haggis

It hadn't been sorted when we last went through it in January!. The towpath side bottom gate I find almost impossible to close and I have been known to play the helpless female and summon help from folk sitting at the pub tables 🙂

I've done it - years ago. You just need to use a smaller sieve than the usual kitchen size and move it lengthways along the gunnel

I have noticed that occasionally when I try to set up a new business payee, the bank says it cant find the company. But when I then set up the same payee as a personal payee, the bank gives me the name of the company I just searched for. Odd . Banks are very sensitive now about fraud and I don't blame them.

Is the space where the tank was still vacant or has that part of the boat been modified? Without space for a pump out tank it might be difficult to install a pump out loo. You don't want a small tank or you will spend a fortune getting it emptied

Glad it got sorted out and that you and your kitchen fitter are on good terms again. Long may it continue 🙂

I expect that most marinas will email the mooring contract to he moorer who can then email it to C&RT. We certainly got our contract with park Fam by email several years ago. Marinas might provide a shorter version just giving the info C & RT will need . We didn't have that problem when we renewed our licence as we don't plan to leave the marina yet 🙂

We had the poll tax in Scotland when Mrs T wanted it trialled somewhere where the outcome wouldn't affect the chances of her party being re -elected. While on the face of it, making the charge relative to the number of people in a house on the basis that more people resulted in more use of Council facilities was fair it didn't work out well. You could have non wage earners (undergoing education etc) which were counted but weren't in a position to contribute to the charge. Then you could have a big house with one occupant paying the same as a Council house with one occupant. For one the charge would be a minute part of their income and for the other it could be a major part. The system was deemed to be unfair and was ended and the current Community Charge was brought in. It too has it's problems in that if a house doesn't change hands it stays in the original band whereas if it had been sold and a more recent valuation was available I believe the house could change bands. A very large % of houses are in too low a band but I don't see a national revaluation taking place any time soon.

As well as the folk who "week end" their boat there are also the "continuos cruisers" who only move the minimum distance as seldom as possible in a fairly small area. To my mind the weekenders boat is at least "navigating the network". You couldn't say that about the bridge hoppers 🙂

That's good hat they didn't cash your cheque, Arthur. Not good to have had the hassle but at least in the end they seemed to accept your word.

Ah, so they are at fault for not giving you a nicely typed invoice? Nothing wrong with them keeping a notebook and entering the transactions by hand and writing out invoices. Nothing wrong with a company not being VAT registered if they are below the limit. I think the fact that you have suggested how they run their business might have something to do with the deterioration in communicating. I am probably wrong though.

Is this the workman whose praises you were singing not all that long ago? I don't understand the statement of account bit. I tend to pay when I get the invoice and I don't expect anything else. I pay promptly working on the principle that having a reputation as a prompt payer stands me in good stead with other contractors. I am sure if I didn't pay promptly or had a reputation as a complainer things would be different. Word travels 😉

I am a wee bit confused ! How did you manage to overpay ? I thought you said you had agreed a price and how had he some of your materials? . I thought the work was being done on your boat. If I read it correctly you say you have communicated by email. Emails can and do often disappear into cyberspace. Would a phone call or face to face meeting not be better,?

I think the Waverley still makes an annual trip to London and the south coast where it runs trips to raise money for the upkeep and to pay for repairs when it runs into a pier and makes a hole in the hull 🙂

Often to be seen at the Anchor 🙂

Please pass on our good wishes to Sheila in the new stage of her life. We have very fond memories of Bruce and Sheila and it was lovely to meet Sheila on her beautiful boat on the Macc a few years ago. My earliest memory of Bruce and Sheila is us all polishing the brasses of various OwnerShips boats (in the snow) at an OS February show in Braunston. Mad as hatters but great fun! Ann and Iain on Kelpie.

Not sure if there is a good or bad time of the year to buy into a shared boat but if you want to have a say in the next years bookings you will need to buy the share before the next years dates are decided. I think the next years dates are fixed in the autumn. If you buy a share after that you will have to accept the sellers allocated dates. Might be worth asking if there is a reason for several shares being on the market . They might not tell you but it might just be folk cutting back expenses because money is tight or they may be buying their own boat.

Oh, I remember them! I think you got one if you had a paid for mooring , not necessarily a BW one.

rabbit stew for dinner? 🙂 Hope your day improved

I find it interesting to see how canal locations have changed over the years and Peters photos often show this. I take my hat off to him for taking the time and trouble to post. As has been said before you don't have to look at the topic as it obviously upsets you, going by how often you have said much the same thing. Interesting that there hasn't been much support for your view. 🙂

The nice brass fitting on the water tap was probably inadvertently left by a boater. We consider it a bonus if we find a water point has a brass or plastic fitting on it as we usually use our own. Maybe things are a bit different up north". We have hose reel and don't find it a "waste of time" at all 🙂 . One of the benefits is that when not in use both ends of the hose are attached to it and no wee nasties can crawl inside

I enjoyed watching that! Copperkins, which we had a share in, was there with Peter and Elaine Scot on board and we did it a couple of years later. The 1998 trip was on its way to the IWA Festival in Salford keys and the 200 trip was to take p[art in a Broken Cross rally where there were some boats on the Weaver and some on the T & M canal. The lift wasn't yet reopened. My memory was 8 narrow boats side by side and about the same lengthwise. We always seemed to be next to the lock wall and it was some distance to throw a rope up! Ours had a monkey paw on the end then a length of thin rope then the proper mooring rope.

Are navigation lights now essential for a narrow boat on the Manchester Ship Canal? I can't remember if they were required when we did it in 2002 (?). Desirable perhaps but not essential as I don't think Peel Ports would allow you onto the MSC if the conditions required the use of nav lights.

That's probably the answer! Allow more air to escape by using a thinner hose or a funnel. I can't believe this conversation and wonder of someone is taking the Michael 🙂

Is there plenty of space for air to escape up the outside of your hose when you are using it?

Or just use a funnel which allows air to escape as you pour water in. Your "problem" is probably caused by the water being poured in filling the input tube and thus not allowing any air to escape 🙂