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@noddyboaterwill be visiting you shortly for his protection money. Nice boat you've got there. Shame if something happened to it. Jen ?

Seen today on https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/uk Now after all this investment, wouldn't you have thought they'd have at least made as much song and dance about it as they did towpath lanes for ducks?

You haven't answered Alan de Enfield's point about what arrogance and hostility? You asked if a particular boat was suitable for the canals and were told that it is not. Your posts suggest you are looking at bargain basement boats, and so some of us advised you of things you need to be aware of and the financial and other pitfalls you might encounter. This advice was all given to save you from wasting your time and money on something that could easily become a millstone around your neck. Engage positively with this forum and you can learn from the varied experience of boaters here. Or you can get snippy with people who give you advice you don't like. Your choice.

Be Prepared, black it while it's on the hard.

I take issue with your comment. I was a boaters rep last time, illness meant we had to move onto land last November and I am no longer a Boater. However the boater's reps managed to get significant changes, two reps were on the Appointments Committee & so influenced trustees appointed. We held meetings with various senior managers every quarter. I reported back, as did Andy Tidy, for meetings I attended. I hope the new reps will report back. I don't know if any have posted here at all. I am in the Friends constituency this time.

No, I understand your individual words but not when they are assembled in a random order.

Unfortunately, hot on the heels of last weekends Ciara floods, from tonight sees a procession of low pressure systems latch on to the jet stream and hit the UK. Very heavy overnight rain tonight will also leave some snow in the North of England, and then another low comes Friday with more wet stuff. Saturdays low pressure has been called Storm Dennis by the Met Office, winds will be quite bad, however, rain on already saturated ground will be the big threat. The storm seems to be stalling North of the UK on Saturday night and some areas of the SW, Wales and NW England could see 36 hours non stop rainfall. Anyone on a river or river navigation should take steps to reach a secure area if possible, or take steps to allow your boat to rise and fall without going over banks/towpaths. I do have to say that sometimes, the safest place is in a lock.?

Don't worry about it. If you have a look at the political bit, you'll notice that there are some bona fide members who like to behave like trolls. They'll pretend to misunderstood, or to be ignorant of something, just to try to get a rise out of other members. Sometimes I rise to the bait, but it's best just to let them giggle behind their metaphorical net curtains, congratulating themselves on how clever they are. Now the political stuff is ghettoed, they're escaping into the pub and general areas. Ignore them, and they'll go away again, with a bit of luck.

You do know Dr Bob is a muppet don't you ?

Andy. Did you buy the chocolate fireguard with the tin of snake oil I told you about on fleabay ?

I was thinking more like...

As a current and potentially future boaters rep (depending on election results) I feel a lot of people miss the main point of the role. The most important aspect is its governance role, selecting new trustees and if necessary removing existing trustees if it's felt they are not acting in the best interests of the Trust. After that the role is one of influence where, via formal and informal channels, concerns which we feel are important are fed into CRT's executive management.

It's mine and I will polish it as much as I want

eh ?

Can we pin a target on you and practice? We don't need to bother creating a target, just pin your avatar on your back.

not bl**dy likely

I dont think it was abuse , probably just searching for something to say , they have only been afloat 12 weeks after all ? Funny you mention the whitening of the steps because I had exactly the same upbringing , after the War there was a sense of pride of ownership and a thankfulness to be alive thats largely non existent now I think you are correct about that , is it an envy thing ? I dont know

Other than candidates I actually know, (or know of), I found it very difficult to make choices amongst those I did not. It was easy to quickly discard over half the field based on candidate statements that said very little of use, and were sometimes ignorant about what the role was. (If it said "be on the Committee" rather than Council, I rather assumed they had no idea of the role of Council, or someone serving on it, for example). I also think those elected need to actually use their boats actively for a lot of actual boating. Also long lists of roles in countless non waterways related organisations also seldom seemed too offer little about their suitability for this one. I even had an offline "chat" with Ian Mac to see what he thought about the candidatures, being closer to the topic than I am. As for women I decided to include Helen Hutt - I don't know her, but she put up a better statement than most, and is the only one I have seen being proactive elsewhere to try and garner votes. I had no hesitation in placing Phil Prettyman and Andy Tidy as my top two choices, though. If you can vote, and haven't yet, please do so in these final days. It is important, and I don't think we want to see the Boaters representatives as all being London or K&A live-aboards, that mostly live aboard, but probably don't do much active cruising. It is obvious the NBTA are pushing quite hard for election of such people - there are candidates that will serve the total cross section of all boat owners very much better, I believe.

The answer is there seems to be a curious expectation here that you do some basic research on here before jumping in with questions. Odd as you say, given this is a section specifically for new and inexperienced people. To many new visitors, asking questions on here IS their basic research, so I agree, the way new people get treated snippily or downright rudely is very sad, it drives new members away.

It works perfectly on GRP boats.

She played the trombone better than me too! I had to get a euphonium to catch up, then she got the tuba. I play the fiddle, she plays the double bass. I play accordion, she plays church organ. There's a pattern, if only I could spot it...

If you cruise the length of the canal vegetation very much comes into it. You’re only seeing desirable from your own point of view. Having boats moored on both sides is very much not the norm since it’s not possible in most places on the network. JP

I notice that there is often mention of coal boats being breasted up while travelling, I can see this being done on wide canals simply to reduce the manpower needed to steer them (a breasted up butty doesn't need a 2nd person steering it), but you have to remember that for narrower sections they can be singled out. With regard to the subject of living on boats, originally the vast majority of people living on canal boats were the people (including their family) that earned a living carrying cargo on the boats they lived on (not people using them as cheap accommodation and working in a close by town). The original canal design was for 2 boats to pass easily (without slowing down / going though trees / grounding) at any point and moored boats on the towpath to be unusual other than overnight, the situation now is that you are more likely to find boats moored breasted up and boats having to take it in turns to squeeze between the moored boats and the vegetation on the opposite side while being shouted at for moving too fast.

I think it would be more interesting if the scoring system was kept secret until after the event.

When I got the boat first, I admit I wanted to see as much of the system as I could, so tended to cruise for seven or eight hour days, like what hirers do. It's the excitement of the new, I think. Now I potter for two or three hours until I find a pleasant place,and stop and enjoy it. Both ways are valid and just as much fun in their way, both are cruising and both can be criticised by those with fixed and inflexible ideas. Attacks generally reflect the insecurities of the attacker (for examples see the political wing of the forum), and usually have nothing to do with the attackee, who may be baffled but should try to avoid being hurt. Just feel a little pity for the sadness of the attacker.

AC/DC, Status Quo, Queen. Bowie, Aerosmith, Rush, Eagles..........................

I knew you were joking when you said spray foam insulation is next to useless ? You ar kidding on the believers that ecofans work arnt you? ?