Sue
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Posts posted by Sue
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Here at Anderton the fire service have been at the BW services for the last couple of days handing out optical smoke alarms for free. I got a couple to replace one that had broken and the other that was not replaced when we had a major refit a few weeks ago. I have been trying for ages to get optical ones, the fireman tells me that Tesco now sell them, but he also said that if you go to any fire station and ask for smoke alarms you can get them for free. "You don't have to pay for smoke alarms these days" says he.
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cool.gif The poor old CCER always seems to get a raw deal, unless of course they are genuine. But as we all know many of us cannot for whatever reason genuinely cruise the system. I cannot be the only CCER on this site who moves just enough to keep BW happy? About time we stood up to be counted. Unless of course you are concerned about BW spies infiltrating this site, spooky. Hell, perhaps they use this site to gather intelligence, even spookier. Anyway is there an associtetion for the CCER? Res and les have theirs , perhaps CCERS should have their own assoc . If there are CCERS in similar circumstances say hello, pm, comment but please get involved.
To get involved means fighting the BW rules and system and this forum it seems!
I don't think genuine CCers need an association, we just go on our merry way, passing 'genuine' CMers wondering why they do that and cheat the system while giving our boat a bad name.
I am happy enough being a CCer, I don't need a separate asssoc. NABO does for our voice.
Sue
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Me too from
nuzgirba
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I use T-Mobile. I have been using them for about 3 years now changing from Orange when they first started.
I rate T-Mobile very highly for all over the country including the Gt Ouse areas. I was connected to them everyday during the summer on the rivers, and since coming back to British Waterways it has performed very well. In three years of use all over the country there have only been 3 occassions when I didn't have reception, and of course it is getting better all the time.
I have a backup system using and Orange PAYG sim card. If you have an Orange or unlocked 3g phone great, then I would recommend getting an Orange PAYG 3g sim card from either an Orange shop (if they will sell you one - some won't) or from ebay. You can then put some credit on it, and for just £1 a day midnight to 23.59pm you can have unlimited data on orangeworld. They say there is a limit of 20MB, but one evening I used 75MB just to test the theory.
Orange also say that only gprs is available, but I have found that if you use a 3g sim card then you will get 3g speeds. Of course you could just use a normal 2G phone sim, but in that case then you would get gprs only, a much slower speed.
OK then, the T-Mobile is on special offer at the moment at Carphone Warehouse. The rental is £15 a month, it comes with a free dongle. They are offering an automatic chequeback after 6 months of £60.00. They are excellent at giving their cash/cheques back too, and you wont have to send off for it, it will just arrive 28 days after you have paid 6 months worth of rental. Good deal too, it is only a 12 month contract, most now are 24months
Plus if you click through to Carphone Warehouse from Quidco, you will get another £60 cash back through their site.. so your connection will only be costing you £5.00 a month all in all!
+ You get a free dongle.From Quidco, click through to the Carphone Warehouse and look on the left for their Mobile Broadband packages and choose the T-Mobile one from there.
Hope that has been helpful
Sue
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We bought diesel at Ely Boatyard where the hire boats are. Do they not do diesel in the winter? Mind you, they were only about 5p cheaper than the marina so there probably wont be much difference, but it's worth finding out.
They charge what they like at Ely Marina because there is no competition.. the best price will be Earith but if the river is high you have no chance of getting there so Ely wins your custom.. tut tut very annoying.
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I'll always slow down for the fishermen on the bank.. well I don't go very fast to start with.. but I did get caught a few years ago on the K&A.
Going down a line of fishermen just east of Bedwyn, you know the ones with long poles.. well they leave it to the very last minute don't they.. but this one left if past the last second and his line got caught round No Problem's front fender. I did what I could and put maximum force into reversing, which worked well beings I was going slow anyway.. but no he wouldn't wait for me to go down the gunnel to untangle and retrieve his line and hook, he yanked and yanked until this blasted pole made the line snaped with the force of that the pole catapulted straight at me on the stern, catching me right across the neck and knocking me backwards.. thank goodness not off the boat though..
Not one word of "sorry".. just some mumbling under his breath..
Now if I see one of these polers late on the uptake I do tend to give a blast on the horn, which annoys the 'we know when to take our rod out' brigade, buy hey I wouldn't want to get another pain in the neck!
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Think yourselves luck, tis £1.00 plus over here in East Anglia,with some at £1.25..
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I hadn't appreciate that there were potential problems crusing with the covers up. Does that apply to hel covers on trads as well as pram covers on cruiser and semi trad sterns?
Has anyone got a helm cover and do they cruise with it up?
No Problem has a pram cover, Tim of Staffordshire Canopies made it. I have the screen zipped so that when I cruise I can unzip the screen and fold it over the top where it stays in place with a couple of little straps and press studs. Our canopy was especially made low, and there are very few bridges that we can't go under. We can even leave it up and get under all the lift bridges on the Southern Oxford. It is very fast and easy to get down, and like a few before me have said, it is very handy to have the extra room.
