Arthur Marshall

Hasn't the L&L been plagued by water shortages ever since it was built? At least this gives me a cast iron excuse not to tangle with Wigan for another year.

He got the nose stuck on the gate somehow and didn't get the paddles down fast enough. Couple of people with pumps got him refloated but had to do a fair bit of refitting.

I knnow, just thought I'd join in... both ways work so it seems daft to make a big deal out of it. It's just a matter of individual judgement.

I don't. That's how my mate's boat got sunk at Wardle.

Me too.

Seriously, that's the best answer. Every boat responds differently and every boater feels comfortable in their own way. The trick is to feel, and be, safe. I've seen plenty of singlehanders do it rgreg's way, but it doesn't feel right for me, so I don't.

There's a theory that development runs in three stages, which in boating would be my very basic set up (gas & two batteries), a complex stage such as the boats with all your kind of electrical gubbins needing inverters and complex battery management involving running engines/gennies forever, and the final stage of real efficiency when, as you say, it all get simplified again into batteries and solar, and peace and quiet returns.

Fine probably in a big boat. With a forty foot, singlehanding, all that happens if you try and stay forward is that the boat gets picked up by the initial surge, carried back and then hurled forward. Or you leave it in gear, the nose gets caught and you sink. I stay back and tie the thing up. If I'm being "helped" I stay back because then I have some control. As usual, it's about feeling safe and some common sense, and generally avoiding anyone who tells you there's a proper way of doing things, whose experience of boats may be totally different from yours.

Grammatically, and speaking as a pedant, the adjectival phrase is linked to the immediately previous noun, which is the navigation rather than the closures. Which is why I think it does, not that it makes much difference in the real world. An allowance for accidents or vandalism should be factored into their programme, costings and time management anyway and resources set aside for it so it isn't detrimental to the rest of the system. But as they don't even pay much regard to ordinary wear and tear, it's a bit much to hope for.

I don't think the phrase "within our control" refers to the closures, but to the navigation, ie the damage or cause of closure isn't within their control, just that they've happened on navigations that they run. There's a bit of a difference. That being said, it does appear this year that the lack of both maintenance and general oversight is beginning to have the serious effect that some of us have been drivelling on about for years. I can't remember a year when there have been so many locks falling to bits or so much of the system unusable for extended periods. On the lower Macc there are a couple of bridges in fairly dire condition and partly collapsed and it wouldn't surprise me if they don't come down before too long and block the cut for a few months.

Everybody now seems to have vast amounts of electrics, often running on 240v, from microwaves & washing machines to huge TVs. A fair few seem to run successful businesses from their laptops. The days of gas water heaters & fridges, plus a car radio and miniTV running off the battery seem to over, the downside being endless noise from engines or gennies.

It's because they've tried to get into the side fifteen times already, and because there's a boat there they at least know they can get in to moor up. Another consequence of crap maintenance. It's a lot harder to find anywhere to moor in the sticks than it used to be - most of the towpath is too unstable now for pins so every bit of piling that's been dredged in the last fifteen years gets grabbed.

You should be OK, plenty of boats going up and down, cruisers as well as nbs. Just bear in mind it's always shallow at the sides. My boat's a 40ft narrowboat, but it sits a bit lower in the water than it did as it now has three bottoms and as many sides, and I've had no trouble, certainly between Heritage and Congleton.

I moor at Astbury on the Macc and turned the boat today - levels seemed fine. It's a slow canal because it was built shallow.

I knocked on a boat a month or two back when he started his engine at 6.30 in the morning - he'd moored up next to me some time during the night. To my surprise (I was expecting a mouthful) he apologised, waved his arm about to show he didn't wear a watch and switched it off... not like the pratt at Stone a few years ago who started HIS engine at midnight, swore mightily at me for suggesting it was a bit late, said he needed hot water, and ran it till about 5a.m., presumably because I'd grumbled. Normally, I'd just up sticks and shift, but at those particular times and places, it just wasn't possible. I do try to moor as far away from anyone else as I can, partly because I am aware that not everyone wants to listen to my trombone practise...