jennywren

All the moorings at the end of the Ashton before you go down the Rochdale 9 are pretty okay. There are offside moorings at Piccadilly village and Telford basin as already mentioned, and shortly after (if I'm remembering right there's an aqueduct and it's just after that) there are some towpath moorings which would be easier if you wanted to go into town (there are rings and bollards) just before you go under the bridge to get onto the rochdale. Moored there for a couple of weeks before and had no problems whatsoever (well, one drunk guy tried to get onto my boat to pretend he was on the titanic one early morning, but he was very apologetic when I told him to get off). I didn't feel unsafe at all, and left the boat quite a lot to go off into town. It was actually fairly quiet at night. You can also moor round the corner at the top of the locks, though mooring slightly away from the top lock itself can be a good idea as you get some drug dealing and weed smoking going on (they won't bother you though, when my brother did the Cheshire ring they moored there and he said they were very considerate-they had a drug deal going on outside their boat one evening and overheard one of them saying 'shh, we have to be quiet, there are people sleeping on that boat' ?). The Rochdale 9 themselves are grim. Went for a walk to decide if I wanted to down there one day...decided I did not. It gets slightly better after the first few ones that go under the buildings though, and I thought Castlefield was nice. No problems with the Ashton other than rubbish in the water. If you've any need to moor before heading down the Ashton canal, on the peak forest as you approach the junction is good (after the liftbridge-and there are some rings in the grass there if you can find them and dig them up...). There's a big Asda nearby which is handy.

Not sure where to post this, but just on the off chance, am wondering if anyone on the forums might be able to give me a tow from Bathampton swing bridge to Darlington wharf visitor mooring. I have a 32ft narrowbeam GRP cruiser and it's not urgent (although I would like to be there for the end of the month). Typical of my ability to invite boating disaster, my propeller has fallen off (again-if anyone remembers the last time; this time entirely my own fault since I knew it wasn't well held on, I feel such a total moron). Anyhow, I have not enough time to source a new propeller and get it fixed in the next few weeks (assuming I could even get into a dry dock somewhere)- I've just started a PhD, I already have one million other things to do and stress about. Besides which, boat needs some other engineering work it will probably have to come out for, so it makes more sense to try and coordinate the two. I have a winter mooring booked at Darlington wharf, so if I can get there then I have no immediate need to move for the next few months, which will give me the breathing space to arrange all the work that needs doing before I'm boating again in the spring. Any help much appreciated.

So I have clearly somehow offended the boating gods, because in my latest run of bad luck I got my boat vandalised. Luckily mostly minor damage and mess (already cleaned up; smashed windscreen will be the biggest pain to fix). However, my bilge pumps aren't working and I'm having trouble figuring out why. When I switched my engine on initially, one of the bilge pumps automatically came on (I distinctly remember because I don't leave it on auto, and that made me realise a load of other switches were on too), so it was definitely working, and I'm sure I remember running the other one briefly to test it. I'm sure I also ran it once I had stopped as is my habit. I wasn't very thorough in checking the rest of the electrics, tested a few lights and it seemed fine. But when I came back to the boat later on nothing was working-being a moron I didn't think to check the main trip switches until the next morning and voila, everything working again, except the bilge pumps. There is a mystery disconnected wire inside the electrics of the cockpit console-it runs straight to the starter battery (i.e. not via the isolator switch) but like I said, the bilge pump was working before and I'm 90% sure that wire was disconnected before when they were still working (my priority was to move the boat somewhere safe so I didn't look at it too closely, but I don't see how it could have been disconnected between mooring up and a few hours later/the next morning). The bilge pumps afaik run off different fuses, so I don't know if they could have both blown at once (might have a secondary fuse for both? The wires and fuses in my boat are all over the place-I can't see where the wires behind the switches go; there is another set of fuses inside the little access door for the console but i think I can trace all those to various switches). Can anyone offer any ideas of what I should check to try and fix it?

