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I've passed Connor a few times on my travels around the network and found him to be a decent fella who is also helping raise his young family. I can't believe the hoo ha of this thread. 10 pages deep 😳. The guy is a sole trader and has many years experience of moving boats without incident and plenty of glowing reviews. The whole thing about the Co-Op... really? It's a post office and you are allowed to have a post office address. Surely narrowboaters and liveaboards know the challenges of getting post when you live afloat? Unless those throwing shade don't live aboard and are just your classic forum, keyboard warriors, with nothing better to do. I'm lucky to be able to use a family address but that's not an option for everyone and it will be a challenge for me once my parents pass on. I recently helped Connor on a delivery, with the consent of the owner. As a qualified skipper myself and with a few yacht deliveries under my belt myself, it was interesting to see him in action and the care he afforded the clients boat. He has fixed engines and even washed a boat on a delivery to the Peak Forest canal. I really don't understand the negativity and vitriol aimed at a guy who is hardworking and going the extra mile.

To be honest, someone who has just invested that amount of dosh on a first boat probably has more interest in what's becoming of the system than someone like me, who may have been trundling round the thing for thirty years but won't be doing it for many more. And hire boaters quite possibly see more of it than eighty per cent of boat owners, judging by the proportion on our mooring that ever go out for more than a day. Most haven't been off the mooring in living memory.

We moved the boat from Stockton top lock to Banbury over the weekend. We were surprised to note some long overdue improvements on the stretch. Of the 24 locks, only one paddle was out of action at Claydon bottom lock. The most surprising thing was the amount of encroaching towpath side and offside vegetation which had been removed. Fenny Compton (ex) tunnel was a revelation, and it is now possible to pass boats along the entire straight apart from the small narrow bit at the Claydon end. The towpath also had seen a lot of remedial work and was in a much better state. All ready for the summer drought!

Looks like other canal authorities are having problems with water shortages. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/feb/21/italy-faces-new-drought-alert-as-venice-canals-run-dry Video here: https://www.theguardian.com/world/video/2023/feb/21/venice-canals-almost-dry-amid-low-tides-and-lack-of-rain-video And they don't have any locks that can be left with the paddles and gates closed on leaving, or chained up to save water. As most of you know, Venice is often called the Birmingham of the South, despite having fewer miles of canals than its more picturesque Midlands counterpart.

I made my own exhaust chimney. Oversize stainless steel tube from ebay, slit down its length and pulled in to the right diameter using jubilee clips, then pop riveted through the overlap. Brass strip and aluminium D section, also from ebay, curved to fit round for the bands, top rim and the hoop on the top, and again pop riveted on (with copper pop rivets). Polish the brass and paint the steel and aluminium with high temperature matt black engine paint from Halfords.

I think all of us , especially those who live permanently on the canals, are about as committed to the future of the system as we can be. Doesn't stop us having opinions about some specific types of boatowners - but they are generalisations, and doubts about the future. There are certainly a lot of brand new expensive boats tied up in marinas that never cruise, and there's nothing wrong with that, folk like a floating weekend cottage, but it could be argued that whether the locks will work in ten years time hardly affects them, while those of us who spend months cruising every year do have a valid concern. There's no practical way to make rich people pay more than poor people (if the tax system can't manage it, CRT won't) and as they're getting the same service, why should they? I suspect Goliath, like me, doesn't give a toss about money as long as he can maintain his boat, eat and keep warm. No-one needs more than that, though it's nice to have a bit spare to buy trombones with. Or melodeons. And this being a discussion forum, everything gets shot down in flames, and so it should. Anything left standing at the end might be worth considering, having survived the furnace.

Regardless of the BSS - as a liveaboard you'll rapidly realise that ventilation is a good thing. Cooking, boiling the kettle, just being onboard a lot (particularly if there are two of you) all generates humidity. Your windows will be streaming with condensation and running onto the woodwork. Your curtains will go mouldy. Your mattress dank. Cupboards will be damp at the backs etc. etc. With a steady amount of background heat, good ventilation makes living aboard a floating biscuit tin bearable.

