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Top paddle jammed in raised position at Lock 5 Atherstone yesterday. Two CaRT staff attended promptly, unable to free "down the hole" Pound trained, waders donned and the whole lot done with no more than a couple of hours downtime.

I find, on reflection and having completed the survey, that all of this has been so predictable and depressing. There is now a significant minority of waterways users who are clearly ruining for the rest of us. Promotion by sellers of live aboard boats and the media suggest it is OK just be live on the towpath and move when you have to. Yet if you are compliant, have a mooring, when you are out boating you are going to be checked to see if you are genuinely cruising? Like many historic boat owners we accept the fact that navigation is going to be difficult at times but do not wish to have the book thrown at us for going aground or getting stuck in a lock on the grounds that we are 1/2" over the nominal width that someone has decided upon based on no historic evidence. It is clearly the fault of CaRT and their predecessors that they have failed to get on top of the various problems that are now becoming high profile issues for them. All these proposed changes to the T and C,s are because of problems they are getting which would have been obvious to anyone who was on the case. Take the oversize problem for example which appears to be centered on the GU and North Oxford. Wide boats going though tunnels without permission and being left partially blocking or damaging bridge holes of the North Oxford. These issues should have been dealt with locally instead of having to make changes to national T and C,s. Its not just CaRT but EA are suffering because of lack of enforcement. Boats moored everywhere they shouldn't clearly being lived on and yet not even displaying the name as required by the bylaws or not showing a license either. No sign of any enforcement in my experience. I've had my rant now.

Shame they stopped filming as viewers would of seen the flow over their bows quickly stop once he moves the boat back towards the bottom gates and also when the boat quickly rises. Total OTT reaction and an excuse for some CaRT bashing and dramatic Vlog Headlines. I’ve met this couple and Jo is a very nervous woman and this is often shown in their Vlogs, Michael seams to be obsessed with IWA/CaRT Silver Propeller Challenge, the main reason why they have done most of the system so quickly while never really experiencing it, doing so many miles that does not mean they have boating common sense. AsI say Jo is a very nervous boater and I get the impression she would panic is a any situation like this no matter how minor. It’s a shame they stopped filming and have not shown the whole story, obviously they stayed in the lock and the boat passed through safely and never sunk. 100’s of boats pass through these locks every year non have sunk or had such a OTT reaction, quite embarrassing from such a so called experienced boating couple.

It's an interesting scenario but pretty implausible as it would require a limitless supply of 'cheap' moorings up-country. I've seen no evidence that this is becoming a problem. The problem with too many boats in certain small geographic area relates to boats without a home mooring. CRT can already deal with that. It's interesting that you refer to people suffering harm. Some people are already suffering harm - the ones who are surviving on low wages in London, can't afford rent and are talked into buying a cheap, substandard boat without understanding what they're getting into. That's where my sympathies lie.

But post #3 is talking about springs which are generally impractical on a narrowboat, but Alan does not have a narrowboat and he is telling us how to moor a sea going boat, which is exactly what I used to do with a sailing boat, but something I very rarely do with our narrowboat ?. ..................Dave

Bacteria thrive in damp conditions but a virus can only reproduce by infecting a living, functioning cell; from a susceptible species (like us). So covid will not reproduce outside the body. We'd be stuffed if it could. From Wiki: "A virus is a submicroscopic infectious agent that replicates only inside the living cells of an organism."

These 'probablys' and 'probabilities' are problematic. You're just guessing. It's not unreasonable to be concerned when statutory body awards itself powers beyond those which the courts have deemed reasonable. It's not unreasonable to wonder what powers they might choose to award themselves next.

The answer I gave explains it well enough. Threatening enforcement action on boaters who are behaving within the law IS persecution IMO. You have a strange view on what hypocrisy entails. It is perfectly possible (and not hypocritical) to hold the view that preventative action, for example to prevent a stoppage, is a good thing; whilst also holding the view that statutory bodies should be held to the highest possible standards when it comes to their legal duties. Hoping CRT will take preventative action over one matter does not mean wanting CRT to take preventative action on an entirely different matter. Surely you can see this?

As far as I am concerned there is a growing problem of the canals being littered by boats which rarely if ever move. Long term this is going to become a problem for those of us who want to actually move. The chances of a new act are IMO vanishingly small, so how do you propose to address the problems? Personally I am quite happy for a use of T & Cs to address management problems which weren't on the horizon when the last acts were written. After all it is like all other T&Cs you don't have to accept them, there are other navigation authorities. I get the feeling (I know I will be told I am wrong so don't bother telling me) that most who wail about things like T&Cs and bending of the law are looking at the fact they won't be able to continue bending the law to their advantage.

This day in 2010, a night scene on the canal in central Nanjing, plus their equivalent of the local 'chippy'. This day in 2013 in a tourist town near Shanghai.

Some boats overstay on a regular basis and others occupy visitor moorings on a very long term basis . This does limit opportunities for others who might want to stay a shorter duration - visitor moorings are almost all 48hrs in my neck of the woods. C&RT don't enforce the rules that already have in place . It not surprising that boats from a marina may cruise the same stretch of river every weekend and very possibly use the same visitor moorings very regularly . It would be unreasonable to prohibit that.

