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MartinC

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Posts posted by MartinC

  1. Not a direct reply to your question but a reflection on shore meters.

    Some years ago our meter maid appeared to be giving wrong readings. It was on a shared post  and  shared pontoon. The other boat was a liveaboard of one of the marina staff and we discovered that guess who was switching over supply cables.

    • Horror 2
  2. 13 hours ago, MartynG said:

     

    It sounds like you need  a different insurer next time.

    Most narrowboat insurance comes via intermediaries who make a lot of their income from charging fees.  Craftinsure charge a clearly stated £10 for amendments. Insure4boats charge "up to £45".

    Policy wordings vary and it is also a good idea to find out the identity and reputation of the actual insurer.

  3. 5 hours ago, Athy said:

    That's sad to see. When we moored in that area (late '90s/ early 2000s) it was a proper lock-keeper's house which housed a proper lock-keeper who took a pride in maintaining the lock and who, I think, won an award for the most attractive lockside in the region. 

    He took a pride in the whole flight. Great sense of humour and, after retirement he was awarded an OBE or MBE (can't remember which) for services to the waterways

    • Greenie 1
  4. 37 minutes ago, Jen-in-Wellies said:

    The STD code for telephones in Thetford UK is 01842. 😀

    Quite right but then Thetford are not in Thetford. 0844 are non geographic numbers normally subject to high call charges

  5. 16 hours ago, john6767 said:

    Was at the rugby this morning, free shuttle bus from Coventry station to the stadium, no more than 15 mins, will stick with that.

     

     

     

     

    The stadium has it's own rail station but, in view of the limited size of the station, trains do not stop there from one hour before matches to one hour after!

  6. 22 hours ago, Alan de Enfield said:

     

    Are you suggesting that 'engine powered' ships don't have problems ?

     

     

    No, but at least they have a better chance than relying on sails. Off topic, but one of the last two quoted was run aground by the pilot after listing due to poor cargo loading. The Bank was a "safe haven" to prevent a capsize in a very narrow and busy shipping lane

  7. On 14/07/2022 at 23:38, howardang said:

    I wonder if the two Frenchman actually understand the issues in developing an efficient vessel, and the scale and complexities involved in the modern international container trade? Even ignoring the many errors in the long article, their concept is totally unrealistic in so many ways, and even the idea of wind assistance is something which will be extremely difficult to achieve considering the size of modern container vessels, coupled  with the size of crews required.

    I

     

     

    The Bramble Bank turn off Cowes might prove a good place to show how impractical sail driven container ships are?

  8. 1 hour ago, Alan de Enfield said:

     

    The point is that DEFA (as of August 2020 article) say they have not issued any derogations, but you are suggesting they have.

     

    Both sides of the coin ! March 2022 DEFRA statement:

     

    "After careful consideration of all the issues, the government has decided to grant an application for emergency authorisation to allow use of a product containing the neonicotinoid thiamethoxam for the treatment of sugar beet seed in 2021. This is in recognition of the potential danger posed to the 2021 crop from beet yellows virus.

    During 2021, however, sugar beet seeds were not treated with thiamethoxam. The government attached various conditions to the emergency authorisation. The final decision was dependent on the results of a forecast of virus levels in the 2021 sugar beet crop. This forecast, produced on 1 March, predicted that 8.37 % of the national sugar beet area would be affected by virus yellows by the end of August 2021. This figure was substantially reduced as a consequence of the low winter temperatures. As a result it was below the 9% threshold set for use of the thiamethoxam product."

    • Greenie 2
  9. 3 hours ago, The Happy Nomad said:

    She may have taken early retirement from the NHS, depending which scheme she was on she could have done so at 50. Then moved to the private sector, where her earnings wouldnt impact on her NHS pension. She is 54.

     

     

    Not clear from the newspaper report that she ever worked in the NHS. "trained in 2004 and worked in a private nursing home for 14 years "

  10. Visited just pre-Covid. Total confusion about the upstream visitor mooring. It appeared from the sign that it was bookable. Duly booked and exchanged emails. On arrival it was occupied and the duty warden said that it was not bookable.

  11. 1 hour ago, Pie Eater said:

    After nearly 23 years we sold the boat on Thursday 24th March and as a matter of courtesy and to save paperwork emailed the Bridgewater Canal Company, CRT, RCR and Towergate Mardon informing them of the sale and stating that I would not be renewing licences, breakdown cover and insurance when they ran out.

     

    Yesterday I received a letter from Towergate Mardon as follows:-

     

    We confirm that the policy has now been cancelled with effect from 24/03/2022 and we are now advising that there is a total charge amount due of £17.29, in which includes a £25.00 cancellation fee.

     

    So much for politeness and giving advance notice, perhaps I shouldn't have told them and just let it run out.

     

    I am not one for reading all the many pages of the Terms and Conditions and small print and wondered if anyone else had been caught out like this.

    Serves as a warning that NB insurance is just as much about policy wording as premium, bearing in mind that, in their Key Features document, there is no mention of this charge.

    However, just to help, I suggest that you refer them to Section 82 of the Marine Insurance Act 1906 (which is still in force!) and ask them for a refund in accordance with the Act. That should ruffle  a few feathers.

    • Greenie 1
  12. 22 hours ago, Philip said:

     

    Thanks for this.

     

    I emailed the CRT in the link above and they very kindly provided the document for figures released over 2002-04 which also included 2000 and 2001 figures. I'll try and share the link if I can find the URL as it's currently a pdf document. 

     

    Things were generally busier 20 years ago, with a notable increase in 2002 and 2003; some locks on the southern Shropshire Union, Trent and Mersey and the Llangollen canals seeing roughly 1000 more boats back then compared with 2019, although it looks to be the other way round with the Oxford Canal locks.

    Foot & Mouth took out a lot of 2001?

  13. On 12/03/2022 at 11:37, aristorias said:

     

     

    I believe Pat Buckle and another firm was at one time involved in building the hulls which were then fitted out by Eastern Caravans as some of their skills were transferable to boats.

     

    Thanks again for the comments.

    Our first boat in 2000 was a Floating Homes shell fitted out by Eastern Caravans & Narrowboats. In those days they had only just moved into narrowboats, and we discovered on delivery that they had forgotten to fit a bilge pump.

  14. 19 minutes ago, pete.i said:

     

    And what the hell has Amazon and Visa cards got to do with this thread????????????????????????

    Because the OP thinks that a  card default might have caused a policy to lapse??

    Off topic now, but I think there may be some confusion between Visa Debit and Visa Credit cards. Amazon accepted my updated Visa Debit card yesterday

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