TheBiscuits
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Posts posted by TheBiscuits
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10 minutes ago, BoatinglifeupNorth said:
What you have to realise not all boaters have free access to State benefits and a licence increase to you will make no difference as the benefits system will pay it,
I'd guess from the demographics that there's more boaters get paid by the state than not. You do realise that the state pension is a benefit don't you? In fact it's more than half of the entire benefits bill.
I'd further go out on a limb and say that those in receipt of state pension who can afford a two hundred grand boat are having it considerably easier than those who just about managed to get hold of a "project boat" and get Universal Credit.
It's not just green eyed envy, and before the personal attacks begin I'd like to point out that my predicted date for receiving the state pension has now been pushed back three times. It's likely to get pushed back again, and to be truthful I'm not expecting to ever get it.
There's not been a corresponding discount on my National Insurance or income tax either!
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10 hours ago, Alan de Enfield said:
It is simply, in other words, that CaRT would find difficulty in justifying the application of differing standards based only on the nature of the boat licence application.
That's a very interesting turn of phrase if there is going to be a clear commercial difference between types of licence ...
CCers having precedence at locks and the right to move home-moorers on from visitor moorings based on a premium licence is going to be interesting!
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9 hours ago, MtB said:
And lots of yards do blacking in an old skool dry(ish) dock where lifting the boat higher than water level to get right underneath would require more than trivial investment,
Most dry docks lower the water level rather than lift the boat
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On 23/09/2022 at 12:51, nicknorman said:
My bad, the Renology DC DC is 60A not 120A, so that will be fine with the 2x 80A alternators and at £170 is much better value than the Sterling … IF it does what it says on the tin. (No reason to suspect it doesn’t).
Importantly, the Sterling 60A B2B takes max 60A from the alternator/start battery, delivering around 45A to the domestic bank (or 30A/23A at half power)
The Renogy 60A takes around 90A from the starter/alternator, delivering 60A to the domestics (or 45A/30A at half power)
All figures are taken from the relevant manufacturers manuals, and there's a reason I opted for the Sterling version ...
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8 hours ago, cuthound said:
Genuine CCers must spend a fair bit on diesel and maintenance, so the licence increase will be a proportionally smaller increase to their overall boating costs compared to someone who is trying to live on a boat at the lowest possible cost by gaming the system.
Quite. My diesel bill has been higher than my licence cost for most of the time I've owned this boat. The COVID lockdowns reduced it a lot when we were asked not to move, but other than that it's been higher.
I gave up my previous mooring after paying for it for four years but only spending a continuous 7 week period on it (once) when the canal was closed. I could have been on the visitor moorings opposite for the same period without upsetting anyone - in fact a couple of years ago I did exactly that for four months!
Not taking the Mick, the pound was closed due to water shortages in both directions. I was first through the lock the day it reopened.
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10 hours ago, Tracy D'arth said:
Erecting blue signs? Painting lock beams which makes them rot faster? Teaching fishing?
So just to confirm, you'd prefer the volunteer that usually does the angling taster sessions to repair the lock instead of waiting for the reactive repair & maintenance team?
Odd.
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1 hour ago, Tracy D'arth said:
And now for the next URGENT lock repair, December!!!!!!
Its so urgent to avoid damage to the lock gates that it will wait for 70 days!!! I don't believe it.
So which current job would you suggest stopping work on so they can do this instead?
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12 minutes ago, Brian jarrett said:
This proposed increase and the surcharge are being justified on the flawed basis that we, the continuous cruisers, use more of the system and facilities than boats with a mooring !
You seem confused. The licence fee above-inflation rises apply to all classes of licence not just CCers.
If you don't want to pay the CC surcharge, get a mooring. Simples!
2 minutes ago, Alan de Enfield said:My proposal would be a repeat of the IWA request some years ago to increase the 'CC licence' to 2.5x the cost of licence for a boat with a mooring.
Thank goodness you've left then
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35 minutes ago, magnetman said:
My old Seagull smoked like that too!
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2 hours ago, IanD said:
I can get tangled up in weed on the L&L instead if they haven't cleared it... 😞
There's been a contractor on a weed boat for the last couple of days above Johnson's Hillock, clearing a lot of the stringy stuff out.
