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One reason we shouldn’t talk of “crap areas” is because it creates reputations that stick and the reality of urban towpath improvements and the increase in liveaboards is that it opens up areas that once were considered risky. We still get the odd person asking if Birmingham is safe. Yet had the OP asked on the best route from Sharpness to York I’d have been inclined to say “one that goes through Brum”.

Also, quibbling about a cranage charge of probably £250 to £500 suggests a degree of naïvity about the coming onslaught of expenses of fitting the thing out, and of licencing/insuring/using/fuelling/maintaining it once in use. This cranage charge will pale into insignificance, I'd suggest.

When he gets there they'll ask "Have you wheelie bin across the the Atlantic in that?"

Hello everyone A rather long post but I hope you enjoy it. Well, we have returned from our trip, and what a blast. We sailed south from Silsden and stopped at a pub called the Marquis Of Grandby in Riddlesden. The Landlady did us proud making us really welcome and even going as far as cooking Scampi and chips. Later that evening we went to Ishys Kitchen, An Indian takeaway. Next day we let go, sailed on towards the 5 Rise locks, and got there about 12 midday. The CRT guys were terrific although they did warn us that the return journey would be harder and it wasn't unknown for boats to sink! So we descended the 5 and 3 rises and went on our merry way. Further down we came across a pub called the Fisherman Inn and we decided to have a bite to eat and it's here we came unstuck. The pub is right on the winding hole and we couldn't moor there so we decided to go under a tunnel we could see ahead and moor there. Unbeknown to us there was a double lock right in front of us. We knew one was coming up but were surprised to find it right on top of us. So as we had already passed the winding hole we knew we had to descend the 2 locks to the next winding hole. Our very first go at doing it ourselves. After a quick debate we decided to forgo dinner, descend the 2 locks, turn around at the next winding hole, ascend the 2 locks and then have dinner. That's when we got into trouble. We descended the first lock ok but when we tried to descend the 2nd one to reach the canal, the first lock kept sending too much water into the 2nd lock thereby stopping us from descending to the canal. Despite our best efforts we couldn't equalize the water in the 2nd lock to the canal water and we had to go to a boat moored up to ask for help. I don't know what he did but it got sorted and we descended to the canal and sailed onto the winding hole by Hirst lock. (My first attempt at turning the boat around...and I did it!) But our troubles hadn't finished yet. We sailed back to the 2 locks we had just left, navigated the bottom one ok and while moving the boat forwards for the upper lock we grounded the boat! We hadn't realized that we should have refilled the first lock on our descent so that we would have enough water to equalize the locks on the way back up. The lockkeeper was on hand to help and he sorted it out for us. Many, many thanks to the two gentlemen who came to our aid. So we finally moored up and had our tea in the Fishermans Inn. (Liver and mash for me) Then we called it a night and had a few beers on the boat before lights out totally knackered from our fright. Next day, no more mishaps and we got through the 5 and 3 rises and decided to sail right past Silsden boat yard to a pub called The White Lion at Cross Hills (Where I turned the boat around again...yay!). Moored up, had our tea and made our way back to Silsden the next morning. Unbelievable weekend and one I would do again. The people all along the canal were incredibly friendly and have made a lasting impression on our group. Anyway, I just wanted to share our experience and hope that telling you guys of our mishaps will help in some small way to someone who wants to do the same. You can view a quick video I took when our group reached the bottom of the 5 Rise. Sorry for the bad camera work.

All that's needed is to make the Severn navigable up to Pool Quay, put a link in to the Montgomery Canal and reopen the closed bits of that, then you could get that way to Llangollen. And while you're at it, put in a link to the Shrewsbury and Newport Canal as well.

Another unsusual type was the replica Bridgewater canal tugs put together by John Rickaby in the 80's. They had Kelvin engines in a front engine room with hyrdaulic drive. I was offered one of the boats (wooden cabin steel hull) complete with Kelvin for a very good price but the cabin seemed to dodgy. Someone bought it and tidied it up, tool the Kelvin out and I think it has a Beta Marine or something in it now. Quite nice I think there were possibly three of them built. Frodsham was the one for sale on the Wey a few yars ago for a very attractive price. [img]https://boats-from.co.uk/sites/default/files/styles/large2/public/products-images/2017-10/103307/103307-92924.jpg[img]

Hope he arrives in the right week. Fortnightly collections and all that nonsense.