We can also take the sides off and just have the top on.. this is also great in very hot weather as we have a white sheet which fits over the top making the whole area cool and pleasant.
Chas and Ann of NB Moore2Life have a trad stern and have a 'biminy' cover. There is a great picture of it on the bottom of this blog post from last year. Again this was made by Tim of Staffordshire Canopies.. he is an excellent maker imho. This also has a zip so the screen can be taken off if it is raining.. they cruise with it up all the time.
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I seem to have upset most, for that I am sorry. Obviously I did not word my post very well.
Scruffy boats, posh boats, long boats, short boats, wide boats (except those coming the other way in tunnels!), white boats, sheds on pans and anything else that floats.. they are all the same to me.... Like all of them, I live on the waterways too.
Sue
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Paul, it's annoying to say the least!
No Problem had her fuel pinched also. We had filled up at Oundle Marina on the River Nene and had gone on to moor at a popular mooring on a bywater by the Ashton Lock.
We are almost certain our diesel was taken from there.. around 125 litres.. well we had a full tank of 240 litres.. see they won't take it all because these thieves don't want you to find out for a long time.. makes it more difficult to try think where it was snitched.
Being a continuous cruiser, it is not THAT often that No Problem is left with nobody aboard..
At Ashton moorings, we decided to go to Oundle for the day as it was market day.. there was a narrowboat moored close by with rubbish all over the path alongside the moorings.. an unkept boat with some people aboard who we wondered about.
Don't get me wrong here.. if a boat is unkept I have no problems with that.. I rub shoulders happily with all boaters.. but I was wondering how this boat managed to have so much rubbish on the path.. it was obvious that the boat had not moved in a very long while..
Apart from that boat, we don't think there has been an opportunity for anyone else to have stolen the diesel, we only found out when, after having our gearbox repaired and replaced the engine spluttered to a holt.. Unbelievably, when the tank was dipped, there was no diesel... minus about 125 litres of what should have been in there!
I think there should be a sticky in this forum for people to post any diesel thefts and who they suspect.. OK no names unless you know, but any tips as to where and who might help other boaters to safeguard the 'gold' that diesel has now become.
When I return to the canal system in the autumn, if I see that boat again, I shall report it to the police, that is how sure I am of the culprit.. plus I will post on here...
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Ho hum... did they ever find the towpath?
I think this is it along here somewhere.. and this was 2007!
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No Problem is an X Black Prince too
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At the latest FBCC rally held in Astley on the Bridgewater, the fire brigade were handing out free smoke alarms with a 5 year guarantee, as well as an information booklet. It was one per boat but if you have an engine room, and therefore a separate back cabin you were treated to two.
This was Greater Manchester but I believe Cheshire does it also Warwick, who were the first to start the scheme if I remember rightly.
Liam,
Hey... £10 on free smoke alarms at the best?
What is your narrowboat worth?
Sorry guy, but you really need to ask people to do better than that, tis their homes in some cases..
Just put some alarms in regardless of freebies..
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Yeah.. If you want to source info on the blog just left click the 'time' of the blog and copy the link gives you the actual post saving you scrolling through.. for Thistle is.. The Thistle Fire
Narrowboats are made of wood inside.. and non fire resistant materials, like curtains and blinds. Surely we all know that if our boat takes light, then there is not much we can do about it.. but of course we can try to prevent that.. smoke alarms spring to life.. oh, and yes of course the 'wave the air by the smoke alarm' when you light the grill for breccy!
Tis tough.. we want all wood on our boats.. oak, pine, ash.. hey they all gonna burn!
So put those smoke alarms in.. if you contact the fire brigade and tell them you would like them to visit your boat for advice, they may well give you some FREE smoke alarms.. but then again...
Do you want to save a fiver for a smoke alarm or chance a fire?
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I am overwealmed and gobsmacked by all the posts of support in this thread, and I just want to thank you all for what you have said. GOBA made a mistake, they have admitted that..
Mike Costello, the Vice Chairman of GOBA admits that the email sent to me by David Mercer was very much OTT and should not have been sent. He has apologised to me on behalf of GOBA. He said he was not aware that David Mercer had sent the email. David Mercer has personal reasons (I will respect his privicy here) and is under some stress at the moment which I have accepted. I am not expecting a personal apology from David.
Reading through some of the posts here I do agree with the poster who suggested that boats that are proven to be broken down or the owners have personal sickness or some other reason for overstaying should be given a 'pass' to stick to the window. Then perhaps this very upsetting incident this weekend wouldn't happen again.
It turns out that the Environment Agency, although owns the land where No Problem was moored in Ely, does not have the power to 'police' the mooring.. that is down to the council.. and we told them on day 3 that we were stuck. The lady said that she would inform the council offices that we were unable to move and would be staying there until we could. So that is why EA didn't question our presence!
