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steve7a3

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Everything posted by steve7a3

  1. Has anyone actually resolved this issue yet? I have the same problem. New plugs don’t match the old plugs. Has anyone actually tried the new plugs and do they work?
  2. Brilliant!! Looks like the Mazona is the one! Thank you people!
  3. Ah! I didn't know that! Thanks. I'd still kind of like to know what make it is though.
  4. Could anyone in this erstwhile community please help me identify the make and model of this stove? It has absolutely no branding on it anywhere and I need to replace the grate as it has a fairly large hole in th middle.
  5. Is this based on the adage that "You are what you eat", therefore a cow is a vegetable because it only eats grass? I like that!
  6. Currently on my second Jabsco Parmax. The first one lasted 4 years and then started leaking into the motor housing. From what I've heard it seems think water pumps are fast becoming disposable items. Hunted everywhere for a service kit for the Jabsco and it seems they are unavailable.
  7. So, Tattenhall Marina is now selling and mooring widebeams apparently. I have questions: A. Who buys a widebeam if they're not planning on living on it? I believe Tattenhall is still a leisure only marina? B. How far can you cruise in a widebeam from Tattenhall Marina? C. How do you get your widebeam into Tattenhall Marina in the first place? Can't imagine bringing a 70ft wide through the village or over the railway bridge. D. From experience with a 52ft narrowbeam, I'm not sure how you'd even manage to get a 60ft widebeam into or out of Tattenhall Marina without a very large shoehorn. 70ft? Good luck with that!
  8. Saw a customer in the butchers today wearing surgical gloves, which were split, with his thumb hanging out. I don't know at which point he removed the gloves but they looked like he'd had them on at least since he got up in the morning. So many people simply aren't understanding the mechanisms involved in transmission of this virus.
  9. I've lived, happily, in 52ft for four years and not felt particularly cramped. Yes, longer is better (isn't it always!?), but don't get fall into the trap of thinking you must have 60ft to be comfortable.
  10. Picked mine up in Dewsbury then took it to Tattenhall (Chester) via the Calder and Hebble/ Rochdale route. A nine day trip according to Canalplan. Took me 6 weeks but I learned a lot! Almost everyone I met along the way told me I'd picked a baptism of fire. They weren't wrong! Luckily I missed the floods by a few weeks!
  11. This post cannot be displayed because it is in a forum which requires at least 10 posts to view.
  12. Not sure of the true legalities of this, but I've heard suggestions that an AirBNB style "letting" isn't the same as renting, at least with a not-floating home. I have no idea how CRT view casual, paid "use by friends" type of letting as opposed to actual "renting". I also know of one situation where a boat owner allows a friend to live on a boat as "caretaker". They have a signed agreement and the friend pays all costs, ie: mooring, licence, insurance but no actual profit is (officially at least) paid or earned. Something like this can work where one owns a surplus boat that they don't want to necessarily part with.
  13. Ouch!! Just as well he'd have compulsory £3m third party insurance cover! Of course, his insurance company will probably try to cite wear and tear on the mooring lines.
  14. My method is very simple. Point the boat at where you want to hit. Back off the throttle and hope it doesn't hit too hard. Wait for crew member to stop shouting at you to (and I quote) "stop the bloody boat, you knob. Can't you get it any closer?" and step off the boat (usually from the opposite end of the boat from that which you have managed to get closest to the bank) with a centre rope. Attempt to, magically, bring the boat to a compete stop against any wind and/or current, perfectly centred next to aforementioned crew member and the nearest ring/bollard. Stop engine. Step off boat and tie up stern and bow lines in complete silence whilst avoiding any interaction with crew member for at least the next 15 - 20 minutes. In the rare event that crew member actually ends up in the water, proceed as you would for single handed boating and avoid crew member for at least double the above time. Prepare to re-llve the experience, verbally, for at least the next 12 - 18 months, particularly if in company with other boaters. Even worse if you step off the boat on the side opposite your throttle control!
  15. Roydon Marina? Would that be Lakeland Leisure? Not like them to try doing things on the cheap is it? (Where is that sarcasm font, btw?)
