Ruth Seneviratne

Have only just seen this thread. It appears that everyone else has given you all the advice I would have done Nick. The only hassle with the Ashton locks is the anti vandal and the number of broken paddles which slows down progress. Seems you enjoyed your trip through Manchester. It is very interesting and would recommend it. It's not the scary, to be avoided at all costs route that it once was. We may pass you on Cheshire locks today as we are heading to middlewich.

It is indeed being dewatered next week. Didn't go on winter stoppages but there is a stoppage on it as we had an email alert. Look on stoppages for Peak Forest canal. Our long term mooring is there and we've have to move the boat for the winter. For future reference I'm sure it'd be a lovely place for Christmas though

Dean have just read all this. We are moored in Piccadilly basin. If you need a hand coming up the locks just shout.

We bought an ex hire from Oxfordshire narrow boats. They fit out new shells and then sell them when they are 3-5 years old. It suited us as we wanted lots if bunks as we use it for our business but they build them with the intention of selling them. This means everything is screwed in place so easily remove able.

I know the boat, they followed us down Marple last Thursday. We were talking to the kids, it is their uncles boat. I imagine the stoppage on the Rochdale 9 has held them up. The kids will be due in school no doubt so I guess that is why they are night cruising.

No I didn't assume it was the same as CRT waterways but from speaking to other boaters and seeing other boats around I thought it would be longer than 24 hours. Thanks for the link, I hadn't managed to find that document so very useful. The inspector was friendly and fine about us staying a few days.

We have just seen an inspector checking licenses and length of stay in Castlefield Basin. He said it is 24 hour moorings here which was news to us. There is no signage saying this and no information on Peel Holdings website. We asked if we could stay til Saturday and he said that was ok so maybe it's flexible if you ask. We've actually been here since last Saturday and its the first time we've seen an inspector so I don't think they come round every day.

It is a problem I think that not enough younger people are getting involved. Me and my husband are in our 30's and definitely feel like there is no one else our age around. The reception that some younger hirers get, particularly rowdier single sex groups doesn't really help encourage people. We came down the Rochdale 9 on sat afternoon with a load of friends. At lock 92 right outside Duke's 2 of my friends were told off by the bouncers for messing with the lock gates. They had to put him straight that they were setting the lock for a boat. I think the bouncer was probably not used to seeing younger people coming through. Made us laugh though and he was apologetic to them once he realised. Dean I've seen that family before and think the kids are very competent.

We'll see you later then Dean. We're heading through the Rochdale 9 this afternoon. Look out for Wandering Duck.

Can't believe Matty beat us to it. Well we've seen 2 at Fairfield Junction. Reported them. About to start the locks now so will look out around asda.

Well we are heading down the Ashton canal tomorrow and we had already found out about this app. We'll have everyone on trolley spotting duty. Trolleywise expect a few photos from East Manchester tomorrow.

Sorry just leanin how to quote on a phone. But with reference to the above, we painted our engine bay this year whilst in dry dock and water started seeping into the bilge. This did confuse me as we weren't even in the water but I just left it as one of those odd things about a boat. Maybe I need to look into it. The whole time we have had the boat there has been a little water in the engine bilge. The pump can only get rid of so much. Some of it will be rain water as there are gaps in the deckboards. Does anyone have any idea where water could have come from while we were in dry dock?

A car tyre was definitely the worst, on the Lower Peak Forest. Nothing cuts those things. Eventually pushed it off, but then didn't dare let go, and couldn't pull it up through the weedhatch. Ended with husband going in the cut to get it. He got all the credit in the resulting photos! Also had a carpet at the top of Ashton flight earlier this year. Now everytime I go in, I will never forget that body story above!

Great, I'll go for the 30A 150V Tracer MPPT Regulator instead. I'll wire them in series. Each panel has 3 bypass diodes, presumably meaning that the both panels will still give some output if part of one panel is in the shade? Feel like I'm having a good physics lesson today. Incidently, I came across these: idiot-proof guide to bypass diodes and idiot-proof guide to series or parallel

Thanks Chris. The VOC is 44.9V I actually bought a 40A regulator on the basis that I could add another panel. However the max input solar input on the regulator is 100V, so at 2x 44.9V i'm right on the max voltage. I may be better to change this for the 30A regulator, which actually has a max solar input of 150V (both Tracer) according to the data. It's not like I need the extra 10A by the looks of things, so 150V max input may be more suitable. Thanks for the reassurance. Appreciate I won't get close to these max amp figures, but should be more than enough in summer, and offer a little help in winter. Thanks for the reassurance.

