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What I’ve seen of cyclists recently on the Towpath it is them that do not respect others.

Short update as thanks. I did as Tony Brooks suggested. I'm not sure how much air is meant to come out when you bleed if there is a problem. It wasn't much. But, the temperature when running the engine doesn't go above ~70C now, both in our previous mooring spot and for the past three hours that we've been cruising. Hopefully that was the issue, thank you everyone

Dav and Pen showed these locks some time ago, a staircase on the Loire side of the Nivernais Canal. I used the second chamber as a drydock(?) once when we bust the propellor on our previous barge Secunda. This was outside navigation hours, working from a Sportyak dinghy, since the sluices leaked so badly. On the plus side Monsieur Cretier, who ran the tripping boat Aster, and who had been born on a barge, lent me his propellor extractor, a family heirloom without which we would be in there still. To work it you get the shaft nut off (remembering, in our case, it has a left-hand thread), then put the disc over the shaft end with the claws gripping whatever is left of the blades. Then, when all is tight, you whack the central thing with a heavy hammer. This, when working from dinghy, can be a life-threatening experience. My pal Edward Bonel, who helped, is pictured when the job was completed, around 4 am. We had passengers arriving that day, a healthy motivation to keeping the job on track.

Most of the boaters on the Great Ouse are extremely strongly against the link. They don't want lots of nasty steel boats on their waters (their newsletter, a few years ago, had some incredibly vitriolic articles on the subject). One of their observations, which I reluctantly had to agree with, was that just one narrowboat with typically 2 people on board, can occupy an entire Great Ouse mooring that could otherwise accommodate at least 6 four-berth GRP cruisers and maybe provide shore access for a couple of family day-boats. Such opposition also seems to make the link's construction unlikely.

We bought the boat because we liked it. We were not fully aware that the guy who sold it to us was a rogue trader and you get to the point of either giving up and saying goodbye to the money spent or finishing it. The boat is a matter of pride and we are not looking for financial gain just to know that what we have is to our specification. There are things we could have done better but we all learn and we wanted to bring a bit of history back to the cut. The boat has seen the bottom of the cut at least twice and been seen by others in " a sorry state" but has now earned the right to join the other boats on the cut fot the purpose it was intended. In essence it is nice to see a bit of history being restored for the sake of it not for its resale value but for the love of doing it. We have an ethos if you do something do it well.

Actually, that is precisely why I have two minds about this link. On one hand it would be great to have shorter journey to access the canal network, on the other though, the infrastructure is not here. Moorings are already sparse, let alone water points or pumpouts etc.

Hopefully about 7 and a half feet.

Armitage Tunnel is the place where I received the biggest scare I have ever had on the cut. We met a huge floating "island" of reeds, which got sucked under the boat and stopped the engine dead. I opened the weedhatch and was removing the reeds from around the prop, when a frog jumped out of the weedhatch and onto the counter...

On this day 2009 we were at Conde sur Marne and staying over until Bastille day when Floan came down the canal. Loaded with petrol coke for a cement works on the Rhône. The junction with the Marne canal is a 90 degree turn .

Hi, you might have this info already, but here is link to the official website for this project http://www.b-mkwaterway.org.uk/ Somebody else might have of course some 'insider' information.

Victron panel yours for a drink. All works Ok except that Blue Inverter On led does not illuminate until it's been on for about 15 minutes. Otherwise all ok. Provide your own cable! Currently around BCN.

I believe that Melbourne is on a repeat of its Level 3 Lock down following an increase in cases. https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2020/jul/09/coronavirus-victoria-melbourne-stage-3-lockdown-restrictions-metropolitan-metro-mitchell-shire-explained-covid-19-what-you-need-to-know

Surprised no one has mentioned auto jumbles. Got mine from one, off a 1914 Humber Tourer, not the one in the museum I hasten to add.

You will be roasting in a black boat, The difference in temperature in sunlight between a light coloured boat and a dark one is massive.

Ah, so in extremis then, we've all had to do that, if only you'd said that.

Rather you than me. CC'ing around the London area at those dimensions is possible, but as DMR points out in post 5, your interpretation of fun may bey tested. Taking into account the lack of available mooring room against the towpath in that area means that narrow beam boats are doubling up. So you've already got a restricted channel. especially if you meet another fat boat coming the other way. You'll be looking for 57 ft of suitable towpath without doubling up, or you'll be dwarfing single moored boats on the inside and still sticking out into the channel. What is it that has persuaded you this is for you? Have you decided to upgrade in size after a few years of narrow boating? Or have you researched and concentrated on the romantic elements of spending your free time carrying buckets of poo and pee around while trying to work out when you'll need to start rationing your water? Or have you been listening to Bloke down the pub?

I was enjoying the exchange more than the content of the thread... but then am not much of a diy person... ?

?good luck with your project?

Only new to canal boats and smelly canals and it actually rude to comment on folks difficulty with spelling but i will forgive you as you cant help being a spelling pedantic it is a diagnosed condition just like dyslexia so your forgiven

Had hundreds of people at The Pig Place on the Oxford at the weekend. All outdoor seating and spaced sofas and cafe seating. Campsite also full but I spaced em well. Two forumites have visited so far in the nice weather.

Chaplains can only support people who accept their help. They are also volunteers. The lack of support by "others" is a bigger worry in my mind. We no longer have a proper safety net for those who need help. those that want help struggle to get it and there are no resources left for those who don't know they need help

Idle setting screw dropped out? Sounds like the tickover is just too low.

Its not the greatest idea for a first trip.

On this day in 2007 Grantham Canal