debbifiggy
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Posts posted by debbifiggy
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yes i have news. but i wary of who i tell as i dont want to spook the criminals
I suggest you call CRT Enforcement Officers Stacy Fiddis on 07795 641956 or Nick Wattam on 07747 765434 after you have called the Police using the non emergency number quoting the crime reference number.
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I wouldn't bet on them returning. There are many other places where water taps have disappeared due to BW property being sold or the site being redeveloped. The services at Wakefield went in the new development and not replaced - at least, not up to 2011.
Regards
Pete
There is a temporary elsan facility available and a tap should be installed soon too but not sure when. A new facility will be built as part of the development.
Advice: Norwood Top Lock Boaters Facilities03 May 2013 until further notice
Associated Regional Office: London Waterways
Owing to the redevelopment of former Trust property the building which houses the elsan and water point at Norwood Top Lock is due to be demolished imminently.
An alternative elsan facility is being provided - this will be located along the lockside and around the corner from the existing facility, near Poplar Avenue.
A Canal & River Trust Facilities Key (BWB Key) will be required for access. No interim water point is being provided - boat owners should use alternative services, the nearest of which are at Brentford or Bull's Bridge visitor moorings.
The refuse facility on the towpath is unaffected by these works. A new facilities building is to be constructed as part of the redevelopment works, which will replace the temporary elsan and reinstate the water point in due course.
(Enquiries: 03030 404040)
Debbi
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We saw this show outside the Rising Sun, Berkhamsted earlier this week.
Very highly recommended.
(Even though, I admit that in all my yeras involved with the canals, it is the first time I have ever seen Mikron).
Saw them at the Three Horseshoes last Wednesday doing "Behind the Veil". Very good. Top night out. If you get a chance go and see them.
Debbi
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Calling all Friends of the Rising Sun. Fancy getting stuck in to spruce up Lock 55 on the Grand Union Canal in Berkhamsted?
Monday & Tuesday 24th & 25th June from 3pm - 8pm volunteers required to paint, litter pick and generally tidy up. Supervision from the Canal & River Trust who are providing all equipment and paint. Refreshments promised by the landlord of the Riser. Places limited to approx 20 each day, sign up sheet behind the bar in the pub or PM me if you want to add yourself to the list but can't get there in person.
Wear sensible shoes and clothes you don't mind getting dirty or painty.
Debbi
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Hello. I have a friend who wants to hire a boat to live on. He has two young teens and a dog. The children go to school in harefield , middlesex and so they would need to be fairly local to this area. He will be applying for housing benefit initially till he gets settled and can look for work. Many thanks, denise
Please please read other threads on this forum about renting boats. You will find one thread pinning to the top of the general boating forum. edited to add this http://www.canalworld.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=55204
Renting a boat on CRT waters that has not got a business licence for hire with the correct BSC, gas safety, insurance etc is fraught with difficulties (also much discussed on here). Also the area you are looking at is desperately short of residential moorings. If the boat doesn't have a mooring there are the issues of complying with the licence terms and conditions for a boat without a home mooring which means moving regularly (at least every 14 days, some places more often) and some distance. Many discussions on here about that too along with discussions about housing benefit and boat licenses.
In my humble opinion your friend would be much better off sticking to dry land if he can. Whatever you do please do some proper research first as it will pay off in the end. There's plenty of info on the internet and this forum and lots of helpful people on here.
D
edited to add link to pinned post about hiring/renting boats
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Stanstead Lock is indeed open again. They managed to jack the gate back into place on Tuesday.
D
Edited for misspelling.
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I wish some of them travelling down would make the effort to drop paddles when leaving the locks. Quite a few grumpy ones heading down ;-)
Except of course those locks where there are CRT signs saying please leave empty with one paddle up due to leaky lock walls
Sorry, won't be at Cavalcade this year but hope you all have a lovely time. Weather looks perfect.
D
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As from last Saterday, nb Heart of Gold has a new boss. Quite unexpectedly, this new crew member has taken wholehartedly to boating, despite not having any previous experience. Moving to a new spot seems fine, and even the noisy air-cooled engine does not faze him. Walking down the gunnel is going to take some practice, as I don't think he realises yet that you can only step of the gunnel on the one side...
Yes, I have taken in a cat, who was in need of a home. Probably aaround 5 to 8 months old, he comes from a farm where he was one of too many, and was taken by another driver, who passed him to me, as he already has a cat, and a dog.
