Roger & Margaret

As far as I am aware there is a local rule which says that all boats must have a mooring, not that it stops a few (hard up?) people from trying it.

Red Line narrowboats on the Mon & Brec at Goytre Wharf have a few. Have seen people enjoying themselves..and no locks or lift bridges to wrooy about.

Thanks for the replies...Will have to try changing it in 2 stages. Starting wednesday!

I have a thornycroft 60D engine in my boat dating from 1990 with a PRM gearbox. It seems that the drive plate has gone again after two years. Is there any way to find out the replacement part number without taking it apart first

Been looking for five years or so, the technical parts are very useful to a boat owner but I have no desire to get involved in most of the arguments as many of them are a bit childish/grumpy old menish.

Should I feel sad that people moor quite regularly at the local water point for the night despite the notice saying mooring for water only. The most frequent offenders are the boat owners rather than the hire boaters. It seems to me that it sets a very bad example to the hire boaters who are the most frequent users of this stretch of the canal.

Bought a battery powered (2 x "D") water pump the other day from amazon for 13 quid. Works fine at a bout a gallon a minute. Would that do ?

The hire boat companies on the Mon & Brec were compensated when the canal was recently closed for 18 months, but other businesses were not. Some of the pubs claimed that one third of their business came from the canal and sveral now have had a change of landlord. Even the local shops suffered. Does this set a precedent ?

Looks as if the rest of the hull is OK with minor pitting on the bottom maybe one more place where it is bad but not yet confirmed as the bottom has not been fully cleaned off yet

The anodes were still in place, but well used. No shore connections on the boat. The boat was moored on the main line, but in a different location to its usual spot, due to the Mon & Brec breach. On the survey, the report guarantees nothing as they only check at specific points along the hull, 8 "stations" with 8 points down the sides and bottom. makes you wonder if an ultrasound survey is worth it!

I have a Springer style narrowboat built around 1990, bought 2006 after an ultrasound and 5mm. survey said the hull was between 4.1 and 5mm. Three years later, the bottom plate rusted through near an edge weld, and a piece popped into the boat about 10cm long and up to 3cm wide. Luckily i was looking for a small leak at the time (as there was occasional puddles of water in the bilges) and managed to put some Waterweld into the hole. The boat is now on dry land awaiting a bottom job. Query for the experts, why did it happen?

Surely British waterways should only charge sufficient to cover the cost of providing the moorings, after all the Banks have been penalised recently for charging more than the cost of providing an overdraft! Can we complain to the EC about unfair treatment.

I am a bit puzzled... a trial usually implies that there are a set of conditions to check on the success or otherwise of the trial...anybody know what the conditions are ? why should the boaters pay for the maintenance of the canals...surely it is for all users..walkers, cyclists, canoeists, fishermen to support the costs ? can anyone think of a fair way of allocating mooring space ?