Neil TNC

This was the donor car, presumably the other black 53 plate Touran is now back on the road. Glad to see it is now out of the LB Hillingdon, as it had got noticed. The owner is now probably Ebaying bits off this car, to get his money back.

Aren't they going to be a regular occurrence?...surely other groups will be asking for meetings?

Apparently all the other boaters are members of secret clubs and societies Methinks Aunt Sally is on a job creation scheme to keep herself busy!

Some people there are past masters at that game.

Hi R, nice to hear from you. I know Maple was a big part of your boating life, I am sure you will miss her. We have not met up for a good while, in fact this passing in March 2004 was the last time! Keep in touch (usual address) if you fancy a bit of boating, either here or in Ireland.

As Johnthebridge said, it is very important to phone of VHF Bristol VTS / Avonmouth Docks, as you approach, this is normally done when you pass under the M5 bridge / Nelson Point. "Bristol VTS" VHF C12 - 01179802638. Being not long after HW, they or Royal Portbury Docks may still be sending some ships out...often big car transporters. Bristol VTS (The signal station at the end of the harbour breakwater) will be no doubt spot you if you have been uncommunicative, they have a BLOODY loud Tannoy! Bristol Port Company Rec Craft Nav Guidance Note new Phone number for Bristol VTS - 01179802638 More fun available at Chatham Marina. AFAIK a few of the posh coastal marina's have this facility for those kinda boaters not used to proper locks!

I can remender the days when it was so hot steering, standing on the deck on our old cruiser stern boat, that I had to stand in a bowl of water! Yes, it was indeed another glorious day, spoilt by finding yet another teeny water leak on Earnest's 1903...bloody block drain cock!

Indeedy, R&D used to use a 4 forklift "ballet" to lift the shells, then got the trailer to run underneath.

Yes, I have never had a pilot for that section, as my, or the other boaters insurance did not insist on it. It is not rocket science, you leave Bristol at HW and amble down on the ebb, making sure you keep closeish to the Avonmouth Docks wall until you are past the signal station, ie you can see the entrance lock, you then arc round to Portishead WITHOUT cutting the corner. I have posted this before, it will save you the cost of a Admiralty chart! Portishead Marina linky They are on VHF C80, or 01275841941, if you dont have a VHF (I WOULD!) Nice friendly bunch, with floaty pontoon in lock to moor up to. Best to negociate overnite mooring price, just say you belong to some boat club or other.

Perhaps another thing we should know is how many complaints came from phone calls and whether BW / CaRT has call logging. Certainly most LA's now do, to prove who said what during a complaint procedure over the phone. To ask the LA's in the SE Area Consultation Area if they have had any complaints about anti social behaviour from moored boaters in their area might turn up some results, or further disprove the theory. If any such complaints were directed at our LA, the first thing the ASBO Team would do is get on the blower and have a go at BW / CaRT to get their house in order. If nothing was done, then they would start formal proceedings against the boats concerned and BW / CaRT. From what has been revealed about the misinformation coming out of some of the CaRT staff during this consultation, they would not last 5 mins in most LA's, certainly not ours.

I once saw a boater with a trad, fitted round the hatch with one of these skirt thingies that kayak users "wear"...must have been a bugger in an emergency!...nice and warm up the back side though.

Carefull!...Mrs TNC tried this once (right out in the sticks - Oxford summit)....and then caught the flasher! (still not convinced she did not imagine him)

Well I and all the BW licence holders I know got one. As I said ALL CaRT licence holders should be sent one...and that includes one per hire or trading licence. I thought the number one priority was dredging?

I too brought one of those Chinky hydraulic crimpers. I agree about the die sizes. I found that if you immediately went to the die size down, the crimpers would extrude the lug with two "wings", so I crimped with the "correct" size first, then went down a size. AS others have said it is very important to get the right size lug for the cable. One thing they proved to be pretty resilient, the Poles at Riversdale have not broken them (yet!)

Enforcement, especially under the wishy-washy "rules" BW operated under was never going to be cheap. It is my impression that once they knew the writing was on the wall with regard to their existence, BW gave up. The last boaters survey gave mooring enforcement as high up on their agenda. CaRT is now rightly, or wrongly trying to pick up the pieces, with "data" years out of date given by boaters / organisations / businesses some with an axe to grind. This is with less resources and competent staff. Things have moved on in the three or so years, perhaps there should be a new boaters survey done, sent to everyone registered with a CaRT boat licence?

Lack of maintenance due to millions spent on enforcement?

Hot!...those were the days!....the only time I have been hot on a boat in the last couple of years has been in France. Our last NB got very hot in summer, and having one side hatch, for some reason always ended up with it on the towpath side. This is one reason we had two side hatches in NB Earnest, on opposite sides. Although NB Earnest has mostly bus windows with top hoppers, they come out easily and I got our fitter to make special corner blocks to store them, if I wanted to remove them. The hottest we have ever been was one glorious summer in the 90's, well in to the 30's. We were at Sheffield Basin and when we came back from the air-conditioned cinema, we came back to a closed up boat! It was then total hopper removal, all doors and hatches open for a couple of hours until we could stand it back on board. Not as this mattered, as we simply sat around outside, having an impromptu drinking session with the other boaters present! The barge has the cabin painted a light colour to reflect the heat and all of the windows are Worcester "S" type, where the glass can come right out. I will eventually make up some fly screen inserts to fit the window apertures. The wheelhouse is double glazed an has a drop down front screen as well as rear doors in addition to the side doors. It also has a fair sized dogbox to help with airflow, this is double glazed to stop condensation and heat loss as well as to cut down on heat transfer from the sun. One of the double screens is a fly screen. We also have one of the side vents / ducting that is easy to connect to our portable aircon unit. If the bloody thing ever leaves Ireland and gets to France, some of this might be useful!

In the last couple of years I would agree with you, but strangely Harefield Marina is full* (this is not just a winter thing). Phil is eager to know when we are actually quitting, as he has a waiting list.....and that will be starting a mooring during the "cruising season". I dunno if this is because of their pricing policy, as they have never been the most expensive in the area. full* full as in narrowboat moorings. There are some cruiser moorings available, and they don't encourage wide beam long term.

I would not like to try to clear the crap left by some of the boaters in the area mentioned. Many are somewhat "out of it" "characters", with fierce dogs. After 45 years of boating, last year I had my first potentially nasty incident with this new breed of tanked up on cheap booze pikeyboater. Fortunately I was on my own and Mrs TNC (somewhat of a nervous disposition) was not about. I won't go into the detail, other than it concerned a cut down working boat (such a state I could not identify it!) and my attempt to help them extract it from Barton Lock, on the T&M.

I am half French Huguenot stock...so it is my right to be paranoid / somewhat bonkers!