As has already been said, you'd be looking at a day to do Dukinfield to Picadilly (there are a couple of places to moor there-Thomas Telford basin, or the offside after it, though the towpath side by Ducie street is also fine), then a further long day to do Picadilly to the Rose of Lancaster (which I think if I'm counting right is 20 locks?). I would definitely recommend teaming up with another boat and/or trying to get help from the CRT volunteers (although I think that can be hit and miss-when I did it I asked about help and then had nothing, ended up doing the ascent with another boat who had also tried and failed to get help from the volunteers). The first bit up the Rochdale is pretty tough; not too much trouble with the locks, but there's a lot of crap in the canal-I spent more time down my weed hatch in a day than I spent down it in a year previously! Got out tonnes of plastic, a pair of jogging bottoms, some sort of netting and wire thing that totally stopped my prop, bit of a nightmare on that front tbh, both me and the guy on the other boat were clearing our props every few locks at one point-and there are some tricky pounds with shallow parts and obstacles. It's particularly challenging coming through Newton Heath, bit of an obstacle course with one section where there is only a narrow channel in the centre. There isn't really anywhere to stop in between Picadilly and the Rose of Lancaster, although I did overnight on the far side of the basin near Tesco before Failworth lock 65 (a few kids being a nuisance and noisy from a bar on the road nearby but no major issues). I've also seen a couple of boats moored on the lock landings a few locks down by Morrisons, so if you really can't manage the last hour or so you would probably be okay to stop overnight there. You can put pins in by the Rose of Lancaster or there are bollards round the corner either side of the Irk Aqueduct. The Rochdale is lovely once you get out of Manchester. I'm yet to do the bit through Rochdale itself, but other than general rubbish (plastic bottles etc) can't see any real issues.

Thanks, that's helpful. Obviously that would be the ideal, but can't really do that right now for various reasons. Boat coming out in about 6 weeks anyway to be transported down south so I can probably get it checked at the same time but my priority right now is just to get it moving. The taper is standard for the shaft size, so the nut is very unlikely not to be. The prop is fitted (it was challenging but I have quadruple checked and measured everything along the way so I'm 99% sure it's fitted right) so it's just the nut and split pin that need to go on.

Need some help finding the right size nut for my new prop. Found a table which says the thread diameter for a standard 1" shaft should be 18mm, but I'm having trouble working out how that translates to how the sizes are specified in the ones I can see online. Can anyone point me in the right direction?

Maybe worth keeping in mind then still- slipways suitable for boat length would still be a hurdle though. I'm really well aware it's not an ideal area in terms of boating, but I can't afford to both pay to moor my boat elsewhere and rent in Bath, so either boat comes with and I find some way to make it work (ultimately I intend to do my utmost to try and find a permanent mooring, CCing will only be for the short term while I sort stuff out; I've CCd in central London though so I'm used to congestion) or boat has to go...which is obviously something I really really really really don't want to do since I love my boat.

I've looked at the option of having boat slipped in and out as I think it's right at the upper end to allow being put on a trailer (I had my previous boat delivered by trailer and slipped in but it was a bit smaller than current boat), but I think weight is an issue (it's about 3.8 tonnes from what I can calculate by displacement-I can get rid of some weight but I doubt I could get rid of the 800kg of weight needed to go to get boat + trailer down to the towing limit) so I think that wouldn't work.

I was having a scout round on satellite view on google maps and noticed that looked like a good spot. And yes, I know that part of the K&A is busy. My priority right now is getting the boat in at least the right place, and then I can tackle any problems with everything else I'm starting to get that feeling. I am more stressed about sorting out my boat issues than I am about the PhD, that's for sure!

It needs the coupling and prop shaft replacing, so expensive out of the water work. It's already broken down once and been temporarily repaired and they doubted I would get as far as Manchester...so yeah, not really willing to risk starting out on the 300 mile journey and breaking down half way. Kind of working on a wing and a prayer as it is. I do have to be in Bath to start my course; if I break down half way, I'm not only faced with boat fixing costs but the cost of renting somewhere in Bath and the difficulty of getting the boat the rest of the way. In light of that, the costs of moving by road seems more sensible than being stranded. Prop should be sorted, so like I said, I should be pretty okay for pootling about for the time being, the other problems mean it just isn't going to cope with a 300 mile 4 week journey without more extensive repairs. I will try Tuckeys. I did think doing it all with hiabs would make the most sense, but having had a look and not being familiar with the wider area either end not sure how to go about finding suitable places for taking boat out...maybe they will have some ideas though.

