Tuscan

I totally agree with Mike the Boilerman, I have a wooden top on my small woolwich butty for about 20 years , including replacing the majority of it about 10 years ago. I miss it but it was a constant battle to keep it well maintained and rot free and in the end I hand to move on. If you are a practical person go for it.

Really enjoying your travels, finally took semi retirement yesterday and plan to head off from Foxton Thursday for our first extended cruise and we were not aiming to go as far as Ellesmere but will do now. Really looking forward to the freedom of time travel where I don't have to travel to anyone's time but mine...

I designed my fit out to be deliberately gas free with a silenced gennie in the front looker, very happy with the concept.

I remember Jim plays a mean tea pot with the mouth piece from a trumpet. Saw the millennium in at his yard, great night

Yes I think most of the culprits are probably boaters who let their dogs off unsupervised whilst moored up. But then thats tarring all boaters with the same brush just like the assumption seems to be that all dog owners don't pick up etc etc. I agree it's unpleasant. Yes I think you can guess I'm a dog owner.

Thanks will look out for you

I had forgotten about the uprights we don't need them now sorry. We have sold on the old converted small woolwich after 20+ years and decided to invest in Aber as it was in need of to much work, so rebottomed and stripped extended cabin back, then have fitted tarps over metal triangle a professional version of Dover I guess. Not to everybody's taste I know but we are very happy with the result. Finishing full time work at the end of May and first 4-6 week cruise planned up Coventry , T&M, across Middlewich and down Shroppie to the Anchor. .

We nearly always come down by going across to Great Hayward and down via the Coventry and Oxford each to their own I guess. Fondly remember stopping off at the hat shop at the top of the Atherstone flight.

Chris Well said, whether the boat is licensed is irrelevant to the point being made

So if you have no boat safety, I assume you have no license or insurance, if you have a friend who has a marina can't he come and give the boat a check over, the issues you describe seem minor. A surveyor would have probably checked the basics and stopped you overpaying.

We will be heading back through Braunston and may get there Sunday if we are lucky is all the mooring after Braunston Turn towards Wigrams usually taken on the Sunday?

I agree with Chris would look pretty dire I expect, I suspect they will soon look a bit of a mess anyway with the continued drubbing they would get.

I couldnt agree more about the guys at Watford locks. To be fair one of the new volunteers at Foxton (they rotate at Watford) was in the bar at Bridge 61 on Saturday after his shift on saturday , seemed a nice guy and was a very experienced boater.

Its all very nice having volunteer lock keepers but do we need them, we can do the locks, but who is going to repair the infrastructure and do the dredging we need volunteers?

Take a walk along the towpath in the area you are looking to stay and talk to as many people as possible about moorings and that you are looking to buy. The towpath telegraph is a powerful tool. Good luck.

Here we go again methinks time to switch to something more interesting , I had some paint drying somewhere