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ChatGPT is a relatively new AI 'bot that can provide very impressive output text in response to a user-generated text string. e.g. "Write a short story about George Smiley in the style of John Le Carre" etc. However, the following answer is a classic, and demonstrates when Artificial Intelligence goes wrong, it can go wrong big time 😉 <Verbatim answer from ChatGPT follows to question: "What route would I use to get from Leeds to Bristol by canal in the UK ?"> ... The most popular route for traveling from Leeds to Bristol by canal in the UK is along the Leeds and Liverpool Canal, the Trent and Mersey Canal, and the Bristol Avon. This route takes you through some of the most scenic and historic areas of England and offers a unique way to experience the beauty and charm of the English countryside. Starting in Leeds, you would take the Leeds and Liverpool Canal north, passing through the heart of the Yorkshire Dales and the Pennine hills. After reaching the town of Skipton, you would then join the Trent and Mersey Canal, which takes you through the rolling hills of Staffordshire and Cheshire. Along the way, you would pass through several charming canal-side villages and towns, including Stockton Brook, Stoke-on-Trent, and Kidsgrove. The Trent and Mersey Canal also passes close to the historic city of Chester, making it an ideal stop for anyone interested in exploring England's rich history and cultural heritage. After reaching the town of Middlewich, you would then join the Bristol Avon, which takes you south through the rolling hills of Somerset and into the heart of the West Country. This canal passes through the historic city of Bath, with its stunning Georgian architecture and Roman baths, and continues on to Bristol, where it joins the River Avon and the Severn Estuary. The entire journey from Leeds to Bristol by canal is approximately 200 miles and takes between 8 to 10 days to complete, depending on your speed and the number of stops you make along the way. Along the route, you will find a variety of marinas, boatyards, and other facilities that cater to boaters and canal travelers, making it easy to restock supplies and find food, accommodation, and other necessities. In conclusion, if you're looking for a unique and scenic way to travel from Leeds to Bristol in the UK, a canal boat trip is an excellent choice. The route takes you through some of England's most charming and historic areas and offers a relaxed and leisurely way to experience the beauty of the English countryside. ps. I somehow doubt that ChatBPT has ever been to Kidsgrove 😉 Ralph

Sorry my poor use of boating terminology. I should have just just called it an 'anchor', as per the original poster.

I've had my boat for 30 years, and have used my sea anchor in anger only once. My sea anchor stopped my being swept by a strong current onto Thrumpton weir on the Trent near Trent lock, when the river was in spate. Another boat got stuck on the weir a day or two later and the crew were airlifted off by a rescue helicopter IIRC. I'd moored on Cranfield cut but was facing upstream, and wanted to proceed down Cranfield cut. I started my JP3 but forgot to turn on the fuel tap from the day tank (a rookie error!). Then went out onto the big river to do a 'U' turn, and the engine coughed and died after about 60 seconds. Everything went quiet and the boat was being swept quite fast towards the weir. My sea anchor has a good long flexible nylon rope and a heavy chain of good dimensions. I quickly moved down the gunnels to the front of the boat and dropped the sea anchor overboard. The sea anchor 'gripped' and the nylon rope worked a treat and stopped me close to the entrance to the Soar - a couple of hundred yards or so from Thrumpton weir. It then took me a couple of minutes to work out why the engine had stalled. I then re-bled the fuel system, and started the engine. Picking up the sea anchor by simply pulling it backwards (i.e. re-tracing my course) was relatively straightforward. Ralph

I've just completed the Nene from Stanground to Northampton. Despite all the talk about lack of water, the water levels on the Nene were OK for a boat drawing 2 foot 6". a couple of the lock cuts below some of the locks were a bit shallow, but all the weirs had some water coming down. I suspect that this 'water' comes from the outlets of the various water treatment plants - every toilet flushed in Northampton/Wellingborough/Thrapston/Oundle etc. eventually ends up in the Nene. At Peterborough all of this Nene water is currently being send down onto the Middle Level at Stanground lock/Ashline lock - to be used for irrigation of the crops etc. Plenty of river depth on the river Nene proper, once you'd got off the lock cuts ! The poor water quality (i.e. mainly from sewerage) and the hot sun means that this is a good year for weed. Some of the lock cuts on the upper Nen(e) were pretty bad for surface weed and those huge mattress-sized chunks that grow on the bottom - these mainly affect deep draft boats. The Middle Levels were also pretty bad - the MLC's need to get some bigger weed boats the size of combine harvesters ! The Middle Level level at March was down about 6". Some of the local boaters at March couldn't get onto their end-of-garden moorings, so were mooring on the 48hr mooring at the Ship Inn in March instead. So there was very limited space at the Ship Inn mooring in March. Ralph

Mine is basically the same as this, only smaller at 6.25 " diameter (approx). Brinklow Boat Sevices have some 'used' 7.5" Metalastik couplers from old working boats. Here is my sheared 6.25" Metalastik coupler - part number 21/642/2 :

Nick at Brinklow Boat Services had a steel replacement coupling machined, and I fitted this steel coupling yesterday. Drive now working fine without the Metalastic coupling, as expected. Very nice to be back on a boat that can move again. Good test trying to cope with the excessive blanket weed on the Middle Levels. Nick also confirmed that the Blackstone 2:1 reduction box has a thrust bearing on the output shaft as standard, so is not really suited to having a prop-shaft with a plummer block 'that does not take thrust' (to use Tony's words from above). How can you tell whether your plummer block can take thrust ? Ralph

Thanks for your comments. I would agree for a coupling costing hundreds of pounds. However, if you can get a good quality (i.e. German) auto rubber coupling replacement for (say) thirty pounds then I'll probably fit one before I reverse any distance on the BCN 😉 Syrinx's previous Metalastik coupling lasted without any problem (apart from becoming obsolete) for over 40 years, before it failed. Syrinx is a Malcolm Braine boat, and I presume that Malcolm was involved in the engineering of the drive etc. My brother has a late 1990s Tooleys-yard build boat (sorry I've forgotten the builder's name). My brother's boat has a very similar drive arrangement to Syrinx - but his boat has a steel adapter plate where Syrinx has/d the Metalastik coupling. Horses for courses I guess...