Presumably they'll be doing or have done more areas too.
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47 minutes ago, IanD said:
fees will go up, there will be a CC surcharge, and widebeams will be charged more -- all as predicted.
And the electric boat discount remains.
So ideally you'd want an electric narrow boat with a home mooring.
Oh, wait ...
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1 minute ago, IanD said:
Thanks for the warning -- what was wrong at the Bridge, recent comments look quite good? Any other good mooring suggestions between there and Wigan Top Lock?
Lousy beer. Not been back this year so no idea if it's better/worse/under new management/turned into flats ...
Depends on what you want from a mooring. I quite like mooring near the golf course at Haigh Hall, but it's a mile and a bit to anywhere if you need anything. If you're dashing for home you'll not have time to amble around Haigh Woodland Park anyway.
The VM at the top of Wigan Flight is as good as anywhere if you want a quick start the following day. There's also a bus to Wigan Central (https://wigancentral.bar/) if you mistime it for the festival.
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Just now, IanD said:
Hmm, interesting, Adlington is a possible stop -- was thinking of the Red House VMs and the Bridge Inn, but Adlington station is only a five minute walk away...
The Bridge was dire last year, not been back since.
Chorley has a better selection of alehouses and good pubs, and is only another stop ...
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4 minutes ago, IanD said:
Should be plenty of beer on board... 😉
P.S. Beer festival is also nowhere near the canal, assuming it's the Bolton one!
Train from Adlington, two stops ...
Yes, Bolton Wanderers ground. Usually around 150+ different cask ales as it includes the SIBA North West regional competition.
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On 17/09/2023 at 18:32, IanD said:
Wigan will be second week in October
Shame that, there's an enormous beer festival at Middlebrook from the 12th ...
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I've never really understood this heating by calendar thing that some people do. If it's cold, warm the place up a bit.
Admittedly there are some who run heating/stove just to avoid putting a jumper on, but when you're considering salopettes it's not being a wuss to warm up! You're not obliged to keep it in until April just because you lit it once.
I have seen some people stick a couple of large candles inside the stove to get the cheery flicker on a dank day. I might have to try this to see if it fools me into thinking it's warmer ...
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4 hours ago, Mike Todd said:
And usually so close to the bridge that it would take a snail to be that long getting there.
Stop canoe/kayak, climb out, either pick up boat or deploy portage trolley, walk to other side of bridge with canoe, put back in water, climb in again, set off.
I challenge you to do this in under 2 minutes for a standard L&L swingbridge. That's what you are calling snails pace.
In practice of course, most canoes/kayaks/boards just lie down and go under the bridge if possible, but some of the bridges have big girders and sticking out bolts underneath them.
It's a liability CYA exercise from CRT.
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12 minutes ago, Jon57 said:
Lots of these signs on the Leeds Liverpool just before most of the decommissioned swing bridges. Totally pointless.
Not all the "decommissioned" swingbridges are decommissioned. Some of them are usually left open but the landowner can and does swing it when wanting to use it.
Admittedly the signs are also near the ones with trees growing through the bridge deck too. The vollies who erected them did ask what the point of some of them was, but were told to do them anyway!
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42 minutes ago, LadyG said:
Thirty million people can't be wrong, or can they?
Assuming that's the number of Gregg's customers, it suggests that the other forty million or so in the country don't ever go there ... 🤔
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4 minutes ago, magnetman said:
I was intrigued by this.
A badly phrased reminder to oil the air filter gauze, put there by a previous owner?
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On 16/09/2023 at 11:14, Peanut said:
Furthermore, they require a qualified installer for the initial installation, and to deal with most of the fault codes from the electronics, including a 1200 to1400-hour service.
What, every day, noon till 2pm?
Get the service chap to refuel it while he's there and you won't need the electronics ...
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11 hours ago, Captain Pegg said:
So, where am (or was) I?
Warrington?
Bridgewater and Manchester Ship canals?
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It's still there, they've just removed the menu link.
https://licensing.canalrivertrust.org.uk/Boat/Sightings
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Licences
in General Boating
Posted
Not an unexpected comment, but why am I not entitled to it at the same age my parents were?
Do I get a refund of my National Insurance that paid your "entitlement"? It's certainly not gone in a pot for me to claim in the future!