Leaderboard

The canals are primarily a transport system. I am not advocating speeding and eg creating a breaking wave, but equally there is no virtue in going as slow as possible and causing frustration to people behind who just want to go at a normal speed. You say there is not much difference between 2mph and 4 mph but in fact there is a huge difference. A journey that would take 1 day at 4 mph, will take 2 days at 2mph and some people have busy lives that don’t allow for an extra day to be taken. If you want to go at 2mph then fine, but don’t force everyone else to do it.

There are loads of reason why a boat following a slow boat might have time constraints. Most of which are none of the business of the boat in front unreasonably holding up progress and refusing to allow overtaking, but for example a hire boat needing to make the return time, a private boat with a medical or other appointment, a need to make a flight or train home etc etc. If you are someone who never has any time constraints in your life then you are lucky but equally someone who probably doesn’t have much going on in their life and is not using their one life to its fullest extent. I do of course agree that one should only encourage overtaking when it is sensible to do so, no moored boats, blind corners, narrow bits etc. That is an obvious concept that didn’t really need mentioning and is not a justification for generally resenting and disallowing overtaking anywhere.

Look behind you more often. When you see a boat has appeared and is getting closer, move over, let them past. There's a chance they might actually be using the canal for what it was made for. Thank you.

Let me put it simply: you have no investment in the wellbeing of the forum or the canal infrastructure, your posts here dilute the value of this wonderful resource because we all need to either ignore your posts (virtually or using the forum feature) or wade through the tons of crap you post in amongst the occasional useful thing. I am sure you will say you don't argue, and you may very well perceive that you don't - but you do. Sometimes its entertaining, usually its boring and off-putting. Step back once in a while. Don't knee-jerk react. Aim for quality; rather than quantity.

Reasons why you might be on a schedule: 1. You're on a hire boat 2. Your time is money 3. Your client wants to get their boat on brokerage for the coming weekend's viewings 4. You have another booking the next day 5. You have a booked passage 6. You're on annual leave from work 7. You've arranged to meet a friend for a day's boating 8. You have a table reservation at a pub 9. You need to catch a local bus that runs irregularly to get home 10. You have a train specific ticket to get home 11. You want to get home today because you've got a family (and you've given them an indication of when to expect you out of courtesy) 12. You have arranged a crew change (common for volunteer crews) 13. You're taking part in the BCN Challenge (the only time I've been encouraged to get a move on by a moored boat) These things can apply in multiple for any one journey and you can't plan them all conservatively otherwise you'll end kicking your heels and wasting your own and other people's time. It seems there are folk that don't realise that not every boat crew is a full single household. I plan and price all my professional journeys on CanalPlan defaults. I can generally marginally better them on narrow canals but struggle to maintain them on broad canals. Sometimes I have help but my base assumption is I'll be single handing. For personal journeys I'll use a bespoke plan based on what I've acheived in the past and it will always better CanalPlan defaults on narrow canals. Progress doesn't generally come through speed as I find the average speed (net of locks) for a journey on any of the main narrow canals doesn't vary much. It's a function of the number of hours you put in and your effort and efficiency in working locks. But that doesn't change the fact that following a boat or being followed is a pain because it doesn't allow you to cruise in a natural and relaxed manner.

That's an interesting one that. We love Syd but were not looking to have a dog when we took him on a little over 5 years ago. We would not be without him now. But when that day does come which all animal owners dread, then I don't think we will take on another dog. I think most rescue dogs come with their own set of issues. Ours was locked away for the first 18 months of his life. So had no social skills and no experience of the world. Everything was a new experience. He can not be homed with cats or other small furries, he has a terrible prey drive and has killed several small furry mammals of varying types. He believes he is an expert sheep dog and will try rounding up/consuming any livestock of any size if given half the chance. He has terrible separation anxiety which we have worked on since day one and only now is he starting to show signs of improvement. Syd didn't come to us through a rescue centre so we didn't have the hoops to jump through or the paperwork mountain to climb to rehome him. But equally we didn't have the back up or resources that a rehoming centre has to offer. We were very much on our own with him. Luckily we had an understanding vet who helped us nurse him back to full health without costing us the earth.

I agree. It’s not about rushing, rather working efficiently and making decent progress. Many of the old timers, myself included, prefer to boat in this way while still observing old time courtesies which seem to be sadly lacking today.

