Big Bob W

We got held up at Calcutt for an hour or so in May whilst they had a diver down inspecting the pump below the bottom lock.

We were held up at Calcutt bottom lock a couple of weeks ago. They had a diver down in the culvert to the pumping station just below the lock.

Out of interest, I just checked my sightings on the CRT licensing webpage. Since January 2024, I only have 2 sightings recorded - and one of those was on my home mooring in the marina. In that time, we have cruised around 300 hours. Not a huge amount, but I would have expected to have been spotted a few more times.

I agree. But I do not think you will see any improved performance with the internet speed. The 4g/5g speed is going to be the bottleneck, not the WiFi. A wired connection is unlikely to make any difference. On our 50ft narrowboat, the 4g router is in the front of the boat. I still get a decent signal outside on the stern.

Definitely. Compulsory for widebeams.

If you've not already done so, have a look at Edgehill Gliding Centre https://www.edgehillgliding.com . Its between Banbury and Stratford. I was a member there for over 10 years. I've not visited since its recent restructure, but was a friendly place when it was Shenington Gliding Club.

I run my own small business. Like most businesses, my fees are set by supply and demand. If one of my overheads was cut by 10%, I agree, I could keep fees the same and reap the benefits of that. But I know a competitor would soon drop there price by 10% and I can assure you, everyone else would soon follow suit. That's how it would work with marina's without the CRT surcharge I am sure. All marina moorers are, right now, indirectly paying CRT an additional sum. It t is not itemised in the mooring fee. It is part of the "service provided" by the marina. But we are paying it.

But if my marina was not paying CRT £300pa for my berth, I would expect my mooring fee to be £300 less. I am paying the marina, say, £3k a year currently. £2.7k of that is for the marina services, which is the amount I would pay without the CRT surcharge.

We have been on the Leicester Line between Welford and Norton this week. Its definitely quieter than you would expect for the end of July. What is very noticeable is the lack of hire boats. We only saw 3 on the entire trip back to Norton.

Much better if they are using nappy-pins that can clatter nicely for them

I am sure when we bought our Abloy key from Northampton Marina to access the services on the Nene, they would only issue it if we could show our EA license.

Think we passed you yesterday. Tuesday night, the moorings between the tunnel and the locks were pretty much full. It also looked busy in the long pound when we had a quick walk before a couple of pints in the Boat.

One of the worst VLK experiences we had was a few years ago, entering Stoke Bruerne Top lock. A boat had just come down, but hadn't seen me in the pound waiting and shut the gates. So my wife started to push the gate open for me to enter. Gate was half open when a lockie started winding the paddle wide open at the top gate, not even looking back. Sue tried to stop him, but he just continued, insisting its his lock! Damn lucky she didn't get knocked over by the gate slamming shut. That guy's no longer there, and I must admit the lockies on that flight are pretty good these days, always asking before assisting.

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.

Saw us Enjoyed that. Definitely a character building experience!