Skeg

As Sir Barry Whitelock of Bingley 5 Rise often said to me “It’s all in the preparation” and the preparation for that paint job is terrible and amateurish. OK, you didn’t want a shiny boat but I am guessing you didn’t want an orange peel finish either. I doubt they will give you any kind of guarantee, the rust will probably be coming through this winter. Did you ask them if they had heard of masking tape?

I am fairly tolerant and I understand that sometimes people need to run their engines after 8pm. The only time my tolerance was tested was on the K&A when the boat in front ran his engine for a third time after 8pm, around 10:45 actually when it was to enable them to watch TV. I was furious and marched up to their boat and banged on the roof. The engine went off immediately and a bloke came out and apologised. I was ready for a fight as I was so mad but was pleased it didn’t come to that. They moored near us in different places the next two nights but there was no repeat of the behaviour.

Mooring apart from at recognised places can be difficult as the canal is often very shallow at the sides. We have happily moored near Portland Basin, Stalybridge, Uppermill, both ends of the tunnel, Slaithewaite and Aspley Wharf. Getting in to the side at locks can be difficult depending on your draft and we often gently nose up to the lock gates to drop off crew. I have been stuck in the middle of a pound before and my partner had to let down water to float me off. Our draft was 24 inches. My wife once walked from Marsden to Huddersfield because I couldn’t pick her up.

It’s very highly specified. At that price I would snap it up. Forget about diesel being phased out, the move to alternative methods of propulsion will take some time. That last sentence seems a bit strange.

Just be aware that some places, London is one, are banning wood burners. A multi fuel stove that can burn cleanly may be the best option.

Mmm, back to the photos. I don’t know if what we are seeing is representative of the whole portfolio but it’s not terribly inspiring.

Mick Sivewright worked with Midway on their boats. His Owl class narrowboat are very similar, the biggest difference is that the bows of the Owls were much less pointed. There are a couple of Owls on Apollo Duck including. 40ft boat which is very unusual for Mick. Just checked it’s a 27ft Owl that’s been stretched.

Is Martin Bashir the interviewer by any chance?

Might be sensible to have the battery/batteries kept charged by a solar panel.

Thorne hmmm, OK you’re from Hull it might be an improvement.

Thanks Alan, that’s what I was trying to get across, I should have been more direct. It’s going to be difficult to do a lot of cruising in the boat, but it should be fine for weekends. I would buy a portable starter machine a charge it at home to take to the boat when it’s being used so it can be started when the main battery is dead.

It sounds like you would be better off being based in the Midlands where there are fewer rivers to worry about, more boatyards and marinas, more pubs, more petrol stations and more cruising opportunities. We moved from Dewsbury to Kings Bromley to get just that and it was well worth it. At 23ft it would be cheaper and easier and safer to move the boat by road.

What engine is in the boat and how is it cooled? Maybe the best idea is to do some local trips to test out the engine before attempting to go too far. We had a 30ft Mick Sivewright boat with a two cylinder 11hp engine that we moored at Dewsbury on the Calder and Hebble Navigation. We went to Leeds and up to Hebden Bridge quite regularly and it was no problem when the rivers were not in flood. When they were in flood we stayed put. It was noticeable that longer boats with more powerful engines could go faster than us.

You tie a rope to your boat, take the rope with you when you open the bridge, pull the boat though with rope when the bridge is open, keep hold of that rope, close the bridge and move to the towpath side and pull the boat in so you can board. We once went from Rodley to Leeds with a guy who had a prosthetic leg from the knee downwards. He insisted on doing his share of the bridges and locks in the way I just described. Oh and the locks are fairly easy in my opinion until you get to the ones that have Jack Cloughs for the ground paddles, they can be absolute b*goers to move.

If it’s the one on Apollo Duck it looks OK but why does it have a survey that is one week old? Did the survey throw up something To scare off a potential buyer.