IanD
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Posts posted by IanD
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13 hours ago, dmr said:
I like a boat with an engine room, Jims boat doesn't even have an engine 'ole, its just got a big white thing stuck on the back 😀.
Have helped a friend up the C&H in a 55 footer, I really would not fancy doing those locks in a 60 footer.
Got a bit restless with the home moorer stuff so having a few days out, left the mooring at 9:30 yesterday morning and sitting in the Golden Lon with a pint in hand before 3, I reckon we could almost keep up with the hire boats.
We had no problems taking a 60' boat up the C&H last year. OTOH the boat was deliberately designed with features to make this easier such as a watertight bow (and stern, but we were going up) and short stern button/rudder, we had no problems with protruding bottom gate walkways and didn't even have to lift a fender.
But I certainly wouldn't have wanted to be taking a boat that length with an open well deck through, given the amount of top gate leakage in some locks... 😞
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10 minutes ago, dmr said:
HVO and FAME are two totally different fuels. They might be made from the same feedstock but the process of manufacture is different. FAME is pretty rubbish stuff but the government insists on diluting our diesel with it. HVO is good stuff and even better than "dinodiesel". HVO is not hygroscopic and is also long term stable.
If only you could actually get HVO on the canals... 😞
(though I've been told this situation may improve...)
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1 minute ago, Sea Dog said:
I would always wish a tiller to not extend beyond the side of the boat when the rudder is hard over. This is particularly to avoid the hazard of it fouling a lock wall when hard over. Any tiller longer that that should have a hinge to prevent said hazard - not a rarity on the cut.
I did look at whether the tiller could be made telescopic with a twist-to-lock like you get on other extending handles (e.g. telescopic boathooks) but we couldn't figure out an easy way to do it in the time we had available...
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1 hour ago, Jon57 said:
So all electric like I said then.
Not if I go out cruising, then the generator is needed -- unless you cruise only a bit, only in summer, or *very* slowly... 😉
(also heating is diesel)
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If this had a sleeve so it could slip on over the existing handle/tiller bar I'd buy one 🙂
My tiller bar at the moment (semi-trad stern) is about right for steering standing up just inside the doors, too long for steering from the stern, and too short for sitting down in front of the control pillar... 😞
(yes I know about steering from the stern, dangerous, getting knocked off etc -- which is why I only do it when going ahead...)
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15 minutes ago, Ken X said:
Second vote for the Corn Mill in Llangollen. As Ian says they don't give it away but we find the foods always good.
The Aquaduct Inn at Froncysylite is another we use. Last time we moored at Trefor basin and walked over the Ponty to it. The walk back in the dark was interesting 🙂 Particularly as it was January.
We often pop into the short Whitchurch arm overnight to shop and eat if timings are right for us.
Aqueduct Inn had excellent beer and a fantastic view from the terrace (see below), can't vouch for the food since we didn't eat there. Trefor Inn (next to the basin) is OK at best.
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27 minutes ago, Jon57 said:
Looks like the boat doesn't go far. Perfect. 😁👍
I haven't run my generator since going out cruising in October. Mind you, the boat's been plugged into shoreline all winter... 😉
(and hasn't used any shore power for the last couple of weeks, solar has been enough -- no domestic use though...)
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3 hours ago, Sir Nibble said:
The trick is to not get the paddles wrong.
Which is exactly what I said... 😉
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2 hours ago, Stroudwater1 said:
The Chainbridge hotel where Ian’s picture is taken is where you can sit and watch folk come down the river Dee in rubber rings that I mentioned .
https://www.beardedmenadventures.com/activities/river-tubing-langollen-north-wales/
From there you may also be able to watch a steam locomotive pass by above you. You won’t see them for too much time though, as it’s a tiny length of the railway that’s visible from there. It’s mostly luck. We weren’t there for long and saw both.
Ditto, IIRC the train stops opposite the chain bridge for passengers to get on off.
