Bacchus

Another dead swan floated past today, and a dead pigeon. I don't particularly like swans, but I don't like to see them dropping dead in such numbers. Also Sainsbury's had no eggs, blaming a "supply" issue; I did wonder, especially with the very long shelf-life of eggs, whether that is somehow related to the bird flu or just one of these arguments that supermarkets have with their suppliers when the suppliers want to make a living too.

It is just nature in action. Creatures live. Creatures die. Other creatures eat the ones that have died. One of the dead swans I saw today had a blood-stained throat, but I suspect that was something trying to have an opportunistic snack rather than the cause of death - The Defra notice suggesting "suspected" avian flu implies a more likely cause of death. Tens of thousands of people die of flu in a bad year, no different for swans. Life is a balancing act for all of us

on the Thames at Staines Second biggest swan population after Windsor apparently, so we can lose a few

A lot of dead swans around today - I have seen a couple just floating down the river (one neighbour reports seeing five!) and one in the car-park for the slipway that I mentioned up-thread, which has now been gated shut and the public asked not to enter. A local character who walks around with a cockatiel on his shoulder has been advised to keep it at home for the time-being, and dog owners are being warned to keep their dogs away from the swans better get your frozen turkey-burgers in for Christmas dinner, even if the turkey farms aren't affected the prices will inevitably rocket!

I had the same in my 2CV (except for the "driving really fast" bit, obviously)

Thanks; I guess I thought as much... otherwise why would professionals spend hundreds on similar gauges

Hi All, Does anyone have any experience or comment on the accuracy of "DIY" ultrasonic thickness meters for measuring hull thickness. (this kind of thing -- obviously no substitute for a full hull survey, but are they accurate enough to indicate whether a full survey is needed) (image in case anyone is reading this after the eBay listing has ended...)

So that's what all the Polish builders have been up to since Brexit... 😇

Never been exposed to tripe (with the caveat that I once watched daytime TV...) but dripping is wonderful stuff. My dear ol' mum (a yorkshire lass) would save the beef dripping in ramekin with the best/gelatinous bits in the bottom and the fat on the top. Modern equivalent - get some quality butcher's bacon, cook it in a non-stick pan with no added fat, and then fry a slice of bread in the fat that comes off; manna. Back on topic... I have noticed a few swans around the Staines area behaving oddly. There is a slipway near me where they congregate (because idiots feed them there), and a couple of days ago I noticed that some of the ('orrible) things had wandered out towards the main road and were just sitting on the verge looking disdainfully at passing traffic. One down my lane doing the same. They almost looked drugged.

According to Wiki the Russian fears seem to be NATO ships entering the lagoon without having to pass through Russian controlled waters. Possibly a reasonable concern under the circumstances

Mine all go to a spam filter on my email server... I haven't checked the address registered on here, but they go to a filter separate from my normal addresses. I was looking at something on the server a month or so ago and found hundreds of 'em ETA - just checked my account - it is a valid address, but not one that is currently linked to my Outlook client so I don't get the emails... the software is working perfectly

If you precede their name with an "@" the forum software will recognise it and alert them that you have mentioned it like this -- @Gautier When you have been here a certain length of time (not sure what but you can look it up in the rules), you can send a private message (hover the mouse over their user-name and click "message" in the subsequent pop-up) If they give their location, you can go there and walk about shouting, but this might get you arrested at best. the starter of this thread hasn't been on the forum for seven years, so you might have trouble there

It might be lower - I just googled "current flow thames staines" and got that result. Of course I don't see the same bloomin' thing now to screenshot, but links to the NFRA website which suggest that it goes down to about 10-15 cumecs in August. I would say your cross section is about right (slightly narrower and deeper where I am, but 200m2 sounds reasonable), that would give a flow of 5-7.5 cm/s I expect I will be in it at the weekend - I shall try to time myself drifting past the boat (c: would still only take about a minute to fill the lock completely, and is still only an interruption to flow rather than an extraction whether the user is going up or downstream.

I find the talk of locking restrictions on the Thames somewhat disingenuous. My local lock - Penton Hook - which is quite a biggy, takes roughly 750 cubic metres to fill. The flow at Staines is currently 65.8 cubic metres/second, so it would take less than 12 seconds of flow to fill the lock completely (compared to a fill time of 10-15 minutes); but -- here's the thing... when you open the downstream sluice, the water goes back into the river. How would restricting lock use affect flow? It isn't like a canal where each fill moves water from the top to the bottom.

a bit toppy price-wise, but not bad for that London, and with mooring... https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/85602288

I think the accommodation licences for things like poles banged into the river are a bit on the steep side - I know someone who has to pay about twelve hundred quid a year for two, and someone else who has to pay about eight hundred because he built a pontoon which overhangs the river by about eighteen inches tapering to zero EA are skint. They grab every penny they can, but, yes, they can be very helpful. Just don't let them smell a wallet with any cash in it...

Doesn't RCR stand for "River Canal Rescue"?

I am humbled by this thread. Sometimes I put off just cleaning my boat...

The Thames isn't 100% ideal for narrow-boats, this being one of the main reasons. Many moorings are aimed at providing a facility for half a dozen cruisers but can be completely taken by one or two narrow-boats. There isn't much of a culture of rafting on the inland waterways, and in any case I think most small cruisers would see rafting next to a 70' narrow-boat a bit like tying on to a train and having no clue how to get ashore even if they did.

The Thames is beautiful, lovely, one of the most beautiful places on Earth IMHO, but in winter it can be completely uninhabitable and extremely dangerous in any craft, let alone a 15' cruiser. As it happens @Hugh Dictyostelium, I did try to do something very similar - I studied for my PGCE at Oxford Uni and decided I would take my little Shetland 535 (a relatively massive 17') up to Port Meadow to stay on during the week. I think I made it to November before taking digs... Beautiful pontoon moorings outside a Staines pub in summer Not so inviting in winter (to be fair this was the infamous 2014 flood, but there is absolutely nothing to say that it won't happen again!)

Back on topic... bridgewater canal https://www.apolloduck.co.uk/boat/waterside-properties-residential-for-sale/700749 leasehold by the looks, but long lease and 130' frontage (plus a house) for 325k Rightmove link -- https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/85719276 or a freehold neighbour -- https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/85435854

Good place for a lock-in...