Tony1

There is a very great difference between expressing hate to someone, and discussing hate as a subject matter. I was doing the latter. What you appear to be showing by this response is anger, or at the very least passive aggression. Pot and kettle.

Inspirational thinking, my dear fellow. Much simpler. Its very confusing to redirect my hatred onto a different target every week as my beloved Daily Mail would have me do. I think it would be much less confusing to hate everyone at once. Everyone who isn't me, that is. All of you non-Tony's are a bit suspect, when it comes down to it.

Have you not heard? It's all those nasty transgender people taking our jobs and our houses now. Next week it'll be the woke teachers again. Then the railway unions. Then Megan Markle will probably be due some hate. It's getting hard to keep up with who we're supposed to be angry with.

Cheap EU labour did have some very positive effects- e.g. the very difficult and nasty farming jobs were done using EU labour, and we had cheap prices for many UK produced foods for many years. Our farms were very competitive, at least within the EU marketplace. (Obviously they can't compete on price with huge industrial farms in the US and Australia, which is why I believe many of them will go out of business within 5-10 years.) I don't have data for this, but personally think the reason we employed so many EU workers was not just economical, but also because we simply don't have enough young people in the UK anymore to fill all the jobs in the economy. My impression is that although we have a high population density, it is an increasingly ageing population, with a trend of fewer young people each year to start on careers and replace the ones retiring. The EU labour was filling that gap, and as a by product it was bringing a youngish workforce into the country who were contributing to the economy. In my view, the start of the benefits culture- where entire streets and villages of people were claiming benefits, and when it became normalised and socially acceptable to live on benefits- was back in the 80s, when they were all thrown out of the mines, steelworks, car plants etc as a result of the policies of Thatcher's government.

I seldom see the boat spotters, but they are definitely out there, and certainly in the summer. I took a chance on staying an extra day, but only because an expensive ebay item I was expecting was delayed, and I was also sticking some soundproofing sheets underneath a new engine cover board before the weather got wetter etc, so the board had to stay upside down for a day. I don't see the point in deliberately overstaying and inviting enforcement emails from CRT that ask you to move on, especially if you're a liveaboard as these seemed to be. If you want to be living aboard for the next 5 or 10 years, why get into their bad books deliberately? There are plenty of moorings less than a mile to the south, still within easy biking range of Nantwich shops etc- and a lot less towpath traffic too.

Thanks both, it sounds as if the Baddiley and Swanley locks are all working ok then. It'll be interesting to see if/when the boat numbers start to reduce over the next 4/5 weeks as it gets increasingly colder. I remember by late December last year, around Northwich I think I was seeing only half a dozen moving boats each day. As a liveaboard CCer, the traditional opening of many 2 day moorings for 14 days on 1 November does give a lot more flexibility, so that will be welcome. Even staying for 4 or 5 days means it is easier to plan for deliveries to local pickup points etc. Nantwich moorings mostly stay at 2 days max all year round, but then Nantwich always seems to be heavily occupied by boats. I risked staying there for 3 days as I was waiting for a parcel delivery, and there were a few boats around who were already there when I arrived, and were still there when I left, so I'm wondering if the enforcement is already starting to relax a bit.

Hi there, can I ask- did you have any problems at the Swanley or Baddiley locks? I came through there about this time last year, and there was one lock in there somewhere that had only one paddle working if I remember right, and I had some trouble shifting one of the gates. Thankfully I got some help so not too much hassle, but remember thinking it would been a right pain doing that lock solo. Not that I'll be doing it solo, I think. I passed Hurlstone junction a few days ago and there was a queue of boats waiting to go up. And in fact I remember last year even in early Oct there was a queue of boats to come down as well, although I did moor close by and try a moderately early start in the morning in an effort to beat any queues. There were some works in that area last winter, so I'm wondering if they've fixed it now?

I do this as well. I don't have a roof rail, so my solution for a 'quick-mooring' device was to use a length of rope attached to the centre line ring with a rolling hitch in it, and a nappy pin on the end of it. The rolling hitch means I can adjust the length of rope leading to the nappy pin, so I can hook it onto the armco then tighten it up as needed. It's brilliant if you need a quick stop, or when you're trying to moor and the wind is blowing the boat away from the bank.

By an amazing coincidence Mrs H, I'm mooring tomorrow south of Nantwich- hopefully in the same spot I was in last year when you were going south on the Shroppie. If you are passing next week, and if time permits, do feel free to stop by for a catch up. I might even get hold of some decent beer for that young scoundrel Mr Haggis. (Also, I know its still officially summer in Scotland until Dec15th, but my advice would be to lay in a couple of bags of coal. I fear in a few days we will see a drop in night time temperatures).

