dixi188
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Posts posted by dixi188
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Why did they moor using the centre rope? I would have thought that as soon as the boat was near the bank under the bridge, the bow line would have been best.
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As a slight aside to this thread, I inadvertantly left my Shurflo Trailking 10 pump turned on with the water tank valve closed when I left the boat earlier this year. When I returned about 6 weeks later the pump was still running, and has been fine ever since. So these pumps are OK running dry for long periods.
Dixi.
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I've never had a problem with rats or mice on my boat but have wondered if those cone things on ropes that ships used to use would be a good idea.
Dixi.
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Bournemouth hospital needs a "Where's the Exit". I get lost trying to find the way out.
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If the bridges are not locked when down, then it is easy to leave them open and just carry on as we do now.
The problem is when someone on the path/track wants to cross. There is no way they can close the bridge.
I can see a situation where I open the bridge and leave it for the following boat to close but they leave it open as that is how they found it.
Dixi.
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There is an american saying "If it ain't broke, don't fix it".
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The
QuoteThe statement says, "The work will enhance the longevity of the structure by providing more controlled opening and closing, while also preserving their special heritage interest."
Some questions,
1. How much does a wooden lift bridge cost to replace? I would have thought £20,000 should do it, with a two or three blokes and a pile of timber.
2. If the bridges are to be left closed, how does this preserve the special heritage interest, since they are nornally left open?
3. Are they going to put large landings either side of the bridges to take account of the much increased foot traffic on the tow path with boaters getting off and on to operate the bridges?
4 How are we going to leave the bridge open for the boat behind? I imagine the bridges will have to be left in the closed position after passage.
My thoughts.
Dixi.
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I nearly crashed whilst thinking why the sign was there!🙂
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On 06/09/2023 at 14:57, Machpoint005 said:
It's a great shame that bin colours and contents were not standardised across the whole country. They're not even standard across the various local authorities in Greater Manchester.
Once upon a time we had a thing called "British Standards". What happened to that?
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15 minutes ago, Midnight said:
Luxury!!
When I wer a lad we moored on a dead cow jumped 300ft over sunken tupperware boats and had to fill the lock with sawdust cos there wern't no water.No! One should not moor on the lock landing for lunch.
How about afternoon tea?🙂
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Used to see "Rosie and Jims" on lots of boats. Don't often see them now.
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Most marinas are only 3 to 4 foot deep.
My boat is in Fenny marina on the Oxford canal summit. A boat sank a few years ago and and only the top of the roof was visible. I guess the water is about 7 foot deep. If there was a breech the mooring lines would have to be slackened pretty quickly to avoid problems, though I suppose the level would only drop 3 feet as the Oxford is quite shallow.
Dixi.
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I have a problem with my throttle as it won't stay put at the sweet spot just above idle, so going past moored boatd is a bit of a pain at the moment.
I have either 800 rpm or 1200 rpm. (Barrus Shire)
It's a Morse control, is there a friction adjuster inside that I can adjust?
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Different locks have different water flows.
With the narrow locks on the Oxford canal, and a lot of other narrow ones, when going up, I like to be against the top gate, so half a paddle for a few seconds to let the boat go back and then forward before lifting both paddles fully works for me. If some helpful person lifts a paddle fully the boat will go back a long way and then crash forward into the gate regardless of how much reverse power is used.
On the Grand Union, the big locks like Hatton and Stockton, I like to be at the back of the lock to one side and lift the paddle on the same side as the boat so that the water flows across the lock forward of the bow and then back to push the boat against the side of the lock. Once stable the other paddle can be raised. (Much easier if two boats are in the lock).
Going down, just lift both paddles straight away.
I like people helping, especially when I'm single handed, but I like them to take a lead from me.
My boat is 57ft.
Thats my tuppence,
Dixi.
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Went through Claydon Locks yesterday. There is a notice about saving water and the last line said to follow the THRIFT code.
I've been boating for over 20 years and had my own boat for 10 and I've never heard of this before. Is it new or just a CaRT secret.
This is from the CaRT website:-
THRIFT
- Two in a lock? Share locks
- Help keep it in. Make sure gates and paddles are shut
- Report any leaks to us
- Invite oncoming boats through. Don’t empty or fill locks if someone else can make use of the water
- Find another favourite. Explore less busy parts of our network
- Think ahead. Plan cruises to minimise use of locks
The THRIFT code is now in place across our entire network
I used to work in aviation and we had a few Mnenomics to remember procedures but this one doesn't work for me.
Dixi.
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My view of consultants is that they make the process as complicated as possible and gold plate any projects that go ahead because they are on a percentage of the final cost.
Look at HS2.
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2 hours ago, Tacet said:
Agreed. Those privatised water companies are renowned for spending shareholders cash on upgrading the infrastructure, for no good reason.
And what's the point of resilient water supplies anyway?
Sorry, you missed my point.
The consultants will spend millions to work out that the canal system is not suitable for moving large quantities of water and we need a pipeline.
It's a waste of money and kicks the can down the road.
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The whole point of this is for Mott MacDonald and other CONsultants to make a lot of money while doing nothing of any use for the country.
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The Mill lift bridge at Heyford on the Oxford canal used to be virtually impossible single handed when it was manual, but now it is powered it is operated from the towpath side so easy.
Why not improve the L&L swing bridge while it is being replaced? And why not one push button to open and one to close like the power operated ones on the K&A?
Did they give the design to the apprentice or just someone who knows nothing about boat operation?
Dixi.
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Managed to get some of the rubber off with a knife and then got the bead wire above the water to cut it with a battery powered angle grinder. I cut my hand on the wires and the nice man from Clifton Cruisers finished getting the tyre off the prop. No charge, so we gave him a bottle of wine.
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3 hours ago, Hudds Lad said:
Perhaps they picked up something fun on the prop in a bridge hole and are now a bit paranoid, i did do this under a few bridges on the way to and from Coventry basin last week. Was nobody about to impede though.
You would have been OK going to Coventry last week as I went there the week before and collected all the rubbish on my prop. 5 times down the weed hatch, mostly plastic bags. We did get a tyre on the prop by Clifton Cruisers though. Nice man lent us an angle grinder to cut through the wires.
Such fun!
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I got shouted at late one evening on the South Oxford when slowly passing some boats by the light of the moon. I was told I wasn't allowed to run my engine after 8pm.
My engine is very quiet on tick over, I'm sometimes asked if I'm electric.
I've also had glares if I'm on the move at 6am.
Some people aren't happy unless they are moaning.
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I accept that a lot of the drainage infrastructure in the UK is old, but, why isn't there a rolling program of replacement that splits rainwater from sewage so that heavy rain does not overwhelm the sewage works. Alternatively, why aren't sewage works expanded to cope with the excess? I know, cost.
There are a lot of new houses being built around here but I don't see the sewage works getting bigger. In Wimborne there is a new estate that seems to have slusge tankers taking sewage away on a regular basis, so I assume the sewage system cannot cope.
At my last house we had a septic tank that had a lot of rainwater going into it as some lazy builder didn't dig a soakaway. We had a lot of problems as the field below our garden would flood with smelly effluent bubbling up through the ground. I solved the problem by digging around the house to divert all the rainwater from the gutters into new waste pipes that led to a garden pond. The pond would overflow when there was a lot of rain but no more smelly stuff.
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Not sure what Michael Elphick and motorbikes has to do with this?
Cromford canal - navigation open Ripley
in General Boating
Posted · Edited by dixi188
I think tomorrow is February 1st. not April 1st.
Perhaps there is some water in the ditch given the recent rain.