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May I suggest that you don't need half the pieces of equipment you have on your boats. However, personally I wouldn't feel the need to be as judgemental as you're being and slag you off for having them. Just because one has a bow thruster doesn't necessarily make one reliant upon it. It really depends on how it is used. I can steer my boat perfectly well with or without the BT but it is nice to have for reversing long distances and for close quarters handling around GRP boats for example. By the way, in 15 years on this boat my BT batteries have never gone flat. In answer to the OP's actual question, I have a 95kgf thruster on a 57ft x 12ft boat. Part of the power specification is not simply the boat dimensions but also how far the tunnel is set back from the stem of the bow which reduces mechanical advantage.

I have just looked in unbelieving horror as a boy aged about 12 got off a hire boat that was coming up through Hillmorton bottom lock carrying two bags of rubbish and ignoring the bins, threw them both into an attractive flowerbed on private property and ran back to what I guessed were his parents. All looked well dressed respectable intelligent people. I carefully picked the bags out of the flowers and put them in the Biffa skip provided by CRT. I then telephoned the Hire Company whose management promised to speak to them harshly. It's getting worse isn't it? Or is it just me getting old?

It would be more sense to lobby for the removal of the booking system completely. If you turn up and there is no room tough

Its not a crime to be an a***hole, if it was the police would be even more overworked and the prisons would be bursting. As for the end product of parenting its easy, I just tried to make them turn out like an even better version of me ?. I suppose thats the problem, the a***holes just produce lots of little a****holes, or maybe lots of even bigger a****holes. ...............Dave

You said: They are a useful accessory for newcomers to assist in mooring with a strong wind, but you become addicted..., which sounds a lot more absolutist than it's easy to become addicted. You're backtracking a little. I don't think your suggestion is necessarily as reasonable as you think. Some people with BTs hardly use them so you wouldn't notice. Don't automatically assume that if you don't hear a BT the boat hasn't got one Anyway, it does get boring when someone comes on with a question and it immediately descends into the same old nonsense.

That's not subtle enough. A blast of reverse and forward to suck the water out from under them and then replace it is much better as there is no contact.

Daft idea just to save the cost of a VSR. The day you have an engine problem necessitating much cranking you will regret this system. Why try to be different? Why do you think everyone else has a seperate battery? Because its sensible. Just have a small 80Ah start battery charged by a VSR and you have no worries,

Narrowboats are so popular down south 'cause you can cruise all the English and Welsh connected system. The narrow canals of the midlands split the wide canals in to a number of zones, with no easy way to move from one to another. The Scottish canals were all built sensibly wide, so no need for the compromises of a narrowboat, unless you enjoy walking like an ancient Egyptian! Jen (with a narrowboat!)

Alan, I've tried but can't resist it. PLEASE take this comment as humorous rather than critical. "and as the roar of 1/4 million gallons of water hurling over the weir grows even louder she raises her voice to be heard... 'step 14! Attach left end of roll bar 'D; to port side Fluke 'F' using M10 x 25 bolt 'K''

Perhaps you could, should, would be the one to get him some help for his own good before some big guy puts him and his generators out of action permanently? I have had 3 such stroppy boaters, one finished up in the cells for a night for threatening me whilst I was phoning the police who heard him say he was going to sort me out (good luck there, I've been trying for years) , one attacked me and the police took him away and one was found dead in his boat some time later. ( no, not me. I leave them still breathing, just) Yes report, name and shame, tell everyone, you could save a life, his or the next poor boater who moores next to him.

If they weren't Purdy then they weren't the best in the business

An iPad or other tablet with internet access lets you download and watch anything that is worth watching. TV is bad because its so easy to turn it on then just watch anyrhing that it spews out of it. We go on holiday every year (two weeks in Cornwall in January) and thats the only time I watch tv as its a novelty. Over the years it has become total rubbish but I suspect people who watch it all the time just don't notice how bad its got. .................Dave

When we took our boat Thistle on the Thames the locky complained that the name was only shown on one side. We explained that we were half-way through repainting the boat, but that didn't help; nor did it help when we showed him that we had one growing in a plant-pot on the roof. He wouldn't let us through the lock until the kids had finished colouring in a name plate on the reverse side of some old cornflake box cardboard and hung it over the side.

That was the status quo, it has worked fine for many years, I see this as the creeping progress towards charging for navigation rights that we are entitled to.

Probably in the lock at Sileby if I know Matty ?

Another advantage of a smaller, separate cranking battery is that when it goes flat (eg lack of use during lockdown) you can more easily take it out to use a domestic (car) battery charger. Don't ask me why I think this is a good idea, but when the battery gets a bit knackered (and it will do, sooner or later) it saves a lot of mither.

Ah, but you earlier point seemed to limit the usefulness of a BT to newcomers? Anyway as long as you can accept that having a BT and knowing how to steer a boat without a BT are not mutually exclusive.

You are assuming todays parents are a good role model or even understand the concept of what the "job" is and its end product - innit This bloke should definitely be reported to both CRT and the local Police - after you are well clear of him and his boat of course - a tendency towards antisocial behaviour soon escalates

I'm an engineer who has always worked and mostly socialised with other sane educated people (??) so have little knowledge of the theories behind defective humans. My own observations suggest that personality disorders and drink/drugs tend to go hand in hand but I don't know which comes first, I suspect its a bit like chickens and eggs? I have personal experience of trying to turn babies into sane adult humans and it can be a bit challenging at times, so I suspect a lot of parents just give up before they've got the job done. ................Dave

I won't be doing anything like that ? but I can think of a few characters who definitely would think of something to do to his boat. I've moved now. Hopefully I won't encounter the guy again. I doubt he'll be the last knobhead I'll see on my travels sadly.

