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Big Ade

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  • Gender
    Male
  • Location
    Sheffield
  • Interests
    Family, mixed martial arts, motorcycling, shooting, fishing, hunting, making/repairing stuff and cruising.
  • Occupation
    Retired
  • Boat Name
    Ghenoar Wittlin
  • Boat Location
    Clayworth (RWBC)

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  1. Whilst cruising (Sawley to London and back) this year we met a few boat owners, who have for a few weeks a year, swapped their boats for the houses of overseas visitors. Over the years they have had holidays in New Zealand, Vancouver, Florida, Hawaii, South Africa and Thailand. All they had to find was their air fare and car hire. In the process they have forged strong and enduring friendships. This sounds appealing to my wife and I but at this stage we are only thinking about it, we recognise that there will be risks, pitfalls and implications that need to be mitigated. I did ask how they acheived this and to be fair I was told (more than once) but I had my wife listening ears on which make me nod and put information into short term memory which is then cleared for other stuff that might happen or has happenned. So has anyone out there any information or experience and advice on swapping their boat? One of the chaps also did a boat swap for one on the Canal du Midi too. I stress that we are merely considering this at the moment and if we are convinced it is for us we won't be minded to actually do anything until 2019 (an eventful year). Ade
  2. Yep, it was "1970's" and I felt right at home, but chips in a basket! Who thought that was a good idea? So I did the proper thing and tipped them out onto my plate.
  3. Our river pilot was Ben McCann, he is six generation riverman operating via his uncle's company (Thames Link Marine Ltd.) to assure you that it is all bona. Ben works on the river buses as his regular job so he has all the knowledge and patter of interesting sights ans history on the passage. Our trip was exciting, challenging and informative. Ben kept us out of danger especially as the huge river busses were manoevering to the piers, he knew what they were attempting, he also knew the channels and currents I needed to take or avoid. Without him I would have been properly stuffed. If anybody wants to use Ben's services send me a PM and I will send you his phone number. Ade
  4. Tim Thanks for the photos we have ordered them all. I hoped we could get London as a background to the boat but could not organise a shore line photographer. You came to our rescue with these shots, thanks once again. Ade
  5. Thanks for the heads up on the Salter mooring. I tried to call the Town Council to get some verification but no joy so to avoid any issues we moved and moored at Shillingford and rewarded ourselves with a hotel dinner (used the Tastecard so mitigated the cost a little). The meatballs and spaghetti has to wait for another night. Thanks for the info this really is a good place to find things out. Ade
  6. We are on the mooring just upstream of the three arch bridge. Just been told that the canoeists are only using this until Salted Steamers return to this space later tonight. That doesn't sound like casual usage to me, in fact it seems more like commercial use. Ade
  7. We arrived at 24 hour visitor moorings in Wallingford to see a handwritten note pinned to the mooring post stating that the 90 foot of space, the only space left, was reserved for (can't read the writing). Rang the Environment Agency (EA) and spoke to Graham who was very helpful and he said that he was not aware that visitor mooring could be reserved. To be sure he contacted the local lock keeper but all he would offer was the 24 hour fee. Another EA chap called me back a little later and told me that you can book space but only on the less popular mooring sites. The very busy or high demand mooring sites are simply filled on a first come first served. It turns out the (can't read the writing) were a bunch on canoeists, so the 30 foot behind me is plenty for them. Ade
  8. When I was a lad in Sheffield sweets were still on ration but some sweet stuff wasn't, there was licorice root, tiger nuts and locus beans. You can still get tiger nuts at the nut stall in The Moor Market, I last saw licorice root in the sweet shop oposite The Castle pub in Skipton and the last time I saw locus bean bits was in the Guinea Pig food my kids were feeding to the herd they had grown. I have not seen for a long time my favourite licorice . It is a little stick (2 inches long and slimmer than a pencil) of very hard and brittle licorice. You could lick it to a shart point and get a tongue blacker than a fire back. Imps, Nigroids and Nippits are all similar, you used to be able to buy Imps loose at Wicker Herbal Stores by the Peace Gardens, they were much cheaper there. Incidentaly that sweet shop in Skipton has some salty licorice that is really nice. As a parting observation, have you noticed that there is rarely a single real licorice piece in licorice allsorts anymore. Ade PS All places above are Sheffield unless it is Skipton. PPS You get a very fine pint of Theakston's Old Peculiar in The Castle in Skipton