Oates is an odd boat in respect of this discussion. On a relatively deep stretch it is very fast. The question was asked earlier about what is the fastest you have gone - I am not going to declare that but suffice to say it was probably a smidge over 4mph (we can break fairly thick ice at 4mph...) However, it draws a surprisingly large amount so on a shallow stretch or through a bridge hole it will suddenly slow right up. This can confuse people, but we aren't generally being followed as we are faster on the deep stretches. I don't think we have ever held anyone up at locks either - the crew is not the most efficient, but it does know what it is doing and most roles are interchangeable, including steering between three of us at least. Where we run into problems following very slow boats is that we do need to run to a bit of a timetable and there are consequences if we don't. We might go out for a weekend, or up to a week but at the end we have to get back as the children have school and my wife and I have work. It's not optional. We will have contingency built in, but not enough for an extra day. On the last day, we might plan to cruise for 6hrs and would be OK if that became 8. From the bottom of Audlem to our mooring is normally 3.5hrs. We are fine if that becomes 4.5hrs and OK if that becomes 5hrs (and the world won't fall apart if it's longer) but when, for example, the person on the boat ahead of you decides that he won't bother doing the locks because you can do them for him while he stands chatting to the two guests on his boat, that is galling. On one occasion, the four of us worked both our boat and the two boats ahead of us up the flight - that's pushing it. If we didn't get the boat back, someone would face a long walk to the car, followed by a 3hr drive back the following weekend, boat it back and another long walk back to pick up the car and drive it 3hrs home. It's not a trivial consequence. If somebody has chosen a slow dawdle through the countryside then there is no reason they shouldn't have one, but the impact of adding more than about 3hrs to our journey is that we will still be driving home at midnight with work the next day, when they are comfortably moored up for the night. Everyone should be free to enjoy their boating the way they want to, but not at the expense of others who may have different needs. Alec

It is a problem, but not one I'm going to get very aerated about, it was just one problem of many to overcome. Interestingly the follow on was that we stopped for lunch at Stoke Bruene with the intention of going on through Blisworth Tunnel later. The 'slow boat' arrived about an hour or more later, then I realised that he was going to carry on towards Blisworth. That was the fastest we've ever cleared the decks and cast off, to get going before he got to us as the thought of spending a couple of hours behind him going through Blisworth Tunnels really didn't appeal

If there is space for two boats to pass in opposite directions, there is space for one to pass the other in the same direction, given suitable cooperation and skill in both instances.

Blimey, we were overtaken around 25 times in a fortnight last year as our engine was being temperamental. 7 in one day 🤣 It’s terribly easy, slow down ask if they would like to overtake and just go slow on a straight ish area. Aim to go very slowly towards the bank and leave plenty of space. Only once did we get stuck but a quick reverse and we were off again. Didn’t hit anyone. This was all round the four counties ring and N Oxford.

FFS, is this your hobby (arguing on the internet)?

It is not about rushing, it is about going along at a normal pace and not seeing virtue in going as slow as possible and holding up people as much as possible. Yes there can of course be unforseen events such as trees down and other stoppages, but these are not within the power of boaters. Holding people up unnecessarily, and causing frustration, is within the power of other boaters and I just think it is a shame that some people relish wielding that power to control how other people conduct themselves. As I said, I don't want to force other people to go faster than they want, I just don't want them to force me to go slower when they could let me pass. As to your final sentence, well thank you for your opinion on whether or not the canals are suitable for me. That is a phenomenal display of arrogance and it is easy to see why you think it quite OK to force other people to go along at your pace.

Indeed, but if they're coming past like they're towing a waterskier (see my post) you can tend to get pulled out too soon, it's useful to have some power on to counteract this rather than having no manoeuvrability. Of course if they pass so fast that you inevitably get pulled out into the channel and they collide with you it'll obviously be your fault, not theirs. DAMHIK... 😞 Not yet, it's in the final stages of fitting out. I don't think I'll ever be a dawdler, but neither will I block somebody who wants to go faster than me even if they seem to be going surfing... 😉

You should have calculated your contingency properly 😉

You seem to be at great pains to make the case that overtaking is somehow difficult and rarely practical. I wonder why? Of course there are plenty of stretches of windy narrow and shallow canal where overtaking isn’t really on, but equally plenty of stretches where it is. No-one expects to overtake on blind corners etc but I think it is reasonable to expect co-operation from a slow boat in front when circumstances permit.

