known Laurence for more years than I care to remember, and I was very aware of his illness. I last spoke with him four weeks ago and I was only thinking yesterday that this was an unusually long time - now I know why. Laurence had a considerable archive that spanned a number of subjects, and I hope that this will find a suitable home where it can continue to live on in his memory. Although Laurence was very opinionated and was quite stubborn he was an asset to the waterways and a tangible link to some of the last boatyards and people involved with full time commercial aspects of 'historic' boats and boating. The waterways have lost yet another knowledgeable historian, and I have lost another friend.

It might only be the newness wearing off.

Black smoke could be lack of air

That is correct.

Hello David, There is some truth in the fact that NABO is not consulted or considered in the same way that it used to be, but In thevdays after Stuart it was deeply involved with many hours spent by Council members involved with the BW and then CRT Management about many subjects. Although I am not as directly involved as I used to be I can assure you that much work and activity is still taking place around the country but By a very small group of volunteers who are very keen to maintain the dialogue with CRT. It has to be said, however, that since the setting up of CRT, in my opinion the opinions and suggestions of boaters have been sidelined by CRT, in favour of the health and well being aspects of the network. I also am of the view that NABO is not very good at letting the wider waterway community lmow what it fete up to, hopefully on their behalf. Like many similar voluntary organisations, NABO needs more active members to increase the pressure on CRT to improve the waterway infrastructure, hopefully to the benefit of all users, boaters and non boaters alike. Howard

Yes, do it. I went down a few years ago and a local walker said they had never seen a boat moving down there before! As mentioned above, the walk down the old locks at the end is very interesting.

you could always have the boats name, and then Mason & Smith Carrying Co. or similar, or would that offend the historical types?

I believe I once heard a song to help you remember how many spans there are. It went something like: Span, span span, span Span, span, span, span Lovely span, wonderful span... Sung by a bunch of Vikings iirc.

No faffing around is good.

The Weaver is a spectacular waterway and tragically under-used. We have spent almost the entire winter down there. I spent quite a bit of time at Anderton and its amazing how many boats come down the lift, go a few hundred yards upstream, turn and go straight back up the lift. The adventurous ones go through Northwich then turn and go back up the lift so never do a Weaver lock. I suggest going end to end at a leisurely pace, though its a 6mph limit so its quite nice to give the engine a little thrash on deep water. Always a few interesting old boats moored between Northwich and Hunts lock. The Weaver is more of a very big canal than a river for much of its length. Very low bridge between Vale Royal lock and Winsford so get the junk off the roof. CaRT will swing it but you might have to wait a day. Despite warnings from the lock-keepers you can and should go out into Winsford bottom flash to turn. Don't go too far and take it slow so if you do touch the bottom you can still reverse off. Council have built a little "marina" with free moorings but its difficult for deeper boats, can't get in to the side. Winsford is a sad town, heart torn out by a dual carriageway right through the middle. Red Lion is its best feature but only as long as you like your pubs a bit lively! Nice open mic night on a Wednesday. Some truly unpleasant fishermen up towards Winsford. Salty Dog micro pub in Northwich serves several very nice beers but best to drink early evening, especially at the weekend, unless you like loud live music. £2.00/pint on Mondays. Beer pub, not an eatery. Bowling Green near Hunts lock for drinking and eating. Extensive walking in parkland, reclaimed from Salt Industry, all the way from Anderton to Winsford. ..................Dave

No, I meant head the current when halting before using a lock, unless the Op has worked out that their boat will comfortably hold itself steady in reverse against the current. It may be impracticable to head up onto a lock mooring, because of space or other boats in the area, but it’s still good practice to know how to do such a manœuvre, as a boat handling skill

That was not our experience - there was very little excess momentum and the wheel would stop almost as soon as we stopped spinning it. But, hey, that's all part of why inland waterways are so fascinating! If you don't like doing some work, just cruise up and down the Thames all day long!

Tightening the ring often helps.

Perhaps ours are jaundiced? ?

Perhaps, but I've lived with both for years and would always have a cassette system rather than a pump out.

Yea, but he said ecofans don't work either!

Very much alive and kicking; here is a link to the web site for more info. https://nabo.org.uk/ Howard

Yes, I'm with Alan. Go for separates. We've got a Victron Pheonix multi plus (15 years old) which this winter decided to switch itself off - probably a hic-cup in the marina supply - when we were away from the boat for a few day. It reset itself and was fine in normal operation but we didnt want that 'turn off' repeating when we needed the oil fired radiators on when away. I got the electrics rewired so that I have 240V direct to the 240V electrics (via breakers and switches etc), added a 30 A Victron bluesmart charger (£200) and use the multiplus as the inverter. I also wired it so I can use the multiplus in its normal way of operating (both charger and inverter). If it is still working fine as an inverter then just a charger is the cheapest way.

I may have misunderstood, but I thought you said you'd already bought the boat (at a reduced price because you were buying it without survey) I know it has been suggested that it is a mud hopper, but they are a particular form of craft - the term "hopper" means they have a double skin so they can be filled to the very top with mud and with water running off over the coamings but not sink as the air between the hopper and the actual hull gives them sufficient buoyancy. So if you don't have a double skin you don't have a hopper. Tam edit to note that if it did act carrying dredgings without being hoppered it would have had a very rough life, as they are usually emptied using grabs and the crane drivers are not renowned for being careful of the craft they are discharging. Their grabs will easily knock the shape out of the coamings (and worse).