Sue

It isn't clear cut at all although I had over 100 pages in my bundle. The case kept getting set aside as Collingwood kept saying they hadn't received post. In all it took almost a year to get to a final hearing from when I told them about the problem and tried to get them to fix it. By this time too I had had a Marine Surveyor give a report which was sent to them. I have to guess that the judge had less than 10 minutes to look at the case before calling us in. At a previous hearing a judge ordered that ALL emails were to be included in our bundles.. Well I did.. All 80 or so of them.. Collingwood had only 5 pages of anything in their bundle. My biggest mistake was that I should have taken with me a coatings specialist who I should have got to inspect the boat.. A Marine Surveyor is not good enough. I did ask Jotun if they would come and inspect the boat but they refused to do so saying that there was nothing wrong with their paint. They supply all the paint to Collingwood. I did say it wasn't their paint more like it was the way it was applied. They refused to inspect.. So, if you have a problem with your boat that ends up in court you MUST employ a specialist in whatever field your problem is and get them to court with you. If you win your case you get all his expenses paid.

Well thanks all. I was just concerned that boaters might be in the middle of a build there but it all looks just fine. I know of some horror stories where builders have gone leaving boats unfinished and people out of pocket.

Ah good, but their website pages are down that is what alerted me to see if there was a problem.

How odd... I put the link up it works for me a but you cant see it.... OK so here is a screen shot...

OK so the link doesn't work... Try Companies House.. Hey I found this so could if you have a boat build at Orchard?

Heads up....... here!

I have never been happier with no more pump out... Kildwick Loos

Yes you can moor there but be careful. It is a bit shallow but there is a downside. Because the channel between the Ait and where you moor is quite narrow when the trip boats pass at speed they take all the water with them which sweeps you up and down that bank quite alarmingly. Probably somewhere you wont want to moor at again! Ah, just re-read that. My comment is on the right going upstream of the Ait. There are a couple of spots to moor there. So on the left of the Ait there does seem to be some spaces so have a look and give it a go..

Thank you Nick.. Done

Yes absolutely Brian as you know by reading the blog. Our stupid water tank on this stock wide beam is a ridiculous 375 litres. My error.. I just presumed it would be bigger on a big fat boat!! Same for the black tank, very small too. I thought I would just point out one of two things to Richard X that I didnt think about and should have.

Very easy to install. That is all there is to it. Free standing, no pipes no fans although you can have one fitted but we have found that it is fine as it is. Of course we have changed over this winter, the weather is cool and it remains to be seen if we have the same zero smell in the heat of the summer but we can always add fans if necessary. We just took out the macerator loo, blanked off all pipes and popped that one straight down. There is a separator so ones go into a container which gets emptied well out of the way under a distant hedge kand twos go into general rubbish after being double bagged in garden type black liners. No more having to worry about whether the next pump out machine is working!

Yes very true. On this particular boat the steering 'circle' is the same as a car so just the one turn each way to the end stops. I know a lot of boaters with wheels actually spin them for turning! In that case then the indicator sounds like a very good idea.

We have gone down the route of composting.. Why on earth I didnt do it earlier I don't know. So easy and 'convenient'! Looks good too.. That replaces our pump out loo. We will retain both the loo and the tank in case if ever the boat is sold new owners can choose. There is absolutely no smell whatsoever. This is one from Kildwick and at £375 VAT inc I think it is a bit of a snip.

I didnt know it but one was supplied to our boat. I did find it extremely useful when I first started using a wheel at least it stopped me panicing. It is unbelievably difficult to go from 17 years with a tiller to a wheel. I mean I drive so it shouldn't be difficult but my brain says boat. So to go to the left I was turning the wheel right! Well that is what you do with a tiller! I'm fine now and probably can do without the rudder dial but I rather like it especially when taking off from a mooring or lock landing and more especially when in a lock and I have to go out between boats. At least I know the rudder is central. Having said that, a bit of tape around the top of the wheel to show you where central is would be fine and dial not needed.

Whatever the size of inverter that Collingwood put in it will run the appliances aboard individually. I am really surprised that the 1800 is being fitted. All the stock boats I thought came with 2500 Sterling Combi. I am useless at all stuff electrical even though I have tried to study my 'ol brain doesn't want to know. If your boat comes with a washing machine then the inverter will be big enough to run that. I have 2500, my washing machine says 1600 and I dont know what the freezer is.. (note to self - you really should find out). You should question the size of that inverter when you visit and ask why you are not getting the 2500 Combi like everyone else.

We have a Collingwood wide beam 12ft and found that the Webasto 5.2 kw supplied is adequate along with the morso stove. The timer supplied by them is totally useless.. Well not useless but difficult to set up. Upgrade to the better controller as suggested. These stock wide beams produced are really built for living aboard in a marina so some upgrades for continuous cruising will be required.

Interestingly English Nature has a view... Not that I agree with that.. Ho hum!

Yeah I think that is the one on the bend after Daptune Wharf going upsteam. It might be after that was allowed they looked at setting some sort of rules. They need permanent boats and crews to look after the reaches during the 'out of season' so give them a mooring to do just that... But they don't want wide beams.. Pity

If you have a wide beam wanting a work/service mooring then that is not possible as they do not allow wide beam workers/service/do-gooders on his river. You might be able to do it with a narrowboat though

The field moorings on the left before the bridge going upstream are normally to pay and you have to be very careful of the cows. They will eat anything.. ropes, flower pots and lick the paint from your boat. For a free mooring there is a lawn for a couple of boats on the other side, the right hand side going upstream just before the bridge, we always moor here. These belong to The New Inn and are free... Well a pint in the pub will suffice for you I am sure. You can get the location at Canal Planner ----> here

Well No Problem is an ex Black Prince boat which we stripped out and refitted to what we wanted. Just wanted to add a bit of info here that Pinders at Stoke Prior do have a 'spare parts' barn where you can buy doors, bulkheads, fittings or the like. Our shower had a curtain when we first started and over the years the laminate came off the bathroom door. Passing through Stoke Prior I popped in to ask what they stuck the laminate on with only to be told "We have spare part doors" With that the chap came over to the boat, took off the door and put a new one on! I then spotted a shower door. That exactly fitted the space where the curtain was. The great thing about these Black Prince boats is that all bits can be replaced exactly!

That remains to be seen. But at the moment I am very well pleased with what is going on at Collingwood.

Sorry, I totally disagree with that. We are having a wide beam built by them at the moment. Email replies have been very fast coming in as well as tons of pictures of how our build is going. I have had the most excellent customer service from them.

This is what we use for the Nene wheels Also there is a Nene Guide that I did a while ago might help

It is also a very good idea to put your phone number within the address somewhere so the delivery driver can at least contact you.