My problem was that even the domestic alternator, although rated at 100 amps, would not put out more than 40-45 amps without getting well over 100 degrees, and I just didnt feel comfortable with that running temperature over the long term. So I'd have been looking at spending around £1200 on two controllers plus installation, to achieve a charging rate of maybe 70 amps. With what I know now, I would have gone for that, I totally agree its by far the best solution. But what can I say- back then I was young, foolish, hot-headed and of course impossibly good looking. ETA- joking aside, if the OP can stretch to an alternator controller plus installation, and if it definitely works with his two alternators at once, including running two sets of temp sensors etc (one for each alternator), that would be what I'd go for. Its a lot, but well worth it Could be worth the OP calling Ed Shiers- if anyone will know about that setup, he will.

Don't remind me!!! But joking aside, with two cheapo single v belt alternators, you would really want two controllers, and that would get expensive. The full cost with installation was around £600 for one controller, so at the time a B2B at £300 seemed to make sense....

What a miserable toad of a man, to decline a modest few minutes of assistance to a woman. I think in a similar situation I might be temped to ask someone else if the first driver refuses.

That half-power option is actually a bit of a godsend in my case, because it turned out my alternators couldn't cope with the 60 amp charge output that the B2Bs were asking for, so I was able to go down to about 30 amps for each B2B, and the alternators seem work really nicely and stay cool even at tickover revs. But the advantage of testing out the alternators' combined capabilities first is that you can find out if they will be able to safely deliver the 120 amps. If they can, great- you buy the 120 amp model and in winter you have a super-efficient charging setup. But if they can't put out a combined 120 amps, the testing means you find about about that limitation before you've spent the £700, and you can get a much cheaper 60 amp model instead, and spend the difference on a nice MPPT. Another option is that you might find out the alternators can deliver say 90 amps safely, and in that case you might want to buy two 60 amps B2Bs, and run one of them at half power. The point being that testing it first means you avoid potentially wasting money and you get the best design. ETA- would a cheap pure sine wave genny be better for winter charging, to save engine running? And for that matter, is there such a thing as a cheap pure sine genny? I mention it because it would allow the use of the combined B2B/MPPT unit (which would be a bit cheaper then buying MPPT plus B2B). It would be another way to supplement the 25 amp charge, and that supplement is only really needed in winter.

From Nov to Feb inclusive, you'll generally be relying on engine charging for (very roughly) 75% of your daily needs, and 25 amps charging rate means you'll need to do a 3 or 4 hour engine charge every day to replace a typical 100Ah daily power usage. So factor that extra fuel, engine servicing etc in to your costings for the setup, it may make a difference over 5 years. That limitation of 25 amps of engine charging for at least a quarter of the year (winter) would put me off the combined MPPT/B2B charger. Also, I would advise not buying the Sterling B2B unless you firstly test how much charge your alternators can put out without overheating. 120 amps sounds like a lot for two 80 amp alternators (assuming they both work together equally). But I'm no expert- if they are good quality then maybe 120 amps will be fine- I'm suggesting that you check first, before spending £700. I am concerned because I have cheapo alternators and mine is a sort of worst case, but my 90 amp engine alternator can only put out about 40 amps before it starts to get too hot for my liking. (Since they normally operate around 60 degrees, I consider them to be getting too hot for comfort when they are over 100 degrees- but some people allow them to get even hotter, and I'm certainly no expert on that either.) You can test out how much charge your alternators can safely put out by using a length of 16mm cable between the lead acid and the lithiums. You can try different lengths of cable until you find the right length to allow 120 amps through, and check the alternator temp every 5 minutes over a one hour charging run. I must stress they can get hot very very quickly, so when testing it out, you need to check the temp frequently. Once you know how much charge they can safely put out, it might help to inform your setup design. In your situation I would have a separate MPPT, rather than be limited to 25 amps charging rate. Having a 60 amp engine charging rate means that during the winter you can top the lithiums up with say 90 mins of engine running, which is a lot better and cheaper than 3 or 4 hours. Its expensive, but over say 5-10 years the cost of a dedicated 60 amp B2B charger will be repaid in saved fuel and engine wear. But even with a 60 amp B2B charger, you might well up needing both alternators to be involved. I tend to doubt that an 80 amp alternator can safely put out 60 amps continuously, based on what I've seen from my cheapo units. With both alternators involved, they should be able to put out a combined 60 amps with no overheating, provided that both alternators are working properly. If like me, you have one alternator that has some kind of fault, the other alternator might end up doing all of the charging, or perhaps most of it, and that is where the risk of overheating comes in.

If I understand it right, the issue is not boats speeding, but rather failing to slow down, and thus passing at normal cruising speed, say 3 or 4 mph. Although bad mooring is responsible for many boats rocking excessively, the truth is that the shouters are more usually long term or residential moorers, very securely moored and in long lines of boats stretching for up to a mile in some cases. But I do agree with your approach inasmuch as I am coming around to the view that slowing down to tickover should be considered completely optional, and should not be an expectation as it currently is. And thus the moored boats should not consider themselves the victim of impolite behaviour if you pass at say 3mph, which many of them do at the moment. They don't all shout or make comments, but there is a difference in demeanour as you approach, depending on whether you've slowed down.