Lister (what else would I call him? )is black and white and utterly unfazed by loud engines, or moving about. Perfect for me then.
Congratulations. I hope you have many many happy years together.
IMHO a boat isn't a home without a cat :-)
Great name BTW. My previous boat cat was Theakston as he was an old peculiar rescue cat.
D
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The survey won't let you just answer 'other'
I had the problem too. I like visiting that area when I visit Leeds for work. Wish I could find the time to do it by boat as well. Had some cracking nights out in Leeds.
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Anybody watch my namesake Lewis last night where the suspect/victim lived on a narrowboat (Presumably on the Oxford)
The trailer for next weeks episode showed the boat being torched with the blokes girlfriend unconcious inside so look out for a dramatic death/rescue!
Tim
Rather bad taste really given the recent death in a fire on a boat on the Oxford Canal.
D
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Its snowing here in Stourport, let the panic commence
Frozen water taps, frozen elsan type panic? Our water taps frozen.
Still, at least the cat should enjoy the snow - He's a Norwegian forest cat and they have inbuilt snow shoes/paws
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For the first (and possibly only) time we've bought a gold licence for this years cruising.
On the invoice/receipt the portions are split "BW" and "EA". The "BW" portion is charged at 20% VAT, whilst the "EA" portion is charged at 0% VAT - Does anyone know why there is this difference?
Any yes it really does say "BW" portion not "C&RT".
The following should explain it. this is the answer to the same question to BW/CRT last year.
VAT – Boats and boating
Why does the Canal & River Trust charge VAT on boat licences?
Firstly it is important to understand how VAT applies to a business. The Trust is required by legislation to be registered for VAT. If you are registered for VAT you must charge VAT on all of your supplies where the law requires it.
A VAT registered business regularly completes a VAT return in which it pays to HM Revenue & Customs all of the VAT it has collected from customers and reclaims all of the VAT it has incurred on goods and services it has acquired.
However it is only possible to reclaim any VAT incurred if the VAT can be attributed to taxable business activities. The majority of all expenditure on the general maintenance and major repairs of the canal infrastructure includes VAT.
Prior to 1989 British Waterways (BW) did not charge VAT on its boat licences and as a result was unable to recover VAT on its general repairs and maintenance of the canals.
In 1989 BW opted to charge VAT on its property including canals to enable it to generate taxable activities (including charging VAT on the boat licence) on the canals, which in turn enabled BW to recover the VAT incurred on general maintenance and refurbishment.
At the time BW did not increase the overall cost of the boat licence to the customer. If for example the licence at the time cost £300, after BW opted to charge VAT the licence still cost £300 (£255+ £45 VAT). In other words this cost was not passed on to BW’s customers.
The Trust has continued to apply the same options to charge VAT.
Without this option to charge VAT on the boat licence, at today’s level of expenditure on the canal infrastructure, the Trust would be losing up to £20 million per annum in lost VAT on the general and major repairs, and the price of the boat licence and other income streams would need to be increased by a significant amount to offset this loss.
Why the boat licence is not a tax
The boat licence is not a tax in same way that the road fund licence or TV licence is levied. In addition to permission to navigate our waterways, the Trust provides other facilities along the network which are available only to licence holders. These include places to take on clean water, sanitary and waste disposal facilities, shower blocks, etc. No additional charge is made for these services, although a deposit is taken for the entrance key; it is classed as a supply of goods and services for the purposes of VAT. This contributes towards the cost of caring for the waterways. Without this, we could not dredge the canals; keep the locks in order; the tunnels safe; and all the other things you would reasonably expect from a navigation authority.
Why doesn’t the Environment Agency charge VAT on their Boat Licence
The EA has a special exemption in VAT legislation that allows them to reclaim the VAT suffered on work carried out on their waterways. This means it does not need to make the same election as the Trust. Many years ago a BW request to HM Treasury for BW to have the same special exemption as the EA was rejected. This is why the VAT position for the two licences is different between the two authorities.
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Short answer - ask them
Richard
Agreed, phone and check that the company are authorised to trade by the Trust.
