magnetman

AGM are nice. I was recommended BMW stop-start car batteries as they are AGM. They won't be made by BMW but they will select good ones I think . Victron also do very good AGM batteries.

It is interesting that Fogstar write 'recommended charge voltage 14.4v' on their website. I know this is while charging and that they should not be at this voltage for float charge but does the average consumer (the nan on the Clapham omnibus' grand son (or daughter)) understand this in reality? As far as they are concerned float is what a Boat does. TECHNICAL SPECIFICATION Nominal Capacity 280Ah Nominal Voltage 12V Recommended Charge Voltage 14.4V Max Cont. Discharge 250A IP67 Rated Dimensions L(380mm) x W (190mm) x H (245mm) Weight 26Kg This is on the customer facing 'make your mind up time' part of the website. These are being marketed as suitable for existing chargers with an output voltage of 14.4v. That way they sell more batteries and they have a 10 year warranty. Is the customer obliged to read the manual before purchase?

It would be a bit odd if a letter sent to licence holders saying that the canal was going to be rebuilt never became a public document on a canal forum. Of course if it was written as a forward looking statement then it is a different story as those who received it may feel cheated and unwilling to publish. It seems quite high up for concrete troughs.

I was thinking of using the cabin shaft.

That is rude. Could you not fend them off or go later?

Queenborough seemed cool. Never been there on water but it seemed to be a generally pretty wicked place. Then there is Stangate creek (is this a misspelling?) i think the whole tide and times thing might be a bit of a nuisance.

Gallions point marina is gone now. No entry other than through the ship lock just upstream for large commercials. The marina and its lock was closed down by Rodma a few years ago. Bit of a nasty kicking out job. Royal Docks Management. They want to do something desirable with the site but maybe they did not notice it is just off the end of a runway and rather noisy plus the Beckton shit farm. The marina was alright but its all just wasteland now with security patrols.

I have just had a slow cruise on my heavy saloon launch up to Slow Grove islands in the Cliveden reach above Maidenhead. Tranquility ? A lot of it. Bloody geese are a nuisance but such is life. Maybe 'the boss' is Bruce Springsteen.

I think it was the wife who objected to the arduous conditions related to the rag and stick, salty water and harbour bar situation. A sticky wicket. I was like 'Is "the Boss" a term written in a humorous thesaurus ?'

Exactly. This is probably a general indicator of decline. I am not a betting man but if I was I would wager that the canal will never be open to through traffic. There could be some work for drainage and perhaps a path but reinstating the canal in the current economic climate seems very unlikely. It would be lovely if it did happen but over time priorities do change and everyone knows that Peel is a company who seek to make profit from land they own. That is what they do and they will continue to do this. For people who are local and use it it is terrible but zoom out and it becomes a minor irrelevant problem. Someone else on here @DandV I think it was earlier pointed out that this circumstance is an indicator. I think this is probably a correct diagnosis.

If they are a business engaged in maximising profit (I understand the owner is rather a rich geyser) why would they do something which is outside of normal business practices? Why?

I don't know the area but it appears the only reason the company was interested was to make a lot of money with the Trafford centre. They are a profit making enterprise. A canal is not a 'big deal' its just a piece of land someone once modified for the carriage of goods. I really can't see why they (Peel) would release funds to reinstate the canal. Its not a negative view its more of a logical view.

It has been rather nice. Still breezy. Must not grumble. I think it will get a little busy this weekend.

That will go on a trailer. The best man for the job is a gentleman called Tony Anderson. He tows Boats all over the place and is always recommended. https://www.tonytugboats.com/ Less than 9ft wide and shorter than 30ft as far as I know is the limit for a trailer. Obviously a weight limit as well but it doesn't seem to be a heavy article. Nice Boat ! Get the mast taken off at the marina. Of course people who transport on trailers do not necessarily want to put them in water so the lifting gets expensive. Maybe not economical to be fair. Yes the statutory depth in the fairway above Oxford is 3ft. It is pretty close to this at the bottom end of some lock cuts where the weir streams create a bar but 0.8m isn't likely to be a problem.

Unless you come by road you will as discussed need to do a coastal trip. I am not a sailor so I do not know but I would think the best way would be to the Thames. The River will be more rewarding and interesting than the K&A canal.

Maybe Sustrans is onto them about fixing the cycle path. Of course they (Sustrans) have no interest in the canal itself. Presumably reopening the path would need some 'repair' work.

Being even more cynical I wonder if the letter being sent to licence holders is a revenue protection measure. If a letter was sent saying 'Sorry but there will be no through navigation in future' a result could be people not bothering to renew their licences. Not sure how it works on the Bridgewater but it does seem to have coincided with the beginning of the boating season. If the licence starts in January then a lot of people probably haven't got around to it yet. So if one were to put out a more positive tone in the letter then one could potentially capture more licence revenue. Too cynical?

The letter might be a forward looking statement like 'We intend to commence repairs of the breach on 01/06/25 and the work is estimated to take 14 months'. The second word in these kind of statements is often the only word which has any relevance.

I thought you wrote 'untitled' for a moment. That would be terrible. I am a Count.

Yes. when my children were little they liked the swings in the playground. I always inspected the hardware first and one day came across a basic screwed chain link on one of the chains exactly the same as the one in the photo. It had opened up. Probably a stupid adult but unlikely to be more than a 70kg load as it was only one side. Looking more closely it was drilled so there was meant to be a roll pin in there to stop it coming undone. Its the gradual undoing which is the problem. The other three had the pins but for some reason this one did not. I also once found a stainless chain on a swing which someone had cut through half of with a bolt cropper. The mark is unmistakable unless Jaws out of James Bond had been there. That was a bit sinister given that young children were routinely using the swing.

It was very popular with the americans when we were there. Even in mid winter they would hire now and then. Things changed with the 11/9 incidents but I expect they came back afterwards. I suppose it is the pointy silty aqueduct which draws people. Quite an interesting castle in the sky. I can't believe it is 25 years ago. I remember it like it was only a few weeks ago. Trauma I suppose.

@cheesegas I think.

Go past the Welsh branch (Llangollen is correctly called the Welsh branch of the Shropshire Union) towards Ellesmere port it might be quiet.

We did the Llangollen in winter of 1999/2000. Not been up there since but I do recall the bywashes above locks being interesting. A bit of a sideways pull. Worth being aware of. Not like the Cherwell or the Kennet in flood which can really pin the Boat but these bywashes are potentially a bit awkward.

We always had geese when I was under eleven as mother kept them on our estate. She used to kill them by getting the neck on the ground, put a piece of scaffold pole across, stand on each end then pull the legs really hard. Fun times. White goose is better than canada goose. I found a 177 pellet well placed was easier !