Nick at Brinklow Boat Services has 'machined/engineered' a solid steel coupling to replace the failed Metalastik coupling. I am going over to collect the steel coupling tomorrow, and I'll be installing the steel coupling during the next couple of days. Hopefully, I'll then be able to escape from Ramsey and get off the Middle levels and back onto the GU via the Nene. I'll also discuss the thrust bearing situation with Nick. My engine is a JP3(M) and it is bolted very firmly using very thick engine support beams and fixed to the hull.

I went over to the boat last night to try the QL9000 for size. Unfortunately it does not fit into the existing mounting holes of the failed Metalastik 21/642/2 drive coupling - it is several millimetres too small 😞 So the QL9000 part is not suitable as a replacement for a Metalastik 21/642/2 drive coupling. However, there are loads of other similar 6-hole rubber drive couplings available for various vehicles, with a good range of bolt hole circle diameters. The QL9000 (old Mk1/2 Ford Granada) coupling probably fits the Lister LH150 gearbox set-up OK, which the R+D flexible shaft couplings brochure (910-052) show as being 98.5mm 'bolt hole circle'. I think that the QL9000 coupling is equivalent to the Metalastik Rotoflex (i.e. car) drive coupling 21/1004/1 which has a 'bolt hole circle' of 100mm (and also large fixing holes - to provide some useful flexibility).

Thanks for all the helpful suggestions. I phoned Vibracoustics this morning in Leicester, and they were going to email me back if they located anything suitable. We discussed making a new coupling but the Vibracoustics chap reckoned this would be serious ££££ (i.e. thousands !), as they'd probably have to make new jigs etc. Although their office is in Leicester (near Syston) their manufacturing facility is down south. In the meantime I've ordered and received a Ford Granada 'doughnut' type vehicle coupling, as recommended on these forums several times by user 'bizzard' (thanks for all your previous information btw). Ordered a genuine QH vehicle part (part number QL9000). This Ford Granada transmission coupling has 6 bolt holes with three forming a fixing 'triangle' on each side. Distance between the bolt centres along base of the fixing 'triangle' is about 85mm, which is close to the 83mm I measured on the drive boss on the boat. Not an ideal solution, as the drive to the propeller is going to be transmitted to the doughnut coupling through the fixing bolts and multiple washers, rather than via the original Metalastik coupling steel plates. But the transmission will certainly have a weak spot if the propeller cannot turn... In the meantime I'm also getting a steel coupling machined to the dimensions of the failed Metalastik coupling, to use as an emergency if the QL9000 coupling ever fails. I'll probably also get a spare QL9000 as they're relatively cheap and readily available (by marine standards). This all said, the best solution would be to find another Metalastik 21/642/2 drive coupling... Or get one made by Robush... Ralph

Mike and Kate Fox, the original owners of Syrinx did leave quite a few useful spares in the locker under the rear side-bed. Alas no metalastik drive couplings. I suspect they were easily obtainable then, so why bother carrying a spare ??

Thanks Tony. However, I guess that the metalastik coupling does provide the weakest link in the transmission if the propeller hits an 'immovable' object. Otherwise the Lister JP3(M) Blackstone gearbox or reduction box gets the hit ?? Ralph

The Middle Level Commissioners have installed a shiny new landing stage at Ramsey 'basin'. I suspect that the old concrete mooring wall is now in the basin,as I hit something big and hard when trying to extricate my boat from the Ramsay 60ft 'winding hole' in reverse. I was unable to wind my 60ft narrow boat due to low water levels and also too much building debris in the water. I sheared the metalastik coupling on the drive to the propeller shaft. My original metalastik coupling was at least 43 years old. Part number 21/642/02. 6.25" diameter. Probably the same part described by Aurthur Marshall on these forums in the past (and others) as 'unobtainable' 😞 If anybody has got a new or used 6.25" (approx) coupling like this, then please let me know ! Robush (the Metalastik distributor) say that they might be able to get some manufactured when their manufacturer returns from his summer break. However, this option is going to take several weeks I guess. In the meantime Nick at Brinklow Boat Services is going to try and help me with a solution to get the boat moving again. Note: These 6.25" metalastik couplings are not the same as the ones used on some old cars (smaller) nor the ones used on ex-working boats (these are about 7.5" diameter). Ralph

nb Syrinx ran aground in what should be/used to be the main channel on the GU main line in this area, aproaching a bridge hole. Draught 2'6. Level no more than 2" off the weir. There was extensive offside bank erosion most of the way along here caused my motor boats going to fast etc. This was near Slapton or Church lock. The depth on the Leicester section was probably the best I've experienced in 25 years, between the new marina at Yelvertoft and the big hole in the ground at North Kilworth. The section beyond Husband's Bosworth tunnel remains as shallow as ever as far as about bridge 48. 35 years ago the GU main line was lovely and deep, whereas the Leicester line was a shallow ditch. Situation has partly reversed now. Ralph

The worst experience I've had was in in idealic St. Ives on the Bedford Ouse where we had locals dancing on the roof in the night, followed much later by others untying the mooring ropes. This is a river with nasty weirs :-( Luckily I'd put on an additional line to a ring hidden low in the jetty, so we didn't end up drifting. Ralph