haggis

You would think so, wouldn't you but it is not easy to get your voice heard when SC are masters of operating divide and rule and have taken away the twice yearly opportunities where canal users could ask questions and try to get answers from senior management. However, all is not lost and meetings are being arranged with the Scottish parliament and boaters who care about our canals have plans to improve the situation. haggis

You may laugh but Scottish Canals who look after the canals in Scotland for the Scottish people, have been writing to owners of boats which they think are scruffy telling them to get them tidied up. Can you see this approach being tolerated in Englandshire? Such things as a faded canopy, an unpolished gel coat and faded paintwork have all been subject to the letter. These letters and Scottish Canals policy of no consultation before writing to boaters telling them how much their licence and mooring fees have increased is causing a lot of unrest up here. Apparently SC engaged consultants who compared mooring and licence fees in places down south (like London) and that is what SC based their figures on, and , No, they won't let us see the consultants report. SC appear to be more interested in property devopement than in maintaining the canals and they seem to see boaters as a nuisance to them. Come back, BW Scotland, all is forgiven! haggis

I agree that in their position, a lasoo of the cleat would have been the way to go but she was obviously trying to get off which is where I felt sympathetic, knowing just how painful that can be. That was probably not their first attempt at coming along side as presumably they had gone in to let the camera crew etc off before they were asked to reverse and do it all again. haggis That has puzzled us too as it looks as if the end of the rope is near him and he could just have flicked it off the bollard. No need for Pru to apologise there, we thought haggis

I think we are talking a wee bit at odds here :-) yes, if we are coming in to moor, I would use the rope to lasoo a bollard and do as you suggest but if I am getting off the boat to walk dogs or work a lock then tying the boat up at the bows would mean that the skipper has to come to the front to untie it again after I get off :-) . Also, I tend to get off at bridge holes to walk dogs and there aren't bollards there. OK, I know that you should get off at the back and not the front but with a trad stern and 3 dogs, I think it is safer to get off at the front. Now that we have a boat with lower bows, life is so much easier for me! haggis

I enjoyed the program but then I would, wouldn't I? when it was based on my home canals. I felt for Pru when she asked Tim to bring the boat closer at the pontoon (which looked like one of the ones used while you wait for bridge operation). Not being in the first flush of youth and suffering from painful joints if I put pressure on them, I hesitate to step off the boat unless I am fairly confident that I will make it before the boat starts moving out again. Jumping is just not on as I know there will be pain on impact. Fortunately, Iain is very good at bringing the boat in really close and almost stopping but I know it must be aggravating for him when it looks as if all that is needed is a longer step for me to get to dry land. As I said, I felt for Pru at that point! I have mastered lassooing bollards with the rope if we are coming in to moor but if I want to get off (at locks or to walk the dogs) lassooing a bollard is not much use :-) haggis

I'm looking forward to next week when they are in Scotland. I love this program. haggis

WE shared Copperkins for over 20 years (we recently bought our own boat) and we self managed for about the last 10 years. If you wish to ask any questions, send me a PM. I am away at a dog show all weekend so if you don't get a reply, don't worry! I'll be home Sunday night. haggis

Karen, what about chatting to ReUnion about your idea? What you are planning is exactly what they do and rather than set up in competition, why not combine your resources and work together? I know that ReUnion have to put a lot of effort into fund raising to enable them to continue to provide the training etc for their volunteers and I don't know if the area where you plan to operate will provide enough business for two organisations. haggis

It couldn't be part of a childs toy, could it ? :-) haggis

Emerald Fox, The situation at Middlewich developed as follows :- We (going up) approached an empty lock out of which a boat had just emerged When I walked up I saw a boat in the next pound waiting to come down. When we started opening top paddles, another boat emerged from the next lock up, having turned the lock after their friend (who was waiting to go into "our" lock when we emerged), had left it. This put 2 boats in the pound waiting to come down. As we worked the lock , I glanced round the corner and saw the lock being turned and a boat waiting to go in. I went up and suggested that they might like to wait till we came up in the lock as the pound was getting a bit congested. "No, he (who has boated before) told us to turn the lock as we are all travelling together". When our boat was ready to come out of the lock, the boat which had turned the next lock was about to emerge . This put 4 boats in a very short pound which has a 90% bend in it. I did say to the person who seemed to be directing the 3 hire boats that his advice had caused a bit of a traffic jam but he said that as they were travelling together, they had to come down the locks. In casual conversation, I discovered that all 3 boats were mooring up in Middlewich for the evening so they didn't have much further to go. To be fair, a broken paddle did contribute to the situation but a bit of common sense would have prevented it. It was fun though :-) haggis

I did try to suggest to them that the 3rd boat should perhaps wait above the lock but the guy who had boated before "knew what he was doing" and the others did what he said. I thought the best way to let him see that his advice wasn't perhaps the best was to let the situation develop :-). haggis

The pound on the bend between two of the locks can be interesting! last time we were there we ended up with 4 boats jockeying for position there. We were going up but the boats coming down wouldn't wait and insisted on locking all 3 boats down because "they were travelling together" . Diamond something boats, I recall. A guy on one of the boats had been boating before so he was directing all three on what to do - like all come down the top lock even though there was nowhere for them to go. It was like playing draughts with boats :-) haggis

This made me smile! When locking we try to do it as efficiently as possible, not rushing, just being efficient, and we have often overtaken boats on Heartbreak hill . I think the last one was when the boat puled in after every lock to let the lock labourer back on then pulled in before the next one, all of 100 yards away, to let them back off again. At every lock! If all the locks were paired, that would be no problem but when you get behind someone doing this on single locks, it slows everyone down. We are never mob handed, just two of us. haggis

This to me is CWDF at its best. What a lot I have learned because a tunnel sprang a leak! Thanks you folks, Haggis

A lot of progress today. Thanks for posting the photos, haggis

Mind you, negotiating a hire fleet moored several abreast is nothing compared with the problems of negotiating past an IWA National Festival. That used to be an absolute nightmare. The last one at Burton on Trent was particularly bad with boats moored on both sides and passing places where the number of boats on one side was reduced to create a slightly wider channel. haggis

I suppose we should be glad that there are so many hire boats cluttering up the areas round the hire bases as without them paying much higher licence fees than us, we, the private boaters might have to pay more. During the main hiring periods, there will probably only be congestion on change over day but just now with no boats out, they have to put them somewhere. haggis, feeling in a mellow mood :-)

We were moored round the corner form the Registraars office taking on water when a photographer asked if he could use our boat as a back drop for the wedding photos. We were delighted to agree. haggis

Sorry, for some reason I thought they were moored opposite their basin. There seems to be more AW boats behind the 4 in front so they will be right across both water points. Selfish mooring and a bit of I'm all right Jack. haggis