Grassman

I didn't realise you were an American 😮

Theres a Nb that's been moored near Bridge 55 on the T&M just along from Kings Bromley Marina for over 3 years. It has a licence number so it's identifiable but appears to be getting away with it. They are liveaboards and were thrown out of the marina after a row with the then management, so they've so far saved a tidy sum of money, over £10,000 in mooring fees. Whatever reason they've given to CRT surely shouldn't justify being there that length of time? She works locally doing cleaning jobs and when out walking or cruising past in my boat I've often seen her carrying things up and down the towpath, but I don't know about her partner as I never see him.

I can see businesses either introducing a separate waste disposal surcharge or merely covering the extra costs by increasing their fees accordingly. In the case of CRT, they would probably make that a higher surcharge for boaters without a home mooring on the basis they’d be using their facilities much more than others, which would be kind of understanable, but another kick in the teeth for the genuine CC'ers.

My 'squeezing every penny' comment was merely referring to what the moorers here and at other Aquavista marinas had told me, hence my OP asking about electricity charges, which after reading the comments on here I've now realised are actually quite competitve. But in the short time I've been here I've discovered that their charges for other goods and services are comparitively quite high and that's why I had assumed (wrongly as it transpires) that their electric charges were as well. Thanks everyone for your helpful replies.

I didn't realise this. It's 12 years since I lived on the land so I'm out of touch with the costs. Thankfully!!!

Thanks for your helpful replies so far. I suppose their 31p doesn't look too bad then. Their charge for connection to the post is £6.50 a month which seems quite steep though. It's the first Aquavista owned marina I've stayed at and I've been told by others that they're very good at squeezing every penny they can out of their moorers. Allegedly of course 😉

A marina we are in for the winter is charging 31p per unit for electric hook up, plus a charge for the connection to the post. This price per unit seems quite high to me and I wondered how it compares with other marinas and moorings?

Back in the days when I lived in a house, a neighbour up the road used to let his dog out every morning and it would do a dump on my front lawn. After several abortive requests for him to stop doing it (the neighbour not the dog), I waited until the dog’s dump was a particularly sloppy one, scooped it up with a shovel and knocked on the neighbour’s front door. As he opened the door (still in his pyjamas) I dumped the contents of the shovel on his doorstep, made a suitable comment and walked away. It never happened again.

What about the Daniel Adamson which does regular trips on the River Weaver and the Manchester Ship Canal? It would accommodate more people than most trip boats. There's also 2 trip boats which do the Manchester Ship Canal, one of which is an ex Mersey Ferry I believe.

We're on Googe Streetview going through Common Lock at Fradley. I didn't notice the streetview car at the time but a friend told me we were on it. I don't watch many of those Vloggers on YouTube but apparently we are on a few of those too. But there is one we're on that I know about, and that was when we were following Foxes Afloat emerging from Savick Brook into the Ribble Estuary. After they'd messed it up it up they then filmed me following them and making a perfect turn into the estuary 😀.

Then there's the joggers and cyclists who have their dogs trotting/running along behind them, often a fair way back. They're so intent on their activity they never look back to see what the dog is doing, and probably if they do notice they won't bother to go back and pick it up for fear of interrupting their rhythm. Also you often see a poor elderly dog really struggling to keep up with them which always saddens me.

Do you have a link to this please, as I cannot find anything? We bought a part share in Nb Cropredy 6 months before Ownerships went bust. I know the basics of what happened with them but would be interested to find out more. Our part ownership was the opposite to this. All of us had to take all our stuff away with us after each use, the thought being that what might be useful or nice to one owner wouldn't necessarily be so for anyone else.

I'm not sure if the OP means whether he/she wants to blacklist a marina or if the OP fears that they will be blacklisted themself. But if it's the latter then most marinas can throw you out without giving a good reason and the fact that you've made a complaint can sometimes prompt them to do so, as I know of a few marinas who have done this including the one I'm at. Some can be that petty. Some might well inform the other marinas in their group about you, meaning you could be blacklisted from those too, but I doubt they would inform the marinas owned by other companies.

We tell friends and family not to bother sending us cards because we've nowehere practical in the boat to mount or hang them. That means that because they don't send us any cards then we don't have to send them either. It saves us a fortune and everybody's happy and knows where they stand 🙂

Like a lot of people have, we've done it in 3 stages 1. Hiring nearly every year - expensive but lots of choice for cruising areas. - no restrictions 2. Boat sharing for 5 years - more weeks a year and a fraction of the cost of hiring - only having to pay a 12th of the maintenance and other cost - restrictions - you don't always get your own way regarding choices 3. Boat owning - unlimited amount of cruising - 100% own choice of where to base it, what to spend on it etc - 100% of the maintenance and other costs to pay - being able to live aboard full time Having now lived aboard for the last 12 years the only thing I miss about hiring or sharing is not having my pre-booked week(s) to look forward to anymore 😀.

The TV series featuring Battersea Dogs Home must have brought in a lot of extra support and funds for them. They should get that Canal Boat Diaries fellow to mention in his programmes the funding issues and deterioration of the network. After all, he benefits financially from broadcasting his life on the canals and so do the TV companies, so it's time he did something in return.

