tizzy

Hi What is it with the locks at Middlewich they seem to infect people in a strange way and make them behave irrationally ? A true story we were in the 3rd lock waiting to come up, and a boat was in the 4th lock coming down. OH said "walk up and tell them I will wait in the lock and then pass them in the pound " (this is our usual procedure ) I relay this message to the boat in the lock and get an an acknowledgement., boat leaves lock and I wait for OH ,At this moment a woman appears from the next boat waiting to go down and tries to close the gates and turn the lock " Excuse me " I say "what are you doing " she replies "We are travelling with that boat and need to stay together so this is MY lock ! " me (trying to be polite) *But it makes no difference if we are in the lock while you re-fill it " Her "NO NO IT IS MY LOCK" Me (loosing patience) "it makes NO difference to you if we come in " Her "IT'S MY LOCK !" I resolved the problem by sitting on the gate so she couldn't close it OH came in I filled the lock and then off we went with her muttering the whole time.

Have you checked the split charge relay. If you have a battery charge controller monitoring the domestics and the relay is goosed then the alternator will increase voltage in a vain attempt to charge to domestics. Easy to check by putting a jump lead between starter and domestic positives. If it all goes back to normal then that is the problem.

eeerm yes I need a husband he has a bad habit of posting as me !

Most small wind turbines only generate their rated power output at 45mph wind speed and the graph of power output vs wind speed is not linear so drops off rapidly below this. In reality you might as well get a hamster and fit a dynamo to it's wheel.

To be honest Rusty we aren't that bothered about it being unique but it is a nice name with no puns or word play which I have to admit I struggle with sometimes ?

Hi My Brother in law changed the name of his boat without any problem I think he just told CART and they reissued his licence in the new name. I don't want to be smug but according to Canalplan our boat has a unique name not that we can take any credit because we bought the boat secondhand ?

Do you score points for the length of the queue (double for 4x4's)? We do at the lift bride at Wrenbury ! I am the champion at the moment with 4 cars,1 white van ,a bus AND the bin lorry ! Also at the same bridge I had a cyclist try to run the lights ....he came to a rather undignified halt ?

Hi I do understand your dissappoitment but don't dismiss the idea of going into Leeds. The canal passes to the north and goes in down the valley so is quite secluded and green. It goes through some pretty villages and the towpath has been upgraded all the way along. I don't remember much in the way of industrial blight and the waterfront in Leeds has been redevolped and is really pleasant with plenty of bars and reataurants. Leeds is an interesting place but I am a bit biased!

Hi We have our own boat so these are just general observations . The main problem with Winter cruising are the stoppages so you might find yourselves very restricted as to where you can go. Yes cruising on a crisp day is lovely it isn't as much fun when it is raining or snowing. We do take our boat out in Winter but we have the choice of when we go so can avoid really bad weather ! Hope this helps Tizzie

If you want to go to the Horse and Jockey (and I recommend it and it is dog friendly) then you need to moor before the locks . If you are coming down there are visitor moorings before the water points then you have to walk along the towpath and out through the garage. If you are coming up you need to moor up before the redundant railway bridge and then follow the towpath under the bridge and then cross the road. Hope this helps Just to add don't go beyond the bridge or you will have to do the locks because there is nowhere to moor until the top of the 6 locks.

Well that's stuffed our plans for Easter and probably the summer as well

The lady who wrote the piece used the word "coerced" which is why I used it. I know it can be the other way round but would have to say in my experience it is usually the men who want to do it and perhaps they aren't the ones grappling with the shopping and washing.(I am sure there are exceptions ) I do agree with other posters that they seem very ill prepared and not to be sure how long the boat is even after a few months is mind boggling !

I have just read these posts and think one of the saddest things is the quote from the lady about being "coerced" into making the move ! What is it with men and their desire to live on boats ? Mine would be the same but I dug my heels in very firmly and said that it would never be an option ! The people in these posts would be better booking into a marina for a few weeks till the weather eases !

Hi we had a similar problem and OH needs to keep in touch while we are out and about, We solved it by making sure we were on different networks and I have to say that EE are really good I usually have a signal even if OH doesn't. We have a MY WIFI stuck to the window with velcro which usually also gets a 4G signal .

Things to do in Liverpool ...... lets see Walker Art Gallery Port Sunlight (get the train from James Street ) World Museum book tickets and go and see the Terrocota Army ..fantastic went last week ! Antony Gormley "Another Place" ..get the train from Central to Waterloo and walk down to the seafront No end of Beetles things 2 very different but amazing Cathedrals I am sure I will think of other things ! Tizzie