'McGovern started at the BBC doing work experience on the Tomorrow's World programme, before securing part-time employment as a researcher in current affairs. She went on to be the main producer for daily financial news on the Today programme on Radio 4, before becoming the lead producer of business news on the BBC's One, Six and Ten O'Clock news bulletins, working with the then business editor, Robert Peston. McGovern has presented BBC Radio 5 Live's Wake Up to Money and On the Money and has been BBC Breakfast's main business presenter since 2010 as well as a regular presenter of the entire show"

I was thinking about that as I was locking up some leaky T&M locks today and really its obvious, She was more interested in making her video and filming her hubby chatting than what was happening to the boat. Why do boats sink in locks, because people dont pay attention to whats happening

Having watched it out of interest I know why I don't watch vloggers. What a load of over dramatic tosh.

Currently there is only one ground paddle working at Tilstone, Beeston Stone and Wharton’s. Beeston Stone particularly slow.

it is the failure mode that is relevant here, with a GI you may not know (dependant on design) if it has failed, with the IT the smell of burning and the stopping of the washing machine and all other electrics together with the tripping of everyone's shore supply alerts you.

The boys and girls in the blue shirts are generally excellent. Will make every effort to get things working and take a pride in their jobs. I've a lot of respect for them.

Speaking of noise,I have been told that the device can be installed without an exhaust silencer. That may be the reason that some make an unacceptable row.

Coastal (UK) is typically £25-£50 per night for a pontoon mooring, but you do get the 'usual' facilities. You can always anchor-up off a nice sandy beach and use the tender to get ashore, then there is no-charge. (Sorry the camera lens must have been a bit 'misty' when the took the dog ashore)

Proper boating on a fab river ?

Tam I did know you did the lime juice run but couldn’t remember the sequence. Apologies and no slight intended.

Getting back to the topic of wearing masks, I would like to see studies Don in the community about people wearing homemade cloth masks.. I believe that by wearing a cloth mask you are in fact wearing a petri dish of infection, a cloth mask is a excellent moist medium for growing covid.. There are many studies showing this to be the case, or simply ask yourself the question, "why do theatre staff over the past75 years not just wear cloth masks instead of single use disposable" I have been in theatre and witnessed masks being changed by staff several times in lengthy procedures.

Yep. Yep, because the only boat you're likely to find as a project is a tired old boat that's not worth very much. Whatever you do to it that won't stop it being a tired old boat... Mostly the latter, but you do need some basic mechanical knowledge to start you off if you don't want to get ripped off by 'engineers'. Not stupid at all.. but it was three questions All of the above of course just my opinion; others may differ.

It is The Force. It has a light side, a dark side, and it holds the universe together.

Well, I just thought 'twas better to check before the fact than say nowt and allow an expensive mistake to occur.

Regarding the tunnel keepers house, it looks like it stood proud from the tunnel face wall, if so, it would have been a very simple one room above the other, with a privy to one side. I suppose there is the possibility that it went into the back wall, but that surely would have been a dark place!

Yes we are, well we are hoping that we can park our campervan as near as possible and we will live in that.

So what is the scale of the problem, 20, 200 or 2000 I asked The head of boating this 5 years ago and again a few days ago. unfortunately they don’t know so perhaps they are just trying again to suggest their terms and conditions supersede the relevant acts of parliament.

That might be why you think houses need less maintenance - usually the owner pays for it and/or has to do it.

You could be onto a winner here-you just need to modify one to sound like a Gardner when its running ?

Both correct. It was Nutfield and the butty Brighton, carrying lots of bags of coal and smokeless because doing the NBT coal run, and with some wooden items aboard. Nuneaton is nearing the end of some serious repair work including a new bottom, so the NBT have arranged with Friends of Raymond to borrow Nutfield. I'll be one of the crew on the pair on the Thames and Wey for a chunk of October as we continue, in fact my first boating since I did the same trip last October, as I got very ill in December/January but am steadily recovering. Then Nuneaton and Brighton are due to be reunited in late October. Brighton does indeed have the name painted on a very nice water can but not on the stern, but who is Betty?

There was an interesting experiment I saw a report of a while back, several asthmatics agreed to wear masks and have their blood oxygen levels monitored. Guess what, they all stayed above 95% so masks do not deprive people of oxygen, its all in the mind !

Well, if I may say so, that is ill advised. Just call me Mrs Fussbucket.

No machete, but a Calder and Hebble hand spike within easy reach.

I always thought the Bingley Three and the Bingley Five were the victims of two infamous miscarriages of justice. Now try and tell me they are lock flights? They spent years in a Southern jail for allegedly trying to order mushy peas and gravy with their fish and chips on a visit to London. Never forget! Free the Bingley Five! ?

They had already done three quarters of the network, and are experienced in media production. I have met them, and they are both very intelligent and sensible and not prone to hysteria or making snap judgements. They do a lot of boating, work as a team and keep the boat well maintained. You may have missed the point, the idiot CRT employee was pushing boats through, not advising of risks, and was totally unaware of the danger of sinking the boat.

Don't watch newbie vloggers and all will be well ?

https://timberclickyorkshire.com/gutter Although I bought my last lot from James Chambers timber merchants in Halifax.