So, my plan for the year was to do a big canal tour up to Manchester from London and then do a return journey to Bath (where I start a PhD in September). But I've had some bad luck boat mechanics wise and whilst I am okay pootling about for now (at least I will be when I fit the new propeller!!), it is almost definitely not going to get me all the way to Bath. I think I've come to the conclusion I am not going to have enough time (or money in time) to both get it repaired and take it down by water, so I think moving it by road is looking like the feasible option (then plan is find a few mooring spots for October before hopefully going into winter mooring and then sorting repairs out over the winter). I'm struggling to work out a plan logisitics wise though. I have a 32ft GRP cruiser, want to have it taken out from somewhere around Manchester (I'm currently on the Rochdale but I suspect I will need to head back towards central Manchester) and put back in reasonably close to Bath as cheap as I can do it. I know Hilperton marina on the K&A have a crane (their price list says £365 for lift off transport-ouch) so I guess that's looking like a likely option, not sure what I'd be looking at doing this end though, or whether it might be cheaper to do the whole thing with a hiab (but then not sure about finding suitable locations for it either end?) Any help or recommendations for people to do the job much appreciated.

It was probably me, but it's too big. Fortunately, my finances are finally improving so I should be able to order a new one.

How 'rough' it is round Manchester is very hyped up I think. I didn't have any problems doing the Ashton flight at all except for some small problems with rubbish (someone had chucked some big foam slabs into the cut). Some of the paddles were very stiff though and there were some where only one side worked so it was quite hard. Tbh I think mooring on portland basin would probably fine-there were a couple of boats there when I was there and they seemed fine. I moored round the corner on the LPF after the swing bridge-there are actually quite a lot of rings there, but they seem to have been buried over when the towpath's been redone so the ones you can find are a bit sparse and again, totally fine. Mooring on the offside in Picadilly village and in Thomas Telford basin is 24 hours, there's also rings/bollards after Store Street aqueduct on the towpath side. Again, I moored there for a couple of weeks and had no problem at all (although it was a little noisy at weekends/when there was an event on at Etihad). Last I checked (a few weeks back) mooring at Castlefield basin is 72 hours. I was thinking of doing a trip down the Rochdale 9 to Castlefield, but it was so grim walking down the canal (it gets better once you get past where it crosses Oxford road in my opinion), especially where the locks went under buildings-dark and dank, smelly, some less than savory activities going on-that I decided I did not want to do it by myself so I gave it a miss. That's the only bit I'd say was not very nice.

I have already said-it is a PRM120D, which can only drive a RH prop. I have the manual; that is what it says. Linky? Doesn't come up in an ebay search.

Yes, the manual is for several models and says most of them can be used either way, but the 120 and one of the others had to be RH.

Googling seems to suggest its not a good idea? My gearbox user manual (PRM120D) though specifically says it should only be used with a RH prop.

So, I think I have determined I require a 12" diameter prop, 1" shaft, 1/12 taper, RH. Not sure on pitch (gearbox ratio of 2.5:1, max engine revs of 3000, reckon boat is about 3.5-4 tonnes, 32 ft) but priority is to get boat moving more than anything so really just need something that'll do for now. Having trouble trying to find anything suitable though; ebay has a few that seem like they would do except they're all LH for some reason. So if anyone knows of where I might be able to source a prop second hand or if anyone has one lying around that they might be willing to part with, let me know (in the Rochdale area but will travel).

There are a fair few low bits between Marple and Manchester. I have a canopy over my cockpit and took that and my chimney down for that whole stretch and found myself frequently glad I did. I tend to use my tunnel light as a guide-it's the tallest bit at the front of my boat and I think I've roughly measured it before at about 5'11-and certainly there were a few places it scraped under with not much to spare. I seem to remember a couple of bridges on the Marple flight (where the locks come out under a road) are fairly low (you might be alright with your plants, bike might want to come down), and there are some fairly low bridges on the lower peak forest as you approach Ashton (it's mostly the railway bridges as you get close to Ashton-they are flat and again, you are probably okay with the racks and plants), but Lumb Lane bridge on the Ashton canal is probably the lowest. It is flat though. The boaters guide gives 6ft but then says it's been measured at 6'4-so not sure how accurate that is-all I know is I properly had to duck-but all of the others have at least a couple of inches on that. You may also want to take care with the tunnels on the Peak Forest. Hyde Bank is low but wide so you may get away with it, but Woodley tunnel is likely to cause you issues with your roof racks-it has a towpath on one side and the arch on the other comes down very low. I kept very close into the towpath side and yet there wasn't much in it in some places between the tunnel roof and corners of my boat. It's only short, but I found it rather tricky and personally think it's lower than Harecastle.

