Nick D

Looks a nice tidy boat. Welcome to the world of boating!

Our boat is 58’ plus button fenders. We have done L&L and shared majority of locks with a 60 footer with no problem. I believe the Calder & Hebble has the shortest locks on the system and we managed this too. The only squeeze was the Salterhebble lock but still ok.

What a shame. The fist time we introduced our children to boating was on a boat hired from Claymore.

When do you need to be at Barlick?

Ok, so why not put the facts as you see them?

Would be interesting to know what the CRT response was to the OPs complaint.

Personally, I think this should have been challenged at the time - politely by saying something like if you don’t mind, I’d prefer to open the paddle. If he subsequently refused or was rude then by all means complain. Unfortunately this smacks of people who have a poor experience at a restaurant, don’t say anything at the time but then go and give a poor review on Tripadvisor. (And no, I’m not a restrauteur or anything similar!). I just think that things like this are better dealt with at the time, get it sorted and move on. For me, life’s too short to complain about something that could have been sorted in an instant.

Really interesting. Thanks for the link.

Our narrowboat is 58’ and we have travelled the L&L several times and shared locks with boats up to 61’ with no trouble. I think a 60’ wide beam should be fine though may be a bit tight in some locks. I’m also a Volockie on the Bank Newton/Gargrave locks on the L&L and have noticed that a lot of wide beam owners moor at Reedley Marina (Burnley) where they tend to stay over the winter and then venture out in the warmer months either east or west. In that size boat you can go well past Leeds onto the Aire and Calder and beyond - Trent, Ouse etc. There’s plenty of options.

You could always try buying a share in a boat first which would give you four or more weeks a year.

Looks a nice boat at a fair price. Seems odd that there’s no contact. Too good to be true?

There are some very good Moorings on the Caldon near the Emma Bridgwater factory with mooring rings just before you get to the electric lift bridge (heading west). This stretch is quite residential so is probably ok for an overnight stop, definitely ok day time.

Before we owned our own boat we hired from Kate Boats and did the Warwickshire Ring. One advantage is that the boatyard is already located on the ring itself unlike some others where you have to travel to get on it. If time is short, this might help. It’s a good route as you get a varied landscape from very rural to very industrial and a bit in between.

No, you’re not on your own, I agree with you! Also, I’ve been a member for nearly three years and still consider myself a relative newbie.

We’re also planning on doing this ring in July, so is the concensus that anti clockwise is best?

The Wigan flight comes in for a bit of stick, but tbh I quite like them too!

It’s the middle of the Gargrave flight. As someone has already said, the clough paddles have a knack to them. The secret is to almost walk with them and lift in one go as you walk rather than try to tug them up. Once you get the hang of it, they are certainly quicker and easier than other types (although they do have a habit of getting broken)

And the Volockies aren’t bad either!

The northern canals are popular with more senior wide beam live aboards and Reedley Marina outside Burnley seems to have a thriving community. The Aire & Calder/ Calder & Hebble have many electrically operated locks.

I’d second King’s Bromley. The site is very secure for boats and to leave cars for long periods and the management leave you alone. We looked at Alvecote before KB and tbh felt that it was untidy, messy and no security whatsoever. I would not want to leave my car there for several weeks whilst away. Appreciate that others may like this so only an opinion.

Thanks Alan, I have an oil sump pump and what you say makes sense. Maybe I will have a go after this next service which I have already booked. Don’t know why I’m being such a wimp

Try the northern canals. It’s not unusual to see only two or three moving boats a day even in the summer. Beautiful scenery too.

Yes, you’re probably right Martin! I will go over the hours on this occasion, but will aim to stick to the recommended hours in future. I have been on the RCR mechanics course and know that I ought to be able to do it myself but I just lack confidence. Strange really, as in all other aspects of life I’m very gung-ho and dont mind going out of my comfort zone but for some reason engines frighten me. Same with cars as I have never looked under the bonnet save for basic checking etc. Guess I just need to man up and get on with it. (Sorry, I know I’m not supposed to use that expression any more but it seems appropriate in this case!)

Thanks all for your comments and the answer is what I was hoping for. Tbh, I think we will be averaging about 400 hours a year made up of several 3/4 week cruises and I was hoping to have a service every year rather than every 250 hours as this inevitably falls mid cruise or I end up having one service under the recommended timescale and one over. Doing it once a year is much simpler and from what you have said that should be ok?

I have booked a service for 11th Feb but now find that we are free the week before and would like to go out for a short winter cruise. The problem is that we are already slightly over our recommended service interval hours of 250 by about 30 and might add another 50hours if we go out before the service on the 11th. Do you think this would matter too much? Changing the dates is not an option.