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I feel this comment actually highlights the problem beautifully, a nothing event happened today where a boat had a minor cock up ( I presume, I wasn’t there they could equally have picked up a blade full and lost steerage) just like probably hundreds of other boats all over the system will have had minor cock ups today. Nothing was damaged, no one was hurt and the day carried on happily, lessons will have been learnt (which is the exact purpose of this training run) but it gets commented about on here, why, purely because historic boats were involved. Rich

I'm very happy that some people wish to own and maintain old working boats, and that they occasionally gather with like-minded owners as effectively, a private members club, to chat and discuss their hobby ... same as vintage car and bike owners do. Rather like thatched cottages, I love to see them but wouldn't want one. It gives us mildly interested observers the chance to admire and take photos of their boats as they move around to such gatherings. But it is clear their ownership of such boats is for their personal pleasure, exactly as ownership of mine is for my selfish reasons. Neither of us should pretend we are doing anyone else a favour. We're all capable of demonstrating varying levels of skill at boat handling at any given moment and I'm sure that errors and misjudgement are not confined only to historic craft. Many hire boats are instantly 'labelled' and incorrect assumptions made and I'm confident the same is done with ex working boats ... the boat may be old but the crew may be novice. However selfish or poor behaviour is not absolved simply by the type of boat involved. Rog

Fortunately more like

Some larger boats steed better because They are less affected by the wind. Built with longer swims and a better rudder

Sorry, but my computer didn't like the last quote and wouldn't let me alter or finish it. I meant to say that the L&LCS members who look after Kennet, although they get some pleasure from the work, do it more for the general public and to promote the history of the canal. Kennet and Mersey are the only unconverted short boats on the canal, and Kennet is the only one to which the public have access. Last Sunday we had over 450 visitors on board over the day at Skipton, and though it can be a pleasure chatting to them, it is also time consuming. Heritage is one of the many factors which ensure that our canals stay open, and educating the public is an important aspect of encouraging government to keep funding the system. A few more volunteers would be a help in achieving this aim by educating the public to the benefits and heritage of our canals.

I never tired of hearing some of the tales from David Blagrove. In the pub with the narrowboat crew at Braunston one year where linked to my family like the time he broke down on the Thames at Brentford & Mark Harrison broke the rules by going onto the Thames to tow him out of danger .Mark was called up before the company who had their office in a pub the next morning. David turned up with 4 bottles of good whisky plonked them on the table & said fine paid .

It’s not unusual 😂🤩😂 ha someone had to start!

Can't It's a Nokia 3220.

No boat steers in neutral if it is not moving through the water. All boats steer to some extent if they are moving, depending on the design of the boat and how fast it is moving. But many modern boats have rather small rudders that are barely effective in neutral and certainly can’t create a significant change in direction. So yes boats do steer in neutral to some extent if they are moving forwards. But all narrowboats steer much more responsively if they are in fwd gear and preferable with a bit of revs on. Surely everyone (who knows how to steer a boat) knows this? So I’m not sure what point you are trying to make apart from stating the obvious.

I guess that if you took a survey of anything these days it would be hard to find positive things as the mood generally is a little bleak. I feel for the CRT because Government (and the next one!) will do anything to ensure that they are not getting the blame or are distanced from difficult decisions. We live near and walk along a canal as well as travel the waterways with Moose and all I see near us is deterioration and frankly indifference shown by "the general public". Hardly CRT's fault here but what I see is so frustrating. Litter, dog mess, vandalism, graffiti. Two overbridges are reaching the point where they need repair work. Once vandalism removes 1 brick, another one goes and it suddenly becomes an avalanche but the decay is entirely due to indifference, disrespect for our heritage etc. Some local parish councils have removed waste bins - not our responsibility (in their opinion) so guess what? Litter builds up. Dog poo bags are piled up etc. And I will call it as it is, a huge amount of the litter near us is dumped by people of foreign origin in areas where they frequent - this is evidence of my own eyes. I noted around us how many new C&RT signs have gone up - not one exhorts people to take litter home, clear up after their dogs properly. Sometimes we need to tell people how to behave but we cannot for fear of shaming them or disrespecting them. If only people would show more respect and consideration for others.

Just converted the document above to a PDF, let's see if the forum accepts it. The Jointless Cratch Board.pdf

Ah, but has Laurenen sold her soul to the Devil as the Flying Dutchman did? Might be worth a try.😰

They are trying to get volunteers to do the towpath vegetation cutting. The problem is the same as with most other organisations these days in that the amount of potential volunteers is decreasing year on year because many are either getting too old or passing away, and much of the next generation aren't interested in volunteering or have other activities to pursue. Add to that the fact that many volunteers are away on holidays or out boating for the summer, and it's no surprise the towpaths are getting out of hand. I appreciate the financial difficulties CRT have, but relying on volunteers for this just isn't going to work. It needs a regular time structured programme of cutting not the adhoc gathering together of a few volunteers whenever they happen to be available.

I did say before, the right boats still sell same day as hitting the websites. They need to be priced correctly, not have greedy owners insisting on a price 20% above the brokers valuation, and be tidy and look cared for. Boats with vintage engines are still selling, although not as quickly, so there is still a market for Greta-baiters. Get it to a decent broker is my advice, again. Your current marina holds no contractual deal to sell once you leave the marina, it is your boat, not theirs. If you need help in getting it out locally, I am happy to help. (Promise I wont nick your engine for spares.. ..🙂)

I had never been to the Braunston show until this year as we have been on the continent for 18 years and then the plague. I’m not a fan of shiny paintwork but do like polished brass. Met some old friends and made some new ones and people who are serious about maintaining the boats even if they are not”working boats” . I tried to make a joke to the friends of Raymond’s crew by saying they were in the wrong place ie on the corner by the bridge but it fell flat as they said this is our place. Great atmosphere between the crews and I for one thoroughly enjoyed it.

If it is a mechanical gearbox, then put it in ahead, mark the front crankshaft pulley and also the shaft coupling, and turn the engine one complete turn and assess how far the coupling has turned. So coupling turn of 1 revolution =1:1, 1/2 revolution 2:1, 1/3 revolution = 3:1.

I've been experimenting with strimmers and my battery strimmer is hopelessly inadequate. So I tried with my main powered Bosch strimmer (described as a brute of a strimmer in the reviews on Amazon) plugged into my 2.5kW inverter. Still struggles with elbow-high towpath vegetation. I think a petrol strimmer will be necessary to actually clear any decent area of towpath to make a mooring space.

I’m not new on here but first time posting, sorry but I must reply to this. The Narrowboat Trust are using this run back from Braunston as a training run there are no fewer than 4 brand new, never steering a working boat or possibly even a boat before. it’s not ideal when anything gets bumped but I think as a rule we boat pretty well we certainly aim to but please bear in mind whenever you see our boats it could be someone steering for the first time albeit under instruction. cheers Rich

In what I way does the immersion heater 'take about an hour'? This will surely depend on the starting temperature of the contained water. Very warm weather recently. The electric kettle will switch itself off and tell you but the does the immersion heater do that? Will it tell you by a light switching off and a click that the job is done? As mentioned above there is a thermostat story here. Also the kettle is raising the temperature to 100'C where the immersion is more likely doing 60'C or something. It certainly should not be boiling. So the kettle is using tank water (15'C?) raising it to 100'C whereas the immersion is in a calorifier which is inside the cabin (25'C?) and only raising it to 60'C.