[Leaking Tiller/Rudder]

3 hours ago, bizzard said:

I'd have thought Arthur that your boat had a separate stand alone and not an integral tank.

It does now. It didn't originally, the whole back end was the fuel tank, the rudder tube ran up through the middle of it.

[Leaking Tiller/Rudder]

2 minutes ago, blackrose said:

 

On my cruiser stern it runs over the back of the boat into the river.

On mine it goes mostly into the bilge, some drains out through the one working drain channel.

If there is an integral fuel tank in the rear of the hull, as there was with mine, I'd worry that, with that amount of rust, it was rusting through, or the tiller tube, if it runs through it, was rusting through - either would fill the tank with water. My tank rusted through the other way first, sort of luckily, and filled the bilge with diesel.

[Where are all the boaters?]

3 hours ago, IanD said:

 

The trouble is that it *wouldn't* be perfectly easy, and certainly not cheap... 😞

 

You have to not only identify the bike but the rider, just like prosecuting/fining a car driver for a driving offence. This works for cars because drivers are licensed and cars are sold/registered/insured with drivers and have visible numberplates -- how would this work for ebikes/escooters without a *massive* amount of bureaucracy (DVLA on steroids) as well as law changes to control the sale/registration of both bikes and riders?

 

It's easy to say "something must be done" and "it can be fixed easily", but coming up with a workable scheme is *much* harder, and maybe impossible in reality -- which is why politicians aren't interested, they have easier and more important things to do like stuffing their own pockets with taxpayer money... 😞 

Ebikes, escooters and all motorised transport should be treated like motorbikes , which is what they are. Numberplates and registered to an owner, who is liable for damage no matter who is riding. No reason why a licence shouldn't be required to ride them, either.

Just because a government can't be bothered, doesn't mean it isn't a simple solution. They pass enough daft laws - if they can make it illegal to walk slowly down a road, they could sort ebikes.

[Where are all the boaters?]

9 minutes ago, Heartland said:

Enforcement, I agree may well help and may be it should be a topic to consider in the forth coming elections.

 

On the roads and footpaths there is the problem of Deliveroo and Just Eat cyclists, electric cyclists and even ic powered scooters who regularly are odds with the Highway Code. These abuses can no doubt be seen by those who monitor the cameras in certain places. May be the companies should be fined as a way to get their staff to follow the rules.

 

Enforcement of cyclists has the same problem as enforcement of CC rules - identification. It's impossible for ordinary bikes to be identifiable though it would be perfectly easy for electrics if the will was there, which it isn't. That would take politicians (of all stamps and at all levels) who had some interest in real life rather than playing games.

[Where are all the boaters?]

32 minutes ago, IanD said:

I suspect the hire companies were hammered by Covid and then the slow business return afterwards, which meant they put their prices up, which discouraged people from booking boating holidays, so fewer boats were hired, so the prices went up -- and the increasing number of stoppages in the past few years can't have helped either, once you've booked a fixed-date holiday with a planned route it can be difficult to change when you find out just beforehand that you can't do it.

 

This could well be a death spiral for a lot of the financially weaker hire companies, as well as those who are quitting/selling up due to retirement. Anyone know what's happening to Shire Cruisers in Sowerby Bridge?

Water was so low at the T&M summit last week that I couldn't get into one of the Stoke locks, and it has rained a bit lately. The CRT bloke who came to sort it out blamed vandals for opening paddles overnight - I did point out that the gates on the flight leaked so much that a lock someone had just emptied (and mistakenly shut the gates on me as I approached it), was half full again by the time I'd walked up to it. Others on the flight, filled by someone going up just before me, were almost empty by the time I reached them. It really doesn't bode well for the summer.

Until a few years ago there were anti vandal locks on the top couple, too, presumably taken off because vandalism isn't really a problem.

[Where are all the boaters?]

3 minutes ago, Grassman said:

Getting back onto the topic 🙂, we've just spent the last month doing the 4 counties ring with a detour to Llangollen and back, and it's definitely been quieter than usual for this time of year. Even at the busy end of the Llangollen there were only a few boats on the move, and they were mostly hireboats.

I passed a few hire fleets over the last few weeks and was surprised that most of them were still pretty full of unhired ones. But at the prices mentioned, and the way the weather has been (and was forecast to be) , I suppose it's to be expected. Doesn't bode well, though for them, especially with the expected summer water shortages and stoppages on the popular rings.

[CRT funding campaign]

12 minutes ago, Alan de Enfield said:

 

 

Do we want to prevent WW3, or do we want to have a longtitudinal waterpark ?

 

It's (surely) a no-brainer.

