Scholar Gypsy

Bampton is pretty much the centre of English Morris Dancing, I believe (and not very close to the river)...

Yes, indeed. We had spent several days in Leicester waiting for the water level to drop. Some of the bridges were a little tight. As I say, much more pleasant in normal conditions! https://scholargypsy.org.uk/2019/06/06/spring-cruise-2-kilby-bridge-to-trent-lock/

I had a similar impression of the Soar, from my trip in 1980. Took until 2019 to get a better impression on my second visit!

It's glorious https://scholargypsy.org.uk/2023/07/27/2023-main-voyage-phase-3-thrupp-to-lechlade/

Thank you, I think I will see how the modification above works -- ie replacing both joints and putting in flat washers. The previous setup has worked fine for 29 years....

Thanks, I think I've got it now. Not even necessary to snip the black seal, it just flips off to reveal a nice flat surface to take the sort of washer you suggest....

Thanks, that is interesting. The tapered seals are different to the original design which had a flat washer. It's a mission critical bit of plumbing (part of main cooling system) which is why I obsess about it. But I think need a washer of some sort to compress and make a watertight seal between the end of the pipe and the plastic part of the fitting.

Sorry, the one in the photo above. A 1/2" BSP fitting on a calorifier, which can shake loose. I am thinking about a couple of these: https://www.amazon.co.uk/sourcing-map-Flange-Locknut-Plumbing/dp/B09N3D51J7/ref=sr_1_12_sspa?adgrpid=1184174922457787&hvadid=74011150424783&hvbmt=be&hvdev=c&hvlocphy=132547&hvnetw=o&hvqmt=e&hvtargid=kwd-74011072442785%3Aloc-188&hydadcr=29387_2328104&keywords=1%2F2+bsp+nut&qid=1693917717&sr=8-12-spons&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9tdGY&psc=1

I may be overthinking this, but I am wondering if there is a way to tighten this fitting to make sure it doesn't come loose again. Ideas so far: 1) Tighten it some more using my pipe wrench 2) Use some PTFE tape (I know it's to make it watertight, which is not the issue) 3) Apply some loctite (there do seem to be rather a lot of products, maybe this one: https://www.vikingtapes.co.uk/products/loctite-243-threadlocker-blue-medium-strength?variant=40172618940479 4) Find a nut to go on the thread, and then lock it to the fitting (in a similar way to my stern gland) Many thanks!

Reopened on Tuesday, I gather.

I was referring to the Dog in a Doublet near Peterborough where the Nene goes tidal.

Sadly the pub at Dog-in-a-Doublet has shut recently.

I believe that FBW is in organisational/legal terms a coalition of other organisations, ie it does not have a legal personality, bank accounts, etc etc. So (for example) it is not a registered charity, though some/many of the coalition will be (eg IWA), and they will provide the infrastructure (eg IWA are providing the website). So to be chair of FBW you are just chosen by the first meeting of the constituent organisations. Very different to the process for being elected chair of one of the consitutent organisations - all of whom will have their own process for that. Apologies for going down a bit of a rabbit hole.

We have these, not sure what to call them, probably similar to the gutters in an earlier comment. I wouldn't want anything that sticks out any more , as that would impede walking along the side deck and also get tangled with trees etc.

Most of the day (according to my GPS gadget, referred to in video 2!) we were doing between 4.5 and 5.5 knots, although we did get as slow as 3.5 above Hammersmith as I had to waste a bit of time before getting to Richmond. The estimates for the time of lifting the weir (HW-2) are often out by 30 mins either way.

We were already going quite slow, in order not to arrive at Richmond before the gates lift.

In general I would agree, but I think it's more complex in a convoy, where boats handle differently and each skipper has a different view of how fast they need to go to maintain control. The lead boat in each group does try (and I think this is unavoidable) to maintain constant speed/ RPM, otherwise things can get rather messy.

On Brentford I can offer you two reasons: 1) David had (as he mentioned in the commentary) covered this section before in an earlier video. See below: 2) He was having a little snooze between Hammersmith and Richmond (see second photo, taken just by the piece of modern art). On Teddington, the outer gates of the barge lock have been out of action for about 4 years, so we can only use the inner half. A pity, as I reckoned the 590 metres of boat would just about fit in the lock, three abreast. My apologies! Personally I reckon pitching is good for safety - though it may cause some mild nausea and breakage of crockery. MOBIUS is short and light - longer and heavier boats pitch much less which means that on occasion you can get a bit of water running along the sidedecks and in the side doors if you have not taped them up. It's fair to say that the centre of London is usually quieter than this, and if pick a tide so you can depart Limehouse at 0700 then it's usually much quieter....

Agreed. I did it in May this year. Slow but doable.

I am very grateful to David Johns, who has made these three videos of the recent St Pancras Cruising Club trip on the tideway. * St Pancras to Limehouse * Limehouse to Margaretness * Margaretness to Teddington.

The whole thing is basically a massive one way valve. There is a similar arrangement at the other end of the relief channel near Kings Lynn; and at Boston Grand Sluice; and on a much smaller scale where Soham and Bottisham Lodes join the main channel.

Before and after photos from Facebook. Looks like a new collar? Some reports said the gate had lifted out of the cup, but that looks unlikely from this photo.

In case anyone is interested. The earlier EA notice said there would be a further stoppage in September for a couple of weeks to reinstall the repaired gate. I understand from the EA that this is now not needed, the gate was repaired in situ in the original stoppage.

My understanding is that there is (or has been in the past) a concern about the impact if the guillotine at Salters doesn't lower when they press the button. On a spring tide that would cause flooding at Salters as the water level would be above the top of the inner gates. On a neap tide the water would be below the top of the inner gates. Hence on a spring tide they operate only on a falling tide which would give them 8 hours or so to fix the gate if there is a problem. As you say there is an issue about going under any structure with reducing headroom...

The dates in black here are tides above 6m or so, so as you say you should be fine. I suppose a backup plan is to come down the New Bedford River, as I think Salters Lode is not affected by silting at the moment.