boatmoving

You definitely need to go in bows first. If you try to go in stern first, any wind can blow your bows completely out of line and you will struggle to get in at all unless you have a good bow thruster. A lot of people like to have their boat moored stern in, and this is fine if there is no wind; otherwise it can be quite interesting. Once the bows are in the gap between the pontoon and the other boat, you should be able to get the stern to follow, as it is easy enough to push the stern sideways. Of course you might contact the pontoon or the other boat, but if you do it slowly that should not be a problem. If you can, approach the space forwards against the wind and take it slowly (but not too slowly!), turning as late as you can. You want to get the boat turned before it gets blown onto the other boat if you can. (If the boats are parallel, the fenders prevent real contact). Then drive in slowly, with someone at the bows to fend off; you should be able to fend off the middle / stern with the engine if you use it in bursts. Be very careful when fending off using body parts (e.g. fingers) as they are easy to crush. If you have to approach with the wind behind you, it will be more difficult. In this case you want to approach very slowly and start turning as soon as possible, so that you can get the bows in before you get blown past your mooring space. Again, once the bows are in you can turn the stern with the engine and fend off as necessary at the front. As someone has said, if your crew can get off onto the pontoon and get a rope round a cleat / bollard you can use this to get the boat alongside by driving forwards. Be very careful if you try this, as you might not be able to rely on the cleat staying fixed to the bollard... but as you are going slowly, you should still be able to stop. If you are single-handed and there is anyone in the boat next door, you will often find they jump out quite quickly to lend a hand. Otherwise, when you finally end up against the other boat but several feet from the pontoon, you have to rely on your centre rope; get off the bows with the centre rope, walk around to the pontoon, and haul the boat across. If the wind is too string, you pull the bows across first and secure them, and then take a long rope from the stern to pull the stern across. But usually help will have arrived from somewhere before you get this far. Hope this helps. David

A lot of the boat moves I do are for people who have just bought a boat. Most of them simply don't have time to do the move themselves, and I often wonder whether they manage to get much use out of their boats. Some of them take over from me part way through as they have some time but not enough for the whole trip. Others are inexperienced and come along for all or part of the trip; not a bad idea as single handed boating is not easy at first. We all have to learn and it is quicker to learn from others than to try and work it all out yourself. For short trips, moving by water is cheaper, but once the journey gets beyond a week, you should look at road transport as well. In either case, you need to check the insurance position. Some skippers have their own insurance as some owner's boat policies will not cover them. For road transport, you need to make sure you have prices for lifting and slipway / cranage costs as well as just the lorry. David

And for the winter, don't forget a cheap pair of ski gloves - the only thing I've found to keep hands warm and dry.

One or two boat movers in the Links Directory under 'Other websites', including me!

Tried that and hoping he will call me back soon.

Does anyone know whether the work on Ickles Lock has finished and whether the lock has reopened. I have tried to find out from BW, but the Leeds Office number simply goes to an answering machine that won't take a message, but announces that the switchboard is busy, suggests I try again later, and ends the call. Not very customer friendly.

Having been caught out on a non-tidal river with a failed engine, I can confirm that a mud weight thrown from the stern is really useful if you would like to get the boat into the bank, by throwing it towards the bank repeatedly. Certainly beats standing on the back waving the tiller and floating downstream with the current.

It's a case of mutual assured destruction. 1) Sparks ignite gas. Petrol engines have spark plugs. Diesel engines don't. 2) LPG engines have spark plugs. Sparks ignite petrol vapour. Sparks don't ignite diesel fumes. With petrol and gas engines together, an electrical fault in one with a fuel fault in the other can be fatal. David

I have some black and red single core multistrand that I think is 10sqmm, left over from some I bought a while back (from RS?) to use for a boat fridge. If you are interested and anywhere near Northampton, I will see how much there is and you can have what you need at half price. David

Have to agree with Nine of Hearts. "Alan's falicy" arises because he only considers one half of the lock cycle. Over a full lock cycle, the water used is the same whatever size boats go through it.

Sounds like fun, but I'm not sure whether the insurance companies would be happy. Having come down the tidal Trent against 3 foot waves and crossed the Ribble Link in a flat calm, my advice would be to wait for very settled weather. Narrow boats are not built for use in lumpy water. Crossing waves head on can be a bit unnerving, especially if the prop keeps coming out of the water, but crossing them sideways is a recipe for disaster. The questions discussed in the recent topic on 'when is a boat sunk' would hardly apply in this case. Put plenty of extra ballast in the bottom of the boat, seal up your windows and doors, give your engine a good overhaul, use GPS to follow the route, make sure you have a means of staying afloat without the boat and of contacting the lifeboat men, and you should be ok. I rather favour making a catamaran out of two narrow boats, but I'm not sure whether this has been tried.

I agree a lock uses the same amount of water whatever boat(s) you put in it. But consider the revenue. An 8ft boat in a 14ft lock uses the whole lock and will be charged accordingly by the canal company. A 7ft boat can be paired up, so could be charged less. In terms of cargo per lockful, boats of intermediate width are wasteful of water.

7ft is half of 14ft, so you can get two narrow boats in a wide lock. slightly wider boats are very wasteful of water. Why 6ft10in? Maybe because boats tend to spread a bit, so the boats are built just slightly narrower than the locks?

And, of course, all our broom handles are fitted with a special cross-bar to ensure that they cannot go far enough into the tank to touch the bottom, where repeated use might make a hole. Failure to fit said cross-bar will constitute a failure of the BSS test, and the broom handle will have to be flown away.

I've always found breathing to be definitely useful as well, even if it sometimes has unexpected side effects.

Heating and ventilation are definitely useful - we always left plenty of ventilation when the boat was empty. But there is nothing wrong with dehumidifiers as long as the air temperature is not too low. We have been using dehumidifiers in the house for many years to combat condensation (from too much cooking and heavy breathing), and also to dry the washing indoors. The only problem has been in very cold weather when the utility room falls below 3 deg; at this temperature the dehumidifiers tend to ice up and the water that is released runs onto the floor instead of being collected.

Does this mean I have to go on a book-keeping course so that I can keep proper records of my boat usage for tax purposes?

Praps you otter - or there again praps you otter not...

I hope you have proper wooden floors, not laminate or your will have a big job on your hands!

Maybe slightly off this topic, but just noticed Argos have some of the original Vodaphone dongles on eBay. These are the ones which charge £15 for 1GB, but the credit does not expire with time. Makes it a very cheap way to get email if that is all you need.

We saw one smile once...

If you want a North-South widebeam link and are prepared to use a 'tramway', the most practical solution would be to install 2 cranes at appropriate places and to have a lorry assigned to carry the boats. If demand warranted it, the lorry could be there full time, but initially just, say, one day a week. Pre-book it just like you book the Ribble Link etc and adjust available hours to suit the demand (if any).

Not the dreaded Mr Finch then, or is he now history?

If you keep your boat clean and tidy, make no mess on the bank, upset no-one and stay clear of popular visitor moorings, you can often get away with staying put for ages, especially in the winter. If you make a mess or overstay at popular moorings or those with mooring wardens, you should expect short shrift, and quite rightly.

If they must rebrand, why not use 'British Waterways Trust', trading as 'British Waterways'? Then they can use 'Trust' in new promotions and not waste money changing existing paperwork and signage.