Grassman

We actually managed through the bridge quite well. You'll see in that photo one of my helpers standing on the towpath just inside the bridge, he had to fend us off that side a little but other than that we did it okay and the offside wall wasn't touched by either boats. Here's a couple more photos - Turning out of the marina, and Armitage Tunnel which was a bit tight.

He and his wife are fellow IWA members and both do the winter offside vegetation work with me. My other helpers are also IWA, and from my OV team, one of whom is also a lock vollie at Atherstone. It certainly helps having friends in the right places 😀. I wasn't in the yellow jacket. I was at the helm not doing a lot except worrying! Here's one of the photos I took

Did you know the chap who was towing me? I would have recognised your boat name and given you a wave but I was concentrating so much I didn't notice you.

After the previous great advice on this thread (thanks again), I thought I'd let you know that the tow went reasonably well yesterday. Our two close coupled 62ft narrowboats presented a challenge in places and the 16mph wind caused a bit of an issue at times, but except for a few minor scratches on the cabin side from protruding offside vegetation, it went very well. We took it steady and did the 10 miles and 2 locks in 7 hours. I'm relieved it's over though!

Thanks for the further advice about 'steering' the towed boat. I'm an experienced boater (40+ years) but having never been towed before I'm a complete novice with that. I can see the logic in that trying to steer a towed boat could actually make the situation worse, so I will bear that in mind. There'll be two of us stood on the cruiser stern deck ready to fend off/pole off if the back end sways too close to a moored boat or the bank. There's 18mph winds forecast which could add to the fun!

Because of Alan Fincher's advice. Which makes sense, but I will only do this if we need to, i.e once we've checked the respective heights when we get the two boats together.

This thread is of particular interest to me as this Thursday I'm being towed from Kings Bromley to Great Haywood. My tow-er has a powerful vintage engine and has towed boats before. We will be doing the cross strapped method, and having read the advice on here I will empty my bow water tank and take 2 of my 3 gas bottles out so as to raise the front a bit. On this section of the T&M there are a few tight bends and 'narrows' which, with a combined length of 124 feet (both our boats are 62ft) might present some challenges, especially if we meet any oncoming boats! We plan to leave early morning before the traffic gets too busy. It's not helped by the fact there's a gravel barge working in the area at the moment moving aggregate from by Armitage Tunnel to Shadehouse for the towpath repairs. With a combined 90ft (70ft hopper and a 20ft pusher) it could be fun if we meet it oncoming in the wrong place! I've spoken to him so he will at least be prepared for meeting us somewhere along the way and visa versa.

Good luck with that then. You might have a long wait 🙂

The T&M between Fradley and Great Haywood has been heaving with traffic since Thursday afternoon. I'm guessing at least 40 boats passed by us yesterday.

Thanks for this. But I thought there were some boats with 6 digit numbers that pre-date my 1995 boat???

Not necessarily. My 1995 boat has a 5 digit licence number starting with 54, but there are older boats with 6 digit numbers and even some 5 digit ones above 54 which are older. I gather that in the mid 1990's BWW found a batch of old unused numbers and decided to use them up before reverting to 6 digit numbers again.

We tend to mix and match. If we're going away from the boat we set the Webasto timer so it's nice and toastie when we get home, or at night set it to come on an hour before we get up in the morning. Other times we put it on for a couple of hours if we just want to take the chill out of the boat. In the depths of winter, when we are in all day we light the stove and keep it burning throughout the day and evening. We like the flexibility and ease of use with the central heating and would ideally use it all the time, and it's only the cost that stops us doing so.

I really enjoyed the first three so I'm looking forward to this one. But I really hope Jack finally gets together with Nina 'properly' in this one 😉

Having had some experience of this, I know that CRT tend to moor their workboats on Armco (or rings) for 3 reasons. 1. Because their boat(s) are often left for a long time the risk is greater of a boat on mooring pins coming adrift. 2. Armco or rings offers the chance to chain and padlock the boat(s) thus reducing the chance of someone moving it and craning off any valuable heavy machinery onboard (such as the wood chipper in that photo) elsewhere. 3. Most of the CRT workforce are not boaters so haven't a clue (or don't care) about the problems/inconvenience they cause when moored on lock landings, opposite winding holes, marina entrances, narrows, bends etc. 4. Irrespective of the chaos they might cause they will always try to moor near a road access so the workforce don't have to walk miles along the towpath, as this would increase their already extremely long and tiring 4 hour working day! Oops that's 4 reasons. Duh!

I don't know about the Great Haywood area, but the Fradley to Handsacre section is currently very active, and has been for the last couple of years. I use the term 'active' loosely because much of the time when I've passed by in the boat most of the workforce is standing around doing beggar all.

Last year we paid £32 a night in Bristol Floating Harbour so I think that puts the £10 in Liverpool more in perspective. Admittedly Bristol isn't CRT waters but I still think £70 for a week in Liverpool isn't unreasonable. It was great while it lasted, especially with the free electric, but assume that will change also.

I thought both were being funded by HS2 as part of their environmental compensation (or whatever it's called). The Fradley to Handsacre part was due to begin on October 16th last year, and last for 6 months. HS2 hired a motor and butty from that hire company in Weston on Trent, and both boats have sat idle opposite Kings Bromley Wharf ever since then. So that's another £5k+ of our money that HS2 have squandered!

I like the magazine format and I still subscribe to both CB & WW but I think Canal Boat Mag declined after editor Nick Wall retired about 6 years ago. I'd never pay the extortionate prices for buying them from newsagents but with a subscription it's not too bad. They are both quite 'same old' though, but then it must be a challenge at times to keep coming up with new stuff. I think that of the two, WW is by far the better one. Mind you I write the occasional article for them so I'm a bit biased 😃.

Oh, I thought it was an American publication after reading the line 'However, the NBTA said raising fees would push the boating community further toward the breadline and pit bargees against each other' Or perhaps missing the s from the end of towards was just a typo 😕

Thanks for your helpful and thought provoking replies and I now feel better equipped for deciding what to do.

Thanks Tony. I should have been more specific with my question. I'm considering having a new engine (Canaline 42). I currently have 4 x 110ah AGMs which should last another couple of years after which I plan to replace them with lithiums. If I go for the Canaline 42 is there anything regarding its specification that I should request be changed or added so it's as ready as possible to accommodate lithium batteries in future? Also, how does the Canaline 42 differ from the 38bhp in that respect, if at all? I'm thinking alternator(s) but there could be other things too perhaps? It's just that when the time comes would the standard alternators that the engine comes with be suited to lithiums or should I ask them to supply the engine with different ones? I don't want the expense of having to replace alternators on it that are only a couple of years old.

I had exactly that experience a few years ago. I felt at the time that I'd been somewhat ripped off.

Would this be the same issue with a Canaline 42bhp engine?

Unfortunately they need to do that in order to get the continued funding (or more) from the government. In other words convince the government that their canals and rivers are for the benefit of the general public and not just a group of boaters. I'd rather that than see my licence increase 5 fold to make up the shortfall.

I don't have a problem with it. People are always asking for recommendations for boat related companies on here, something which I often find is very useful. I suppose the difference in this instance is because the supplier initiated the post. I've used Kinver Canopies a few times over the years, including a new cratch cover a few weeks ago, and have always been very pleased with their work. A few of our neighbours have used other cheaper companies for their cratch/pramhood covers, and the inferior quality and workmanship shows, particularly a year or so later.