There is not really much mooring between Rochdale and Manchester, is your problem. You will likely have to move further afield if you want to CC (though as is often the case, the trainline closely follows the canal so there is a direct train into Manchester Victoria along much of the Rochdale, certainly as far as Todmorden). Otherwise you would end up moving back and forth between the same mooring spots over a very short amount of time, which is not likely to comply with your license conditions as a boater without a home mooring (though the distance between Manchester and Rochdale probably wouldn't meet them anyway). After the city centre, there is pretty much nowhere until by The Rose of Lancaster in Chadderton (some moorings outside Tesco in Failsworth but that's only really okay for overnight, local kids can be a problem-I wouldn't leave a boat unattended for long there). The next lot of moorings are really then at Slattocks (all of the bank between is stone edging with a hard towpath-there are some bits of grass but I doubt you'd have much luck trying to get any pins in-when I needed to stop along that stretch because it was too windy, I ended up tying up overnight to a lock mooring). You might be able to moor with pins on a few bits between Slattocks and Rochdale but it is not recommended to stop in Rochdale (and I am not sure whether there are any suitable places to moor anyway) so your next mooring place would likely be Littleborough (after which there are a few more places to moor). There are also very few services on the Rochdale canal which is worth keeping in mind; after New Islington marina (which is going to close for a year after the summer for work to be done which is likely to mean the services will be out of action) the next place there is water and an elsan disposal is Littleborough, followed by Todmorden.

12" diameter is what I meant. It's a GRP cruiser so not a very big prop. I'm keeping an eye on ebay but will be doing all those measurements at least twice-and did already know I needed to check whether it was LH or RH so that also-before I spend any money.

Update: Spent the last week trying various methods and unfortunately not recovered original propeller, so I guess it is onto trying to source a second hand prop (I cannot afford a new one currently). I don't know if my engine is much help in finding a prop (I have a Perkins 400 series- 403C-11). I've done a few rough measurements through the weed hatch for the clearance and think 12 inch span is what's needed. Need to check measurements for taper still, only really had a quick poke about (before accepting I was not likely to find my lost prop) so need to go back and do some more accurate measurements (and I'm not on boat today so it'll have to wait).

Both places are fine. I got the impression when I came through Stone the VM below the bottom lock were often quite full though (it certainly was at the time-I just about squeezed in). Mind you, there was no one moored on the moorings above the lock at all. There are lots of mooring places at Stoke. There are moorings as you come out of the top lock (I stayed there for a couple of days when I came through there-I was the only boat moored there oddly; there were plenty moored in other places but no boats there, but it was completely fine), some moorings round the corner on the Caldon canal, and more moorings further on just past Festival Park Marina (near the Toby Carvery) which is where most people seem to moor.

All the good ideas have giving me the confidence to I have a go at a few options to try and fish prop out (will give local diving club a try, if no luck there thinking purchasing an inflatable dinghy and something to poke about with would do the trick at least to locate it). Having thought over my entrance to the lock and attempt to slow down, I can narrow down where it will be to a quarter of the lock so it's not a massive area to search over so fingers crossed will get lucky. Will let you know how I get on...

It's fairly short...I am tempted. I can see the consensus is that the best move is to try and fish it out though. I'm 100% sure I could not do it on my own (it's just me-I'm 5'1, I do not have any sort of long pole or fishing net or anything, my boat is now 4 locks up, I don't have access to any small boats) but maybe I can get my brother to come on a wading mission with me at the weekend (and I'll supervise )

I think the prop fell off almost certainly in the lock itself (I didn't put it into reverse until I was in the lock)...which I would imagine is not a safe place for anyone to go diving about in? Also not somewhere I can reach to try and find it by poking about. Though I guess that does narrow it down to that one half of the lock where it's likely to be.