Leicester is open. Coming down from Kibworth to Wistow was no different to normal, paddles hard work, some broken. Onwards from here it is obvious that nothing has really been done since last year. From Kilby Bridge onwards was hard, very hard work. Some pounds almost 2 feet below where they should be(and that was with a CRT worker letting water down from Kibworth first thing in the morning. The reed growth is unchecked, and in some areas, a single narrow boat width wide. Underwater weed and other plant growth also made slow, slow progress. No vandalism other than graffiti, which got better and more artistic as we entered the city. Kings Lock was a welcome sight, although the boat coming up warned us of much rubbish and weed. The local kids were in the local open air pool, we refilled it after descending. The Soar was lovely, except for the usual LimeKilns to Belgrave Lock stretch which was full of rubbish, bun bags, floating oil and other slimy stuff. From then on....gorgeous. I think the extended winter floods have done some good clearing. Birstall Lock is again in a very sorry state, works below yet again trying to repair the landing walls...3rd attempt in 6 years?? The turn into Sileby Mill whirlpool has become even more challenging with the tree left over from Winter. ....and the blown cill in Sileby Lock is....still blown, 7 years and counting now....

Slightly off topic. Do you know why elephants have big ears? 'Cos Noddy wouldn't pay the ransom.

Hi Bod. What a lovely keepsake. The main thing you need to keep the doll away from is sunlight. The UV degrades the plastic making it go hard and brittle and also will degrade the pigments especially the red. Keeping it above freezing is probalby also a good idea. I guess it is made from plasticised PVC. I would wrap it in cloth and then in a box well out of the sunlight. Should survive 2 years without any degradation.

https://www.johnbarnard.biz/tips-tricks-videos/ You could do worse than watch a few of these.

Thank you - I should have made that clearer. And the numbers that are underlined are negative, so the 2 at Nelson Dockyard would be 1.13 above water level at low tide (0.83-2) and a depth of 4.9 metres at high tide (using the same example). Variances to the projected level of half a metre are commonplace - VTS tell you this every 30 minutes, not that it should matter much to a narrowboat skipper!

Continental drift. It has stretched the canals out thinner and longer since 2003. ?

Yes, you can do it all in a week. Round trip approx 70miles, so at 2mph (there are some rebuilt concrete sections where you can go a little faster) 35h plus 2 x 6 locks. But, its a canal which does 'slow you down' more than most. If you like walking, its very easy to stop and get off the boat. We've been five times and only done the full length once. A lot of hirers only do between Goytre and Brecon. For most of the canal the character is of being tree lined (plenty of views between the trees) and clinging to the mountainside with the river far below. Past Goytre the valley widens and the character changes. Still very nice, and usually quieter.

A starter battery is another form of insurance, I doubt your boat will catch fire or sink during the next 12 months, so why buy insurance? Because if/when disaster happens you will realise why everyone else does.............

Just for clarity, as people not used to tidal waters may think that the chart depths shown are 'actuals', they are LAT (Lowest Astronomical Tide) heights These are not the actual depths of the river. If the tide tables show (for example) a Low Water of 0.83 metres and a high water of 6.9 metres, these figures have to be added to the LAT, so 'your' 5.3m channel actual depth becomes : 6.13m at Low water 12.2m at High water

Le Boat do indeed charge per hour running time unless you buy the all inclusive package which includes 30 hours running time. It is a rubbish and extremely expensive way of charging for fuel used. The Horizon boat we have hired next year works out at £6.25 per engine hour run which leaves only one way to run of course. Throttle to the boards at all times!

It isn't worth trying to be civilised with antisocial boaters such as this one. Just ignore them because sooner or later they will get themselves in trouble. One such chap on the Fossdyke has recently had a good dose of karma go against him. He is renowned for being a bit of a prick with everyone and earlier this year was taken through the courts for wielding a knife in a public place. He has recently decided to be a prick with the wrong person outside the Witch and Wardrobe pub and has had a taste of his own medicine which has resulted in him losing an eye. I doubt it will change him. Once a prick always a prick In answer to your question though yes it is worth reporting their behavior to CRT and the more people that do so the better so that they can build up a picture of this chap. Also worth reporting him to the local police if his behavior warrants that.

Bear in mind this is a discussion forum and you are not entitled to receive only the advice you ask for. Anyway it is late and you are angry with the aforementioned boater (understandably) and hopefully things will look better in the morning.

I said I was going to move. The only advice I asked for was opinions on whether it's worth talking to CRT.

I refer the honorable gentleman to the very first sentence of this thread.

Took a bit of persuading.

At the risk of veering back on topic, I spotted this one yesterday. I wonder if they run an Italian restaurant in Wigan

May I suggest that you actually go on a course and learn how to helm a boat - otherwise you will become reliant on the 'sissy-button' and the very time you REALLY need it, the battery will be flat and you will have no idea how to actually steer. They are a useful accessory for newcomers to assist in mooring with a strong wind, but you become addicted and you can hear them coming from miles away as they are used to try and stay in a straight line on a straight piece of waterway, YES, you can handle a widebeam without a bow thruster, it just takes practice. I currently have one boat with a 14 foot beam and another boat with a 23 foot beam - neither have (or need) a bowthruster. Good luck.

Me too, but that's all it is, a dream.