Tied with two lines as you describe, when a boat passes you surge forward. This means the stern lines comes tight and holds the back in, but the fore line slacks slightly allowing the bow to move out. As the surge reverses you get the opposite reaction. With springs, although you still surge forwards the bow and stern still remain tight to the bank, and as you surge back the same reaction. To explain further, as you surge forwards the stern line will tighten, but so will the forward spring, and then the converse. So although the boat will still move slightly forwards and backwards you will no longer have one end or the other swinging out and bouncing back in. Although you may think your two lines are as tight as they can possibly be, the water level will change slightly as a boat passes which will immediately mean they are less tight (or more, depending upon the relative levels) Tam

Did they make it further than you’ve ever been and if so does that mean you’ve got to back for another try? 😂

Have CaRT replaced this with sign with something easier to read? 😄

How about this

https://www.lancs.live/news/lancashire-news/daredevil-lancashire-dad-sail-three-26817467?int_source=amp_continue_reading&int_medium=amp&int_campaign=continue_reading_button#amp-readmore-target This chap is sailing the Atlantic in a homemade craft. He described it will be like being in a wheelie bin on a rollercoaster for 90 days. Incredibly it also has edible walls! Hopefully he doesn’t have any accidents on said walls - considering what happens on rollercoasters alot. If this is possible to cross the Atlantic in a craft resembling a dust bin, surely it’s possible in a narrow boat? Few modifications, some outriggers and the walls plastered in porridge oats and peas!

With very long lines, Pythagoras comes to your help. For example if the line is 30' from boat to bollard, and horizontal, then if the boat falls 6 feet then the boat only moves towards the bollard by 7 inches. I use this effect when using ropes going down in a lock. Tie off one as above and adjust the other. (30^2 - 6^2)^0.5 = 0.6 feet = 7 inches.

All the contemporary books on canals I have read suggest that one of the reasons for investing in canals was to reduce the number of horses and men then in use on road transport. This would allow them to be used in agriculture and thus improve the food supply to the growing population living in towns. As one horse could easily pull 50 tons on inland waterways, while they would be lucky to move one ton by road, canals could have been the cause of fewer horses being required, though the increase in tonnages being carried has to be set against this. Most railway expansion also took place at least 25 years after the Napoleonic wars had ended, by which time I would have thought the horse population would be well on the way to recovery. After the 1st WW it does not seem to have been worthwhile returning many army horses to Britain, and they were left for the French to eat. (That's a joke, honest)

I blame Findus.

I may put an extra line out if the wind increases significantly or changes direction, or that is likely. I can then sleep soundly. I do have a lot more ropes than the average boater, so I don't need to re set the lines. The extra line would not be a duplicate.

The pump in a box things are terrible, seen load of hire boats flooded with them. Definitive answer is a Whale Gulper.

Helps share the load that would otherwise be on a single line. I think on a tidal mooring the more the spring lines are towards parallel with the boat the less constant adjustment is needed as the tide rises and falls. In that situation you do not want any lines at 90 degrees to the boat because you would constantly be adjusting them.

You were right the first time, tightness is an art form that other counties just don't appreciate enough

When I read 'The strange voyage of Donald Crowhurst' the true log entries were some disturbing reading. You can chart his descent into deluded madness from the deception and isolation of sailing round in circles in the Atlantic..

Well whether paling into insignificance or not every pound counts. If no mention of cranage was made and it's not in any written contract then it really should have been and perhaps you need to go over whatever contract you do have for anything else that may or may not have been mentioned. Before getting into any sort of dispute about the cranage fee with the broker it might be a good idea to see if you can do a deal. Explain that there's been a misunderstanding as you expected delivery (including cranage) to hard standing to be included in the price you paid and the contract should have been clearer on that point - perhaps offer to split that cost with the broker?

There’s lot of options but to avoid built up areas (less of the “crap areas” please) options are: Sharpness - Gloucester - Stourport - Great Haywood - Shardlow - Keadby - Thorne - Seby - York (assuming you won’t be wanting to go round Trent falls which I’m sure is a lot scary than Birmingham on a narrowboat) As an alternative carry on north from Great Haywood up the T&M, Macclesfield and Huddersfield narrow then pick up the above route again in Yorkshire. Sharpness - Gloucester - Tewkesbury - Stratford - Lapworth - Braunston - Norton - Foxton - Leicester - Cranfleet - Nottingham - Keadby - and as above You could also do that via Worcester and Kings Norton to get to Lapworth. Would involve a few miles of the suburbs of Brum.

Coastal...

There were two disadvantages to this we found last year, swimming out with the notes to pay made them rather soggy. Worse was that goat chains didn’t work so we nearly gave up. How can you moor without chains. Someone lent us things we hadn’t come across before now called pins but these pins made a bit of a mess of the bricks in the tunnel I found . Why isn’t the tunnel all sandstone , give me a one of those sandy tunnels any day. Nearly put in a complaint to CRT. It’s horrible to crash into bricks when crashes can be cushioned with softer stone. The sandstone replacement scheme can’t come fast enough. Those Crick people need to put in better moorings in the tunnel this year especially with a passing place channelled out for us widebeamers.

Saw a dutch style narrowboat on the New Junction Canal last week with the best name - Marmite

I'm not sure what you expected. The place is probably full of them.

Yes! With your history I think you should write a best-selling autobiography (I'd read it) and then sell the rights to Spielberg; then write an award winning screenplay for the film (I'd watch it). Hearing about the lives of many of the good folk like you on here makes me realise how little life I have lived.

That was probably Tom McClean in his Typhoo Atlantic Challenger - built by Springer Engineering. Yes he made it, but the other way - New York to Falmouth. His crazy boat is Moby: https://www.mby.com/news/whale-boat-carbon-neutral-atlantic-crossing-51826