Tony1

My impression is that people behave slightly differently when passing a moored boat than when passing a moving boat. The moving boats I pass almost all seem to follow the convention of giving some form of greeting, but the moored boats don't always give a greeting, and those passing a moored boat sometimes fail to give a greeting. As someone said above, I think its partly down to a slight unease around the issue of how fast the moving boat might be going. So the driver of the moving boat might be wondering whether they will be admonished in some way by the person on the moored boat, and the people on the moored boat are mentally noting the speed of the moving boat, and making a decision as to whether it is too fast- and if it is fast, whether it is worth saying anything. For example, I decided against saying anything to the half dozen boozed-up and shouty young men who passed my moored boat going flat out down the cut last summer, because they would have ignored my advice anyway, and I might easily have gotten into an altercation facing very bad odds. Sometimes I've been doing some job or other on the stern (or down in the engine bay) when a boat passed, and I've been distracted enough not to consider greetings to passing boats. But if I were sat out on the stern, I would generally expect a passing boat to give a greeting- and certainly if I gave them one to start with.

I spent a few grand on a recon engine for a Mondeo about 20 years ago. It failed after less than 1,000 miles. Obviously there are some satisfied customers out there, and this is strictly a personal view based on a single experience, but I wouldn't even consider a recon engine. If I really had to save money I'd go for a 57ft shell (which will be easier to handle as well), and install a less powerful but brand new engine, maybe 50-55bhp.

Those dreadful Scottish ruffians will be along any moment to tell you how wonderful the lowland canals are, but you mustn't believe a word of it. You'll be devoured by midges, and the haggis are biting at this time of year too. But joking aside, I must confess I was also considering moving my boat up there, but on the whole I was put off by a few issues. Firstly, you need to pay for a mooring all year round (even if you dont use it much), and also the canals aren't that long, so you might get bored of the limited cruising range. Then you've got the cost of maybe £3k to move the boat. But that said, if Scotland gets independence and we get the chance to become citizens, I might well change my mind and move the boat up there. I can speak Scottish reasonably well, my problem is understanding them when they reply. What I do is speak louder and slower, and begin each sentence with the word 'och'.

That's what a year of boating will do to you. But no, that was at the end of 2019 I think, they wanted a recent photo for the staff webpage. After that I got rid of the ridiculous long hair and the awful beard. Now I just need a bit of a tan I reckon, and I'll look like a Greek God.

Yes, and I must apologise if I gave the impression that a desire to escape from society always implies some form of mental issue. I personally love the fact that for a few days at a time, I can reduce my contact with society at large, and I hope there is nothing seriously 'unsettled' about myself. Lets be honest about it, we all need some degree of human contact or company, but society is liberally sprinkled with toxic and hurtful people, or people whose worldview and politics are so different to our own that we simply cannot stand to be in their company for very long. My first instinct is to avoid any contact or communication with these people (and that includes online interactions), but I hope that doesnt mean I am suffering from mental issues. I like to think it means I just dont like being around what I view as negative, cruel, trollish or sociopathic people.

Personally, I think it is very likely that the lifestyle draws in a number of people who are already 'unsettled' to some degree. Unfortunately I also think that it might not be the best move for people suffering from mental troubles, because it is too easy to become isolated. It may seem to those folks that this is what they want, but I suspect that it doesn't help with their issues. But that said, mental support services are harder to obtain anyway these days due to all the cutbacks, so there's no guarantee that if they moved into a house, the affected people would get the help they need to try to make them more mentally healthy. So in that context, why not become more isolated and more antisocial on the cut? At least they can spend time in a pleasant environment rather than a grey city. It's hard to be optimistic given the current circumstances of the NHS and the country.

As Woody Allen once quipped, don't knock it- it's sex with someone I love

I was of course jesting Mr D. The tragic truth is that ten months of retirement, drunkenness and debauchery has left me a broken shell, and a singularly unattractive proposition for most normal human beings of any gender. My hope is that there is an alien species somewhere that would find me a paragon of beauty (most likely those ones that have pudgy grey skin, thinning hair, and red, hollow eyes). But realistically, we will not meet this discerning alien species within my lifetime, nor are they likely to have a dating website- so I am resigned to living my remaining years as a bachelor. I could hope to move to the Everglades and form a romantic relationship with a manatee, but the hot weather would make me grumpy and disagreeable.

