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From last Wednesday it has been busy here. Probably took a couple of days for the hire fleets to reach us. As Mrs Moorhen appears to have abandoned her nest (she has been moving the nest building materials of the boat and carrying them off somewhere) I'm hoping to get out soon.

You will probably not get one on a Tuesday! If you are on your own just use the gates and paddles on the towpath side. We find that most of the time it is easier on your own to be honest, too many don’t pull their weight.

but only if you're a cool and hoopy frood who knows where his towel's at

When I reached Old Ford Locks, I found "Cloudy" in the middle of locking down its three empty lighters. It seens that the tug had used the RH lock and the first lighter the LH one.. The stern of the first lighter was then manoevered into the entrance of the RH lock to await descent of the second lighter.... ...which was then attached and towed out of the lock to await the third lighter... ... that was waiting for the bottom gates to close so the lock could be re-filled. Barge manoevering was evidently facilitated by the powered capstan located on the central island. Bottom gates closed, and lock filling up. At this point, the lock-keeper noticed me and told me in no uncertain terms that I needed a permit to take photos on the canal, so I had to put my camera away and wasn't able to complete the sequence.

On this day in 1968. Lee &Stort Navigation. I had just got my first provisional driving licence from the council offices which were next to the Bow Back Waters. I was then going on to a photographic shop.near the Lea Bridge Road. It would have involved several changes of bus so I decided to try the tow path, my first experience of canals. The tug "Miriam" towing three empty lighters then appeared. I heard its approach before I could see it and so had time to go through a gap in the fence and climb the embankment to get a better view.

Marinas have been doing a roaring trade in replacement batteries. MP.

I thought the whole point of a forum is to discuss views...but anyway....I didn't vote because I think the answer is yes and no. Digital thinking is where I think it's all gone wrong.

On this day in 2001 BCN The clue is with the Highways Agency needing the canal closure. They are good at signs.

I'm new here and don't know who the mods or admin(s) are apart from a couple whose posts I happen to have noticed. What I do know from previously being an admin on a different forum a few years ago is that most people have little idea how much work is sometimes required to keep things running smoothly. But they are quick to complain when there's a problem. Which let's face it is little more than a first world minor annoyance in the grand scheme of things. It's a thankless task being a mod or admin. I wouldn't do it again. So from a newbie I raise my glass to you. Cheers guys.

That may depend on what one thinks the purpose of CRT actually is. Many boaters mistakenly think it's to fix our private playground using other people's money ...

Stourport again, long ago. A few Health & Safety rules being broken here, but never mind. That is myself on the nearer bow. It still seems like yesterday.

I'm disappointed. I was expecting drone footage from Mars!

If ya get stuck bring em here and have some beer we have some 13s

Hi Martin, I've only just seen your post from 03 April - welcome to Canal World and the wonderful world of Brum Tugs! It's really helpful to know you are the new owner of IBIS and to know she's on the River Wey. There should be a couple of other Brum Tugs on the Wey and we at the BrumTug Group on Facebook would be immensely grateful to hear if you find them. As far as I know they are: 1. TROS YR AFON: Originally BEAVER (1) and later ASTI. 71376 and possibly still in original 32ft form with long covered hold. 2. NUTHATCH: Originally BEAVER (2) 47299 but extended to 41ft and relicensed as 45879. Possibly still has long covered hold. We have very few photos of IBIS - apart from a recent photo and another posted on the Duck by the previous owner (Sean?), we have only the 2 below. The photo showing IBIS in black (courtesy Joy Arnold) was a very low res pic (12.7 KB) from the time before the cabin was extended. You can see that the name panel from the original all-black colour scheme has been retained, with the pale grey/green painted around it! In the Farmers Bridge photo, IBIS can just be seen behind Brum Tug No.2 EPOREDIA. This is an early photo and even then it seems that IBIS was painted black or battleship grey. If you are a Facebook user, please come and find us at "BrumTug" - you will be made most welcome! Colin

Actually you either do or you don't! On a scale of 1 to 10 how wrong do you think I am?

There's allegedly a document explaining how to do them singlehanded ... I wonder if it got found when the boat in question was cleared out before it was sold?

Is CRT fit for purpose? Now there’s a question. In some respects yes, in others no. If I was to be critical,like many large organisations senior management has got to be spot on. Middle management more so. Employees on the ground have to be motivated all the way from the top. Changing patterns of working and procedures are very difficult to manage. Good working relationships down the line are crucial to ensure things are done correctly and to specification. In my experience, as most tasks are contracted out nowadays, contractor management is essential. Most contracts are won on price, low prices, with the intention of cuttings corners during the course of the contract. This is where CRT management have to be at their best. In my view, they are not.

My 2d would be to say I've been using a Honda EU22i with LPG conversion all winter, about 300 hours of use, and it has operated flawlessly. My charger requires 70A and has worked fine. Simple to maintain and very quiet, especially if you point the exhaust away from the boat and any neighbours. I've had no complaints about noise, but plenty of folks enquiring about the LPG conversion. LPG burns cleaner and sidesteps the issues of needing compliant storage for petrol (which also has a shelf life and is more of a faff to acquire on the canals). You turn it off by turning the gas off, so any left in the generator is used up. I get an average of 35 hours out of a 13kg cylinder, so it's about 75p-£1/hour depending on where you get your LPG. Two other issues to be aware of... boy dogs seem irresistably drawn to piddle on generators... and the EU22i cannot be run in wet conditions. As others have mentioned if you just want power in the summer then spending the same amount of money (or less) on an oversized solar array will give you more power than you could ever want. Solar is also much better and obviously cheaper for maintaining LA batteries.

So taking heat out of the canal water will be better for the environment on CO2 production but with no mention of the impact on the aquatic life. CaRT have been populating the sides of the canal with reeds for many years, no mention on how they will control them or remove them when they block navigation, as they do in quite a few places now. I will not knock CaRT for the sake of it - but I do wonder if they do give a thought to the boats and boater community in their many, rather wild ideas.