colinwilks

Good point, perhaps I should have written "well over".

We took the GU pair Nuneaton and Brighton from Stenson to Derwent Mouth a few years ago without major incident. Just the usual stuff behind the gates. I am pretty sure a straight edge along the sides of each boat would measure over 6'10" wide. Both are a full 71'6" long. If your enquiry is practical rather than theoretical I would enquire at Mercia Marina to find the widest one they've got in there. A pair of breasted boats still has a bit of "wiggle", which a widebeam does not, and we always singled out coming out of the locks, so I'm not sure about the comments about the tails being tight.

JP, the playing fields are still there, but there's a load of new housing to the east of the M6 bridge. So, no natural disaster caused the junction's move, just arguments and rivalry. Thanks all.

Thanks for the date JP. Does anyone know why the junction was moved? Diving into the undergrowth today I was certain I could see where the old line went, about 15ft above the houses a few yards away to the south. I cannot see why the junction would be moved without some major catastrophe having occurred, which must have been recorded? I realise I'm a sad old git, but I'd like to know what happened!

Very sad to hear this news. Seems only yesterday I was chatting to him at Braunston. A friend to the Narrow Boat Trust and everybody who cares about our waterways heritage.

Walking towards Coventry from Hawkesbury Junction today I came across the info about Longford Junction, where the Oxford Canal joined the Coventry originally. I assume the Oxford suffered a serious breach and relocating the junction to Hawkesbury was the obvious solution. The beautiful bridge at Hawkesbury Junction is dated 1837, but is this when the junction was moved? Anyone know?

The boat opposite us at The Lime Kilns on the Ashby has just turned his engine off on the dot of 9.00pm. Either he has misinterpreted the "0800 to 2000" rule or he has missed the fact that the hour went back a week ago.

I fitted one of these at home, but I think it could suit your application as it acts as a normal door latch (i.e. keeps the door closed but unlocked), but can be locked and unlocked from inside by turning the lever, or from outside by the key. https://www.yale.co.uk/en/yale/couk/products/mechanical/nightlatches/81---rollerbolt-nightlatch-/

Even more intrigued about where Ray got his photo. The eBay link only showed me these two, on which I struggle to see anything Sally Army like. I see now what I took as a bungalow was in fact the corner of a commercial building. Going off at a tangent, Joe and Rose Skinner's boat Friendship is quoted by Joe as being built by "Sephton's at Hawkesbury Stop" in the audio at Ellesmere Port. Until I heard that I had always assumed that "Hawkesbury Junction" was how people generally referred to the junction and "Sutton's Stop" was how the working boat people referred to it. Mr Sutton being the official who dished out the jobs and the "stop" being the stop lock. "Sutton's Junction", anyone?

Interesting to see how different the junction was back then. The bungalow on the left would have had an excellent view of everybody going round. I am intrigued how you know the boats are Aster and Salvo?

Oh well, there's always Amazon. Nice to look before you buy though, but I'd recommend Ben Selfe. His cabin strings will be almost up to Andrew H's standards!

If you'll be in Audlem, I am pretty sure Audlem Mill, just up from the Shroppie Fly stocks Ben Selfe's book "Knots for the Cut".

I think you're probably right. I do remember a lockie at Lemonroyd a few years ago, but I think this is usually a straightforward key and button job now. I remember a very large gravel barge going the other way, so maybe that was it. As far as I know the gravel traffic has now sadly ceased after Lafarge took over Tarmac (or vice versa).

We had a professional (very nice chap with an impressive beard) in 2016 and a volunteer in 2017, so you may well be right. As far as the "and it shows" bit is concerned, yes it does, but the volockies at Watford do a pretty thankless job balancing queues top and bottom of the locks and trying to keep everyone sweet, so perhaps we should cut them some slack.

There is now a mix of professionals and volunteers at Foxton and Watford Locks.

Thames, River Wey, River Trent, Aire & Calder.

Absolutely. The point I was making is it's a dangerous situation because rather than sending the waiting boat off down the cut, which I think most people would expect, opening the paddles with your boat in a restricted lock tail will suck your boat back onto the bottom gates very forcefully. It's only when the lock has emptied that it tends to drift off, which is embarrassing if there's noone aboard!

Just a word of warning for those who might have their boat waiting in the lock tail of a downhill single lock when the paddles are opened, your boat will start moving backwards and accelerate quite alarmingly until stopped by the gates. I'd hate for some good Samaritan giving a tow to a broken down boater to come a cropper. Another example of why standing outside the hatch, and so in the arc of the tiller arm, is not a good idea.

Quite a selection here and the prices are unexpectedly cheap. https://www.midlandchandlers.co.uk/store/category/midland chandlers/cabin and deck/deck hull fittings/deck fillers and sockets.aspx

We have an old washer/dryer which runs quite happily from our Sterling 3kW inverter (the big yellow one) provided the engine is running. We inherited the set up from the previous owner, who did away with the travel power installation as it destroyed the fanbelt pulleys. Engine was a Beta 50 with a Sterling charge controller and a 440 amp hour battery bank. Although I have subsequently changed the engine and upgraded the battery bank, the same charge controller and inverter have now been operating the washer dryer for over twenty years. Obviously our set up is doing what you are hoping, which is to share the combined output of the two alternators across both battery banks, but if your question is theoretical rather than based on the fact your washer won't work off your inverter, I'd try it first before rejigging all your charging set up. I don't know what the power requirement is of our washer dryer, but I bet it's a lot more than a modern machine's. Sterling do various split charge devices if you want to pursue the idea of paralleling the alternators. I have found their tech department very helpful - 01905 771771 over the years. And no, I don't have any connection with them - just a satisfied customer.

This is really sad news. I always felt I had to call him "Mr Maggs" out of respect. It was such a pleasure to watch Trevor handling the Corona, never any fuss or show - the boat just going exactly where he intended. He was a real inspiration to this amateur.

Usually on plastic plumbing fittings there are inserts that go into the ends of the pipes to support these against the compression of fittings or jubilee clips. The fact that the original fittings failed might just be down to these having been left out. These are the gizmos I'm talking about: https://www.screwfix.com/p/jg-speedfit-sts22p-superseal-inserts-22mm-5-pack/92312

Hear, hear! Jason, you and Paola have my good wishes, but I would urge you to consider the idea that the boat you are on is not as important as the places it takes you to, and the experiences you have along the way.

That stacks up with a conversation I had last summer with a colleague who is in the CBOA. He stated that overplating (aka "doubling") was outlawed by the Port of London Authority (and presumably Associated British Ports) some time ago. However, I am fairly sure it depends which waterway you're on, and whether the licence is private or commercial, so I'm not sure that in the context of the inland waterways "many" boats are about to become uninsurable, but knowing how insurers love to avoid liability I would notify my insurer if I was contemplating overplating.

I suspect you're right David and the significant ratio is between the original displacements (16/20 = 80%). Until the big one's flat on there's no ready reckoner about inches per tonne, so I should have ignored the 18 tonnes of cargo. Much easier just to ring Brinklow and ask!