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I must admit a bit of sympathy for the "idiot", as given the situation I'd probably have done something similar (as someone very "green" to boating). Something of a perfect storm really. - Likely already committed to the blind bend before any horn signal would be heard from the pair, and if he had made one the pair wouldn't have been able to do much about it either. - Nowhere sensible to get off the boat and hold it in - Likely a shallow channel to the offside, given the vegetation. - Inconveniently parked moored boats - Likely little experience of how much difference a loaded boat makes to how the water around it behaves. The main difference is I'd have been extremely apologetic about having made such of a mess of it- I'm fairly confident I would have made the mess though! Yes, with hindsight motoring on carefully would have been the right thing to do but it probably wasn't clear until it was already too late how much room there was to squeeze by- I would have made what would have seemed to be the safe (but wrong) choice and tried to get out of the way as well.

It gets interesting when someone thinks they can get through a bridge between the two boats as they don't realise the butty is being towed. So many boaters today aren't aware of towing pairs and just don't know that the worse thing to do in most situations is to stop the forward propulsion, I regularly say to others keep it in forward so you have some steering.

God: Noah, it's time to build another boat. Noah: Oh! OK, you’re the boss. Do you want the same again, animals, two by two? God: Actually no. We forgot the fish last time so this time this will be just for the fish. Also, build it with more than one deck. Noah: Big boat, just for fish and several levels. Got it boss! God: And another thing. Not just any fish. I want only Carp on the new boat. But every type of carp, common carp, mirror carp, all of them. Noah: So, let me get this right God... you want me to build you a "Multi storey carp ark"?

A nice bit of pair boating, and one unhelpful idiot!

A zener diode is pretty much the same as a diode, but with different chemical doping to make the reverse breakdown more stable and predictable. So it conducts in the forward direction like a normal diode. It blocks reverse voltage like a normal diode ... up until its breakdown voltage (which depends on the detail of the chemicals and physical geometry) at which point it starts to conduct in the reverse direction. It will then maintain the rated reverse breakdown voltage across the diode (within its heat dissipation capabilities). So by using a zener as a rectifier, you get the normal behaviour when things are going normally and the voltage is as expected (say 14.4v) but if there is a "load dump" event and the voltage in the stator rises too high, the zener diode will start to conduct when the reverse voltage gets to its breakdown voltage (say 35v) and thus shorting the excess energy through itself and converting it to heat. The maximum voltage is then capped at around its rated breakdown voltage (well, a bit higher due to its internal resistance etc). It's analagous to a pressure relief valve in plumbing! I think (guessing!) that historically it was difficult to make a zener diode that performed well as a high current rectifier diode AND was a zener, but things have moved on. I added my own load dump transient absorber not to protect the alternator, but to protect the 12v services that might not like 35v. My diodes should hopefully limit the voltage to about 18v, but I have never tested in anger!

Well I watched it a couple of times and I would just say "Shit Happens", The pair were coming through a narrow bit and the private boatser tried to wait against the weir. Unfortunately he was up the ass of a moored boat and could only try his hardest to stop completely, there wasn't room to continue between the moored boats and the motor. The motor without doubt will have drawn his bows out and had Matt not been towing, which the private boater may or may not have been aware of at the time, there wouldn't have been a problem. You could even say all the moored boats on the outside of the bend were the problem.

The oncoming boat did what I have experienced people doing repeatedly - panic due to seeing something slightly intimidating approaching, leading to under confidence, stopping/slowing down to "let you pass" and the inevitable drift into your path. I ended up ramming a boat this very week for the same reason. Half the time this happens because 1)people don't know how to use a horn 2) don't know what a horn means 3) people mooring on bridges and blind bends.

we’re discussing best options in that scenario but you seem to be making another argument out of nothing (as usual)

Jeez.... you think its the other way around, some might ask?

exactly, there was no real harm done, but it does help to put hands up and say “I fkd up” “how could I have done it better?”

Fair point. I'm too used to the stereotypical criticism of 'entitled historic boat owners'. It doesn't really look like entitlement to me on that side though - I'm pretty sure the oncoming boat intended to stop and wait, it was just the execution that was lacking.

Did I read Jon57's 'entitlemen' comment differently... I assumed he ment the crew on the single boat not the crew of the pair.... 🤷‍♂️ The crew of the pair did a great job... the single boat however, didn't....

You couldn't get a more experienced crew manning the working pair than those aboard. I know them both and they are not "Entitled."

Whenever any boat takes a corner or goes through a narrow bridgehole it slows down. This is not very noticeable with a single boat, but if you are towing, it necessarily means the towline goes slack as the butty continues without slowing. Often the towline is just attached to the butty mast, and so there is little the butty steerer can do about it. In the video, they are using running blocks, so the butty steerer has some control over the towline length. But frequently trying to haul in the excess line whilst still being in a position to feed it out and tie the line off as the motor speeds up again looks to me like a sure fire way to lose some fingers!

