Mike Todd

Suspect they confuse turnover and profit. You can have as much turnover a you like but 'earn' depends on profit. Assuming that the headline really means £36K, then what sort of profit margin is usually possible? Does it include depreciation as well as medium term maintenance? Hard to see how a single boat can make that amount of profit in a single year. I would have thought that 25-30 weeks per year of revenue earning would be good, even for an established business.

When we started (50 years ago) it was a realistic call to ask people to share a lock, even on narrow canals. Now that would be very rare indeed.

We are here for a few days and then leaving boat whilst we return home for a week if so. So far have found everyone here most welcoming and helpful both marina owner and staff as well as neighbouring moorers. I think they should be given every support for trying hard, a lot is being improved but then it needed it! Not all the issues carried over can be fixed overnight but if I were thinking of staying here long-term I'd be pretty optimistic.

Me too! I actually think that this is a really important thing to do as when people, youngsters especially, feel involved then they are just a little less likely to trash it later on. Coming down the Rochdale None today we had at least three families with small children. The youngsters enjoyed being given tasks to help almost as much as their parents did watching them (and videoing them on their phones!) One thing which I do try to do is to have a quiet word with the parents to suggest that they get them to wash their hands before eating especially if they have been handling ropes.

It was another crane company that moved our freshly built boat from the workshop where it was finished to the canal a few miles away but I was equally impressed by the operation, even in confined circumstances. At one end kit was not helped by a car left parked where is should not have been! They worked around it, unfazed. There seems to be quite a bit of technology in those cranes, not to mention skill in the operators.

Does this mean that it is not possible to stop there and shop - assuming there is room? Thje sign in the pic does not seem to give that option.

Our experience as well - much to recommend them

Since it seems that most marinas do not enforce such charges for contractors (they usually like to know that they are coming for security reasons) any blatant attempt to subvert is likely to have an adverse reaction - probably to the detriment to all the innocent moorers as well.

I thought that it was commonly agreed that, whatever else might be the case, CaRT's actions could always be subject to a judicial review to determine whether they were 'reasonable'.

Perhaps they might have to re-start Ferrybridge . . .

And the lock keeper at Selby has a few stories to tell of recent situations he has tried (not always successfully) to deter from going out onto the tidal water there. Going out is one thing, coming back in is another. We were glad to have heeded his advice not to go out (as the river was too high and the moorings at Naburn and York were well under water) disappoinbted though we were not to have ticked that stretch off our yet-to-do list.

I thought that you had already stated that a boater needs permission to trade. I was suggesting that the 'licence' charge was in effect the admin cost of granting that permission. But perhaps you don't concede that need foe permission after all.

Might just be that they are not charging as such but are permitted top recover the admin costs.

Our latest 'experience' this morning coming down one of the Huddersfield Broad (which is the same challenge for a 60ft as C&H) came after having done three successfully and training up new crew member to help pull the bow across when empty, was to tackle one with a very,very leaky top gate paddle, on the same side as the stern was placed on the diagonal. The force of the water suddenly pushed the boat across to the other side. Of course then not on a diagonal meant that we were perilously close to the cill (we only have inches to spare anyway). Quickly demanded that the bottom paddle we dropped as quickly as possible (easier said than done on this canal). A couple of attempts were made to lift the gate paddle to see if whatever was stuck in it wold clear but no luck. We would need to pull the stern back against the flow. The stern rope was not long enough to throw across and back to the boat so needed to be extended and then crew had to carry across. This then meant that I could haul the stern back to where it should have been but it took some time. We could then resume the normal procedure. Doing these short locks is an interesting challenge! Helps us to realise what it is like for full length boats generally. Alertness at all times is an absolute essential, especially with small crew and 'helpful' youngsters on an outing. (Always like to involve onlookers as it, we hope, reduces the chances of them doping something unhelpful)

There are various rules and laws that govern how long business need to keep certain documents. When I last had to look into it, the longest was 40 years - asbestos - as it can take that long to appear. As a result, it is easier for business just to archive everything, rather than try to spend time sorting it and then getting it wrong. In the days before digital records that meant many firms had lofts full of old paperwork. Nowadays, even for material that is not originated electronically, a routine scanning process is by far the best and makes organised retrieval much easier. Makes it even more likely that everything is archived.

Yes, I was really only reporting on the section up to Cooper Bridge - it was 2011 the only time we have done the upper part. Will know soon enough as we have turned around in Huddersfield and will be heading that way on Sunday.

Ordinary softwood will do for at least one transit. at 3 by 2 it does not need tapering. We previously had a piece of 4 by 2 which did need tapering. Alas it failed to make the transfer from our old to our new boat so we had to start again. Memory was a bit faded and I tapered the 3 by 2 only to discover that it was counter-productive.

You are probably referring to the handspike which was originally used to operate many of the top gate and ground paddles. In essence it is a metre-ish long piece of timber that is inserted into a ratchet mechanism which is turned one or two notches at a time. Some people have proper posh ones (even proper painted posh ones!) We have just come up from the Aire and Calder and stopped at a timber merchant just above Fall Ing lock. We bought a metre long piece of planed 75mm x 50mm (3 by 2) for just over £4. It might not last too long if in continuous use but it will probably see us out. In any event, there are few, if any, locks where its use is mandatory as many have windlass-worked options as well and some have no handspike mechanisms at all. However, it is good to be able to try it out. Also, as the number of non-functional paddles is quite high, a backup option is always useful, or at least comforting. We are officially 60ft (new Tyler Wilson so I doubt if they threw in extra steel for free) and have managed it as far as just below Huddersfield. We have only managed from the Rochdale to Coopers Bridge once before in our previous boat (also supposed to be 60ft). It was always necessary to be extra vigilant, especially going down. Even coming up it is important to avoid catching the swan neck on the bottom gate platforms. It is worth working out a rope technique so that at least two, if not three, are deployed to control the boat on the diagonal.

You need to check what the payout basis is on total loss. Is it residual value or like-for-like replacement (or whatever opaque terms are used)? (edit: I see that Alan posted a longer explanation whilst I was submitting this) It is not unusual at the moment (sellers market still?) to find that even after a few years (eg 5-7) the market price has not changed significantly ie inflation has balanced depreciation. The word from brokers last year (and I believe it has not changed much since) is that the onset of economic downturn 5-7 years ago meant that there was a downward blip in new boats being commissioned and that is reflected in a similar downturn in the number of good boats coming onto the market at this time. But like much marketing it could just be speculation!

A frequent phrase in lease and other legal documents I have seen is that permission must be sought but that such permission shall not be unreasonably withheld.

This may be a quirk of their database as the consultation period still has some time to run.

There was me thinking that CaRT had agreed that unoccupied (even unused) long term moorings could be used on the basis that they must be vacated if demanded)

No it does not as they are always open to a judicial review or other action (as in this case). What may well be true is that they, as anyone, especially those with clout, can seek to make an interpretation to their advantage and then to use their better leverage to achieve compliance. None of this 'makes law' though. Only parliament, aided by the courts in the area of interpretation, can do that. Parliament sometimes (often?) makes laws that are less than clear - sometimes deliberately as they want decisions to be formed over time by courts - always in the context of a specific case - t=rather than the generality that parliament has to deal with.

That is surely not uncommon in legal disputes. Many legal provisions are ambiguous until a court makes an attempt to apply the general to the particular and case law builds up. Inevitably this means that people who thought that their actions were permitted (or at least not forbidden) end up having a judgement made against them. Sometimes even Government is on the 'losing' side.

Which canals have you been on? Where have you found that you can always guarantee to get your boat alongside the towpath, let alone the offside? Moat were built either U or V shaped.