I certainly found it more pleasant, both to live on and as leisure, when boats were cheaper and had less electronic gubbins inside. The cut was a lot quieter then as people didn't need to run gennies or engines for hours a day just to do the washing or watch TV. I reluctantly accept that people just want floating mansions now and I suppose they all need microwaves as they don't know how to cook. Anyway, only be the ones with deep pockets left soon.

Yes definitely worth reporting. - We don't make use of automatic moderation tools much because there's no substitute for our moderation team who do a fantastic job - the only exception where we do use automatic moderation tools is where spam/spam attacks are involved due to the potential risk they present to our members and thus the need to act very quickly. (Regardless of whether or not the spam attack occurred at 3PM or 3AM etc) Unfortunately I cannot really publish exactly how or when the automatic moderation kicks in as I don't want to expose it to misuse. All I can really say is that it requires multiple post reports (i.e. from more than one member) and the member being reported AND the members submitting the report must match a defined criteria. Again I can't post specifics as it's also important to prevent misuse of this. (not suggesting you would personally misuse it however :))

Just taken the dog for a walk along the Coventry Canal and noticed that Bridge 64, scheduled to be closed until March 5th is now open.

Just received my invite and completed the questionnaire. I think that it is more about preparing people for above inflation rises across the board, and larger increases for continuous cruisers and widebeams (whether they're calculated by area or a widebeam surcharge), than consulting on how exactly the extra money should be raised. Most boaters I meet on the cut or in the marina are not on this or any other forum or facebook group, and may well not be as aware of CRT's chronic underfunding as people on here are, I'm guessing that the "consultation" is a way for CRT to make them aware. The video at the start and the explanation of the finances are what CRT want people to focus on, and labelling it as a consultation is how CRT get people to engage with it.

Isn't that supposed to bear some ressemblance to Watney's?

When we bought former Grand Union Canal Carrying Co Ltd narrow boat Belfast No. 115, I assembled the following facts: Belfast 115 was built by Harland and Wolff at North Woolwich. HMS Belfast was built by Harland and Wolff in Belfast. Belfast 115 was registered on 9 December 1936. HMS Belfast’s keel was laid down on 10 December 1936. Belfast 115, after the end of its carrying life, was sold off by Government-owned BWB to the DNBP charity in 1971. HMS Belfast, after withdrawal from naval service in 1963, was sold by the Government to a preservation trust charity in 1971. On the other hand, HMS Belfast is 8.6 times as long, 9 times as wide and draws 6.6 times as much as Belfast 115. And HMS Belfast was built with 48 guns and 6 torpedo tubes, and we have none of either!

I think we have come to the conclusion that he is OK, or better. But one has to bear in mind that there are a lot of scammers out there and his initial posts were a bit vague, no website, seemingly dodgy address, several potential red flags. So folk were just being cautious. IMO prising the information out of him and perhaps prompting him to set up a website, is to his long term benefit. And he also showed reasonable patience and didn't behave like a sulky teenager as so many do these days. So all of that is to his credit and helps his reputation. And he got 10 pages of free advertising!

How very dare you - this a fully paid for beer belly, I'm not pregnant! 🤣🍺😁

Perhaps it's going to be a two for one promotion, pay for two licenses and get one.

Me too. Got mine from Ikea.....flat pack.

If you look at the “meet the team” page, you’ll see it’s two of them now. Probably doesn’t help that they’re both called Connor

How about a black box or whatever colour 😬pay per mile and lock 🥴

I used a length of car exhaust. That comes in loads of sizes and my local (small) garage got a length for me. Its quite a good gauge and not tinny. Again a couple of brass strips round it. I think Michael Pinnock use to make them.

Will put some of the scar mongers at ease.