The feeder from Titford (sluice at Rood End) runs downhill *into* Rotton Park reservoir. When there's excess water from the Pools catchment it goes down there, or when there's excess water on the Wolverhampton level they pump up at Titford and run it down to the reservoir. The reservoir sluice and overflow both feed the Birmingham level at Icknield Port. There used to be a gravity feeder from the reservoir to the Wolverhampton level at the Engine Arm (the raised channel that runs on the embankment parallel to the New Line, over the Cape & GKN tunnels) but that's been abandoned since the '80s. There's no feed from any reservoir to Titford, just the pumps from the Wolverhampton level. Colin from CRT says contractors had replaced a sluice valve at Rood End and incorrectly left it open. Water thus flowing down to Rotton Park which is full and so overflowing to Icknield Port. Only CRT could spend days pumping water up 38 feet only to have it arrive 20ft below where it started! About half the boats at the Titford rally did the Pools on Saturday, me included. The level was quite low then, but is down another few inches since. If CRT have really solved the problem now it might have improved by the weekend;

We've got the Pass the Pigs game somewhere, but it must be around 20 years since it was last used. Good for keeping thd kids occupied when waiting around on holiday trips, small enough to be put in a handbag, and good fun. We never encounted the combination that was un-natural for pigs and resulted in disqualification of the unfortunate player!

Before doing that, trace the pipework to see if you have an accumulator. If you do, then see if there is a non-return valve in the cold feed into the calorifier. If there is not one, then the accumulator will also be acting as an expansion vessel. Mine was like that for the 20 years we owned it, and no split calorifier.

to which I'd add that you may have already used up your 'contingency' time due to 1. mechanical/electrical failures - happens to the best maintained boats 2. CRT closures/delays/working parties /lock or swing bridge faults 3. queues at locks/waterpoints/service blocks 4. helping out other boaters (e.g towing off grounded boats, instructing hire crews on lock operations etc.) 5. bad weather sure there are plenty of others too

Well done, it sounds like you have had to work hard with your Syd. Only had our Lunes since yesterday afternoon, so the first night was a bit anxious for us. We left him in the kitchen at midnight, on his bed, our bedroom is on the second floor. I was nervous of what I might find this morning at 730. Lunes was on his bed, no mess or anything, which astonished us. So, so far so good. ETA He met a cat this morning, out on the town ramparts and he stopped, stared but made no attempt to move towards it, so it's possible he's less of a cat killer than we were told.

4 years ago today Taking Scorpio and Leo to our starting point for the BCN Challenge.

With regard to the electrical advice, ensure that you are getting advice from a 'marine electrician' because electricians with experience of automobiles or houses will not know the regulations for boats. It may also be a good idea to have professional help with the gas system, again, the rules for gas in boats are very different to rules for caravans or houses so make sure the person you talk with is correctly experienced / qualified for boats.

After reading all the articles, I started to think that it would be easier and more instructive for me to buy a cruiser project boat in the first place. I have an area on land to restore the boat. And I don't have a problem with accommodation. I know that I only have to get technical and professional support about the engine and electrical parts. I am eager to learn everything other than these and the subjects that I feel close to. I am very excited to share the details with you. @W+T @DanV Thanks everyone for the detailed explanations.

As opposed to determined to being miserable? 🤔 I know someone who's spent that sort of money on a boat and he seems genuinely happy with it, but £250k is nothing to him so I suppose it's no wonder he's always happy! I think this idea of people being determined to be happy with stuff they've spent money on in order to justify the spend only applies to a tiny minority. Most people I meet are much more honest in their assessment of what they've bought.

What about a smart canal where the towpath has been taken away and every 500 yards a refuge area

Anyone got behind President and Kildare over the years

You may think you know how tiring it will be. I am certain you are underestimating it. All boats take at least twice, and usually 3 times, as long as the owner expects, cost three and often four times as much as the owner expected and never ever go to plan on a day to day basis. I occasionally get the thought that I would like to do another boat; you know, one without the errors and compromises that got into the other two. Fortunately my wife has trained me, so that when this happens I go and lie in a darkened room till the idea goes away. N

Correct. And for obvious reasons they're also much more likely to be open with a customer spending a 6-digit sum with them than a keyboard warrior spoiling for an argument... 😉 But like the technical details of a new boat design that they've invested a lot of time and effort getting to, they can also ask that this isn't made public.. 🙂

Sitting on the roof would be glorious untill you actually want to move the boat and go a) under bridges, b) through tunnels IMO. 4 years of 600+ hours/yr with our cruiser stern. Have a step so I can be in front of the tiller and have it at a comfortable non-arm-straining height. 2/12 months in shorts and 8/10 months in thermals and raincoat with golfing umbrella. Love every minute of it.

I too loathe being followed so any boat following me doesn't get invited to pass, they are forced to. I'll pull into the bank at the first opportunity, step ashore and hold the boat on the centre line as if planning to moor up until they go past, or moor up too.

Often, when I can see injustice.