Sadly I dont recall her name, but she was certainly interesting and great fun to talk to. Hers would make a great story for a youtube video- from the veldt to the shroppie.

No worries, I thought it probably wasnt on purpose. The only worry is that now they know how handsome I am, legions of women are going to start stalking me 😀

I've addressed this point a couple of times above, but I'll repeat it once more: if you would ban all e-scooters because a small minority ride illegal models, why not ban all ebikes because a minority ride around on overpowered illegal models? Why not close the entire CWDF website if a few contributors happen to breach the guidelines for behaviour? Because sometimes the answer is not banning, but rather better enforcement of the regulations. Hundreds of thousands of people want the freedom and convenience offered by affordable personal electric transport, and they are finally going to get it. Just a courtesy note: I deliberately chose not to put a personal photograph on this site for privacy reasons, and your inserting the photo from my whatsapp account is pretty poor form.

Sorry mate, but I've been having this discussion with Peter all day, and I really can't be arsed to go over the ground again. In my view, the case is absolutely clear and complete unarguable. At this point you either agree, or you don't. You dont, Fair play to you. Enjoy your evening. The debating society is closed for today.

I absolutely agree. I personally think it is highly likely that in many cases, mental disorders are a direct result of an individual's treatment by parents and by society. There are many people who would have ended up much more happy and stable if society had been more forward thinking, and kinder to the poor and disadvantaged. And there are lots of those who could now be helped enormously to regain a more stable mental situation, if only the resources were available. But support services of this sort were slashed to the bone during the austerity measures after 2010, and the country is now so bankrupt that there is zero chance of those support service being reinstated within the next decade, even if a government got into to power who regarded the NHS as a priority. It seems as if the cupboard is bare, and we can look forward to nothing but more poverty and reduced NHS provision for the foreseeable future. Those who need non-critical mental health support are probably going to face a struggle.

This topic brings to mind a comment made to me by a very interesting lady boater in her mid 60s who I spoke to last summer, and who had moved to the UK from South Africa a couple of years ago, in order to live on a narrowboat. She said that most of the solo liveaboards she had met so far seemed to be 'damaged', which I understood to mean that they were suffering from some degree of unhappiness- and in the worse cases, a clear mental disorder. Coming from a person who had lived in a society that had itself gone through years of extreme and deadly violence, it initially struck me as an odd thing to say- but of course she was coming at it as a relative newcomer to UK society, which I think gave her a more objective viewpoint. My own response was to say personally, I didnt feel all that damaged- apart from the emotional bruising of a painful relationship breakup a few years ago- and I hadn't then met enough solo boaters to form an opinion. But in the year since then, I have met or observed a number of liveaboards who have clearly been suffering from mental disorders. One chap I met a few months ago refused to even admit the existence of covid-19, for example, and he held firmly to the belief that the royal family were alien lizards who had taken human form. My response (that any alien lizard clever enough to travel here would have chosen a better-looking human body) went unheeded, and nothing I said could persuade him from his beliefs- many of which had been gathered via youtube and far-right conspiracy theorist websites. The sad thing is that if I had pointed this new counselling service out to him, he would almost certainly have refused to use it, so certain was he about these impossibly unlikely beliefs.

And whilst we argue over a few hundred scooter crashes, the polar icecaps continue to melt, thousands of animal species face extinction, our temperatures continue to rise and break new records almost every year, and the planet moves ever closer to the point of no return. There is a much, much bigger picture to consider here. But yes, I think there can be little doubt that in the case of an accident, e-scooters are far more risky to their drivers than cars are. How could it be otherwise, when the rider has no protection? But hundreds of thousands of commuters and leisure users cant afford to buy and run a car, and yet they dont want to get to their destination covered in sweat as they might on a bike in warm weather. Those users- who might well increase into the millions over the next few years- are prepared to take the increased risk of injury compared to a car, because it is their only practical and affordable method of personal transportation. Many of them might not particularly like taking the risks involved, but will probably feel that they dont have have much choice (like the example of the nurse I mentioned above, who felt safer riding home on a scooter after a late shift than she did using the bus - the nurse who used a scooter with a maximum speed of 12 mph, and was fined £1000 and given 6 penalty points for trying to get home safely). Or perhaps the scooter riders will accept the risks because they'd rather travel in the open air than on an overcrowded bus or tube, because our public transport system is very poor quality. Who knows. But if commuters are willing to ride to work at 15mph on an e-scooter for economic reasons, or for personal freedom of transport, is it right to stop them doing that? Those 3 deaths and 900 injuries arose from an estimated 1 million scooter journeys taken every month in 2021- thats 12 million scooter journeys over the year. And that's only the legal journeys taken on hire scooters, it doesnt include the many hundreds of thousands of illegal scooter journeys. And only 3 deaths. So maybe it's not that bad? Or maybe we should just continue to prolong this interesting discussion about how many injured scooter riders can stand on the head of a pin, and let the planet continue to die for another 5 years before we make any changes?

