Dave_P
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Posts posted by Dave_P
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Speculatively, if the northern reaches were re-opened, Kendal to Bristol would be longer
Is there any plan to open the Lancaster to Kendal?
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I first got my first boat in November and needed to moor in Birmingham City Centre so I got a winter mooring which took me through to March. From March to August I cruised an area from Rugeley to Stratford so I could still get to work. In August I got a permanent mooring exactly where I wanted. I'm pretty sure I stayed within the guidelines.
But... what if from March to August I had shuttled between Birmingham, Earlswood and Alvechurch (on the same pound), as some do? I'd be the equivalent of satan, according to some it seems. But why? What difference does it make to me now, on my permanent mooring if the boat on the neighbouring visitor mooring has only been moving a few miles? I can see the need to move on, to give others a chance to moor there and to stop people always hogging the best spots, but I honestly can't see why moving 20 miles away is any different to moving 1 mile away. In fact I can see mutual benefits for all boaters if cc'ers do stay within a local area. I get to know them and then get regular updates on local canal 'happenings' which I might not be aware of. They get easier access to work, education, healthcare etc etc.
It seems to be that those who can't accept this are the boating equivalent of jobsworths with a 'those are the rules' attitude, without actually considered whether those rules are sensible.
I'm glad to hear that CaRT are beginning to relax their position on this.
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I occasionally have to do food premises inspections which lead to these scores, as part of my work. Currently not all local authorities are signed up (e.g. Solihull as John6767 pointed out). As Ally says, it's not compulsory to display your score - yet! That may come soon.
The inspection criteria is, to my mind, pretty straighforward, covering things such as:
Do staff wash their hands when they should?
Do staff receive any food hygiene training?
Is the kitchen area cleaned properly?
Are fridges and freezers at the correct temperatures?
Is food properly cooked?
It's not actually that difficult to get 5 stars if you do the sorts of things which common sense says you should. Personally I wouldn't touch anything scoring less than 3 stars.
I take the earlier point about the dangers of living in an overly sterile world but if you saw the state of the kitchens in some 0 or 1 star places, I doubt you'd want to take a chance!
Here's the link to the iphone app version, which can show all the places nearest to where you are My link
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I suppose that what makes it hard to give a definitive answer. How about including only waterways navigable by narrowboats and unlikely to cause the average skipper to soil himself! So: tidal trent to keadby is ok. round the isle of grain is dubious!
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I wondered about that, but is it further than Bristol?
CanalPlan gives 428 miles from Ripon to Tonbridge but that involves going past the Isle of Grain. Allowing that wouldn't be much different to continuing from Bristol to Avonmouth, down the Severn Estuary to Bude and up the Bude Canal.
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What's the longest journey which can be made on British canals? Canal Planner has 430 miles for Ripon to Bristol. Is there anything longer? I don't mean artificially inventing a long and winding route. I mean the shortest / quickest journey between two points.
Just wondering...
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My stove was tired and leaking, decided to replace it rather than repair even though I could, got £132 for it on Ebay a nice slice off the new stove cost.
I have played the repair game before and TBH 90% of the time its just not worth the effort
Thanks for the suggestion. Just one small flaw in the plan: new squirell - approx £800. Minus approx £130 for old one. Amount to pay approx £630. Right now I'd struggle with £30! We students aren't known for our limitless wealth!
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Thanks for all the responses guys. I've been watching the readout on my CO detectors regularly and they've never showed anything other than 0ppm since this happened. (They have in the past but that's a different matter). So I'm not overly worried for the time being. I think I will be putting a new stove top on my shopping list though.
If the screws on the old top have set solid (likely) what's the best way forward? Grind off the screws and drill new screw holes? I'm not sure I'm handy enough to do a proper job of that.
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I wasn't really worried about a fire hazard since the bit that has broken off hasn't left a hole leading to the fire box. It's really just from the sort-of back lip of the stove top. There is a smoke detector nearby and there's no smoke escaping. The fire triangle (heat, fuel, O2) doesn't exist here anymore than if the stove was undamaged, I don't store wood nearby and the surround is correctly tiled and hasn't changed since my last boat safety inspection.
I'll try and upload a photo of the damaged bit later.
My concern was that that if the damage caused further deterioration over time, CO might start to escape. So how can I prevent that? And how can I repair the stove?
As things are I would be more concerned about the risk of hypothermia if I stopped using it!
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For a while now I've had a small crack on the top of my stove in the corner at the left rear. Recently I've noticed the crack getting a bit bigger so I had a poke at it with my finger and a small section of the stove top has completely broken off in the corner. About an inch or so long.
Should I be worried about CO escaping and is there anything i can easily do to repair it? Also, what might have caused the crack in the first place?
My stove in centrally located in my boat and I have carbon monoxide detectors both fore and aft of it, neither of which have gone off.
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My first move would be to arrange an appointment at the citizens advice bureau. They will be able to tell you where you stand legally and what measures you need to take to recover your costs.
As other people have said, walk away from this boat. These people don't deserve your custom.
I bought my boat at ******** and I now have mixed feelings about them (long story).
I used to moor next to someone who bought from Whilton and he usually starts swearing as soon as their name is mentioned!
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I seem to recall that when this all started HMRC advised that there was no requirement for boaters to keep records of fuel purchased, and so it would be difficult for them to bring a case against a boater. They would have to collate information from all the fuel suppliers you had used to determine what declarations you had made.
How would they know which fuel suppliers you had used, unless you told them?
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Johnny Castaway! Yeah!
Yes, I was glued to Johnny Castaway too! Is it still available?
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If the boat owner has been clever and set his rudder at an angle to the river flow the back of the boat will stay clear of the staithe.
How does that work? Depending on the way the rudder is set, it will just push the bow or the stern over the staithe. Won't it?