Indeed -- and not a single reference to "company" that I can see, to keep everybody on here happy... 😉

It would appear fitting to finish this thread off with this: https://www.cwboatmover.co.uk/

We had the bridge get stuck there one Christmas eve, it was nearly down but not quite although the barriers had lifted. We did what we could to alert motorists not to risk it but the clever tw@t who chose to ignore us ripped his sump off! Laugh? I had to open another bottle of whisky.

I very much agree with IanD about the blue signs. They are helpful in raising public and government awareness of canals in the most general way. In a few years when an important canal or two gets permanently closed due to structural failure and lack of funds to fix it, the media will latch onto it properly and there will be a public outcry, and the groundwork for this is being laid now with the forest of blue signs. Yes on the surface they are fun to poke fun at but underneath, I think most of us realise instinctively that there is more to them than just telling us what we as boaters already know, that life is better by water.

Bit like you talking about boats @M_JGtold me to say it

Just chuck a Sari at it. They have stopped many an engine

Hirers are valuable to CRT because they massively increase the number of people who care about the canals, and who can or will to some extent influence the governments decisions on future grant funding, hirers are also a source of future license fee payers (AKA boat owners). The hirers and the hire companies have an interest in license fees, and the hire companies are included in the consultation. I think CRT need to be aware of the need to ensure that the hire companies can continue to operate as they are vital to the future of the canals, they probably need a separate consultation with different questions: hire boats have a permanent mooring and probably cruise far more over the course of a year than most "continuous cruisers".

Maybe the 22 x 17 4 blade would be alright then. I don't know how much difference it makes other than a 4 blade is brilliant for stopping. I went on the bantam push tug ILDA once and it stopped like it has disc brakes. 4 blade prop. Brilliant..

Manganese bronze is a common material for propellers. Alloy of Copper, Zinc, Tin and Manganese. Tensile strength 820 MPa is a bit greater than HTB, ( 470 -570 MPa) which is also Copper, Zinc and Manganese but contains Iron and Aluminium too. N

Update: new job found so that panic is over. Worked out nicely, amazing career move. I have filled my diesel tank since and the stove went back to it's old self - very very easy to boil. So the trim of the boat DOES make a difference, it's not just about the inititial vertical rise. I will fit a pump and be done with it. Using a PC watercooling pump was mentioned in this thread. I did some digging and I am 95% sure this pump is the same as the £350 Jabsco one from midland chandlers. At £150 it's quite the saving. The price difference is madness. https://www.aquatuning.co.uk/water-cooling/pumps/d5-series/d5-pumps/1253/laing-d5-pump-12v-d5-vario-1/2-ig?sPartner=googleshoppinguk&gclid=CjwKCAiA9NGfBhBvEiwAq5vSy9hs7NkQHsdEyQKQ7zApCEeKh4x0zA_6B2B9UwJP0xbSc7uPjA-v-BoCiQYQAvD_BwE

For hot water heating, direct solar is the best way, cutting out the dual energy conversion of electricity. Cost zero.

If boater A and boater B share hot water ( shower with a friend) I would predicked (see what I did there) a long and happy battery life. 😜😜

Not forgetting the VCN Challenge. That is Venice Canal Network

No sorry Laughable, wink wink(or should I put one of your winking emojis on)

Well I think that float charge and trickle charge are not the same thing. When we had LAs, the Combi was permanently connected to shore power when we were away from the boat, voltage set to 13.25v. When I got back to the boat, current into the batteries was to all intents and purposes zero. That is floating - no current flowing either way. Same for Lis now. Whereas trickle charge is a low current slow charge.

Is the cable from your alternator to your batteries fused?

Fear not, it will all be censored out in the future. I'm still getting to terms with Titty being changed to Tatty in the swallows and amazon's film.

When I'm Prime Minister (I'm 54,786,625th in line), you will not be allowed to finish schooling until you've passed your driving test. It is one of the basic skills in life. Some of course will go fruther and do a graduate degree in bus driving which will also help. That only leaves the problem of being able to afford a gender-neutral, colour-insensitive, carbon-neutral, hedgehog-friendly vehicle to drive...