My dear Mr Monkey, fear not. A mere dab of grecian 2000 will turn my luscious grey locks to deep black, and I shall strut the city centre streets without fear of the pensioner roundups. This new sport could be rather dangerous for many of our own esteemed members, but that's a risk I have to take.

I just think that for too long we've let them all stay at home, deciding whether to freeze or to starve. We can solve the misery of pensioner indecision at a stroke, whilst providing entertainment for our inner city shoppers on their way to the local food bank. Surely its a win-win.

I've been inspired by recent discussions to invent the sport of pensioner bowling. This involves setting up nine pensioners at the end of a shopping mall (the 'pins'), and the competitors drive directly at the 'pins' on an illegal e-scooter at full speed. The winner is the one who knocks over the most pensioners in a single run. Extra points for any handbags nicked on the way past. Some people may think this a cruel sport, but I think its about time Britain's pensioners stepped up to the plate and started contributing to sport and culture in our jaded society.

Not bad. Not bad at all. But when you need to get a wriggle on to get to the local Tesco, I'd be looking at one of these (go to 2mins 55s for the real action) Note- no pensioners were harmed in the making of this film

If you've got a £1500 budget, some people would go for a brompton, and many people find them ok to use on towpaths. I tried one for a while, but I found the ride very harsh on those 16 inch wheels with bullet hard tyres. So I went for a folder with 20 inch wheels and 1.6 inch wide tyres, and the increase in comfort was well worth the extra bulk when folded. As you know the towpaths are very variable, and in the very muddy conditions common in Winter, even a fat tyred mountain bike with suspension can struggle to make progress safely, but so far the 20 inch folder has coped pretty well in mostly dry conditions. There will always be the odd time you'll want to get off and walk it through the muddy patches, and the reality is that on the bumpy or rutted sections of towpath, its going to be a rougher ride than it would be on a bike with suspension- especially where the ground is hard and dry. One thing that might help on the rougher paths is a suspension seat post, like this: (cheaper ones are available) https://www.amazon.co.uk/SR-Suntour-SP12-Suspension-Seat/dp/B00HVCTNM6/ref=asc_df_B00HVCTNM6/?tag=googshopuk-21&linkCode=df0&hvadid=439878987542&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=7844313183519873090&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9046494&hvtargid=pla-971031528927&psc=1&tag=&ref=&adgrpid=103141979518&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvadid=439878987542&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=7844313183519873090&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9046494&hvtargid=pla-971031528927

I could argue on the same logic that motorbikes should be banned, because riding one carries a higher risk than cars of suffering an injury. And that cars should be fitted with 20mph speed limiters in towns, which would massively reduce the injury burden on the NHS. We can't just ban all risky activities because the NHS has been underfunded for the last decade and is struggling to cope. So why single out scooters? How is that fair? Surely fairness matters to you? On the issue of scooter users committing crimes: police numbers on the streets have been cut back significantly over the last decade, such that there is a common perception that they are struggling to manage street crime. Given that we have limited police numbers, is the solution to that problem simply to ban an entire class of vehicle that we think young criminals might possibly use occasionally? What would that really achieve? Surely the real answer is more police on the streets, so that we dont only protect pensioners from an imaginary threat, but we actually protect all citizens from 100% real and active threats? I dont see how thugs will suddenly turn antisocial just because they have scooters? These people are already out there now, causing problems on the streets for everyone- whether on bikes or on foot. Surely the real answer is to tackle them, and dont just ban the scooters that they might possibly be tempted to use when committing crimes, and thereby spoil things for millions of other users. The day is going to come within a decade or two that non-essential cars will not be allowed anywhere near city centres, because of pollution and climate damage. In 30 years ICE cars may be banned altogether for private use. Even electric cars may come under scrutiny, as long as we need to burn fossil fuels to generate their electricity. Smaller, lighter vehicles requiring less energy are the future of transport for the great majority of us. It makes sense to start that transition sooner rather than later.