I got a pair of 6 inch wide inflatable fenders to hang from the roof and ease the bumps when I'm moored in windy conditions, but they are also great for busy stretches with lots of boats that don't slow down. Realistically, the money just isnt there to make the canals deeper, much as I'd like it. But a pair of fat fenders for 30 quid is a great help in some situations.

Good for you. As it happens, so do I. My point is to ask whether it is reasonable to expect everyone to slow down over such long stretches.

The farm that (I believe) owns the moorings I was talking about is called Golden Nook. Not sure about Nantwich. The fuel boat that cruises that stretch every month calls it the golden mile, so I'll take their word for it.

I failed to slow down over about 500 yards this morning near Barbridge (various reasons), and part of me definitely withered and died from the half dozen glares I received. I do wonder how so many people can just casually plough on through all that overt disapproval, and not be affected in the slightest. But as I said above- I would ideally like all boats to slow down, but with more than half of the boats its just not going to happen ( and in some cases they have reasons that are hard to argue with)- so there's no point getting cross about it these days.

This is the point though, isnt it? With a mile or more of moored boats (eg the so-called golden mile near Tattenhall), is it realistic or fair these days to expect passing boaters to slow down to say 2mph when passing? And then they slow down again for the moored boats at Tattenhall, and so on and so on. I have an innate aversion to pissing people off, but I'm wondering if the expectations of moored boaters are unreasonable? I am not exaggerating to say that almost every boat that passed me at the north end of the Shroppie kept up its normal cruising speed, but did that futile thing of going into tickover about 20 yards before they reached me. It has become the norm that you don't actually slow down significantly when passing boats- you just go into tickover 30 yards before you reach them- so it all feels like a bit of a charade really.

That's a fair comment, but only up to a point, and only for very inexperienced hirers. Common sense and visual observation give you a reasonable idea of how fast you're going, and you don't have to have been boating for 10 years to see how fast the objects on the banks are moving past you (so to speak). Judging your speed relative to static objects must be one of the basic human skills. And also, in many locations it is mostly privately owned boats who didnt slow down- not hirers. Its not a hire boat issue specifically But to be honest, all of us have gone at a normal cruising speed of 3-4mph past moored boats. Some of us don't care about that, and some of us do. People are different. And I do get the perspective of boaters who only get the chance to take their boats out for a few weeks at a time. They want to see things, and cover some distance, and when they see a line of moored boats stretching intermittently for the next half mile, they start thinking that if they go down to 2mph, they'll never get where they want to go. I dont get cross if boats dont slow down- they have their own reasons, whether it be hire boat ignorance or a simply a need to cover some distance before they have to leave the boat and go back to work, etc. I think the issue is that some boaters still expect passing boats to slow down as a sort of rule, and that is simply not going to happen. I'm retired and live aboard so I can go pretty much as slowly as I want within reason, so I do slow down. But not everyone has that luxury of time. But I feel like the whole slowing down thing is not a moral obligation or duty, as maybe it used to be. It is entirely voluntary, and is subject to the individual needs of the passing boaters, and so we shouldn't get cross at people who don't slow down. I just wish people would stop frowning at me on the rare occasions that I dont slow down when passing them.

Would it were so, Ms Jen. Would it were so. I harboured ridiculously murderous thoughts about a speedy hire boater who almost spilled my coffee near Tattenahall last week, and I went to the trouble of questioning my legal team about the potential snags involved in dismembering the gentleman (and if possible the entire crew). They were surprisingly negative. I moored at Nantwich this afternoon, and more than 70% of the boats that passed have been travelling at full cruising speed of 3-4 mph. They don't seem to care- most were Anglo-welsh hire boats, but still- they will have been told about slowing down past moored boats. I briefly dallied with 3mph past some moored boats near Barbridge earlier, and was greeted with sombre looks from the moored boaters. The sense of outrage was almost palpable. I slowed to 2mph, and suddenly all was sunshine and loveliness from the moored boaters. I totally understand that difference in people's reaction to my different speeds, but why cant all these speeding boaters also get it? Are they immune to the disaffection that radiates so strongly from the boaters they pass?

I can't be the only one who now has a disturbing image of you gnawing on nuts through the dark winter evenings. Before this escalates and you start murdering speeding boaters to obtain a meat supply, I strongly suggest a visit to the local M+S food hall. Sainsbury's might work, at a push. It's not that I object to the murder of speeding boaters- in fact I consider that a service to humanity. But there may be some minor legal complications.

I identify as a transsexual squirrel on weekdays, so I keep my thermal cup on the roof with the handle facing out. It's a bit niche to be fair, and I've not had much luck dating lately.

A friend told me that some tourist bars in Thailand have colour coded beer mats for this purpose, but I do like the idea of a flag for boaters in an antisocial mood. I'd offer them a beer to shut the hell up- I know when I'm beaten 😄