CDS

Nice one

Not usually the case with van hire,no. Don't forget that B&Q and some others do van hire by the hour now

You may be right Julian,Testiculation? Gesticulation? Wetherspoons Time? Join me in the virtual pub,Graham M has got them in and Tsinca has popped to the toilet as its his round next

With respect Graham and I don't mean that in a derogatory fashion,I don't know how stressful Alan has found the process. I like personally to see a bit of debate even argument and to be honest Alan is old school and therefore my respect for his thoughts and opinions would be greater than perhaps for some other posters so perhaps that colours my position.We have seen the reports and drawn our conclusions fair or otherwise,I was hoping for Alan to come back and say "well its in the public domain,and I think this" Instead we have been made to feel discourteous and disrespectful for wanting Alan to participate,sometimes the issue is bigger than the man and Alan has been through a process which we maybe all could learn something from.I believe Jenlyn alluded to that in an earlier post.

I am not an apologist for NBW,I am an avid reader so I view their content as I do this forums. I am glad we agree on the value of Alans contribution,I am not pressing him on the issue but simply saying to him what my questions are and through that trying to stimulate the thread. I refuse to believe Alan Fincher would find me disrespectful as he knows I am an honest broker so to speak.He like yourself has my respect,I hope I enjoy yours

As is prerogative,sadly there are clowns on all forums,some may even include me in that grouping. I hope you have deduced that all I want from this thread is what I have already highlighted,I have no position to take nor axe to grind

I disagree completely, its a witch hunt against narrowboatworld,he is guilty of sensationalist reporting at worst. Respecting both Alan Fincher and your own positions can I sincerely and candidly ask for a straight yes or no to the following, Do you think like I do, that this thread would have been better with Alan Finchers participation?

I can freely say that I sent Alan Fincher a personal message a few days ago and got no reply.

Agree with you 100%. Its gone a bit like the Freemasons.We are all here for a bit of constructive debate and comment and Alan could add to that and frankly its a pity he hasn't.As far as respecting Alans wishes not to comment and demanding he answer my questions,I haven't demanded anything but merely state some points that are of concern both to me and hopefully some others.Is it better perhaps we concentrate on attacking Narrowboat World?

Of course he is taken seriously,I have found him pretty accurate in what he has said. Alan did say in his report his sons actions caused the bow to drop and I think some of you are playing the man rather than the post.Last time I looked the thread wasnt about journalistic standards or the lack of.They have no adequate standard for the operation or training of VLK,some locks are badly maintained.Very sad that some of you are intent on attacking Narrowboat World rather than CRT.I am disappointed that Alan Fincher has left the stage,I have seen him looking at the thread without commenting,why is that?What is your opinion on CRT now Alan? did you play it wrongly in your softly softly approach?has the outcome met your expectations? was it an accident rather than incident and could that have been more beneficial to the outcome?Did you contemplate the HSE route as Rufford has suggested? Whats the story with these lack of witness statements?I have heard from the usual keyboard terrorists now I would appreciate hearing from you.

Its getting that CRT support the boater and the network the same way a rope supports a hanging man

Your turning into a hero of mine,was that you at the storming of the Iranian Embassy swinging on the curtains? Oh I see,simulated supposition.Is that the best kind?

Surely in an emergency situation, people can and will do all sorts of things and anything else is supposition. Painting David as James Bond serves no purpose,though to be fair you are on record as saying that most of your posts are supposition.Its a blame culture and CRT have put some his way,I think the replacing of the bolts does more for the Finchers case than anything else.Alan has been the victim of shoddy maintenance of a lock, is he happy about the report? I guess not. Would it have been better processed as an accident rather than incident? I guess that depends on what Alan wanted to achieve.I must agree with Jenlyn that he had a right to post as he did, its his motives I question and I think the thread is poorer for Alan Finchers absence.

I think you are drilling into the detail now,when you speak of accident or incident.Its a personal opinion but I believe Alan was if anything,to gentlemanly in his dealings with CRT regarding the incident. Some may say "well it concerned him so its his call" and I understand that.Would it have gone better with all guns blazing?

You have the motive right already Barry,perhaps like me you haven't spotted the " irony"

There is no irony,Alan has already stated his position,maybe you want to take your own advice regarding the counting. I am sure Alan would be overcome regarding you giving him a chance to express his opinions,however lets not derail the thread with your petulance irony?

Well for a start there is the title of the thread with its question mark added.What are you calling into question?

Posts are easy played especially ones that put a question mark over a much respected boaters version of events

Anyone being mischievous here,I think its you,under the guise of giving the forum "the other side" as you quaintly put it. All I can see is CRT have seized on two issues,the length of the boat and the actions of the Finchers son,these will no doubt be debated here for a day or two but its hardly a smoking gun. With the exception of the dome headed bolts I don't think Alan had a chance of proving culpability of CRT or their volunteers.What I find interesting is the references made about historic craft and how they use the locks,you wonder if we are going to end up with situation similar to steam trains on the railway.

Good on you Dave!

It is a strange thread,first thing I thought was it was out of place on here, "put it on here in goodwill to help them out" maybe its the vetting process that annoys.I hate that secret squirrel rubbish. I caught a member on the water point at Willowbridge Marina looking at the Bentley,alas the ice will be broken now I thought, he looked at me scowled and retreated to the replica boatman's cabin on his replica tug.I blame my wretched Glasgow accent

Do you know the biggest problem that I have found as a CC with a seventy foot boat? Its the abundance of wide beams that seem to moor in groups with just enough gaps between them to prevent you mooring,another problem is that there seems to be a lot of people cruising in groups,young couples etc than there used to be.A benefit that I have noticed from CRT,s more robust enforcement process is that there are locations now with fewer boats moored so I guess it may even out in the end.

I know they stopped trading,I meant exclusivity on behalf of the owner.My friend owns Willow Too and he seems happy with it.Bit tongue in cheek regarding the pride of the Hudson Owner,didn't know they had an owners club.

It looks to me that Beacon who did the fit out are trying to create a bit of exclusivity, only the second one to come to market etc.If you listen carefully you will hear all those Hudson Owners laughing.