Grassman

We've moored at Kings Bromley marina for the last 5 years. It is virtually as close to Lichfield as Kings Orchard is. It's an attractively landscaped marina, has decent toilet, showers/bath, laundry facilities, a moorer's lounge and a summer house that you book for your own personal use free of charge. Dogs are allowed off the lead in all areas and there are numerous poo bins meaning there is rarely any mess on the ground. There is a brook running alongside the marina if you want to cool your dog off. The second of the 2 pools can be quite windy, also if you need to use the pump out or diesel and have a pram hood, the little bridge between the 2 pools is very low and narrow. Car parking by your boat isn't usually a problem, but if you have a second car it has to be parked in the main car park by the entrance. A shed can be hired for around £350 pa but there is usually a small waiting list. As for wheelchair friendliness, there are some pontoons which are accessed via a ramp but a lot have steps. I haven't moored in KO but have visited there in our boat. It certainly is exposed to the wind, the wind turbine just behind it is testament to that. I think the two things that KO has over KB is having a pub within 10 minutes walk, and direct access to the towpath. The nearest pub to KB is either 2 miles along the towpath in either direction or over a mile along a busy main road, and access to the towpath is via a 200 yard walk along the main road to the bridge.

As an aside, does anybody know if the cafe' allows dogs in there? Someone on Tripadvisor recently said they are, but the website says they aren't. We are meeting friends there in a few weeks and the weather might not be suitable for sitting outside. I thought that perhaps they do allow dogs now but just haven't updated their website.

Yesterday when a lot of you were suffering a humid 30+c we were a comfortable 22c at Hest Bank on the Lancaster Canal . Today it's down to 18c and a 20+mph westerly wind coming off the bay. I hope the wind calms down on Friday for our Ribble crossing!

Thanks for the additional replies. I was convinced it was a bad idea after the first to answers and now I'm even more so . Whoever told me that is was quite a common practice had obviously got it wrong. They'd probably heard it from somebody who'd heard it from somebody else etc etc.

I'm not sure what the technical word is for this part of the hull, so please don't mock me you experts , but the baseplate usually protrudes slightly forming a lip sticking out about a centimetre from below the side of the hull. Check the weld all round the boat and particularly near the stern where the straight part of the boat begins to turn inwards. This small section is prone to extreme wear because it's the part of the hull which catches the bottom of the canal first in shallow water particularly when moving out from the edge of the canal. When my boat was last out of the water it was worn right down to the weld seam. There are various ways it can easily be sorted and with mine they welded on a short piece of steel onto each side.

Thanks both for your replies. I hadn't considered the consequences of ropes coming adrift or the spray from between the hulls! I suspect that breasting up isn't done much, if at all, and that if it was really a better way to do it the pilots would encourage people to do it every time.

I've been told by another boater that some do the trip breasted up with another narrowboat. I've researched the journey on this forum but cannot recall anybody having said they'd done that. Is this sometimes done or were they telling me porkies? If it is an option I think it's a good idea as it should give the boat(s) more stability, share the work of the engines as well as providing back up if one boat breaks down, and halve the cost of the pilot. I've always fancied doing the trip (either direction) but have been a bit sceptical, however this option would make me much more comfortable doing it.

I have an unused pump out machine card I bought a month ago from a BWML marina. Does anybody know if the card will work in CRT self service pump outs. i.e non BWML ones?

Thanks for your advice boys. All three suggestions would suit and all are within range of the hire car company bringing the car to me which would save the hassle of a bus into Lancaster. It's also good that I will have the time to suss them out before the date I'm hiring the car.

Next month we are going on the Lancaster Canal. We are hiring a car for a few days and are looking for somewhere safe to leave our boat in the daytime in Lancaster and where there is parking for the car overnight. I've seen on Google Earth/Streetview what looks to be an ideal place on the southern outskirts of Lancaster where the canal runs adjacent to Aldcliffe Rd. There seems to be a lot of mooring space and room to park the car at the roadside. Does anybody know if there are mooring rings here, or the means of attaching a chain or 'nappy pins'? From the photo in the link (below) it doesn't appear so and with leaving the boat unattended all day I'd be a bit worried about tying up on mooring pins? I appreciate there isn't a lot of passing boat traffic but it only takes one idiot going past too fast. This photo shows a cabin cruiser moored on pins but a bit further back on the bend there appears to be armco. https://www.google.com/maps/@54.0376745,-2.8114974,3a,60y,42.83h,85.48t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sOFojR9suaNLGRpxRthTITw!2e0!7i13312!8i6656 Or, is there anywhere else in Lancaster? Do the visitor moorings have car parking nearby? It has to be Lancaster because of it's proximity to the car hire company. Thanks.

In Stone, as well as the large M&S Foodstore next to Star Lock there is a Morrsions in the town just off the pedestrianised high street. There's a varied selection of other shops too.

No it's our fault. At last years Crick show we were tempted to buy one of those very expensive £300 12v air coolers but decided against it due to the cost, only to regret not having done so when then followed two of the hottest months for 40 years. So this year we took the plunge and bought one, especially as the long term forecast was for similar to last summer. 3 weeks later and it's still in the box

I am no expert but over the years I've been told by many people including so called experts that 87 degrees is fine for a BMC 1.8. I used to often run mine at 95 degrees when on rivers with no problems. A couple of people have told me that you can run a BMC 1.8 up to about 98 without doing any damage. When it was in for blacking I noticed that there was a thick layer of blacking on the skin tank. I completely removed it and just painted on a thin layer and the engine runs at a much cooler temperature now.