Firstly, my apologies for comparing your reasoning process to that of a miserable prison warden- that was uncalled for. But I should add a note on the hire scheme usage- there are currently 57 towns running scooter hire schemes, so there is now an awful lot of experience in a lot of different places. Clearly we are not going to change our minds about these vehicles, so you're right that there's no point in further discussion about it. I think the time to judge the outcome will be a year after legalisation, when we will have some meaningful stats about the accident/injury rates. As a heads up, I don't see my mind being changed by a Daily Mail report on the day after legalisation, telling of a pensioner being mugged in Manchester by two chavs on scooters. We will need real data, not scare stories.

So far not a single OAP has been killed by an escooter. Not one- despite millions of scooter journeys now having been taken in the last few years. In 2021 there were 3 scooter fatalities, compared to 1400 resulting from other road vehicles. And there were under 1000 scooter injuries, compared to around 120,000 from other vehicles. From what I can see, the evidence simply does not exist to support your scaremongering. I think the problem is that when making your predictions about the outcome of legalising scooters, you are not filtering out the facts and evidence from the media scare stories, which are designed to keep you fearful and angry, and which arise only from a fear and loathing of chavs - and I'm no fan of chavs myself by the way. As for souped-up scooters, well the truth is they are a problem already- those young thugs dont care about the law or regulations, either now or in the future. Also, dealing with them is a law enforcement issue, surely? Think of it this way - do we stop people using cars because some criminals use cars to commit crimes? Hundreds, possibly thousands of drug dealers and robbers up and down the land use cars to help commit their crimes every single day. Not to mention the hundreds of speeding car drivers who are openly reckless on the roads, and a huge danger to themselves and others. Should we stop people having the benefit of private transport simply because some criminals use them for bad purposes? Or because a minority of lunatics drive dangerously? Why then should we apply that logic to scooter users? There are thousands of people who previously used their scooters to commute to work and stay off of crowded buses during the first lockdown, helping to keep our shops open and our key services running. Should a woman on a low wage be denied the right to travel home from her shift safely at midnight, rather than walk between bus stops, and take her chance with drunks on public transport? Who are you to deny these people the freedom of the personal transport they prefer, because a few dozen chavs will run wild on scooters? The lives of our youth and our citizens are already miserable enough after the last few years, and they are set get even worse over the next decade. Will you take away their right to have some fun, to get out and about socially, or to commute to work and arrive clean and fresh? And thats not even mentioning the benefits to the climate. One one hand you have the risk of a dozen pensioners being bundled over by thugs on scooters in Hull, and on the other you have a huge climate benefit, and the freedom given by affordable personal transport for millions of people. How can you even begin to think there is any kind of equivalence between these issues? Let alone come down on the side of banning scooters? That is the mentality of a miserable prison warden, not a citizen of a supposedly free country.

I disagree that the police have done nothing about illegal escooters. In 2020 and 2021 thousands of riders on scooters (many of which were identical in power and speed to the legal scooters were stopped and fined hundreds of pounds, and given 6 license points. Escooters were largely wiped from the central London streets for a short while, although the job of the police is not made easier by there now being legal hire scooters around. I'm not sure where you derive your statement that the NHS are opposed to escooters. Could you explain that in some more detail please? To be honest it seems a pretty grand claim, and I'm not aware that the national managing body of the NHS has a policy view regarding personal transport. Are you saying the NHS is actively lobbying the government to prevent legalisation of scooters? It does seem to be true that escooter riders are more vulnerable, and in a collision they seem to be injured more often than motorists or bikers, but I havent seen any evidence that scooter riders cause disproportionate numbers of injuries to other road users or to pedestrians - unlike car drivers involved in collisions. Ultimately, the government seem to have taken the view that if people want to take the chance of riding a scooter on the public road, whether to commute, or for recreation, then they will be allowed to do so. Perhaps the huge carbon emission benefits have helped to persuade them, who knows? Saving the planet is something that we should take seriously enough that it's worth making some compromises, even if it involves things that annoy us, like gangs of youths on scooters occasionally breaking rules that they would probably have broken on ebikes anyway.

I didnt bother to be honest- a couple of the visiting boaters invited me over there one afternoon but I was already set to visit my brother