Recommendation for the Willeymoor Lock Tavern seconded, friendly family-run pub with excellent beer and decent pub grub (but note pub/kitchen opening times) and reasonable prices. We moored below the lock fifty yards or so from the pub both times, the towpath above the lock can be a complete swamp.
Would also recommend the Bridge Inn at Chirk Bank (good beer and *very* good value food), and the Corn Mill in Llangollen (pricey but good).
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7 minutes ago, Jon57 said:
6 Go all electric...
...with no generator. Good luck with that... 😉
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33 minutes ago, Sir Nibble said:
Going up. Bowline on the centre rope over a bollard towards the back of the lock, forward gear, tickover.
Agreed -- but that still doesn't stop the boat being pushed across the lock if you get the paddles wrong, or the lock hates you... 😉
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59 minutes ago, Hudds Lad said:
The Motor Museum in Llangollen is worth a look, but it may not be open when you're there as a quick look at the website says they now only open 1st-7th of the month since Covid
A trip on the steam train from Llangollen is also good, or a walk from the basin up to Horseshoe Falls where the canal begins is a good appetite enhancer before the evening meal (don't expect something like Niagara
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And you can call in at the chain bridge for a pint on the way back...
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1 hour ago, MtB said:
So
as a newbie then,you hardly know anythingyet.FTFY... 😉
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58 minutes ago, Tracy D'arth said:
Big Lock in Middlewich is a classic for anything can happen. The hire boats first day out have a high old time at this lock.
That's one I remember being tricky too, nothing you do seems to work -- and I'll be going through it next week...
51 minutes ago, Mike Tee said:Its no good - I'm going to have to buy a widebeam for when I'm on wide canals..............
Why not just hang some enormous 3' diameter fenders down both sides? 😉
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12 minutes ago, Mike Tee said:
I'm going to totally confuse things now! In general in a wide lock, Yes to all the above, but I have seen a navigational note on the wide locks on the T&M that the ground paddles are built differently and to pin the boat against the side, open the opposite ground paddle first.
We haven't been that way for many years so can't remember anything about them, but the warning is listed in the Canalplan route guide website.
If that's the case then you'll find out at the first lock that you need to do things differently to "normal", and change to opposite-side-first -- as you say, this is an exception to the rule, but one that might well apply to the OP since they mentioned the T&M.
And there are some broad locks where neither seems to work and the boat gets pushed across whatever you do... ;-(
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14 minutes ago, Kane Brennan said:
Thanks everyone, we have done 100s of locks now, but we are nearer to Lichfield on Trent and Mersey so everything in every direction is single locks.
We only encountered them to and from Paul Barbers to get a new base plate fitted. So basically after Burton and up to Erewash, then back again. Spent an hour working out how an electric lock works.
But I get it, opposite side paddles, feed a rope round the bollard and back to me at the stern if I need to. Ours if 52ft. So there should be enough length for the water to pin to the wall.No!
*Same* side ground paddle first, the water goes under the boat and bounces off the opposite wall and holds the boat to the adjacent wall.
(if you open the opposite side ground paddle first the water goes under the boat, bounces upwards off the wall next to it, and forces the boat away from the wall).
Then *opposite" side gate paddle (if there is one) once the water has come up to it, the water from this flows across and pins the boat to the wall.
Then opposite side ground paddle and same side gate paddle (if there is one).
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35 minutes ago, peterboat said:
CRT were handed an extensive portfolio of land and buildings, the revenue was supposed to help with the costs, however I do wonder if the money is getting reinvested rather than being spent on the system
The revenue from land and buildings does contribute significantly to CART income if you look at their accounts, possibly not as much as was hoped by rose-tinted-glasses wearers when CART was set up.
Like all other income sources, it goes into the pot out of which all the expenditure comes -- I don't think CART are doing much reinvesting, they can't afford to when they haven't got enough money to run the system properly... 😞
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1 minute ago, David Mack said:
Or if I make a substantial donation to the political party in government, do I get to put my point of view directly to ministers on the issues of the day?
