whammy

Off topic I know (every body else does), great idea Scotty.

"We mustn't ignore the fact that British Waterways' decision was a result of their own funding crisis over the Monmouth and Brecon canal repairs. Progress on the Cotswold canals has been much slower than originally expected and the Trust hopes that the inevitable changes resulting from BW's withdrawal will mean the restoration making more rapid progress." In a perfect world there would be money for every project on our inland waterway system but as we all know it is a far from perfect world but I do not understand why so much money is being diverted to a small Welsh canal that is not connected to the main system and therefore has little or no interest to the majority of boaters who pay for a annual BW licence and have little or no say in where and when the money is spent. Heres me thinking we live in a democracy. The Cotswald canal restoration would open up such a valuable link on the MAIN SYSTEM and give so much benefit to far more people/boaters than a small stretch of canal that is used in the main for hire boat fleets. I know some people will say that if we abandon such projects like the Mon and Brec it would be the start of a slippery slope but in a far from perfect world we must have more say in how we prioritise. In the recent canal mags the repair works estimates for the Mon and Brec has gone up to £15 million and we all know what happens to estimate costs (look at the olympics). Maybe that money should be spent on the Cotswald canals - who knows ??????? Or maybe the government should stop wasting billions in far flung shores and killing our troops - sorry

I got a bit of a shock today when I checked my 4 110ah leisure battery bank, all of the batteries were a bit low on water but one of them was very low and I could not see any water in some of the cells, I only had a small amount of deionised water left from the last time I topped up and could not get hold of any more deionised water so I had no choice but to use ordinary tap water although I did use the filtered drinking water that we have on one of the taps onboard. Question is what will this do to my batteries and why was it that just one of the batteries was much lower than the other 3 when I maintain them (OR DID NOT MAINTAIN THEM IN THIS CASE) equaly. I have checked for leaks from the low one and it seems sound enough. I know it is my own fault for not checking them more often but thats life I suppose. I did a bit of search on the tinternet and some people promote the use of water created/collected from de humidifiers to top up batteries ????? Any useful comments would be appreciated - Thanks

I had a contract with T mobile, web and walk - £20 a month for internet on my lap top via a data card. The problem with us boaters is that we are inside a steel box with small windows so reception is often a problem. I purchased a antenna booster which plugged into the data card but the connector was so fragile it soon snapped off. My contract with T mobile ran out so I thought I would try the USB modem with 3, I am now very happy with the £15 a mont 3 gig a month package. The advantage of the USB connection is you can extend the cable and have it dangling next to a window. The coverage in my area is superb and is much faster than the T mobile web and walk data card. I am over half way through my first month and have only used 540mb of my download limit and have been on line for about 54 hours so the 3 gig limit will be enough for me. Not sure about the coverage for 3 in other areas but as with other providers you can check on their web sites if you area is covered.

Sounds like a nasty incident, are there any warnings/operation instructions displayed at these type of locks ?????

I watched the first in the series which was largely devoted to the Mon and Brec canal saying how lovely and quiet it is what they failed to mention was that a large chunk of the canal will be out of service this year due to the recent breach. I know these programmes are recorded some time ago but I am sure with todays technology they could have slipped a mention in. Still they were not wrong by saying how quiet the Mon and Brec is - certainly a lot quieter this year !!!!!!!!

Since we started the cruise I have kept a journal on the lap top, we record where we have been, the moorings we have found, the pubs etc, etc it also includes the number of locks we have done, dont know wh I started it but now that it is ongoing it would be a shame to stop, possibly useful if we ever decided to sell the boat - kind of a log book. Judging by some of the replies to this thread we are just amateurs, still we have enjoyed every minute of it so far.

Bit of a milestone today, going up the Stourbridge Canal we went through lock no. 1,000 since starting our cont. cruise in December 2005. The lucky lock was Delph top lock. I said the wife should do it naked but for some strange reason she refused, maybe it was becuase there was a chill in the air. No fun some people. Heres to the next 1000

I would be interested in views of the forum members re this latest problem on this canal, from what I can see this canal is very prone to breaching and media reports the latest breach will cost over a million pounds to put right, one would assume this will have to come from BW coffers. Now here is the controversional question, is it time to call it a day on this canal ??? One argument would be that as it is not connected to the main system and therefore not many of BW licence fee payers would benefit from it, why keep it open ???? Personally I am split down the middle on this one, if we close this one to boating which one wold be next but given the cuts in BW funding would it be throwing good money after bad = Oh and should we bring back the football home internationals, maybe not England might not qualify !!!!!!!!!!!!!

We have lived aboard for 2 years now, like everything in life there are good times and if you live on the canals and rivers even better times.