 

 

If you think the UK can do anything whatsoever to prevent wars, especially after doing its best to bust a local alliance, declaring its willingness to break international law and its opposition to any general definition of human rights, you really need help.

We'd be a lot better off having a nice well kept water park to play on while the rest of the fools play games.

[CRT funding campaign]

17 minutes ago, pete.i said:

I reckon that if this bunch of cowboys that are running this country cannot fund things like the NHS etc I hardly think they are going to lash out funds for the waterways. I also do not think that whoever takes over from them will do any better. I believe that the canals, at least, would have been sold off to developers a long time ago it it wasn't for the thousands who are living on the canals who cannot just be chucked off because there is nowhere for them to go although having said that this bunch of cowboys don't seem to have any trouble housing umpteen thousand illegal immigrants. 

Ah, almost every sensible contribution to a debate needs a bit of racism to spice it up, doesn't it?

[Boat rent out query.]

6 minutes ago, IanD said:

 

Whether it's legitimately licensed and insured is another issue entirely... 😉 

I'd imagine CRT keep an eye on the site, though I'd have my doubts about it even being a valid listing.

[Where are all the boaters?]

3 hours ago, Big Bob W said:

We are heading out for a couple of weeks this weekend. Just out of interest, I have looked on the ABC site to see how much it would cost to hire for that period out of Gayton (our closest hire base). £2400 + diesel for a 58Ft boat! 

 

I think hire companies ramped up their prices during the pandemic when overseas holidays were not an option - and not dropped back down again since. 

I use hire boat charges to work out whether it's worth keeping my boat. So my usual 12 weeks cruising each year would cost... hmmm... probably keep the boat , then.

I can remember people saying it was cheaper to hire than own, and I suppose if you only get a couple of weeks a year it still is, just.

[Boat rent out query.]

Before I was aware of any of the rules about renting a private boat out, I did it fairly regularly, until I realised that it always, but always, came back damaged - massive dent in the hull, deck planks broken, engine out of oil or stern tube not greased, toilet unemptied, batteries flat, internal fittings damaged and more - and these were friends or close acquaintances I was lending it to. None ever admitted doing the damage, they never mentioned it or offered to pay to remedy it.

You'd spend the next six months of your occupancy putting it right, and possibly replacing the gearbox.

[Yes its the Daily Mail, but its still news?]

17 minutes ago, Paul C said:

CRT receive the money from EOG fees

And if BW had had the sense just to increase licence fees all round to take into account that everyone, even Higgs, has to moor somewhere, rather than penalising home moorers alone, they could have cut collection costs in half, scrapped half the bureaucracy, and CRT would have a lot more money and we'd all be paying the same.

[Where are all the boaters?]

I'm just back from three weeks on the T&M, very quiet there. Most days saw one or two boats moving.

[Yes its the Daily Mail, but its still news?]

43 minutes ago, Higgs said:

 

They pay for mooring. Individual choice. 

 

And continuous cruisers don't moor? I suppose that's what continuous means. Higgs, the Flying Dutchman of the canal system.

I pay a farmer a rent to moor against his land, nothing to do with CRT. I also pay a surcharge to CRT in order to be a home moorer, just like you (now) pay a much lower surcharge to be a cruiser, even though you cause more damage to CRT land with your moorings than I do, and, assuming you actually do move legally, use more facilities . And, what's more, I've not spent the last ten years whinging. Or, for that matter, moaning about people who use the system different to what I do and blaming them fir everything.

However, no point in confusing you with facts.

It is odd, though, that you spent years complaining about the rules that affected you when you lived permanently in a marina (your choice), and now you're complaining about the rules that affect you as a cruiser (also your choice). Epicurus can be your friend. Read him and learn.

[Fee hikes will price us out of canals]

Got to give the NBTA their due, they got their side of the story splashed all over the media . CRT just sound like the usual corporate nonspeak.

[Boatyard on or near the Caldon Canal]

Stoke Boats are about an hour's cruise from the bottom of the Caldon. They've got a slipway. The Stoke Boat Club are on the Caldon, they may be able to help.

[Cavalcade and the NBTA]

10 hours ago, Peanut said:

Well, yes 1000 moorings at £10,000 pa would raise ten million, which would help, but where would everyone else moor?  Or would it just move the problem further out.

But as they are there already, everyone else would be in exactly the same position they are now, the only difference being CRT would have more money.

And saying people can't break the law just because they think they have good reason, is nonsense, because they do. You can say they shouldn't (your moral judgement), but not that they can't.

[More C&RT Dishonesty?]

