Vicky

The Rayburn which runs the heating? I don't think it's actually fitted, just sitting there. There is no chimney and you can see the unconnected water pipes sticking out the side.

The good thing about having the sitting area at the front of the boat is access to the front deck. We had a cratch cover and essentially used it as a dining area in the summer. and it was great for entertaining. Also, we stored the coal/logs in the lockers for easy access for the stove. I wouldn't fancy carrying coal and logs through the sleeping area, unless of course you've got generous storage at the back somewhere.

Haven't been on here for ages - just lurk. Re the above, they spent ages last summer putting in cables etc for the app that was supposed to operate the bridge. We live in Frampton, and we all wondered how that was going to work, as the mobile reception here is patchy to say the least - none in our house at all. When they trialled it, I understand this is what they found, that the signal wasn't reliable enough to allow boaters to operate the bridge. Re moorings on the Avon, there is a list of them on the Avon trust website. We used to spend a lot of time on the Avon, and there are more than you think, some in lovely quiet places.

As others have said, the Severn goes up in level a lot slower than the Avon. We have done Gloucester to Worcester in fairly high levels and virtually had the river 'closed' as we got off. The really bad years were the summers of 2007/2008. I agree that the Severn is rather boring, although it is a bit more scenic above Worcester. However, determined to find something good about it, we made it our mission one year to visit every pub on the navigable Severn. Can't say that any of them were truly memorable!

I don't know, but isn't this more for people who can't afford a house, but maybe can afford a boat? Perhaps some people are put off buying a boat to live on, even though they want to, because of the lack of residential moorings? Perhaps if there were more (genuinely) residential marinas, there would be more people living aboard. The only thing I wouldn't want to see are more linear moorings.

Hi. Our boat is not liveaboard, but if we were selling it (which we aren't) I don't think we would be very happy for someone to take it away unsupervised for several days. However, a good trip out,(several hours) with the potential purchaser at the helm, your own examination of the boat and a full survey should, I would have thought, tell you all you need to know about the condition of the boat. Good luck with your search.

We always reckon Gloucester to Worcester is seven hours, and that's not really rushing. We have come out of Gloucester many times, and occasionally the lock keeper will say 'the tide will be coming up behind you, that will give you a push along'. Do you know, we have waited with eager anticipation this 'surge' and have never ever felt it - has anyone else ever benefitted from the tide going upstream?

We were in Gloucester docks friday night/ Sat morning, and I was speaking to the steerer of the sunken boat. Apparently it went down within five minutes in the Parting, shortly after leaving the lock. The fire brigade arrived very quickly thankfully and managed to get some extra ropes onto the boat to secure it. All on board had to leap from the roof of the boat onto the heavily stinging nettled bank, where the steerer had managed to ram it when he realised it was going down.The steerer (an experienced boater) did not know what caused it to sink, and they will have to wait until it's lifted to ascertain the exact cause. As we were leaving yesterday, I heard someone say thet the weed hatch was, in fact, intact, but I don't know if that's true - you know how rumours fly about. Thank goodness everyone was okay, such a frightening thing to happen.

No, I don't think you were being inconsiderate. People are sometimes in such a hurry for what seems no reason. We had a similar thing in the Parting coming down to Gloucester lock one day. We had phoned the lock keeper and he said not to hurry as he was already locking some up, with more to come down, so we were pootling along, enjoying the sun, when a (green!) NB comes steaming up behind us, and the steerer yells, "can we come past, we are in a hurry?". Well, be our guest! They roared past - we just smiled quietly to ourselves. Of course, when we got to the lock they were waiting on the wall. The lock gates were just opening (good timing for a change). It's hard not to be smug sometimes.

We were sitting in the front or our boat in Stratford Basin, when a passing tourist stopped and looked wearily at all the boats. "they're really just caravans without wheels, aren't they?" She said to her companion.

One other thing about coming into Gloucester is that the river is tidal below Tewkesbury. There aren't many high tides at the moment, but if you come down river when the tide is coming up (if it's high enough to come over Llantony weir) you get an awful lot of crud floating about.

Hi. I'm new to this forum thing, so excuse any mistakes. My least favourite lock is Gloucester, for two reasons. You have to phone the lock keeper if you are coming down the Parting, which is not a problem, but I hate having to wait on the wall (which you have to do obviously if the lock is already in use) - incidentally I am the crew part of all this, not the skipper! You have to tie up stern first because of the strength of flow, and because the chains are difficult to get hold of this always seems to be a problem, as my other half has to get the stern in, stop the boat and get a line through the chain at the same time. Let me state now, I am a 'nervous boater'with a vivid imagination, but the current can carry you forward at quite a rate, and if you get carried beyond the chains your chance of catching hold of anything are slim. Just round the corner from the lock is a weir and I am always frightened that we might get it wrong and go down it. My other half thinks I am nuts and worry too much. To be fair, if you are coming down the river in strong stream conditions the lock keeper will endeavour to make sure the lock is ready for you. My other bugbear about Glos lock is that they used to take your lines off you with a hook, pass then round a bollard and pass them back to you. Now they have put pipework in the side - well, it's not that slightly flexible plastic covered stuff, but rigid steel hawser type stuff, which is oddly postioned and difficult to get hold of. You can't really line yourself up with the side and come in slowly because of the cross current in front of the lock. Does anyone else have these problems with this lock or is it just me? I am not being totally neurotic, as boats have overshot the lock entrance and been rescued off the weir by the fire brigade.