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Taxman: Could you show us your fuel purchasing records for the last 5 years.
Boater: No. I haven't kept any.
Taxman: Why?
Boater: Didn't think it mattered.
Taxman: Why?
Boater: I only use red-diesel.
Taxman: Do you move this boat ever?
Boater: No.
Taxman: We've been spying on your boat for the last five years and we have proof that you've been all over the place.
Boater: Oh yeah. I forgot.
Taxman: So why haven't you used white diesel when travelling?
Boater: Oh I did. I carried diesel back from petrol stations in a jerry-can to cover my propulsion costs. And I paid cash.
Taxman: Er.....
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This thread has certainly captivated a few -
44 User(s) are reading this topic
26 members, 15 guests, 3 anonymous users
John Holden,Catrin,8 Hairy Feet,KevMc,Rich,NoFixedAbode,Timleech,Jo_,Lucysplace,Paul C,Unmani,Gazboatman,Up-Side-Down,Midnight,jelunga,Bones,leeco,Ace 01,khaffra,nigel carton,matty40s,Theo,Tinker Fox,Dekazer,canals are us?,chazzy
It's genuinely gripping stuff. Beats Big Brother any day! I never knew watching a webcam could be so exciting. What will happen next? Will a beaver arrive and start gnawing through the ropes? Will the owners return to their boats riding on dolphins?
I think there will be a collective cheer on this forum if it all ends well. How can we let the boat owners know that they've become minor celebrities?
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Hi All,
We are going into the water this week for the first time..very exciting! but we will need to get some diesel in her.
Am I right in assuming we can use red diesel, so long as its for heating? - If this is the case, how much should it be roughly?
There are facilities in the marina, but is it cheaper to go to a fuel merchant place?
Thanks
Toby.
Last time I was buying diesel at Wheaton Aston, I had a nosey at the splits being declared by previous customers (they keep it all on a list) and they varied between 100% red to 40% red / 60% white. This is going to make a big difference to the price. 100% red will cost around 78p per litre somewhere cheap. You could be paying £1.30 a litre on a 40/60 split.
To be on the right side of the law, you need to be able to justify what you've bought. If you have a permanent mooring and NEVER move your boat, you should be ok on 100% split. If you continuously cruise, you'll need a very convincing reason for doing the same if HMRC comes knocking. Perhaps you have a pedalo system installed in your boat and propel yourself that way?
The question is, what is the likelihood of HMRC checking up on you? On past evidence - practically zero. I'm sure that makes it tempting for some to declare 100% red to save a few bob. For myself, I always declare a split, even if it's small. Then I feel a bit better about not risking being prosecuted for tax evasion.
A marina that declares a compulsory split (ie 60/40) and then takes your money with no paperwork could well be commiting fraud by pocketing the duty element and then stating 100% domestic to HMRC.
I have been to two marinas recently that didn't require me to sign any paperwork, I have also been to Wheaton Aston who has a comprehensive spreasheet with all previous customer boats/owners and splits declared......and I had to sign for the declaration I made.
If I were HMRC, I would be looking at the marinas where 100% domestic is declared as standard rather than try to chase a boater or two around.
Good point. I'd always assumed that the 60/40 splitters simply didn't understand how the system worked and were scared that they could be prosecuted for selling anything else. Unlikely as that sounds.
To be honest, I'd rather HMRC didn't look at anything to do with the canals, marinas or otherwise. I can only see it leading to unforeseen and unwanted issues. As it is, I simply don't buy from anyone who enforces a split on me.
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As a complete novice I would
like to ask what the best course
of action to save these boats
would be once the level starts dropping.
steffxxx
Good question. I've never been in that situation but I'd want to be on the boat with a decent length pole to push the boat away from the bank as the level drops. Could be a long, hard shift though. Is there an easier way?
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I use Photobucket..
Clcik upload, top center of screen.
Then Browse Files, then select the image I want, stored on my computer, then click upload.
Once it's uploaded, a thumbnail picture apears below, which I then click on.
Then once the picture has loaded up, click on 'IGM code' which is placed to the right of the larger image.
It should then go yellow and say 'copied'.
Then just paste the code into the reply box on here.
Easy.
I don't have or want photobucket or flickr. so i'll just not bother in future.
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So they've got the people off... any idea if the boats will be safe?
That's my worry. At least least if they're on the boats, they can control things as the water levels drop and avoid grounding on the railings or something similar. Having said that, I bet they're just glad they're safe for now.
I upload them to Photobucket then use the link provided.
Martin,(The Dog House) has done a guide somewhere but I haven't looked at it as I've been here so long that I haven't needed it.
Someone will know where it is though.
I tried uploading to the gallery here and linking to that but I couldn't get the actual picture to display in the thread. Thanks for the help though, your pictures were much better than my measly effort anyway.
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Carlt - How do I attach images directly into a thread like that?
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Looks like a rescue may be in progress!
Winter moorings
in General Boating
Posted
From memory I paid £100 per month for my 55' in the centre of Brum, with no facilities whatsoever. I was new to boating and just wanted to be sure of having somewhere to moor through my first winter. If I went back to continuous cruising, I wouldn't bother. Apart from anything else, the CaRT mooring inspectors aren't too fussed with over staying in the winter. There's far fewer boats on the move so far less pressure on visitor moorings. The cruising options a fewer anyway, due to closures. And then ice forms and you can't move, even if you want to.
I think this is why people don't take up winter moorings. Where's the incentive? I've seen boats moored a few yards down from a combined sani station (elsan, water, bins, toilets, showers) right through december, january and february and nobody bothered them at all. So they got a better winter mooring for nothing than the one I ended up paying £500 for! Once I realised this, I moved closer to the sani station myself.