Bettie Boo

This all ties in nice and neatly with the thread Ray just started about the CRT survey regarding London moorings

Ray thanx for posting the link - I've filled it out But I feel the need to say - What a Load of Tosh!! This comes across as just another way for CRT to get more money from us boaters and will be just the tip of the ice berg. It will become the "norm" to pay for tow path moorings close to all towns & cities, or places like Crofton, Braunston, SB, Birmingham etc etc. We've been through London twice in the past year, never had any issue with finding a spot to moor our 57 foot Wide Beam, and no we didn't breast up with anyone. You read all the exaggerated crap on the internet about how over crowed it is, and when you arrive, yeah it's busy but no where near too the extent of what you've read about. You moor up, introduce yourself to your new neighbors and get on with enjoying your visit to the capital. One of the largest cities in the world, with one of the best and most efficient public transport systems to match SHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEESH!!!!!!! Things like this really DO Wind me Up

Your probably right, not to me though. I appreciate there are loads of different "groups" of folks on the canal system, live aboards and non live aboards, some of whom keep their boats in marina's or on long term moorings, others who cc. Some who cc in accordance of the essence of the terms and others who sail pretty close to the wind. And that's just some of the circumstances of the folks responsible for the maintenance of the boats, then add into the pot the difference of the the boats themselves...Wide / narrow / long / not so long / historical / new builds / inboard / outboard / wood / steel / aluminum / plastic / shinny / dull / empty roof / roof full of "stuff" ect ect Really the only thing we all have in common, is the canals & rivers and how we respect them and each other. Well that's my opinion anyway.

Ahhh see; I did misunderstand what you had put originally. I thought it was in reference to the graffiti. Mind you, there's still no way of knowing if the 3 dumped boats you are referring to came from unhappy marina dwellers or folks that for whatever reason are either no longer interested in or unable (for whatever reason) to maintain their boats.

This is the bit I was referring to ^^ - did I misunderstand "these are clearly boaters..."?

cat full pack of cigs back when I smoked a bran new E-Cig with battery a lump hammer 2 x chimney caps chimney planter full of herbs IPhone a couple of nice silver candle sticks along with a couple of nice silver plates & a silver butter dish (all in Branston marina on moving in night) long before we had a sea magnet I've lost count of how many fenders that first year, but it's gotta be about 6 or 7

Sorry, I don't understand what information you have to base the above judgement on? Why couldn't it have just as easily have been a cc'er fed up with poor facilities or maintenance of the bottom of the canal, or a weekend boater who is fed up with trying to find a mooring in their honey spots, or a CM'er fed up with having to move to a new place every 14 days? Yes, I agree that it does "feel" like it's a boater(s), someone who has a gripe against CRT, but to say it's "clearly a boater from a Marina" I find a bit bizarre

I have a slime line Candy that is 2 & 1/2 years old, works just fine for me. 'im at the back insists that the engine is running when I do a load of washing, but it works just fine like I say, and will do up to a 7kilo load so all is good when it comes to washing his heavy work cloths and or the bedding.

We've noticed it the last few times we've gone through the area, and it's not 5 or 6 different post's / signs, it carries on for what feels like miles and it's on everything.

Best 1st post Ever IMO QCat Tagaula - you have my deepest empathy, I have experienced grief, not the same as yours but the best advice I could possibly share is don't rush into any major decisions and don't let others make those decisions for you regardless of how much they seem to have you interests closest to their hearts. And try to avoid where possible the more depressing threads on the forum for awhile, they won't help

My resolve has broken we've turned on the central heating 29th of June!!!

Those 2 hour moorings outside the Tesco are fairly busy during the course of the day (or were the last couple of times we were down that way. Boats coming and going all day. We've only ever been able to get onto the 2 hour moorings once when going past, hence why I guess there are so many, the demand for them is there. And since there are so many other places to moor if you want to stay for longer it makes sense (IMO) to have as many 2hr ones as they do. They did tend to go pretty quiet after about 5-6 o'clock daily. Are you annoyed that you can't moor for a longer period outside the Tesco? Sorry if that sounds rude, it's not meant to, but I don't understand what's frustrating you? ETA - not trying to imply you are annoyed, it was just the "word" I used to sum up your post as it "sounded" like you are indeed somewhat annoyed with the division of moorings

Seen you on the telly last night Dave Very good it was

Hi Alan, I stated 2/3 as depending on size/length. We were moored there last year and it was 2 x 57 ft boats with Jenlyn (who's boat I "think" is also 57ft). as the 3rd boat. The one that was closest to the Tesco moorings were actually a few feet onto the 2 hour moorings rather than the VM. So if your talking full length boats I doubt you'd get more than 2 between the bridge and the 2 hour moorings I can confirm that the car park at wkends is a bit lively with the boy racers and their interesting collection of heavily based music. But it normally stopped around midnight, so no real bother for us. ETA - We were down there a couple of weeks back and moored just in front of Fulbourne and there wouldn't have been enough space behind us to get another boat in before the 2 hour VM's well maybe a smallish cruiser ETA - the bit about the cruiser

Going N to S you've got Wyven first on your right, just before that on the two path side is some good moorings, then past Wyven you come to the Long Term moorings, then the 2 hour moorings outside the Tesco/Aldi then the 2/3 VM then the bridge, water point & waste facilities. Go round the corner past the waste facilities and there are LOADS of lovely moorings along the towpath. TV & Wifi signal not great around the industrial buildings, but if you moor up across from the houses it's not bad at all if you need either TV or Wifi.