  9. We have been cruising for some years, initially using hire boats but for the past 2 years we have had our owned boat. We have doen the Leeds/Liverpool, Cheshire ring, Llangollen, Trent/Mersey and others and are currently in London having come down the Grand Union. We are constantly amazed at the diversity and abundance of wildlife we see as we cruise along. It lifts my heart to see a Kingfisher dart across our bows and see an Otter disapear into the undergrowth at the water's edge. On the GU we saw white Egrets and then some Terrapins the size of a small dinner plate. One thing we are struck by though is the dramatic reduction in the wildfowl population (swans, geese and ducks). It is not a trick of memory because we actually have photos of the canal at Stanley Ferry where the canal is dotted with lots of white swans all the way into the distance. We saw six last year at the same time of year and from same place (marina). We also see a lot of swans without a mate and we never noticed this before (they pair for life I am told). Apparently this loss of waterfowl is also apparent in the city parks too. I know we had the bird flu fright earlier this year but I thought the precautions taken managed to avoid an outbreak in the UK and anyway the depletion started before that scare. It does seem strange that such a dramatic change has not been officially noticed and if it has why do we not know what has caused it and how it is being addressed. I asked an RSPB warden if there was an explanation but he said nothing and just looked straight at me, threw his eyes up to the sky walked away. Anyone any ideas? Ade
  10. Adam Your trip looked awsome and a little daunting for a river novice like me. Talking to other boaters down here we were given the name and contact details of a river pilot. I called Ben and we are now sorted. We will be sailing with an experienced Thames river pilot on board from Limehouse up the river on Saturday 29th July on an early tide opportunity. Thanks for all the help and advice we are very much more at ease now and looking forward to the trip. Ade
  11. Martin Thank you for that link, very interesting and raises more concerns about my ability. Our boat in its current form was sailed up the Humber from Hull docks to Thorne so I have no worries about the boat's capabilities. Is it possible to hire a pilot to guide me up the river? We wear lifejackets on the rivers and our boat has all the safety kit mentioned but no VHF. Ade
  12. We have come down to London on the GU to take a leisurely break and see the sights and attractions that we have previously had to speed view with our kids. As we came nearer to London we noticed that mooring became much more difficult, there are a higher percentage of 'near end of life craft' and a great many unlicenced or expired licence boats moored on the towpath. An examample, just after Cumberland Basin on a 7 day mooring there were 8 boats and only 4 displayed a valid CRT licence. I know it is not a legal requirement to display the licence (it ought to be) but we just haven't seen this so often elsewhere. On our cruise down we met three boats with young couples aboard, they were on their way to London and intended to use their boats as live aboards whilst they worked in the City. It makes perfect financial sense, they are recommending the same tactic to their friends too. Talking to the marina owners down here they say that this is a real issue for them. Anyone any views on this? Ade
  13. Since March we have moved our boat from Sawley marina (Long Eaton) down the GU and are rested up by Kings Cross at Battlebridge Basin. Thinking of going back North to Sawley via Oxford, Birmingham and maybe spur off to Llangollen before laying her (boat) up for the winter. Anyone done the Limehouse to Teddington river bit, we would welcome any advice or information. Thanks Ade
  14. Wow, there are some sensitive souls on here. Just about all humour is based on someone's or something's misfortune, fortunately I am gifted in being able to laugh at such circumstances. (unless it is from Ricky Gervais, Alan Carr or Jack Whitehall who are nowhere near as funny as they think they are). Now the bullocks, the fields they were in were interconnected, that means the farmer INTENDED them to move about. Were they distressed? Well they are now, we passed by the same fields and we were told that they have all gone to slaughter. My encounter might have briefly brightened up their mundane existance I don't think they were stressed in any way, my uncle had a mixed farm and I grew up working with farm animals. Some of my farmer friends give their young bulls a big ball to butt about (rather than each other) the bullocks seem to enjoy it, they toss their heads and paw the ground, hmmm. On a lighter note, anyone interested in a boozy night of cock fighting, badger baiting and finishing up with a nocturnal shoot at a local RSPB reserve. Blue touch paper lit and fizzing. Ade
  15. I've been doing a bit (well a lot actually) of bull baiting recently. It's a blast. My 57 foot boat has a bow thruster and I when I used it to manouver next to field of young bullocks they all became very interested at the noise it made. At first it was just one or two then the others got up and came over. The closest started to toss their heads and paw the ground, much like the fighting bulls of Spain. So as we cruised alongside their field I gave burst of thruster. I moved a herd of 30+ excited bullocks across two fields and about 1/4 of a mile. I've tried it on other bullocks and bulls with the same interest and effect. Anyone else noticed or tried this? Ade
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