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Jambo

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  1. Everyone can see what you wrote, I was simply highlighting the bit that I found most odd - why even suggest that in the context of the rest of the post? I just don't get this weird desire that Something Must Be Done about the situation in London when the inevitable upshot of that Something is driving young people out of their homes and off the water so that some people who occasionally visit have a slightly easier time finding a mooring.
  2. Why campaign to get other waterways users removed? It's so vindictive!
  3. The Tesco at Yiewsley is the first place we would stop but there have been some break ins over the past year by that Tesco. In both cases that I heard of the boats weren't in view of the security cameras they have there. The mosquitos are terrible at this time of year in a few spots between The Coy Carp and the Aquadrome at Rickmansworth. Other than that it's lovely.
  4. Yes I think it is general towpath at Croxley. The canal in Rickmansworth isn't all that far from the station but the biting insects near the Aquadrome are pretty hellish in summer. We had to invest in a mosquito net when we were there. Mobile reception was terrible but there is a good cafe with decent internet in the Aquadrome.
  5. There are undesirables around many of the VMs in London too! Like any big city, there's inequality and therefore crime but you'd have to be quite unlucky to encounter it. There are stretches where we don't moor (e.g. Yiewsley to Willowtree Marina, Alperton to Scrubs Lane, south of Mile End to Limehouse, the east end of Limehouse Cut to Old Ford Lock and a fair bit of the stretch north from Springfield Park to Enfield) but otherwise we find it's fine, or at least we've thankfully never had problems. Trouble does flare up and comes in waves periodically, especially around the school holidays, and it's worth keeping an eye on the London Boaters Facebook group if you do come to town so you can get a feel for what's happening.
  6. Does it need to be a VM? There are plenty of great stretches of towpath away from the VMs.
  7. Well some do move in the week but not many compared with the weekend and there are doubtless a few overstayers but it'll be about that. People don't in general cruise particularly far so it may not seem like many people but the vast majority are definitely moving.
  8. People never used to moor on Limehouse cut but now there are often boats from the basin to the Lidl (or is it Aldi?). It can be a little sketchy down there but it's a lot better now that there are boats moored there. People tend to moor to the chain attachment points which is perhaps not ideal but they're pretty sturdy and as long as you're not blocking the ladders it's OK. North up the Regents from Limehouse is a bit too dodgy for most until you get to Mile End station. You occasionally get the odd boat along that stretch but we won't moor there until many more boats are around. Yeah but otherwise it's lovely. Especially at this time of the year. We're there at the moment Friends who we're moored with had a little owl perched in the tree next to them a couple of nights ago. Not bad for zone 4 on the underground!
  9. Most people are at work on a weekday so it's unsurprising you didn't come across many moving boats. Probably somewhere between 15% and 20% of all boats in London move on any given Saturday or Sunday.
  10. As mentioned above, Kensal is where it starts to get busy but we've been at Paddigton Basin and LV the last two weeks and there were spaces at both the whole time. Be prepared to double moor and to moor away from VMs and if possible it's worth shifting your cruising to weekends when most boaters in London move as that way you'll find a spot before too long in most places (except between LV and Islington). If you can't bear being in the throng then the canals are well connected to the tube and train network in the west and the train network up the Lea.
  11. Unless the 5 miles thing is to keep close to stations, I'd be inclined to say go at a slower pace if you're cruising over a short range or you're going to keep popping up in the same spots fairly frequently, but I'd definitely communicate with them. In my experience they're reasonable people and it's much better to speak to them and explain the situation rather than leave it to their imagination. The alternative is you suddenly get a notice at the end of your license period saying you haven't moved enough and you're put on a restricted license next year. Sounds like a crappy situation and it's a useful reminder that calls for a 200 to 300 mile CCing range are bonkers and should be firmly rebuffed. It's an impossible target for virtually everyone who isn't in the very fortunate position of being retired, independently wealthy or having an extremely flexible job.
  12. I always thought a magnetic mounting system would be good. These countersunk neodymium magnets would do the trick: http://www.first4magnets.com/countersunk-magnets-c41?gclid=CjwKEAjwr_rIBRDJzq-Z-LC_2HgSJADoL57HgbEm6YLHT2Fiy_c33nRGoPj2Ag-FRgrBrtk_Pdm78BoC2yPw_wcB# Although it would probably look like the panel wasn't attached so might encourage chancers to try their luck. There is value in making something look like it can't be moved to avoid that happening.
  13. It's lovely from Homerton Road bridge all the way up to Springfield Park as you're on Hackney / Leyton / Walthamstow marshes and there's usually a spot free somewhere along that stretch. North of Springfield Park has been dodgy at night in the last couple of months due to muggings, especially around Markfield Park. It's kind of grim from there until Enfield anyway so I'd suggest staying at the marshes if you can.
  14. I would say that for many young people that assumption is immaterial as they can't afford to own a flat, let alone a house, and renting is sucking up an increasingly large chunk of their (reducing) income. But they might have enough squirrelled away to be able to afford to buy a boat. You can pick up a basic narrowboat for the equivalent of about 1 to 2 year's rent in London. Given the choice between throwing yet more money away to some BtL landlord for the foreseeable future and having a boat to call your own, it's understandable why things have got quite busy down here.
  15. Wiring in series leads to shading issues though. I guess there might be a benefit to the higher voltage from series wiring in winter if you have a clear view of the sun but you're getting so little in winter anyway does it make a significant difference?
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