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It would be interesting to hear viable suggestions on how to do things better, within current income streams. In my observations, CaRT engineering teams are trying quite hard to make the best use of the tight budgets. This means doing some things differently - eg the newer procedures at the gate makers, and also re-evaluating what they need to do eg gradual phasing out of laundry facilities when a substantial proportion of boaters responded that they had on board facilities. In addition, there are many examples of changing how things are done that reflect the change in the relative cost of labour. It may have been OK, in the past, to have people on hand just in case but not now. There are more opportunities to use specialist skills in roles that in the past were done by general purpose personnel, allowing better investment in time saving equipment. It is also best to be sure that you know how locks work before claiming evidence of incompetence. For example, some locks were designed to re-fill after emptying - various means were tried including what looks like unmaintained leakage. You also have to remember that a canal needs a constant flow downhill so that intermediate pounds do not run dry and also that operating so that both sets of gates contribute to retention of water, hence asking boaters always to close all gates and paddles (alas too often ignored by those who know better with sometimes significant consequences) I would encourage everyone to take any opportunity to chat with CaRT staff on the ground - it is rare that I never learn something new and/or interesting when I do so. Remember also that a failure to try to introduce new ways of doing things, as some advocate avoiding, is itself a sign of incompetence. Of course not everyone makes the best choices every time but it is also good to check the reasons before criticising.

Because it's a title, so they're using title case.

It may be that CRT is under-engineering the canal system with its tiny funding, I am not qualified to judge, but though equally unqualified to judge, I can't help feeling that HS2 is vastly over-engineered and is wasting more than enough money to keep the canals in excellent order for decades.

On the subject of funding (I did mention above that the tax payer should contribute as everyone benefits from the waterways, not just boaters). It's also about reducing costs. Here's a few things most boaters could do... 1) Be gentle with the infrastructure. e.g don't ram gates, abuse paddle gear. 2) Remove debris from water, where possible, which could obstruct gates when opening or closing. 3) Do not pour pollutants into the water 4) Cut obstructive vegetation when possible. 5) Help inexperienced boaters (may reduce chances of mistakes like leaving paddles open) Feel free to add other items...

Or maybe just massively under funded.

No need for that either. His point was legitimate considering how little sense the thread made initially.

No need for any of that. It's perfectly obvious what the OP meant.

It may have been a good summer but Whit week was awful. Parents booked a cottage on the banks of the Brecon and Abergavenny Canal and we spent most of the week watching the rain fall. One of the few times we got out on our dinghy the outboard got fouled with a Silver Jubilee plastic bag - kinda summed the week up!

I was trying to defend the op. His posting style suggest that he may have problems. I am not sure that he did not get hold of the wrong end of the stick with what the engineer said about the loom.

I think it was that Tony thought the quote for the new loom was very expensive and probably unnecessary, and if he were in your shoes he would have responded to the engineer with a rude word. Well he probably wouldn’t actually, it was just a figure of speech to indicate he thought it was a rip-off.

Although sometimes I wonder if anything much would change, were their funding to be doubled.

No they are not incompetent, they only have a certain amount to be spent on infrastructure and they do maintenance on a risk based work selection process as do many if not all industries. If you gave them £1b they still would use the same work selection process and rightly so.

All good points, and I do appreciate the points you make. Even though it might not always look that way! You do tend to over-egg it though, which makes me want to add some balance which I tend to do by over-egging it in the opposite direction.

As a former LR surveyor and marine engineer I would highly recommend you appoint your own surveyor who has is fully working for yourself and solely acting in your best interests. I’ve noticed there is huge variations in BSS surveyors recommendations and certainly no 2 surveyors come up with the same recommendations. I personally would use Dave Freeman or Iain Jones . Both excellent men with huge practical experience. Proceed with care I say .

I agree, capitals are commonly used for all of the longer words in titles. Makes it stand out and easier to read. Something those with a more classical education tend to do. Like wot I does......................................😉

Dammit I was going to suggest "bendix".... then I realised you typed a lower case L not a capital i....