Of course, that's how politics works in the UK today... 😞
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2 minutes ago, bizzard said:
Don't tap threads with a drill unless your an absolute expert. Tap by hand tap.
Tapping 170 holes by hand is going to take a *long* time, even if you know what you're doing and don't break the tap by forgetting to reverse it. DAMHIK... 😞
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44 minutes ago, Momac said:
This is inevitable unless costs are reduced significantly eg by closing some canals to navigation.
the same principle is .............You might think you should get more votes morally but you don't legally get more votes.
I disagree -- people pay more tax because they earn more, and tax is what pays for all the societal benefits provided by government -- as well as what they spaff up the wall, unfortunately... 😞
The principle is that the broadest shoulders should carry the heaviest load, not that the
strongestrichest get to decide what happens.37 minutes ago, beerbeerbeerbeerbeer said:No,
but if you pay extra at the theatre you expect the better seat,
Hmm, like private medicine then. So if you follow that to its conclusion with canals, those who pay the highest license fees should be able to (for example) jump queues at locks, claim priority over "poorer" boats at water points and moorings...
An example to the contrary is road tax (yes I know...) -- drivers who pay more don't get any privileges over those who pay less, everyone contributes to the cost of maintaning the roads. Except it's not hypothecated so they don't any more, but the principle is exactly the same as the canal license fee.
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Just now, Momac said:
This is inevitable unless costs are reduced significantly eg by closing some canals to navigation.
That assumes that this doesn't cost more money in the short-term than it saves in the long-term -- since they were established by Act of Parliament closing canals is neither cheap nor easy, with legal obstacles apart from the obvious protests.
If CART can't find a way of increasing income -- license fees, DEFRA grant, commercial charges -- and they can't close canals, deterioration will continue... 😞
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15 minutes ago, Momac said:
I agree they don't have any privileges legally but they might claim that they have privileges morally because they pay a higher license fee.
So on the same principle, if I pay (for example) 3x as much tax as somebody else, should I get (for example) 3 votes in the next GE?
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29 minutes ago, Momac said:
It doesn't make any difference as folks who are going to overstay will do so anyway.
Perhaps could be said the CC'ers and wide beams should be given enhanced rights and priority as they are paying more for their license
It does make a difference because it puts the cost of living on the cut up for the CMers, which must reduce the numbers doing it since they're in it for the cheap housing.
CCers and widebeam owners are paying more to get more money for CART; they don't get any extra privileges any more than people paying more tax do.
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12 minutes ago, dmr said:
Putting a big surcharge on CC'ers in order to deter CM'ers is a really bad and unfair way to solve the CM'er/cheap housing problem. CC'ers, often older retired people with a real interest in the canals, are an essential part of the canal community.
Yes I know -- but still they're paying less for their use of the canals than HMers are, so I think some surcharge is fair, the existing 25% is easy to justify from this point of view.
I did suggest the way to fix this -- which is also more redistributive -- is to also make the license fee a function of boat age, so those with shiny new expensive boats pay more and those with old cheap boats pay less. Easy to administer, but no doubt would cause howls of anguish from many (not me!) who would pay more as a result. Something like a 2:1 variation with boat age would solve that particular problem, for example new boats might pay 40% more and old ones 30% less without affecting the total license fee take for CART.
Then a bigger CC surcharge (e.g. 40%) would put the older retired boaters back to where they were before it was introduced), but with more income for CART from new shiny boaters who would be paying double what the oldies pay (100% more than before the CC surcharge).
The numbers could be changed to alter either what oldies pay or newbies pay but the principle is clear, link the license fee to boat age which is a reasonable proxy for boat value.
The trouble with any change like this is that the people who have to pay more make a big fuss, and the people who pay less don't, so it's difficult to push through... 😞
Moving Marina - Tattenhall to Droitwich Spa - best route?
in Cruise Diaries & Reports
Posted
Maybe you need a quieter boat?... 😉