I haven't been all that lucky - since living in England (17+ years now) I've had my car broken into once and 2 different houses broken into, once while I was sleeping alone, as Dave was working nights at the time, and the other during daylight while we were both at work. I have never had or even thought of having any form of "self defense" items, as mentioned in my earlier post, there have been a few occasions where Dave has been off helping friends for extended periods of time whereby I have been left alone on the boat for upwards of 2 weeks. The first time, we had only been out of the marina for about a week and so as I was still getting used to the "sounds" of living on the cut, I was somewhat apprehensive, but we took the following measures to make me "feel" as comfortable & secure as possible: Moore the boat within sight of long term moorings that had liveaboards (lucky enough they were a lovely couple and were moored on the offside back across from us) They were wonderful some days we would chat and other days it was just a simple good morning or evening, but it was some form of human contact each day. ETA - a greenie from me as well Seadog If I was sitting at the front of the boat, I would have the back locked (from the inside), if I was in bed at the back of the boat I would have the front doors locked with the keys close at hand; again locked from the inside. I shut all the windows on the tow path side before going to bed I shut the curtains (except the bathroom and spare bedroom) on the tow path side I turned on a small night light in the corridor before going to bed which would shin a little bit of light through the two open curtains to indicate there was someone onboard We put all the "nickable" items on the canal side of the roof - without going up on the roof, the only thing there was access to were my planters We also made sure there was nothing on the roof, back stern deck or front well deck that could be used by an opportunist to smash in a window or window in the front doors (spare pins, goat chains, hatchet, lump hammer ect ect.) And of course I had the much loved "Zebby, the attack Cat" to protect me and keep me company. It wasn't like either of us put loads of thought into the above, most points are things we had either read about on different threads CWDF or boat related FB sites. I do keep a scented candle & matches on my bedside table in-case I get up in the middle of the night and the lights aren't working for whatever reason, it would be my luck that if it was a flashlight the batteries would be dead if & when I needed to use it Personally my "fear" wasn't so much of someone coming onboard to hurt me, it was someone trying to break into the boat to steal stuff without realizing I was onboard. Hence the deterrents in my mind were the locking of the door at the opposite end to where I was, and the night light. That was if someone did try to come in through the doors, I would hear them, call out and they would leave. But if they came onto/into the boat at the opposite end of where I was, I more than likely wouldn't hear them or wake up till it was too late; which is what happened when we were broken into when living in MK in the house. It wasn't the loss of "stuff" that's upsetting, it's the fact that a stranger has been in "your private space" while you slept feeling secure. We gave notice, and moved shortly afterward, I slept most nights at the hotel I was working at when Dave was on nights as I just couldn't sleep in the house on my own

I'm sitting here with my comfy wooly throw wrapped around my shoulders with stubborn determination to not ask to have the fire lit The guy moored in front of us had his fire lit last night. I tried ever so hard to hide my jealously

Really lovely photo's everyone, thanks so much for sharing

Great pics Tim - thanks for sharing

Although it's myself and my OH that live on our boat, I did spend a fair amount of time on my own the second summer as Dave was off helping friends of our who ran a Hotel Boat, leaving me on my own a couple of times for upwards of 11 days. We just looked for areas where there were other boats moored within sight, made sure there was armco so we could tie up with Goat chains (as described above) I did things like make sure all the windows on the tow path side were shut before going to bed, shut most of the curtains on the tow path side, left a night light on in the corridor and as our saloon is at the front and the main bedroom is at the back; I would lock the front door ensuring the keys were close by in case I did need to use that door as a quick exit. The back door (closest to the bedroom) I would leave unlocked, but put the hook and eye closure on the inside of the doors. The most comfort I had was having "attack Cat Zebby" to keep me company - I think if I was on my own I would have a wee dog, to keep me company and hopfully bark when anyone decided to board the boat at night to raise the alarm so to speak. Oh the other thing we would do for those time when I was on my own, is move "nickable" stuff on the roof to the water side rather than have it on the tow path side.

I'm glad you and your friend enjoyed your day Ray. Please post some more of your pics when you get a chance Ta B~

Hi Guys, Firstly thank you all for your imput and advice, and the fact sheet. Dave came home today took the pump apart, or at least took out the diaphrame and cleaned off what looked like a wet layer of lime scale build up on the back of diaphragm with some Q-tips, put everything back together and VOULA it works perfect, (and much quieter than before as well). Again, thank you all. Saved us the cost of buying a new water pump .

Captain Fizz of this parish, made ours and welded it to the back of the boat for us, very reasonable price and it works a treat for us. It also doubles as the holder for my wirly gig cloths line