I am not a long lining expert (in fact never really done it) but some observations: Firstly, AFAICS the pair are leisure cruisers like anyone else so share the same degree of responsibility towards other users. Secondly, one post suggests that they usually display a TOWING sign - why not always. It makes sense as very few other boaters will have ever encountered a long line pair before. Thirdly, I noticed that on several occasions the tow line was allowed to fall into the water, sometimes so that it was not visible to anyone. Was this common practice or should the butty steerer be keeping it a bit tighter? In the video, there was at least one occasion when coming around a bend it was not possible to see the butty nor the tow. Fourthly, I was surprised by the scale of the pull that the motor exercised over the stationary oncoming boat. Whilst it seems that the motor had slowed somewhat to pass the moored boats was it enough? Given that pull, any poorly moored boat would also have been removed from its pins! I have to admit that I suspect quite strongly that in the same situation I would have also pulled in - at the time it must have looked like a good refuge whilst the pair came along. It surely would have looked quite possible that with the reduced width it would be highly likely to collide if the oncomng boat has tried to carry straight on. On many canals it would almost certainly have caused one or both of the pair to ground on the off side and then they would also have been uncontrollable. Perhaps the best outcome would be for CaRT to add to their T&Cs a requirement to display a TOWING sign when ever this is the case. (One that can be seen at a sensible distance!) I am not sure that anyone's boating skills would have come out unscathed from a detailed forensic examinations post hoc . . .

I've asked loads of people what LGBTQ means, but I can never get a straight answer.... Boom boom! 🤣 🤣 🤣

This troubles me for the reasons David sets out above. If Matty is right and boat builders have empty order books nowadays, I think this chap is more at risk of going down the tubes than you appreciate. And that means you lose everything. In your position I would get what you can by grabbing the boat now. But frankly, were it me I would not be in this position in the first place because I would NEVER have a new boat built. (Because I would not want to take this risk you are now facing.)

Does your contract state that the payments you make establish your ownership of the boat up to the relevant build stage. I.e. can you prove that you own the incomplete boat in its present state? It would be normal for his steel (and other material) supplier's Ts and Cs to state that the steel remains their property, even if incorporated in a product, until it is fully paid for. So if he hasn't paid his suppliers, and he does go bust, they could claim ownership of the boat and there is f*ck all you can do about it - you would just become another unsecured creditor in respect of what you have paid to him, with little chance of getting anything like the full amount back. Equally if insolvency practitioners are appointed, they will seize everything connected to him, including any work in progress at his premises, and claim it all as assets to offset his liabilities. And your unsecured claim would come much lower down the pecking order for payment than the likes of HMRC. Even if you do eventually get your boat back or a refund of all you have paid, it will take a long time. That's why others are suggesting you take the boat away now - possession is nine tenths of the law.

and so will the forum.

Argument about technique is moot - there is no technique needed here. Oncoming boat just needed to keep the power on and not hesitate. There is plenty of room there for them to pass each other.

One 19mm hole through the roof shouldn't be that difficult to deal with... 😉

Either way I suspect lots of boaters would have made the same perfectly justifiable decision -- let's keep out of the way instead of trying to pass a loaded pair in a narrow section with moored boats! -- and ended up with exactly the same problem, with no easy way out once the boat starts to get pulled out (unless you have a BT, which is obviously verboten...). I've seen far more stupid boater behaviour on many occasions which *does* deserve the kind of comments some posters are making about this... 😉

I would always aim to keep the cable between the antenna to the absolute minimum, ideally no more than 1 metre, at a push 3 metres. That way you might actually get some gain rather than just covering cable losses. My Poynting antenna has the standard 5 meter cables on it and in reality there is very little difference between that and paddle antennas on the router. However the router is not in a metal box. LDF 450 was a good cable to use at GHz frequencies 😉

Just tick the "Don't know" option if you're not sure ... 🤣

Love the bottom line 😁

I don’t think he could have stepped off, as it looks like there was some sort of barrier out from the concrete edge/path maybe some sort of bywash/run off, which can be seen in the opening post. Just a case of inexperience, probably never met a pair of boats on a long tow before on a bend with moored boats, as the butty guy said if he just kept going he would have been ok. The Narrowboater probably thought he wouldn’t have got through without scraping boats. Just put it down to experience and learn from it. We all started once and we’ve all made mistakes and still do.

A recommended 4x4 MIMO 5G router, about £300: https://www.gl-inet.com/products/gl-x3000/ A suitable antenna can be found here: https://3grouterstore.co.uk/product-category/5g-antennas/4x4-mimo-5g-antennas/ (general comment : bigger antenna from a reputable supplier (e.g. Poynting, Panorama) = better performance but also higher cost)

What are they supposed to have apologised for? They were going along in a safe and considerate way, slow past moored boats in a narrow bit and so with very little steerage way on the butty. The other boat wedged itself across their path and through the middle of the pair through sheer incompetence and despite their best efforts to avoid it. There's a cheery 'morning' at the end.

That's because their cooling tanks are too small - typically sized to be adequate at canal cruising speeds, but not when punching currents or tides on rivers - not a fundamental issue of the type of cooling.

So there it is. A hyped up atticle about a terrible council wasting money because something they invested loads in is unused, with a tiny bit at the end that says they aren't being used because they aren't finished yet. Sheer stupidity masquerading as reportage, with a bit of help from the Reform Party (per Facebook) and Alan.

So it's not worth upgrading to MPPT until April ish ??

Chris and his wife Jan are still around based at Trent Lock where they live on a pair. Their web site is https://www.deuchars.co.uk/ Jan is a very good signwriter.

Up to about £500. I want to get set up properly for the next few years of I'm going to do it. I spotted this on the other thread (should have done a search before posting really 🤦), I think I'll be getting one of these.

All the private boater had to do was step off with the centre line and wait a couple of minutes - if he was in too much of a hurry he's got the wrong leisure pursuit!