I couldn't get to a pub but was pleased to discover that it was free to view on youtube last night so I was able to watch it in the comfort of my boat without the distraction of any drunken neanderthals trying to ruin it. Mind you it was such a poor game I wish I hadn't bothered!

Our well deck drains are quite near the waterline but we had no issues with excess water ingress when going upriver from Limehouse. But it helped that we started our journey at 6am when there were no trip boats to contend with but there were a lot of those high powered Clippers which created quite a wash. It also helped that the wind was only 6mph.

Thanks for the very helpful replies. I should have mentioned that I will be approaching from the Harecastle tunnel direction and continuing up the T&M so it looks like I should be fine for finding moorings.

We will be in Stoke next week and looking to moor by or near to the Red Bull pub which is by Lock 43 and the CRT depot just past where the Maccy goes off. Are there any suitable overnight moorings there and is it reasonably safe to leave our boat for a couple of hours while we go to the pub? I know it's amongst a flight of locks but there appears to be reasonable gaps in between them. I've taken note of all the other moorings mentioned in this thread, and may well opt for one of them, but we have a specific reason for wanting to moor near the Red Bull if possible which is too boring to explain here. Another question - Someone has told us that we need to pre-book our transit through Harecastle Tunnel but I think they are wrong and that from this weekend if we arrive before 4pm we will get a passage through. Am I right?

What an amazing trip. It brings back great memories of last year when we did Limehouse to Teddington which was made so much more relaxing and enjoyable thanks to all the help from SG. We hope to do it again next year but this time go down river to the barrier.

I should be fine with that then as I've read on this forum that it's only the River Douglas section where you have to really push the tide and that the wider Ribble isn't quite so intense.

I have one of those rechargeable motion sensor lights. Our door to the cabin is on the starboard side and has 2 steps down to it so it's quite difficult in the dark seeing the keyhole on the door lock. Most of these lights come with a magnetic strip so after charging I just attach it below the gunnel next to one of the steps. Being magnetic gives the scope to mount it such that it doesn't light up every time somebody passes on the towpath, although some might prefer it to do that. I suppose it's down to what you want it for. If you do opt for one of these I recommend you don't buy the very cheap ones because they can be unreliable and the charge doesn't last very long. I have a strip one but the round ones are just as good. It cost around £15 - £20. Certainly don't buy any which are less than a tenner.

Not quite the same but last year when we were at a water point a trip boat full of school kids pulled onto the water point just in front of us. The kids alighted and proceeded to excitedly run up and down the canal edge. A few minutes later I was horrified to discover that the hose was no longer in the well deck water tank but was sat in the doorway expelling water into the cabin. Thankfully I'd discovered it quite quickly but the water still damaged some items that were inside the steps and the cabin floor was awash with water. The unruly kids had obviously dislodged the hose and I made my feelings very clear to their leader about keeping them under control. Regarding which hose is the best, I've tried the flat ones and those which you can 'bunch up', but I still find the conventional ones are best despite them taking up more room to store. They are still by far the most common in use and that IMO says something.

Thanks for the information Neil2. I think I've read that the river parts takes about an hour. Is that about right? It's just that I'm a bit anxious about running my old BMC 1.8 at high revs for too long. Last year going up river on the Thames from Limehouse it was on high revs for a couple of hours and performed okay and didn't overheat so hopefully I should be alright. Regarding the depths of Savick Brook and the Lancaster, I only draw 2ft so that should help.

That's useful information thanks. I'd read that initially after leaving Tarleton it was pushing the tide for the first mile or so. Seeing your comparisons with the other tidal waters gives me more idea of what to expect along the way. I'd be prepared to stop in Preston but I'd prefer to do it in one hit. Does anyone know roughly how long it takes from Tarleton to the entrance to the Savick Brook?

I will be interested to see the answers to the OP's question as well as another thread that's on the go about things to do and see on the Lancaster. We are booked on the Ribble Link crossing on June 17th and will be on the Lancaster Canal for 17 days. I've done tidal waters before (Trent, Yorkshire Ouse, Thames Tideway, River Severn from Tewkesbury to Gloucester) and from what I've found out it looks like the Douglas/Ribble won't be much different. Is that the case or is there anything different I should be aware of except for the obvious one of making sure I negotiate the Astland Lamp correctly and don't end up on a sandbank or out into the estuary? I anticipate the Savisbrook Cut may be a bit of a pain in my 62ft nb though, especially the locks at the far end, Not so much the turn into it from the river as I've previously experienced other difficult ones like West Stockwith, Keadby, and Selby but I'd be interested in your opinions as to how it compares. As for the Lancaster I think 17 days would be about right especially as we don't do long days cruising, and we will probably do the Glasson Branch.

The problem with those 'deer ramps' on the Fossdyke is that many of those piles of rocks have slipped under the surface. Boaters can see the warning notices and avoid them but the poor deer that have fallen in cannot see them as a way of getting out because they're below the water and therefore not visible. Last year we came across a deer swimming about frantically trying to get out. A few minutes later we came across some EA chaps in a small boat with an outboard and asked if they could help. They said they'd given up trying to rescue the deer because it happened so often they'd be spending most of their time doing it instead of working. Two days later on our return from Lincoln to Torksey we came across it floating in the water. Very sad.