magnetman

Scumbags. I thought that was a bit rude. Slightly odd to see it on a news webshite.

I reckon it would be quite a good idea to fit a good quality night vision CCTV camera in an engine room with wet exhausts, linked to a dedicated LCD screen near the helm. One of my boats which is a twin screw seagoing motor cruiser has keel cooling for both engines but even on that I think if I did venture out anywhere in open water I would put a camera in the engine room just so I could keep an eye on the engine status and the situation in the area generally.

I've noticed having been up and down the River all summer that a lot of the lock keepers seem to be ok with narrow boats using centre and stern lines. Worth being aware that the byelaws -require- bow and stern lines and also that you must follow the instructions of the keeper if reasonable. So there is zero validity in getting into a conflict with the keeper about which lines to use. I've done the length of the Thames up and down single handed in my 55ft narrow boat, 71.5ft narrow boat and 58ftx12ft barge never had any problems. Bow and stern lines aevery time. Going up I would tie off the bow line and control the boat with the stern line and periodically secure stern line then go and tighten bow line. The bollards differ. Lightermans hitch for the ones with no pins or just a locking hitch for the ones with pins. I always manage boat from the lockside and refuse all offers of assistance as it's easier like that. Quite a lot of activity but it seems to work ok for me. Lately I am boating on a 32ft craft so ropes easier to deal with but if you do it right a long narrow boat is not going to be a problem.

Coincidentally I bought my first narrow boat from Pyrford in 1993. The bloke selling it said "take things slowly". Such good advice that was. I still do take things slowly and tend to enter locks in neutral and just glide in. Much less trouble like that. The short bit of the river Wey will help you get used to the boat. It'll be fine, just take it slow around locks and never be in a rush to do anything. ETA the River is nice and slow at the moment. I would suggest 3 days not two for Shepperton to Reading.

Using arable land to grow fuel crops seems a bit dodgy. Nothing new but if it takes off properly I wonder if the Trump wall is going to be big enough.

Most of the fittings are loosened so you just remove it, fill your builders bucket, place other bucket under tap, decant first buckey into water tank with funnel, repeat &c then when finished put the fitting back on. Hoses are not the way ahead here. Using a bucket allows one to engage in a physical level (15kilograns each time) with the water which one is so incredibly dependant on.

It's definitely dodgy there. A couple of years ago I was going up and down the Thames in a little 20ft Colvic with open stern cockpit. I stopped at the Tesco moorings to grab some rations. Must have been off the boat for about ten or 15 minutes. I had things like boathooks and oars and a couple of fishing rods from previous owner (I don't fish) on the back by the seating. When I got back to the boat after this short time it was obvious someone had rifled through the items to see if there was anything worth nicking. I don't bother stopping there any more. There is a Waitrose in Caversham for light rations and a Tesco attached to a petrol station so I just stop up there on the park if I need anything. Of course the big Tesco is handy for petrol but I possess no petrol powered devices on the boat now so not needed. Not surprised about agro at the Tesco moorings as it is basically just a slum shanty town.

On demand self inflating and deflating side airbag fenders seem more achievable and would be more effective than thrusters and use less power. A full length linear balloon unit with air pumps linked to the distance sensors could prove to be quite effective. Build it into a channel around the edge of the side decks so it would be out of the way when not inflated. It would need to be made of a durable material and able to be pumped to a very high pressure very quickly.

Calculus? Maybe he will be able to find the answer with his pendulum.

Yes and what I was referring to was that the pound below Stockers lock will go low without the windows in the paddles because there is no other feed of water into that pound when the lock is not being used. And Springwell lock is deeper therefore uses more water. Above stockers lock the towpath is raised and extra reinforcement for flood protection this means that water does not overflow the gates and for obvious reasons there can not be a bywash there so we have to have another way to get the water through the lock, continuously and in a controlled manner. If you look into Stockers lock when empty or below the lock when full you can see the water emerging from the windows. Sorry to derail the thread !

Closing all gates is a great way to hide lack of maintenance. Locks should be maintained properly. Leave gates open = problems directly related to basic maintenance. People will start complaining about dry pounds. Maybe if people complain something gets done? Close the gates = less problems but there is still a lack of maintenance. Nobody complains then the whole thing falls apart. Asking people to close gates after use was a BW scam to attempt to cover up the fact they were reducing the maintenance and also a way to get some conflict going with users who conveniently don't notice the maintenance issues because they are too busy having a go at each other. Anyone who can't deal with arranging for their boat to go through the lock if the gates at the other end are left open needs to consider another activity ! There is a river section above stockers lock yes but the level of the waterway in normal conditions is quite low compared with a normal canal section and there is no bywash. Springwell is a deeper lock therefore uses more water. There would be a net loss of water in the pound below Stockers without a feed of some sort. So you cut windows in one top and one bottom paddle and provide a constant unchanging flow of water through Stockers lock in any conditions when lock is not in use. Gates open or closed either end same feed as long as the window is not blocked with debris. It will clean itself when the paddle is operated. A nice simple arrangement no drama no fuss and very easy to implement. Springwell is in effect river fed because of the windows. There is a sluice on the towpath side half way between the locks to deal with high level problems.