We're looking at a similar setup to you GoodGurl. We have 2x 190w Eoplly Monocrystalline Panels for £115 each. We're also buying a Tracer 40A MPPT regulator which we've bought on ebay from Domitronic for £165. We'll fit the brackets to adjustable tilt mounting brackets, possibly mounted on 2" battons to increase the tilt available. I'm curious to know what sort of amps you're getting. The panels seemed very good value for money, but I have 2 concerns - see the datasheet: 1- The panels are designed for on-grid and 24v systems. We have a bank of 4x 12v 110Ah leisure batteries. I've read that these panels are suitable for 12v systems with the correct regulator. The regulator specifies max pv input 100v, and compatible with max 500w at 12v. This makes me think that the panels ARE suitable. Can anyone confirm? 2- The optimum operating current Imp (A) is only 5.15 according to the datasheet which is about equal to other 100w panels. I would have assumed in my naivety that we would get almost twice as much power from a 190w panels compared to a 100w panel, so I'm confused by these figures. Will the MPPT regulator ensure that we get a decent amount of amps from these panels, or should we have stuck to smaller panels in the first place. Goodgurl, what sort of power are you getting from your 3x 190w panels? I hope we can clear this up whilst we still have the opportunity to swap the panels over!! Thanks

The pound was like that last week. We came down on Tuesday, caught up with a boat in front of us at lock 91 and 2 boats behind us also caught up. Luckily, the number of people coming down filled the pound up enough to get us all through. Then on Wednesday we arrived in Castlefield to come back up again, but ended up staying the night there waiting for the pound to fill up. Got through on Thursday morning with another boat. The bottom gates are leaking badly which is why the lock isn't full. It seems like CRT need to sort it, quickly.

We were one of the boats that came down, the first one. I had no idea you were waiting and the CRT guys told me to shut the gates. I ran back to tell them, but they seemed set on just filling the lock for the boats coming down. Made no sense to me and a shame they didn't help you guys up. They were very helpful to us coming down the last 2 locks. Maybe it was lunchtime?

Yes some of you are correct. Leaky bottom gates and top gates left open means drained pounds. He was actually putting the anti vandel locks back on. I was writing it on here not to name and shame but so that anyone that comes across him can help him out. He has just bought the boat so is new to it all. By the time we realised that's what he was doing, he was past us.

We are currently stuck on the Ashton canal because a single hander has been leaving gates open and paddles up. He has drained 2 pounds. He is heading up marple locks and onto the Macc down to Nottingham. His boat is called Minnow. Just a warning to everyone else. I don't fancy overnighting in clayton and hoping we can still get down today.

This sounds like a good group. We set up running tours on the canal last year and our aim is to try and attract younger customers than who are currently targeted by traditional narrowboat holidays. We run 2 & 3 night tours on the Peak Forest, Macc and Ashton canals. We would love to be involved with this group so if you'd like to get in touch, then email me ruth at wanderingduck.co.uk (I hope we're not too old at 30 & 35) Ruth and Mark Wandering Duck

Alan thanks for linking to your blog. Your experience of the Ashton matches ours, and I think definitely the bad reputation of the locals is old news now. A lot of the worst people have been moved away apparently. In your comment about the Nicholsons guide still advising caution on the flight, I wouldn't read too much into that. I have the latest Nicholsons for the Manchester area, replacing an old one from the nineties, and found that not much had been changed apart from the new waterways being opened. In my view, each edition does not seem to be researched very well. Anyway, that is not relevant to this topic. It's interesting that everyone says the problem is too much water rather than lack of, although I do remember seeing water cascade over the lock gates, but it hadn't clicked that it would cause a problem. I assumed there wouldn't be much of a problem with anti social behaviour as it is not a rough part of the city. In fact, for anyone else heading that way, there is no need to have a long day doing to Rochdale 9 and the Ashton flight. Piccadilly basin a the end of the Ashton is a lovely place to moor up, close to the city's Northern Quarter so full of bars and restaurants. The area is surrounded by CCTV from the car parks around there, and it is well lit at night. A lovely place to moor for a day or 2. (That's not to say that Castlefield isn't also a nice area, although I have never moored there, I am from Manchester so know it well).

Thanks everyone for your quick responses. We are thinking of making it a regular trip, so just trying to work out if that's feasible. Seems like I don't need anymore of a contingency plan than for any other locks. Will check it out ourselves in March hopefully. Ruth

Hi everyone. Wondering if there's anyone who has been through the Rochdale 9 recently (as in 2012), or more specifically, anyone who makes the journey regularly. I know they have a bit of a reputation, and wasn't sure whether this is because 1. Lack of water 2. Crap paddle gear 3. Gates that are difficult to open/close 4. General rubbish blocking paddles and gates 5. Antisocial behaviour (although I know the area of the city well, and know the specific problems around lock 84). If anyone can shine any light on this I would be grateful. Ruth