Leaderboard

Not sure what your point is? I was captaining that run back from Braunston and to be honest do not recall us failing to negotiate a bridge hole on the Northern Oxford, but any bridge hole you get through without any damage would seem to count as a success. This was a training run for new members, so things were not always as slick as we might like. We are a volunteer organisation and put a lot of effort into presenting the boats as smartly as we can, in terms of both presentation and handling. You are obviously a very experienced and capable boater, so perhaps you would contact the Trust? We are always pleased to learn from the experts who have shared the benefit of their experience with us over the years.

Back in the 50s/60s, when pleasure boaters were a rarety, the most you could expect from a boatman unless you knew them well was a slight inclination of the head. We referred to it as a 'boatman's nod', but it was pretty much the same you'd get while walking in rural areas. The waving and cheering that now goes on seems to us more like a rather self-satisfied "look at me - I'm on a boat", and I find it rather embarrassing if a guest on our boat does it.

Interesting you mention the "right"side of the canal. As a former historic boater, the correct side is in the deeper water on the outside of the bend, which doesn't always correspond to the convention of passing on the right. However, having deeper water underneath you, from this position you are able to move to the correct passing side in most cases. Coming round the shallow inside of a bend is a recipe for disaster as, at any moment, you can skid across the cut in a straight line.

You passed me near Dunchurch- we met at a bend just as I was coming through the bridge. No dramas- you were (unlike a good percentage of private, hire and historic boats I met on bends) actually on the right side of the canal and well positioned. Think you had about 6 crew in total- all of which smiled, waved or exchanged greetings as we passed. I did think at the time this was how it should be done having passed too many miserable scowly faces en route as I dodged them.. 🙂

Made a new cratch this year. It's made out of 18mm marine plywood without any joints.

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

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.

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

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.

Yes, and without any real joints. However, the file is too large to post on the forum because it contains images. If you of anyone would like a copy (.DOC format) either PM me your email address or just email. Email address in signature

My Mrs could still do it every time on her own, I never had to get off the boat. She is five feet four and fairly slim but has the knack when it comes to locks. I do miss the boat 😩

Well, go to the midpoint along the length, with the boat alongside a very low piece of towpath. Someone lies down and hooks the tag on a steel tape under the wear lip on the baseplate, while someone else measures to the gunnel. Then take off (say) 10mm for the baseplate and 6mm for the walkway plate.

That seems a bit OTT to me. I recently took out all my 19 year old portholes and the interior oak linings as one of the portholes had started to leak. None of the wood had been treated with anything on the inside and it was butted right up to the steel. Apart from the porthole that was leaking (the lining of which was rotting and only just salvageable), the rest of the wooden linings were all fine - water stained on the backs of course but other than that no problem. I painted the backs of the wood with some primer before putting them back in but epoxying wood on all sides seems only a step away from fitting plastic linings instead of wood! Epoxy is a thermoset polymer after all. I worked on a 120 year old 91ft Thames steam launch for a couple of years with a lot of varnished areas, especially around the perimiter of the teak deck and wooden bulkhead. We used to use hot air guns and scrapers to remove any failing varnish before reapplying it every year. But we only removed the failing patches, feathered the edges and then re-varnished. It is a pain. Fortunately on most canal boats the exposed varnished areas are fairly limited.

The clue’s in the ‘need to sell’ bit. I don’t know what the sellers situation is They are. We’re currently booking Spring next year and clients are fine with that. Around our way if you’re scratching around for work in any trade then it’s because you’re cr@p. That’s the domain of the Facebook idiots with ‘recommendations’ from their wife/husband/mother/dog. They’re available tomorrow and are cheap. (For good reason)

I suppose there are different ways of defining 'proper' working boaters. The last regular commercial long distance narrow boat traffic ceased in late 1970. However there are people who since around about that date have provided constant service of delivering coal and other manufactured solid fuels initially often to canal-side housing, but eventually mostly to boaters. The boating skills that some of these people have built up, in some cases over more than 50 years I would claim must regularly exceed those possessed by the pre 1970s working boaters. A good example is Jules Cook of Jules Fuels fame - one of the best around who steers so precisely and makes it all look so effortless. David Blagrove was indeed a much loved man, who did masses to benefit the canals. He was never anything like as good a boater as Jules though!

"We're very sorry for any disruption you may experience as a result of these works. We understand how disruptive stoppages are outside of the stoppage season". The stoppage season? A useful concept. Maybe CRT has four seasons - WinterMooring, Boating, Water Shortage and Stoppage. The boating season runs (or rather hiccups) from Easter to July. Rather like the old BW response to queries as to why boating was almost impossible for singlehanders ("We don't expect people to do this on their own"), CRT don't expect anyone would be daft enough to want to take their boat out the rest of the year. That's not what the licence is for.

Today I had a serious professional welder fill in the deepest pits on the old girl, I brought a boat surveyor to tell me would it be plausible and he said it would. Actually there was not many 2mm deep, but we did them all, I'm not grinding the weld off (he did long runs over 3 or 4 at a time) overplating would have cost a small fortune, so this may help others with pitting, this old girl was built in 1979, so not bad considering.

https://www.justgiving.com/page/john-sloan-1719664855235?utm_medium=fundraising&utm_content=page%2Fjohn-sloan-1719664855235&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=pfp-share

yes, very much the preferred option in our case. My knowledge and expertise in the area of narrowboat shells is about as close to non-existent as you can get, so my opinion about which shell to use doesn't really deserve to carry any weight 🤣. Of course if you do have knowledge in that area, you may well want a particular shell builder to be used. What I do know is how big I want the boat to be, what layout it will have, the details around fit and finish, and those kinds of things. I'm happy for the builder to take responsibility for ensuring that I get all those things. It seems like builders use particular shell builders because they have a relationship with them and confidence that the shell will be delivered to the right spec and standard. Seems to make perfect sense to me. If all those things line up, the result is a continuing good reputation and happy customers all round.