Davis the Bore again attempting to be the bastion of forum behaviour…. Inputs very little but complains about anything against his narrow minded views…Pathetic!🙄

And that has a mean streak telling the peasants that "this is happening - go away" - in French of course

Perhaps you should do some then? 😉 A very large part of HS2 costs are nothing to do with the speed, they're to do with trying to build a new railway through a densely-populated countryside full of rich landowners and NIMBYs in a country with tight planning restrictions and slow approval process -- which is what has lead to a lot of the expense like the long tunnels. Yes opting for a bit lower top speed would have saved some money, but not a big part of the budget -- which has massively over-run due to incompetence on the part of the government who (didn't) specify it properly or nail the contractors down, plus contractors who have hopped on the "cost-plus" gravy-train. Ironically the super-high top speed isn't even really needed given the size of the UK and the distance between stops, and dropping it would have made development a bit quicker and cheaper -- but not brought the cost down to anywhere near French levels, who have the advantage of empty countryside and a planning system that makes things happen -- partly by generously compensation home-owners to keep the NIMBYs happy! -- and actual experience in building lots of high-speed lines cost-effectively, exactly like we don't have in the UK... 😞

That does not necessarily follow. If the two inverters are the same, including the age, then yes, that is a fair assumption, but if the new one is more modern, from a different manufacturer, or of a different internal design then the inrush current could be very different. There may be a wiring fault reducing the voltage as the inrush current passes through, but if so I am sure it would complain when it is asked to deliver higher outputs. For simplicity, you really need it on the boat and measure the voltage at the input terminals as you turn it on. However, a digital voltmeter may not have a fast enough sampling rate to catch any drop i voltage caused by the inrush current.

https://www.boatsafetyscheme.org/requirements-examinations-certification/non-private-boat-standards/part-6-fire-prevention-extinguishing-equipment/number-of-fire-extinguishers/

(1) Yes, it would be more effective for CART to do more proactive maintenance/repairs instead of spending more and more on emergency repairs and suffering more closures. Unfortunately this needs more money, because once there's a big maintenance backlog -- which there is due to years of underfunding, it's likely to be several hundred million pounds by now -- the emergencies suck up more and more money. So things like planned gate/paddle replacements get delayed, which makes more of them fail, which sucks up more money for emergencies... 😞 No amount of "more effective management" is going to fix this, and neither are the tiny savings often suggested (fewer blue signs, lower executive pay), because the gap between CART income and what is needed to even maintain the (bad!) status quo and stop further deterioration is probably something like £50M a year -- and to eliminate the backlog get back to properly maintained canals in a reasonable time, probably at least £100M per year, maybe even £150M to do this in 5 years or so instead of 10. (2) And these are in real terms -- instead of which the DEFRA grant is effectively falling in real terms instead of rising with inflation, making things worse every year... 😞 (3) Would that be because if you rely a lot on "free" volunteers and have many fewer ageing wooden lock gates and paddles, maintenance is magically much cheaper?

My boat has three switches in a row for horn, light and bilge pump, with the default position being the top of the button pushed back. For horn and light that default position is "off". For the bilge pump that default position is "auto", which I think is logical since if you have an auto bilge pump you expect it to work autonomously. There are no markings on it other than the same symbol as on the OP's.

...or the existing funds are not being used effectively? I also believe our government should not be cutting funds to our waterways. All tax payers benefit from our canals and rivers, not just boaters (who also pay for a boat licence). The other problem 8s that we are gradually losing the skilled people who can help maintain the infrastructure. Many have retired and younger people seem to be less interested in the canals as they used to be. It's amazing how some charity canal societies seem to be able to renovate entire canals on a small budget. Trusts like the Avon Navigation Trust seem to be able to maintain the infrastructure much more efficiently and for less money per mile.

CO monitor/alarm suitable for boat, also fire extinguishers. And put the portable hob death trap thing out in the car. Instant BSS fail.

Not sure if all marina wifis use wired (cabled?) broadband to drive them. They could, today, just as well use a mobile option (after all, BT, now EE, offer a mobile backup option for a few which supposedly will keep you going if someone cuts the cable. I have tried quite a few marina wifis and generally concluded that the installation is a tick box item, just so they can say that they offer the connection whilst only a few moorers rely on it. I have yet to find one that I would want to depend on for a good streaming service.

Just a comment on somewhere closer to London, it is are in central London and are going to be using public transport to get to the boat, then how that transport works out is as important as actual distance. As an example the afore mentioned option of Napton Narrowboats at Autherley junction is a direct train from Euston station to Wolverhampton at about an hour and a half, followed by a short Uber ride to the hire base.

Just had this from GJW insurance (name changed now) . It’s good that a survey from up to 10 years ago is acceptable for them. IMPORTANT NOTE - It is condition of our insurance that if your vessel is 30 years or older you must have in your possession an out of water condition including ultrasonic readings of no less than 4mm below the waterline and valuation survey, carried out and completed within the last ten years by an independent qualified marine surveyor and all ongoing recommendations made must be complied with. A hull only report is not acceptable.