TheBiscuits
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Posts posted by TheBiscuits
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17 minutes ago, Mike Todd said:
The timing is also about having enough head room on the adjacent road bridge.
Yes, but that's not a potential problem. Once you are across the sea lock cill you are either on your way on a flooding tide or you are moored between two locks and putting the kettle on.
I know a few people who have had to wait 24 hours on the pontoon as weather conditions prevented their scheduled passages.
21 minutes ago, Mike Todd said:When we got there we could see why. Luckily we did not have to spend the night on the mud in the lower lock!
Yeah, if you miss the timing to get into Preston Docks it's quite important to moor over the deep water channel on the Bullnose. There's an alarming slant on the drying mud by the river bank.
Tie to the floats/risers please - tying to the ladder is a very bad idea on a 25 foot tidal range ...
Oh, and if you have a dog, it had better be either very small or very good at climbing ladders!
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6 minutes ago, Alan de Enfield said:
I'd have thought that even a hose pipe with a jiggle-pump would be better than sliced bread for cleaning off algae.
Nah. You put the bread on the gunwales and the swans come and eat it and the algae ...
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20 minutes ago, Philip said:
Thanks, good to know that the tug is available at a point where I'll have had a chance to get a feel for the capability of the boat. Hopefully she'll be capable under her own power, as I can imagine it's a lot more fun to steer your boat across than be towed.
I've booked an up passage for early July and return down in late July, both have a passage window on the next day, so that'll give some leeway if I have to go into Preston.
I've not been towed, but I have seen boats be towed past me on the Ribble. At waterskiing speeds - it looks fun!
You're very unlikely to divert to Preston on the way back off the Lancaster (unless you deliberately want to go there.)
The timing limit for the Ribble Link is actually the depth of water over the cill at the rotating sea lock, so if you're taking too long coming from Tarleton the tide ebbs too low to navigate that bit.
On the way back to Tarleton it's the first thing you cross - you'll be held on the pontoon until it's deep enough, then off you go.
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Because of the shape of the rivers and the water flows, your hardest bit is going to be coming out of Tarleton lock and heading downriver against the incoming tide towards Douglas boatyard. Which helpfully is where the tug boat moors!
If you fancy booking a tow, it was under a hundred quid last year. I'd recommend having the tug pilots number in your phone just in case you have difficulty out on the wide bit but just try it under your own power.
CRT keep an eye on your progress during the crossing and will tell you if you need to divert to Preston.
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2 minutes ago, dmr said:
We are down in Tod for a week or two (cheap beer Tuesday at the Lion
Try the dark mild at the Market Tavern. It's very good!
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1 minute ago, dmr said:
If you want busy then the North Oxford and Braunston area, plus much of the South Oxford, Trent and Mersey through Stone, Llangollen etc. will please you 😀
Nah, Rochdale summit.
There's sometimes as many as two boats a month moving ...
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17 minutes ago, MtB said:
Remind me, what does it cost to license a one-bed fattie in London, with all the loadings included? £3k a year perhaps?
Not yet. All the whining is about future increases over 5 years starting this month.
April 2024-March 2025, 57 foot boat, CC surcharges applied.
Beam
< 2.16m (narrow), £1352
2.16 - 3.24m (medium wide), £1519
>3.24m (fatty), £1687
Non-CC surcharged for the same bands:
£1287
£1455
£1622
Now just try to find a residential mooring in that London for fifty quid a year.
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8 hours ago, MtB said:
Even with the 75% increases, living afloat is still one quarter of the price of living ashore in London.
London boaters will suck it up and carry on filling up the canals, despite all the whining.
Is it that high a percentage?
I thought a current licence (pre-surcharges, last year's rates) was about £1200 pa for a narrow boat.
I was under the impression you couldn't rent much in London for £100 a month.
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10 minutes ago, Mike Tee said:
maybe it should be 'unflammable'
Non
As they say across the Channel
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1 minute ago, IanD said:
Maybe that's where the name came from then... 😉
For that price you could say it turns on a Sovereign, not a sixpence!
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9 minutes ago, Alan de Enfield said:
Well, a 5p is considerably bigger than a 6d coin
Are you sure? The old 5 new pence was obviously larger, but the new 5 pence is smaller diameter.
