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Sally Grim

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Posts posted by Sally Grim

  1. If you're not used to tiller steering, you automatically put the tiller the way you want to go, especially if you're already a bit flustered.  Hence the "going into the brickwork" situation, of course. It brings back memories.... The first time we hired, the intructor only wanted one of us on deck, so I duly went inside and startet to unpack, and left my husband to it. 5 minutes later I was called out. My husband simply hadn't been able to get the hang of it, so I was asked to take over. Needless to say, the next day when we were on our own and all was calm, he picked it up quite easily. 

     

    When we hired (from Wyvern and Canal Cruising), we always had a thorough handover, which included the instructor accompagnying us through the first lock and showing us how to work it. Even when we were returning customers.

  2. 12 hours ago, harleyj said:

    I would love to visit our boat, but just a bit far to drop in for the day. On a more serious note we are booked to fly in on 30/5/21 subject to our government  getting there a@#s into gear and getting us vaccinated.  Keeping our fingers crossed.

     

    Same here. Crossing my fingers for being able to visit our boat in step 3. Hopefully it will at least be OK in step 4, then we might even be vaccinated!

     

    But we haven't dared to book any flights yet, since we've had to cancel all trips but one last year. 

  3. 12 minutes ago, Tony Brooks said:

    I think Heathrow express goes to Paddington and its steps down to the tube "ticket" hall

     

    Reading trains at same level and fast ones not too far from the HE platform.

    Blimey - you're totally right, Tony, and Cheese too! My sincere apologies to everyone. 

     

    We fly in to either Heathrow, Gatwick, or Stanstead depending on what is cheapest, so that's why I got momentarily confused. That - and not having been able to travel and go boating since summer. But I have great hopes for next year!

  4. 17 hours ago, Tim Lewis said:

    To be honest I would be tempted to book a taxi from Heathrow to Napton, maybe a few quid more but well worth the convenience

     

     

     

     

    Tim

    We once did that from Gatwick when there were major rail works - never again. The traffic was horrific, we spent most of the time creeping forward at what felt like 1 mile/h on the M25 (?), and that was a Saturday! Might have been because of the rail works, though. But I'll think we'll stick to trains in the future, and a taxi from the last station. ?

     

    I would go Heathrow Express to Victoria, tube to Euston (Victoria Line), train to Rugby, and taxi from Rugby. 

  5. 13 minutes ago, john6767 said:

    Way too ambitious for the first day.  If you want a pub then Long Itchington for the first night, otherwise if you are there on time you could carry on and go down Bascote and look for somewhere to moor.

    Long Itchington be my choice as well. According to Canalplan,  Napton Junction to Two Boats are 3 hours 47 minutes,

  6. 14 minutes ago, Melbourne_Boaters said:

    Cape Moorings on your first night would be a challenge?

     

    They're set to pick up the boat at 2.30, sunset is about 7 pm. That's 4,5 hours, and you might also have to deduct time for the handover.

    So getting to Cape might be a bit ambitious. I would expect that would cause a a trail of "speeding hire boaters" shouts?!  ?

     

  7. I would not plan to go further than Long Itchington on the first night. You need time to familiarise yourselves with the boat and the locks, and you might not have the boat till late. And remember you're not supposed to cruise after sunset (or before sunrise) - most hire companies don't allow it. We have done Long Itchington to the top of Hatton in one day, and there's only two of us. Had great help from the lockies at Hatton, though! My preference then would be for Lapworth locks into Birmingham. And on the way back - Polesworth, Hawkesbury, Braunston.

     

    There is a great route planner at www.canalplan.eu which might help you.

  8. We share locking and steering about 50/50. I must say that I've mostly had comments about "women doing all the hard work" when I'm locking, I can hardly remember any comments about me doing the steering. Maybe those were said out of my hearing, to my husband!   ?

     

    And we both use the engine to control the boat in the locks, so no turning it off for me.

  9. 18 hours ago, jamesinyk said:

    There was no signal, until approx 1 second before impact. 

     

    That sounds odd, giving a signal just before hitting, if it was intentional.

     

    To me that sounds more like the OP did something unexpected, and the following boat couldn´t avoid hitting.

  10. 21 hours ago, ivan&alice said:

     

    Should I fully open the paddles or is it wise to open them partially? (With the boat tied up in a broad lock I tend to be rather more aggressive with the paddles than others, fully opening the paddle on the same side of the boat in a broad lock, the flow tends to pin the boat to the wall and the rope stops the boat moving forward/backward.

     

    Lapworth is very nice and easy - one of my favorite flight s- but some narrow locks pull, as others have mentioned. Napton, for instance. Going up Napton I find it helps working the paddles "in parallell": a few turns on one side, then a few turns on the other, helps keeping the boat still. But then we're only 50 ft - maybe it's otherwise with a longer and heavier boat. I'm not strong enough to hold the boat back with ropes if the lock really pulls hard, hence the carefulness and using the engine to keep the boat still.

  11. 1 hour ago, Higgs said:

     

    Well done. Egg on face mode, for me, for the rest of the day. 

     

    However..., there's..., but it's probably going to do me no good say. 

     

     

     

     

    May I fill in the "However..." for you?  ?

     

    Because - if you take matter of the EU away from your comment, your observation is a pertinent one. No problem getting together a collection of countries which haven't been as hard hit as the UK. But there are so many unknown parametres which must be considered before the collection should be deemed as relevant. Criteria for whether a death is a corona one, and the country's stage in the pandemic, are two. 

     

    So I really see your point!  ?

  12. 1 hour ago, Higgs said:

     

     

    Well, whichever tosspot worked all that out, they've managed to find an extra 300 million people in the EU from somewhere. And, Italy with 33,000 deaths, France with 28,000, Spain with 27,000, I'd say the person that created the effort above was a sandwich short of a picnic. 

     

     

    Where does it say that it's supposed to be the EU? Probably just a collection of countries with low death rates. For example, Norway with 235 deaths and Iceland with 10 deaths are both in there. 

    • Greenie 1
  13. 20 hours ago, alan_fincher said:

    That's one point of view, but I have heard others.

     

    For example the landord at the Rising Sun, Berkhamsted, (usually known as "the Riser"), an excellent canalside pub, tells a very different story.

    He says that he gets almost no trade from passing hire boats, and that they are far more likely to stock up with food and chaep booze at the local supermarket, and set up a barbecue canal-side.

    On the other hand much of his regular trade, (and all year around not just summer) comes from local live-aboard boaters, who may be in there any times a week.

     

    So like many of these things, there are two sides to every story, I guess.

     

    We often use the local pubs, but the food tend get a bit monotonous. So when we get to a place with a choice, like Berkhamsted, we often go somewhere other than the pub. 

    We're probably not the only ones, so that might be part of the explanation for some locations.

     

  14. Normally you return the boat at the base where you rented it. To take it to another base I think is the exception to the rule. You are in full command of the boat, and it is up to you whether you use your days sailing, or stopping and exploring. You are allowed to moor along the canalside almost everywhere, on the towpath side (but several long boats kan be hard to find room for in popular places!) But remember it is never just to "sail along" - there are locks, they are manual, and you operate them yourself.  :)

     

    Remember to check the hiring company's T&C. There ARE age restrictions, as to the skipper needs to be above a certain age. I don't know how that works with more boats hired by a group. But just ask them - the hiring companies we used was very serviceminded.  But of course the teenagers are allowed to try their hand at steering.

     

    Here's a link to a map I often use myself. https://www.centralwaterways.co.uk/guides-and-maps/lockmaster-maps/lockmaster-holiday-planner-flat-5th-edition.html

     

    Best of luck with your venture - a great idea!

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