12 minutes ago, IanD said:

 

By that I assume you mean the views of boaters who think that CMers are bending/breaking the rules for their own benefit, regardless of the detrimental effect on others, and want to carry on paying as little as possible instead of a surcharge, and that the NBTA represents their views not the majority of boaters, and that they don't like this behaviour?

 

That's not hate or prejudice, it's facing up to the facts and logically resenting yet another selfish minority screwing things up for the majority 😞 

My personal view of the NBTA is that I'm pretty sure they have a fair proportion of members who genuinely need their help and are trying to boat within the law. No doubt there are plenty of the alternatives, but that's true of any association. 

All the grief to do with non moving CCers, and most of the arguments, are due to the fact that CRT and the NBTA are trying to deal with symptoms, not causes, which are out of their control. And so there simply are no solutions, because nobody is looking at the root cause of the problems, nor does anyone have any intention of doing so. 

People need somewhere to live, and want to do it where they have work, family or friends. Until someone decides to sort that out, our little waterways problems aren't going to get solved. A few quid in CRTs coffers is possibly the best they can hope for.

[Rob the Lock]

I saw him briefly last week on the way down through Stoke. If I can't find a number I'll try him on Facebook but I'm not sure he uses it any more. With a bit of luck I'll manage without.

[Rob the Lock]

Rob is the non CRT chap who helps, largely as a hobby,  on the Stoke flight. If anyone has his number, could you PM it to me? He gave me a card about fifteen years ago but unsurprisingly I can't find it.

He's an old friend and I do often run into him on a random basis, but this trip I've hurt my back and it would be handy if I can contact him to ask for a bit of help if it turns out I can't manage.

Thanks.

[Solo Boat in a Double Lock]

26 minutes ago, beerbeerbeerbeerbeer said:

have you ever met Roger?

he used to be leader on the Marple flight. Lovely bloke. 
I’ve often wondered if he’s still volunteering. 
Must be 4 years since I last went down Marple flight. 
 

The guy I met had his son with him, helping. Can't remember the name.

[More C&RT Dishonesty?]

56 minutes ago, beerbeerbeerbeerbeer said:

I’m still waiting for someone to explain how charging anyone more for a license will discourage those who  continuously moor from staying in the same spot. 
Or why it’s thought those who continuously moor have bought on the surcharge for those without a home mooring. 
🤷‍♀️

or have I misunderstood?

It won't. I think CRT just realised that the vast majority of those registered as CC were taking the mick and decided to penalise them, and that those that were being unfairly treated were so few they couldn't raise much of a fuss.

All other justifications were just made up to make it look better and avoid the accusations that CRT wasn't really addressing the root problem.

[More C&RT Dishonesty?]

1 hour ago, Alan de Enfield said:

 

Tracker 'breaks' or is 'lost' then no rebate - licence costs you £5000.

There is a financial incentive not to damage the tracker.

Not if you don't have a licence or any ID on the boat there isn't. And once legit boats had trackers, CRT would stop any spotting, so you'd just get more and more unlicenced boats.

41 minutes ago, ditchcrawler said:

Did you see @Arthur Marshall while you were there 

I didn't spot him, and I'm currently an anonymous boat until I get the name back on!

[Solo Boat in a Double Lock]

8 minutes ago, ditchcrawler said:

Met a good one today on Bosley locks, Had a word at the top and warned me about a couple of low pounds, then he walked down, had a quick word and said he was going to check the pound again and would open up for me on his way down. That is really useful rather than standing beside me or Diana at the same lock.

They've got some excellent people there at the moment, mostly transferred from Marple. Knowledgeable and helpful.

[More C&RT Dishonesty?]

20 minutes ago, Alan de Enfield said:

I did make a suggestion a few years ago when C&RT were previously looking at this.....................

 

Standard licence fee is (say) £5000.

There is a staggered rebate for every mile travelled thru the year - maybe £20.00 per mile for the 1st 100 miles, £10 per miles for the next 100 miles , £5 per miles for the next  ..........................  and so on for someone 'travelling the system over the year it could end up much cheaper than now.

 

 Don't move and you are basically paying your £1000 licence and £4000 for a mooring.

 

The big Elephant in the room (which no one will accept) is that each boat would need to be fitted with a non-removable tracker.

 

It can be done !

 

This was the earlier proposal :

 

There is a standard licence fee based on a boat over 12 metres length, from that there are adders and subtractions. (This is before the days of having a 'beam' surchasrge).

 

Multiply by :-
 

 

 

It can't be done. How do you force fit a tracker to a boat? Chuck it out the window or hit it with a hammer and you're back to the unlicenced, unnamed and unnumbered boat problem, to which the only solution would be to tow them away and scrap them without warning - which could just as easily be done now to any unlicenced or unidentifiable boat.