Some of the GU locks also have windows in the paddles. Or at least they used to when the paddles were made of wood. 8 inch square hole in the board. Stockers lock has windows because Springwell is a deeper lock and there would be a net loss of water if nothing was moving through the lock. A lock that definitely should have windows is the top of Sarah's 2 in Watford. That short pound used to be terrible for going low. Windows would sort it out. Not been on the cut there for years now so it may have been sorted out or perhaps a paddle clipped slightly open. I'm pretty sure Aynho Weir lock has windows and quite big ones at that.

According to the advert it previously had a GRP cabin which seems sensible. Well spotted about the hook !

Nice hull shame about the cabin. I wonder if that hook on the front is original or someone added it as it looked good. Seems improbable it is original as it would tend to get caught on things.

Well of course the geysers who set up Beta Marine were formerly with Lister so it's possible they badged some Lister engines before going to Kubota. Not sure actually but it's quite an intriguing description.

£30k seems a lot but it is a very nice boat. Toyota land cruiser engine is rather infra dig I wonder if there is a way to describe it slightly more traditionally. I really thought it had a ford cargo engine in it. Maybe that was a more traditional description than a land cruiser engine. I reckon it has been repowered in the last 25 years. It really moved well with the 6 pot ford engine which was almost certainly less powerful than the jap unit.

I've been up and down the Thames a lot lately and all sorts of people don't seem to understand which side to go. I actually think it would be worth fitting car indicators to the boat. Not that awkward to install and just to show what you are doing. Saves quite a lot of agro with waving arms around, making noises by horn or voice etc. Just put the indicator on and go in the direction indicated. It could be seen as "dumbing down" but it might well work. You'd only need forward facing flashing orange lamps and they could be mounted at the back of the boat near the hatches as long as they were visible from an approaching craft.

That's where it is ! I was actually moored opposite it just other side of the shovel pub bridge at Cowley when it was towed away. I suppose it's one way of retaining and allowing people to see what is rather a nice bit of work. Could have been a lot worse !

Angle grinder with a coarse flap disc on it.

Nice boat. Ford 6 in there I think it was (did not check advert) I will always remember this boat blasting through decent ice in Cookham lock cut where I moored for the winter would have been 1995 or 1996. Owned by Nick at the time he was cutting the ice for his parents Dutch barge Spes. And doing a good job. Large prop on that boat. Not sure what it would be like on the ditches but on the River it was wonderful. The other one was Tyburn. Used to be at Uxbridge not sure where it is now. Another nice narrow tug.

Richmond obviously didn't as the only way they were able to get rid of the persistent problems above Teddington lock was to apply for and be given a byelaw specifically to control the moorings. It took a few years but they did get it done and the boats cleared off. Hounslow has now an identical byelaw for the same purposes. Maybe upriver of Staines is different due to the land owner also owning the river bed which is not the case downstream of the London stone.

I don't believe that RBWM have any legislation to back up their claim that they can control moorings. And I think they probably know this. The old "ultra vires" story again. There's a lot of it about. I also don't think Henley have any legal backup but as they made £33k from the moorings at mill and marsh meadows in one year I would expect them to suggest that they do have the powers required Private land owners it is a different story. Note the word private. Not local authority. Different legal entity.

DE have mentioned that they will not pursue anyone for mooring charges if red boards are up at the locks. The whole business model of DE requires people to not abide by the terms and conditions stated. They can not survive without people "breaking the rules" Or is the truth of the matter that they are taking a cut from mooring fees or perhaps being paid an operating fee of some sort. It's too dodgy. Needs to go really. Ok so it opened up some moorings but it is still too dodgy.

There was a funny situation at Reading where a boat owner put up a notice to the effect that anyone attaching any form of notice or ticket to the boat agrees to pay the boat owner £100 per day. Quite funny in a way but again if it is reading council rather than Tesco who own the river bank there then do they have legislation to control moorings? I'm just taking up the late Nigel Moore's position on this. He was regularly going on about ultra vires and it's an interesting topic. A shame when the DE sharks turn up but I suppose it's one approach. I think it is the wrong approach and will fail.

I think they probably can award the contracts as long as the claims made by the contractor are scrutinized for accuracy. ETA as for council owned land unless they (council) have legislation that specifically deals with the mooring of boats to their land then it seems possible they are acting ultra vires. Councils can only act within their existing powers. Richmond found this out and ended up applying for and getting a new byelaw specifically to deal with a mooring problem. Hounslow also. It's intriguing. Henley is quite well to do and not likely to end up to slummy but there is quite a lot of discontent about boats moored on the park and not moving. I guess most people will pay and get on with it, fair enough but slightly intriguing about whether DE can actually do anything. As a profit making business they will have to do that. I suppose they also take a cut of the mooring fees if they are also managing the payments.