IanD

I don't think there's much doubt that you're one of the composting toilet "good guys"... 🙂 But as in so many things in life people don't notice the good guys just getting on with life, they only notice the bad guys breaking the rules and doing bad sh*t... 😞 I'd be genuinely interested to know how boaters are split between the two categories, but I doubt we'll ever find out -- surveys (wasn't there one done by a composting toilet enthusiast?) are only likely to be answered by the "good guys", and the "bad guys" aren't going to openly own up to what they do... 😞

I meant keeping law-abiding boaters happy by punishing mooring evildoers, getting burly masked thugs to give them a damn good kicking with liberal application of pepper spray. Probably not shooting them in the head though, this isn't the USA... 😉

There's a simple solution -- if everyone paid double their current license fee, that should give CART plenty of money to pay for rigorous ICE-style enforcement to stop *awful* things like this happening... 🙂

I don't think anyone is saying it's not possible, just that it takes a lot more space and time and effort to do it properly than many boaters -- especially on narrowboats, widebeams have a lot more space -- are willing to invest in doing this. Unfortunately for those who do it properly like you, they're tarred with the same (stinky) brush as those who don't, who are to blame for all the (justifiable) negative attitudes towards composting/separating toilets by other boaters... 😞

Given the standard of dredging nowadays, it might just put the canal bed back where it originally was... P.S. Bridge's what? [Apostrophe Police] 🙂

Yeah, I'm well aware of the accuracy (or not...) of their timescale predictions... 😉 That's why I want to get the boat in with plenty of time to spare before I need*** it to be ready -- current guesstimate is maybe up to Finesse mid-March, needs to be ready to go (with boatmover) latest after the May bank holiday weekend, that's a 7-week gap -- I estimate more than double the time needed to do the work, even allowing for delays. *** I have to work backwards from when I have a big enough gap for a decent holiday, allowing for other commitments that can't be moved (like festivals) which the summer is full of -- after May the next suitable long gap is September, and we all know what happened to water levels by then last year... 😞

Oh come on, surely you can do better than that? Go via Keadby but then turn left, go down the Trent, down the Humber, then down the North Sea and English Channel and around the coast to Liverpool, then up the L&L and through Manchester -- that would be *properly* interesting... 😉

OK, let's ignore the up/down issue then -- how is is possible to get from Sheffield to the HNC (thread subject!) by going in *any* direction on the Trent? 😉 Of course if you want to go somewhere else entirely then the Trent may well be a very good option, always assuming you like big flat boring rivers -- and don't mind having to possibly wait for week or several if the weather is bad, like it is now... 😉

For most people down a river means just that, away from the source and towards the sea -- hence downstream and upstream. You must have a different dictionary... 🙂 That's not the question you asked which replied to before you edited it though, is it?... 😉 The answer to your new question is -- none AFAIK, in fact it's very likely that it's never happened, because anyone doing this is going to be well aware of the risks and take far more care than yer average boater. If it's never happened then insurers are probably not going to worry about it -- at least, until it does... 🙂 Also most boats sunk by cillings are hire boats, where this would never be an issue for obvious reasons -- the longest boat you can hire up there is 57' and these go through the C&H locks just fine. Though I'm sure you could sink one in a lock if you tried, just like any length boat... 😉 Already done that, thanks -- Nigel was helpful as you'd expect. But have now largely gone off the crane idea for this short trip in favour of a boatmover -- or one of two, both recommended by more than one helpful CWDF poster, rather than my original choice... 🙂 Even from Cambridge, when it's clearly "down" on the map -- but that's because on trains all "up" lines lead to London, blame the Victorian railway companies for this. I somehow doubt that the same applies to rivers like the Trent... 😉

Unfortunately quite a lot of people have, and AFAIK the insurers paid out... 😉

How on earth is going down the Trent going to get me from Sheffield to the HNC, which is the subject of this thread? If you wanted to go *up* the Trent in May to get from Sheffield back to GH then that would be your (perfectly valid) choice -- it's the quick and easy and reliable but boring way, which is exactly why I don't want to do it because it's my boating holiday time... 😉 Obviously I'm aware of the stoppages/water/delay problems on canals like the HNC/Macc, having suffered from them myself several times -- but if we all went by that principle nobody would ever use them again and they'd close, which would be sad, don't you think?... 🙂 On a different subject, avoiding cranes and going from GH to Sheffield in March down the Trent is possible but -- especially given the current weather -- the risk is of big delays waiting for safe water levels. OK if you're retired and doing it yourself and have all the time in the world, not so if this isn't the case. And just FYI, following helpful suggestions from other forum members, because of its length there isn't so much cost difference between crane/truck (almost fixed cost) and boatmover (cost per day) for this trip, ... 🙂

I suggested it to you because you're the one asking the question -- though apart from having a sly dig I don't see why, since you "don't need to"... 😉 (but just FYI my insurance company knows exactly where the boat is going and when, and has raised no objections) I'm not sure how going down the Trent would get me from Sheffield to the HNC in May -- am I missing something? 😉 (but then I much prefer the nice/interesting HNC/PF/Macclesfield to the flat/boring Trent -- it's all about the journey, not the destination...)

Why don't you ask yours? 🙂

The official maximum boat size is 57'6" long by 14' wide, which doesn't mean that a 60' x 7' boat is unsafe -- as demonstrated by the fact that boats this size have gone through those locks safely on multiple occasions over the years, including mine... 😉

Thanks to everyone for all the suggestions/advice -- now looking like a boatmover will work, makes more sense than a crane for a trip this length... 🙂 P.S. Special thanks to @matty40s and @PaulJ for advice and help, they know why... 😉

Before someone says this is sexist, don't forget that insurers also charge premiums depending on many other risk-related things including driver age, and this is not regarded as being ageist... 😉

I've been talking to Jon Pegg, problem was insurance cover wasn't enough (boat insured sum is over £300k)... 😞 Having found out the horrible truth about crane costs, I was literally just going to contact Paul who was the other recommended boatmover... 😉 That's my thought too, but the plan was to make the HNC/PF/Macc trip our early summer holiday, they're all canals I'd love to do again. Looking at all the options... PM will follow... 😉