18mm (new 5p) vs 19.4mm (6d) if it matters.
The old 5p was 23.59mm or about the size of a shilling
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18 minutes ago, john6767 said:
In our case it will be 30 days from the start of the outbound to the return, so it would not let us do it as one booking. So when we return I will make a new booking. It was a combination of 28 days and not a month, and the fact that the clock starts when you enter start the Bridgwater outbound 7 days, that had me confused to start with, as I was thinking our 30 days would count as one trip but it does not.
Fair enough. The one that's caught me out before is that you can't book passage for the same day, so if you suddenly decide you want to go onto the Bridgewater today you have to wait until tomorrow. Or ring CRT and grumble at them! 😁
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5 minutes ago, john6767 said:
You get 7 days for and outward journey plus an optional additional 3 days for a return journey within 28 days from the first day of the out bound journey. The wording used does not make sense if you example you are using it like we just did for tansit from T&M to the Leeds Liverpool, but that is how it works.
So are you not returning within 28 days? If you are you'll need to use the 3-day bit to get back as you can't make 2 separate bookings in any 28 day period.
If you're going across the Mersey, across the Ribble or up Wigan flight you won't need to bother booking the Bridgewater passage.
Of course if you're spending more than a month this side of Leigh it doesn't matter anyway, it's a separate journey booking for the Bridgewater.
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16 minutes ago, LadyG said:
I thought I'd like to have a few days on the Bridgewater, but it seems I need to pay for a boat safety tyoe Certificate, as well as a payment to use the water, is this so, I thought there was some reciprocal agreement?
Are you thinking of the Manchester Ship Canal?
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The bottom calendar is the outbound trip, so will be solid red until you choose your inbound trip on the top calendar.
Just now:
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Not necessarily either. There's many side hatches without steps.
They are certainly not mandatory, and I'd say it's personal preference, with a nod to the configuration of the boat.
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10 hours ago, Jen-in-Wellies said:
I'm a Morlock, so I do live underground, but hunt Eloi, instead of mammoths.
Lack of planning.
Mammoth for main course, Eloi for dessert 😁
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6 hours ago, Arthur Marshall said:
Anyone with a home mooring pays the equivalent of the local EOG fee, which covers mooring to CRT land for the same period.
But they don't. The NAA marina charge is 9%, as stated in the agreement.
The fact you're paying over 100% EoG is ignored by both the "CCrs" and the Marina moorers.
And you'll still get grief from them for mentioning it!
Divide et impera, indeed ...
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19 minutes ago, Nightwatch said:
You say option. Doesn’t everyone book then?
They're supposed to ...
You can faff about and book by phone, but it's much easier and faster to do it online.
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10 minutes ago, Higgs said:
What do you pay for your licence? We'll all have to try anchoring up, away from the bank.
He doesn't pay for a licence because it's not CRTs water
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4 hours ago, Mac of Cygnet said:
That's where the cafe boat (Moonraker?) used to be - I last saw it in Lincoln. My favourite mooring in Slawit right next to bakery, brewery and dog walks and handy for the best pub, the Commercial.
And you need to rest up a bit before or after doing that manual guillotine gate!
99 turns, and it's not that light ...
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On 12/04/2024 at 14:56, Puffling said:
Comment from bystander Matthew Fell with typos corrected. Jeez, the Hudds Examiner used to have better writing than this when I bought it as a paper...
When people bought papers the local rag could afford journalists...
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14 minutes ago, Rob-M said:
Or you could take a dip like @TheBiscuits
Just that once. It was more than enough!
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1 minute ago, MrsM said:
Yes that's a beauty! And I guess has insurance and a boat safety cert. What a character - good on him. And a proper CCer too 😄
He does. A trading licence last time I spoke to him.
We do like Ben. He's nuts, but in a good way!
He wanted to CC more than CRT would let him. Taking an unpowered raft like that through River Lock onto the River Aire was firmly stopped by CRT.
I'm guessing he wasn't aware of the weirs on the river...
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Trent & Mersey Bridge 16 Swarkestone or thereabouts
in Stoppages
Posted
Was it the truck carrying the blue signs that broke the bridge?