We struggled all day with leaves on the track - Travelled the Staffs/Worcester between Ashwood and Kidderminster, canal is stuffed with leaves at the moment and it makes it is a real pain having to keep stopping to allow the accumulated leaves to drop from the prop, getting out of some of the locks was a bit of a struggle too. They may look very pretty with their golds and browns when hanging on the trees but once in the canal its a different story. On a different tack - did not see one other boat moving today - it's great cruisng your own private waterway !!!!!!!!!!!!

We did the Llangollen last winter, our draught is only 2 foot, we touched bottom on two occasions once just about half a mile out of trevor on open section of canal, try to keep as much in the centre as possible, the other time was at the entrance to the very narrow section just before the first online public moorings - it was pretty silted up at the time so may have improved. The electric is turned off in the new basin over the winter months becuase there is no one there to rob you (sorry take your mooring fee) but the vistors moorings in the town have electric posts and you can get a card from the diy shop in the town. This is a great time to do this trip as when we were on it there was very little boat traffic. You can still use the new basin in the winter, when we were there we were on our own - seemed such a waste - BW could turn it into winter moorings with a bit of planning - Still Hey Ho

We had a look the other day, it seems that it will be ok to moor whilst doing a bit of shopping and then move on would not moor over night due to its town location and I believe the tower block right next to it is for students and I believe they can get a bit lively after a few sherbert dabbs. The local east midlands news did an item the other day on worst buildings in the area, the block of flats got quite a few mentions. Architecture has allways been a matter of personal choice though. ????

Billiant idea - bring back the chain gang (did we ever have chain gangs in this country), mind you I would bet a lot of peole in prison would jump at the chance of getting out for the day ??????

I was on the Trent and Mersey yesterday between Weston on Trent and Willington and a female went past in canoe and I thought I know that face from somewhere and today I saw this thread -----could it have been her --------- ??????????

The pub is or was the Queens Head, Sugar Brook Lane, near bridge 48, it has changed hands since my last visit but it does have a huge car park, hope this helpsTel no. 01527 877777 according to tinternet when googled

Welcome to the forum (mad house), I am over 50 as well so it would appear I have lost all me marbles and a few other things as well. Anyway, as you are from down south why not try the Kennet and Avon west of the Caen hill flight to Bath and back thus avoiding the Caen Hill flight. There is a hire firm just at the bottom of the flight, can't remember the name or if they are any good - just an idea, now where are my pipe and slippers

Ernie, I will PM you re finding the other channels regards

Ernie,Ernie, forgive the finger trouble above, I have kerstand and the pace ds430n, any signal strength over 50 % and you should be fine, your box will be defaulted to the bbc and itv channels of your home address or where the original owner of the box lived. Try one of the other bbc 1 channels from a different region, it has worked for me when one bbc 1 area channel was a bit dodgy.regards

After some of the commnts on this thread It makes me glad that I went for the New Boat Company, I found them to be excellent in every aspect and have lived on my Aqualine Manhattan for coming up 2 years, have toured the system, have been through nearly 800 locks and has not missed a beat, yes they are near off the peg boats but you can not fault the workmanship, they do provide several variations in lay outs now so you do have a little choice and you wont be on a long waiting list for your boat. Sounds like I am on commission for them but I can assureyou I am not. Regards

Can reccomend the moorings at Little Bollington with pub a short walk away, also the moorings just before Moore also with pub just over the field - sounds like I only moor near pubs !!!!!!!!!!

Just had another look and it says "Restriction to navigation only" does anyone here speak BW - what is restriction supposed to mean, can't find any further explanation on the stoppages programme ??????

Just had a quick look at the winter stoppages for 07-08 - It looks like Shebdon Embankment on the Shroppy is being closed from 5th SEP 07 to 14th Mar 08, surely that cant be right, wont please the Hirers doing their rings.

I had one of these in my motorhome days, being white it blended in well on the roof of the motorhome, I am not sure about putting it on the roof of a narrowboat, it will stick out like a sore thumb, it will cause you problems with bridges and tunnels, it will be a magnet for the vandals and thieves. As for the functionality - the one I had had a annoying habit of trying to re locate the satellite when it was allready locked onto it and would whirr away for a couple of minutes, it had no facility to lock it on to a particular satellite, I was not impressed for such an expensive item. So unless they have improved it since then I would steer clear for a narrowboat. Of course this is only in my humble opinion. If you must have a automatic one I would suggest the fold down ones you occasionally see on some boats, again very expensive. I have a set up with a simple 35cm kerstan dish which is bolted to the roof and takes seconds to manually turn and coupled with a good Technomate receiver the satellites are easy to find and all for under £200. regards