haggis

How odd. No donations yet. It is SUCH a worthy cause which if it is successful will no doubt be followed by another begging bowl for money to pay to maintain the boat. haggis

Ah, sorry. Misunderstood. I can actually use my phone inside the boat to make calls without an ariel and I was just trying to say (not very successfully) that phones are a bit better now and don't need an ariel where a few years ago, you always did. I am enjoying your Blog, thanks, Haggis

We use a MiFi which gives wireless internet to our phones and Ipads but in all honesty, I am very seldom stuck for an internet connection just using my smart phone (a Sony Xperia). I am with EE (as is the Mifi) and we have no arial, external or internal. We just hang the MiFi on a curtain rail sometimes to improve the service. It is years since I have had to go outside the boat to get a signal. I was with O2 for a short time but the coverage (phone and internet) was so appalling that I switched back to EE. haggis Ps I think Iains phone is an even older model than yours and I am trying to move him into this century :-)

Do they? I haven't heard of that but we have not moored in many marinas. haggis

That looks like it Ray. I have been puzzling over the one Brian posted but I don't think it would come undone the way the one on our life belt does. Iain thinks it is a chain hitch so Howard wins the prize :-) haggis

Quite possibly! It looks like a chain :-) I must ask him Haggis

Our life belt is on the roof just in front of the slide when we are boating and it is fixed to a small loop on the roof with a long bit of string/rope. Iain has "doctored" the rope in such a way that when lying on the roof it is just a few feet long but when thrown the rope uncoils. I don't know what type of "knot" he used but it means that the life belt is always ready to be deployed but the rope doesn't lie around getting tangled in things on the roof. Looks neat too. haggis

A boat shouldn't smell damp just because it has been closed up for a month. You seem to have seen a lot of negatives with this boat so I would suggest looking at a few more to get a feel for what boats in your price range can be like haggis

Before the Lowland canals were reopened, the water was very clear and there was a lot of weed growth on the bottom of the canal, probably caused by the sunlight being able to get through. The canals were dredged and it took a few years of boat movements before the water got stirred up sufficiently to stop sun getting to the plants. During that period, visits to the weed hatch were very frequent :-) haggis

When does it rock from side to side? if it is as people move about inside the boat, there may still be water in the bilge and it is moving from side to side and increasing the slight sideways movement as people move. Just a thought haggis

Oh dear. What a slap in the face for those who have been helpful either by visiting your boat or by giving advice on here. I certainly got the impression that you needed help but perhaps not. Enjoy your boating. haggis

Ah, but the car driver will have insurance haggis

I think in life we all have to make our own decisions having weighed up the pros and cons. It looks to me (and I may well be wrong) that a lot of boaters make the decision to live on a boat and declare themselves as continuously cruising when they know that is not going to happen because they have to stay in one location because of employment or childrens schooling. By deciding to adopt a lifestyle which they know to be not in accordance with the boat licence conditions to me they are placing themselves outwith the "rules" and I honestly can't see why C&RT or anyone else should make special concessions for them. If they have children they must know that as parents it is their legal responsibility to make arrangements for the children to be educated and they should arrange their life accordingly. If they don't arrange for their children to be educated or if they do not keep in line with the CC guidelines they have only themselves to blame if the Education authority or C&RT take them to task. I will obviously be shot down in flames for having such antiquated views that people should be more responsible for their own destiny but there you are. Haggis

This thread has reminded me of the last time we boated in that area. To celebrate 10 years since the Forth and Clyde canal was reopened many boats congregated in Speirs Wharf and there was much celebrating and eating and drinking :-). A few of the wee steam boats and a replica puffer (the Wee Spark) were going though Speakers lock and down into Port Dundas for a photo shoot and there was just room in the lock for Gamebird so we went down too. It was good to cruise around a new area of canal . When we were coming back up through Speakers lock the pumps failed and we were all stuck in the bottom of the lock. However, there was much merriement and exchange of cups of coffee until British Waterways Scotland sent us down a bottle of whisky to share while we waited for big pumps to arrive to fill the lock. I think those watching from the top of the lock were quite jealous :-). It was a super occasion and the lock failure helped to make it more memorable than it might have been. Ah, memories! haggis

Or better still, contact Scottish Canals who manage the waterway. https://www.scottishcanals.co.uk/ To get to Speirs wharf which is to all intents and purposes the end of that bit of canal as the next lock is never used, I understand, a bascule bridge has to be opened by SC staff. I gather that they are sometimes reluctant to do this as they would just have to reopen it the next morning to let the boat back through. There is supposed to be a Living on Water site there (this is where SC put up huts and charge boaters extortionate rents to moor there long term) but I don't think it got much support. Parking there is a nightmare as the spaces are allocated to the residents of the flats. It is a handy mooring for walking to Glasgow city centre but a lot of boats moor before the bascule bridge which is outside the SC office which is not much further to walk. Sorry, don't know what facilties are there as I haven't been there for years. As I said, Scottish canals should be able to answer all your questions. haggis

Or is may be because whoever stole the boat was a reader of this forum and learned where searches were being carried out, what the identifying features were etc on here. IF that was the case (I seem to remember there were suspicions on that front) I can understand why the Police may have told the couple not to say anything on here. Also, if that was the case I think I might understand the couples reluctance to say anything anyway. Just a thought. I must admit to feeling a bit uneasy about some folks views that we are owed an explanation. While it would be nice to know what happened, especially if like us you have a boat moored in that area, we may have to accept that one is not forthcoming. At least not yet. haggis

Not so sure about that!. There are a lot of boaters who do not engage in internet discussions about the price of diesel or what coal to use and that is fine. No one says they have to or even should. As far as I can gather, they were unaware of this forum until their boat was stolen and they were pointed in our direction and it was great to see how helpful everyone was and the efforts that many on here put into helping trace the boat. I think that Graham and Chris only contributed to the thread about their boat and even there, it was others who kept us updated. I don't think Chris and Graham are "forum people" and seldom, if ever read this forum. yes, there are folks out there who don't :-) . I am sure that when they are allowed to say anything they will come on here and tell us more but I very much doubt if they will take part in other aspects of the forum. haggis

It was pre CRT so was BW Scotland. I am not sure but I think you can still operate the Crinan locks your self. We found it amusing as one of the reasons for not letting boaters do the Forth and Clyde locks was becauswe they were big and boaters couldn't manage them :-) . the ones on the Crinan are much bigger with heavier gates and yes, I managed them haggis

Well worth a trip, Nick. It is not like any other canal you may encounter. I think the air draft is something like 90 feet - yachts go though with their sails up. The locks are big and unlike locks on other Sottish canals you are allowed to work them yourself. We have cruised the Crinan twice on our little Sea Otter, gamebird, and on one of our trips the boat we shared all the locks with had paid for help (at that time you could book and pay for help, not sure what the arrangement is now) . The paid help did one side of the lock and we did the other. One rule we weren't aware of on our first visit was that you are not allowed to use the locks after 5 o'clock. and we went up the flight from Ardrishaig and when we came to the last lock in the flight there was a bridge across it. BW operate the bridges! However, gamebird, being only 26 feet was no problem as we just cruised under the bridge when the lock was empty. The BW guys freaked the next morning when they found what we had done :-) . It's a beautiful little canal. haggis

I loved that program! It brought back happy memories of the west coast of Scotland and the Crinan canal. Nice variety of boats too. haggis

I was told quite recently by the operator of a hire fleet near the Bridgewater that they have been unsuccessful in finding out how the new "no return within 28 days without paying a fee" will affect their hire boats. haggis