Jennifer McM

"Keep it simple Sweethearts"! Perhaps the forum rules are too complicated, leaving far too much open to misinterpretation? Suggest having just one forum rule. Eg. Keep postings respectful at all times.

You've got it. As we passed the visitor mooring we got a bit peeved as people were mooring on the armco away from each other, which made it difficult to 'get the boat in'. We should have persevered! Will look...

Thanks Graham and David, there's just one other boat near to the lock. The area is quite deserted really.

Sorry if this is a daft question. We've just moored up at Hatton top lock, and we've moored on mooring rings on the towpath. Just noticed a sign that says 'Permit holders only'! What does this mean? It's raining, we're cold, and we don't want to start going down the locks until the morning.

I'm really going off swans! This appears to be common behaviour, sadly! http://www.rspb.org.uk/community/wildlife/f/13609/t/22263.aspx

I am that woman now! Both of us being newbies, and wanting to 'learn the right way' we recently did a helmsman 2 day course together. Hubby got shut into the boat by the instructor, while the instructor tutored me. Instructor explained that hubby was zapping my confidence, which was a revelation to hubby as he thought he was being 'supportive'! To learn we need to make our own mistakes, and we don't need a running commentary on what we should be doing. Witnessed this happening recently, the man openly cursing the woman to strangers on the towpath on how incompetent the woman at the helm was.

Awww - also to be fair, Rusty didn't get to chill on a comfy chair!

Did lock duty down 20 locks at Lapworth today - Mr McM has issues with his knees, so I get to do the leg work. BTW Lapworth locks are so beautiful, yet very lonely, all morning we never saw a boat that was moving! After the locks we turned right onto the GU and stopped at "Turners Green Bridge No 63". Here we found the best pub ever, called "Tom O' The Woods"! They are just so dog friendly! Funnily enough, when our boat was descending the last lock on the Stratford, a nosy black lab nearly walked onto the roof of our boat! The lab's owner shrieked, causing fits of laughter. Turns out the lab's owner is the landlady (owner, manager?) of "Tom O' The Woods" and she remembered our dog. We only go into dog friendly pubs, for the reason we can't leave our dog behind, he gets too fretful. We've all had a real treat tonight. Our meal was fabulous (real homemade streak and kid pud). Then the waitress came out asking if our dog would like a meal! On the doggie menu was ham, chicken, pieces of steak, potatoes and beans. Never known such a treat before! Our dog just devoured it, which is surprising as he normally won't take food from people he doesn't know. I don't normally recommend pubs, as my tastes might not work for others - but I'll make an exception here!

Sorry bit off topic - love the attitude of West Yorks Police

Yes it was I'm afraid. They were painting locks, and judging by the graffiti daubed over the locks at Aston, then I guess from their viewpoint.... We took their warnings.

Fazeley Junction, through Minworth Locks Salford Junction to Aston Locks Aston Junction, took right fork to Farmer's Bridge locks Didn't look to busy though by the looks of cars in their carpark, it's a sort of Premier Inn/Travel Lodge type place now.

We stopped the night at Cuttle Inn bridge. Woke as normal when 'daylight comes in from the mushroom above', and it wasn't until I'd put the kettle on when I realised it was only 12.30am! Damn floodlights from the Cuttle Inn!

Amr's I believe - as we'd only had 2 ginger biscuits for breakfast though a treat was due.

Ha ha thanks Alan

We started our day at Cuttle Inn, and mindful of warnings from a couple of volunteers the day previously, that we were entering 'bandit country!' Out plan was to overnight just before Salford Junction, but we thought better of it when we got there. We'd only come across 2 other boats on the canal all day, which added to spooky thoughts. So we 'went' for it doing all of the 27 locks till we got to Gas Street! Not the pettiest of journeys but so educating! The historical atmosphere was so hands on! Getting the boat through the 13 Farmer's Locks was a bit of a challenge for a newbie, especially one with a touch of virtigo, a symptom of a head cold. A couple of the locks had actually been 'built over' with a high rise office block. Vandalism on a grand scale! Got to say the most scariest part were the mountain bikers without a bell. Why do they have to travel at break neck speed? When we eventually got to Gas St we were tired and ached all over, but a nice Indian meal delivered to the boat through the services of a food app was just so welcome! As a newbie; I feel like we'd gone through a 'rite of passage'! Glad we did it, but not sure if it's to be repeated!

Never thought! Thanks for the advice Graham

Hope this thread isn't too old to resurrect! Thanks Trane, this is great advice! We bought a paint roller handle for picking up the threaded chain through the armco. This has helped my husband with his arthritic knees no end.

A pump out was on our list of essentials for our new boat. Found the (almost) perfect boat, except it had a thetford loo. Now I'm so glad we have the thetford because, like mentioned previously, sleeping on top of a tank of of all that stuff, isn't a pleasant thought. I know it's just my 'conditioning'! My husband is more squeamish than me, so I've volunteered the task of emptying the cassettes. I had no idea how to empty the first one, so I searched on youtube and found a tube that suited. My husband did come with me to empty a fullish cassette for the first time (he sort of hid himself round the corner just in case I got into trouble). Now I go by myself. I'm more embarrassed being caught doing a dirty job, than I am about feeling icky about it. Like the tube says, after emptying, the cassette gets rinsed several times until clear water runs out, then I rinse out for the last time adding a capful of cheap disinfectant. The cassette then gets 'charged' by adding a scoop of bio powder (like Vanish). I don't wait until it gets full, I try and empty it on the 4th day. 'Nicholson' gets consulted when planning a journey, so I know where the next elsan point is. It's just like tipping out dirty water, thankfully I haven't seen anything gross, or even any toilet paper. But then I don't 'inspect'! I might use toilet bleach instead of disinfectant though, when the disinfectant bottle runs out.

This is something I'd love to learn. We've got a bathroom with a plain glass window across the passage, and like the OP we have to keep a blind down. There are some relatively cheap kits on ebay and Amazon, and I'm always consulting youtube for ideas and lessons.

How terrible! Great that no one was hurt. The owners must be devastated. So easily done! We lit the fire last night, and the boat got so hot we both fell asleep in the chair. After stirring we went to bed, we were shattered. But the thought did go through my mind that we should have waited until the fire had calmed down. Food for thought!