Having said that, the EA patrol boat came past about every other day, so they were aware we were there for sure.
Once again, thanks to you all for your kind comments.
Sue
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We went through Gainsborough once on our last boat. We were with the tide and the guy in front on his cruiser said we were doing 12 knots, whatever that means.
Yeah thats almost 14 mph.. we went through the same stretch at Gainsborough on an incoming spring tide at a hairy 24.5 mph.. it was soooooo scarey, and going round those bends the tide was almost faster than No Problem! I needed camber, and we were moving from one side to another trying to lay some weight down!
I still can't make my mind up whether I enjoyed that or not.. for sure it gave me a real buzz.. and I had full throttle too, but the river was even faster than I was going at times!
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I am sure you will enjoy.. we are on our way there now just as soon as the Buckby flight of locks open on the GU and we can get through..
We spent 2005 and 2006 over in East Anglia, no queues for locks no hassle at all. Join Goba for £17, they have plenty of moorings all over the place and they are nice too. If you find plastic boats stretched out on them like washing on a line, ask them to close the gaps or 'raft up'.. because you are going to moor there in your steel boat, and do they really want you to moor alongside!.. They are normally very good, but you don't have a long narrowboat so it won't be too much of a problem.
The locks on the Nene are slower than you might be used to, but life in the slow lane is what it is all about, and it is easy to switch off 'over there'.
My blog has a lot of info on our daily travels, and you might like a look.. click here to see our first day on the Nene ever.. but do have a read of summers 2005 and 2006 to get an idea of what it is really like.
I hope maybe to see you if only we can get through the week after easter!!.. Mind you, Salters Lock is silted up at the moment and I did hear it was closed.. EA should have cleared that though by the time we go through, I guess we will spend at least a month on the Nene before going across the Middle Levels
Have fun..
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Alex makes these ratchet windlasses at Cropredy, here he is aboard No Problem after giving Vic one of his proto types.
I believe he has now an updated version, and anyone wanting one should contact him at alex.aston (at) tiscali.co.uk, substituting the (at) for @ with no spaces. As you can see they are excellent windlasses, and have helped us up many a flight since we got it.
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I am amazed at the numbers so far.. over 51% being livaboards.. wow
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Thought I would give you all something to talk about..
The BW Customer Services Standards 2008/2009
I am too angry to write any more let along talk about it..
But NOW I know whey my licence is going up so much.. what a load of ... well I can't even write what I think
Defra cuts? Hahahahahahaha!!!
Glad to see NABO are on to it too.
Edit: The pdf link file is 36kb
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Thanks Chris,
Actually I quite like one side of the front well without a locker.. there seems to be more room!
Ikea.. Umph, well they don't deliver. I don't 'do' won't deliver!
I have seen some narrowboats with this exact arrangement with a step either side of the gunnel on the front well. I do hope that someone who has one is a member.. other than that I don't mind if someone wants to make me one?
/me adds it to her wish list
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I need some steps. I have seen them aboard various narrowboats. They are for Ikkly people like me!
You know, those steps that take you easily from the front well to the towpath.. ie a step up in the well over the top and a step down before stepping onto the towpath.
Our new narrowboat has a very high bow, and no locker to be able to step onto on one side. I have been searching on google but can't find anything.. does anyone have one of these 'sling it across' thingies? I guess that someone must make them?
Sue
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To help with finding the dot in he sky, and from one of the link pages on my blog...
Finding the dot in the sky
The biggest asset us narrowboaters have is good ol’ Nicholsons Guides (A compass is handy, but not necessary). North is always at the top of the page, so when thinking about your mooring, check the book and make sure there are no trees or buildings in the line of SEish. Having moored send someone out ready to swing the dish, switch on the Tele and receiver.
Press ‘Services' on the remote, then select (4) System Set Up, then (6) Signal Test. OK now you need whoever is on aerial duty to point the dish in an easterly direction…. ready to swing it very slowly to the South East ( 28.2 degrees east to be exact). If you start from a Southerly direction you will get the wrong satellite (there are a lot going around!) The Lock Indicator will say ‘not locked’ and the two bits below that will say 00 at this stage. Turn the dish a couple of inches to the South East, wait for a count of 3, then turn again, and continue doing this until…
Lock Indicator – ‘OK’
Network ID – 0002
Transport Stream – 07d4
(Any other ‘Network or Transport Stream’ and you have got the wrong satellite! . In this case, switch the box off, then disconnect from the wall. Wait 30 secs and start all over again. After a few goes at doing this you will become very quick at finding it.
Hope that helps.. we tend to get the set up done in about 20 seconds now.
Self Pumpout
in General Boating
Posted
Hubby saw a private boat crew member disappear with a cassette close to Bugbrooke, I was out walking. He asked me when I got back if there was an elsan tip out by the bridge. Answer No. Found contents of cassette chucked in the hedge.. Boat had moved off while I was out, I wonder why!