I had this issue last year. My 30 year old BMC 1.8 (my boats original engine) expired and quotes for repairs or reconditioning were around the £3k to 4k mark but with only a short guarantee obviously. While most reconditions turn out to be a good solution I have heard of a fair amount of instances when they don't work out, even when done by reputable company. So I decided to go for a new engine costing £10k including installation. I was planning to keep the boat and continue to do some extensive cruising for the foreseeable future (health permitting at my age 🙁), but if circumstances meant I'd have to sell the boat sooner that planned, at least the new engine would add some value to the boat. Obviously not £10k but hopefuly half of that, or at a very minimum at least it should make the boat more sellable, especially as it's recent hull survey (30 year insurance stipulation) revealed it was in excelent condition. And if I were to get that £5k extra when selling the boat , then my net cost of £5k wouldn't be much more than I would have paid for a recon. I suppose it's a bit like with a house say for example you have a new kitchen or an extension, you never recoup the full cost but it does usually add some value.

We used Stuart for the passage in 2021. He was very good and we learnt a lot about the locality and it's history too. Just make sure you have a plenty of tea/coffee and a nice selection of biscuits for him and you'll be fine.

I had a mate who moved from Aston Marina because of the noisy wedding receptions they hold nearly every weekend. There are two pools and he was in the one furthest away one. He was a liveaboard though, so it might not be such an issue for others. I've no experience with Great Haywood Marina. It does have a railway line literally next to it but it's not a particularly busy one.

I'm involved with the IWA every winter since 2017 vegetation cutting (mainly on the offside) in the south Staffs area -Trent & Mersey, Coventry Canal, Staffs & Worcs. We have a wood chipper (except this winter) but if we have somewhere to put the branches we will dump them rather than chipper them as it helps the environment. But if they are suitable for boat stoves then people are fine helping themselves, and sometimes if we have time we will cut big branches into smaller sizes to make them easier for people to carry back to their boat. As well as helping themselves to ones on the towpath side, generally, if any offside ones are reachable from a boat then it's okay to help yourself. We're currently on the Coventry Canal near Whittington and heading south, so keep your eye open for some 🙂

When I was a pest controller I did the occasional bat survey and they paid handsomely. So much so that many of my colleagues went full time doing bat surveys. They were highly in demand and earned a very good living from it. It's no wonder costs are escalating so much when all these interested parties have such a say in matters. It's got way out of hand but nobody dares to query their theories or stand up to them.

Ours is through the roof so it doesn't matter which way round the boat is. We also have a downpipe from the roof to the tank for flushing with water, but find that a bucket of water directly into the toilet pan with the flap open and a stick to stir does a better job.

There's a chance the Handsacre Link idea might be abandoned now. Shugborough Tunnel is already a bottleneck and it's felt that the extra trains would just add to the problem. There are now 3 options being considered. An 'Opportunity Through Connectivity' report on a Midlands-North West Rail link replacement for the cancelled HS2 route for the Greater Manchester and West Midlands Mayors considers three options. A. upgrading existing infrastructure which would include a flyover at Colwich junction and Shugborough Tunnel widening. B. a mix of upgrades and bypasses which would reinstate the HS2 route around Stafford from Fradley to Norton Bridge, but saving cost with a lower line speed, smaller loading gauge, and ballasted track. C. an entirely new railway which would follow the HS2 route to Crewe, with a later connection to NPR and Manchester. The report recommends C, funded partly with private capital, and urges the Government to reinstate safeguarding, and retain the land bought for the Phase 2a route. The government has indicated that it is considering the report. A lower maximum speed will ease the noise problem of the Trent & Mersey Canal crossing at Great Haywood Marina, and Concept B seems the least destructive, most effective, and most affordable way forward.

I believe CRT have about 120 reservoirs, all of which are now having to be checked more regularly and with some needing to have remedial maintenance carried out. I believe the same conditions apply to any reservoir in the country not just CRT's.

Thanks for your helpful answers. I have boated the canal on two previous occasions (1996 & 2009) so I know all about it's beauty and stunning scenery, hence my reason for wanting to do it again. Having spoken to a few others who have tried the fully electric and the hybrid options, it seems that the huge weight of the batteries on what is already a heavily silted and bendy canal can at times cause problems with regular grounding and especially so with the hybrid ones, something which you others have now confirmed. Perhaps both methods are rather 'old hat' nowadays, and I wonder why they haven't changed to lithium batteries and solar panels. Perhaps this is because lithiums are more unforgiving if damaged by an inexperienced hirer, and therefore more costly to replace, and that solar panels would be fairly ineffective because of the canal being mainly tree covered? It's good to see that the charging points are reasonably well located, but you'd still miss out on the spontaneity of being able to moor virtually wherever you like, although the possibility of being able get away with not having to charge every day would certainly help. At the maximum speed (2.5mph) does the noise of the motor increase? One chap told be that there is a significant 'whirring' noise at that speed. If this is the case then I wonder if it's any quieter than some diesel engines at the same speed. The reason I ask is because mine has a hospital silencer and sound insulated deck boards so it's fairly quiet anyway.