  16. Your experience with the old maintenance team at Tattenhall is certainly at odds with mine, and pretty much everyone else I've ever spoken too. In the almost four years that I was moored there I always found them extremely approachable, helpful and professional in every interaction I had with them. Even when I was blacking my own boats (I have two) they were quite willing to provide assistance and advice. I tend to do as much of my own work, including electrical, wherever I can so it was very helpful to have expert people I knew I could talk to along with a well stocked and readily accessible chandlery. Their departure was a serious loss for the marina and a source of a lot of the ill will that now exists there. The few interactions I had with the new workshop team showed them to be quite the opposite. Expensive and off-handed and not necessarily particularly knowledgable. The chandlery is rarely open and when it is, it's staffed by people with very little knowledge of boats or the products they sell. As for the marina itself, physically it was a lovely place to moor a boat and to spend time. Room for dogs to run and easy access to the towpath. The cafe was a happy and welcoming place and there was a great community spirit. Sadly that was all in the past. While it's still a great location it has been seriously let down by its management who have shown a chronic disregard for their clients. Lack of maintenance which lead to unsafe jetties, especially in winter, with inevitable falls a constant cause for complaint. The cafe now caters more to the passing cyclists and walkers than it does to marina moorers. Dogs seemingly actively discouraged. It's unsurprising, therefore that the marina is now significantly unpopulated with many more boaters vowing to leave and not come back. In my opinion, best avoided for anything other than an overnight stop on your way to or from Chester.
  17. There’s really no need for violence!
  18. Latest news from Tattenhall Marina is that they have now stopped external contractors coming on site. This is to prop up the untried, unknown and as yet untrusted workshop crew who they bought in to replace the crew who were well known, knowledgeable and widely trusted but whom they fired, for no good reason, at short notice towards the end of 2018: The first shot in the downfall of what used to be a generally happy marina environment but which has, in recent months descended into a quagmire of unrest, annoyance, mass departures and near anarchy. All this due to Lakeland Leisures policy of heavy handed dictatorship with no attempt at consultation or communication with their clients. Their solution to all the complaints arising from their actions over the last few months is to expel boaters, ban contractors and offer wild and pointless "incentives" in an attempt to prop up what is now a clearly failing business. No attempt whatsoever to reach out to those who have genuine grievances, other than to threaten them or, in at least one case, actually evict them. Such a pity. It was a nice place once. If anyone on Tattenhall Marina, or anywhere in the area, wants work done and doesn't want to give any more money to LL, if you're willing to take your boat off the marina for good, honest and reliable work, call Andy Blandford (A.B. Narrowboats) on 07831577116. He's offering a £5/hr discount for Tattenhall moorers. I don't work for him but I do know the quality of his work and that you can trust him.
  19. Latest update on the Lllangollen stoppage: https://canalrivertrust.org.uk/notices/15477-bridge-21-wrenbury-frith-bridge-to-marbury-lock-llangollen-canal 2 to 3 weeks all up, but they're hoping to be able to complete it under restricted navigation once they've done an initial repair.
  20. If he was at Wrenbury he could walk up and ask them! My boat is just below Wrenbury and I walked up to where they have closed the canal (Bridge 21) and spoke to the guys there yesterday. It's not a long walk.
  21. That's an interesting theory although the mind boggles at how much backfill they'd need to do the job! There was a rumour (and I believe planning) for them to extend the business to include vans and cabins on the adjoining fields. Maybe they're planning on just keeping the "lake" as part of the feature for that. They certainly don't seem to really understand boats at all!
  22. Wise move Andy, not that you had much choice from what I hear! I visited there again early this week and was amazed at just how empty it is. I recall having to wait for an empty berth on J Jetty when I wanted to move just over a year ago. Now there are so many empty berths you could change your mooring on a daily basis and not have to repeat for a good while! Interestingly though, my two boats are still listed on the board weeks after I took both of them out, as are a few others that I know have left, so I think they are trying to kid themselves, or more likely potential new moorers, into thinking things aren't as bad as they really are.
  23. I agree. Aqueduct isn't too far away. Much better maintained and is now offering (surprise!, surprise!) free lift-outs for 12 month moorings.
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