The CRT licensing website says "If it is a waterway managed by us, your next decision is on the type of licence. If you intend to use the boat commercially, you need a business licence. Otherwise a standard licence, ranging in length from three to 12 months, is sufficient."
http://canalrivertrust.org.uk/media/library/723.pdf
New business are welcome and all the information to get started is on the website.
http://canalrivertrust.org.uk/boating/boating-businesses
"The Trust aims to increase visitors to the waterways and ensure that they have an enjoyable experience, so they want to return with friends and family. We believe that waterborne businesses, in all their richness and diversity, can make a significant contribution to achieving this aim. We want to encourage and support boating businesses to thrive and offer high quality services which add life and vitality to our canals and riverside destinations.
We have a dedicated Boating Trade Team whose role it is to assist new entrants to boating businesses and help both new and existing operators to trade profitably on the waterway.
Please note that enquiries to set up businesses on the towpath or other Canal & River Trust land should be made to enquiries.hq@canalrivertrust.org.uk.
Whilst we make every effort to provide relevant and accurate information, this website is only a guide and should not be relied upon as your sole source of information.
We welcome feedback on this site. Please send any comments or suggestions you have to boatingtrade.enquiries@canalrivertrust.org.uk."
http://canalrivertrust.org.uk/boating/boating-businesses/starting-a-new-boating-business/self-drive-hire
is the part relevant to hire boats.
Personally if I was hiring/renting a boat I would check first that the craft has the correct type of licence, insurance, boat safety etc. but then I would wouldn't I ;-)
D
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Anything just under £5k is very reasonable for inside M25. You might snap up a berth at Willow Wren Wharf in Hayes at the reserve £4,500 for a residential berth if you are lucky. Check out https://www.crtmoorings.com/ and search using London as the County.
Best of luck. D
Sorry, should have qualified that for a 50 - 65 foot nb.
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That's the one.
It was always certainly capable of turning a full length boat, and even a 14 foot wide one, as the horse barge trip boat used to turn there regularly in the 1970s.
I know at one stage there was a chain stretched from bank to bank across it.
That chain may even have been a legacy of said trip boat - it was often unpopular with those it went past late at night who certainly had to suffer high levels of noise and drunkeness!
Now it ain't a lot of use people saying "you always have a right to wind in such places", if someone has made sure you can't.
Hence why I'm asking.
The answer from Debbi (and others) seems to indicate nobody minds it being used now.
Sorry, only just catching up on this. The winding hole I referred to was the Mill Race of the Old Mill between the Esso Garage waterpoint and the Old Mill pub garden.
The other winding hole is just outside Berko and only good for up to 60 foot.
Debbi
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There is a winding hole just South of Berkhamsted on the GU.
It is below Lock 56, but North of Bank Mill Bridge.
This has never been a recognised winding point in canal guides, (but then the one at Berkhamsted Station seldom is either!), and I know in the distant past it was a source of dispute, with a chain stretched across it, to prevent use.
Is this now an accepted winding hole, please, that can be used without having any arguments with a land wner that thinks you shouldn't be ?
Thanks.
It is widely used as a winding hole. We've used it without any problems over the last 13/14 years. Some spot dredging was undertaken a couple of years ago to make it easier to use. It's not an official winding hole but everyone uses it.
I've seen a 70 foot working boat get around there when there is enough water in the pound.
D
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Having tried to communicate with Mr Sterling by email, letter and finally phone getting a very abrupt conversation out of him he is not someone I would chose to do business with.
However saying that I have heard from others that he is very good when any of his equipment fails so you may be pleasantly surprised.
I have to give Sterling top marks for service. The OH drove up to Droitwich today with the faulty charger. It has been exchanged for a brand new one for no charge and they apologised for the inconvenience. Definitely worth the petrol money!
We are both very happy indeed. I have to say that we've been very happy with the performance of the old charger until it suddenly failed.
Debbi
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is that when you get back from the pub?
did the fuse work?
Fuse blew immediately. Interior was inspected and no corrosion and beautifully clean. OH taking entire unit to Sterling tomorrow and we'll see if it can be repaired.
D
Oddly enough we've just had our ProCharge 20 replaced free of charge.. On a marina and plugged in to the mains, so only realised the charger wasn't working when the lights went all dim! Our much respected marine electrician is convinced there's a built-in flaw, and she's taken a few back to be replaced...in our case without questions even being asked. Replacement will depend on how old it is i.e. over/under 2 years.
That's interesting. I doubt we'll get a replacement, more likely a repair as unit is over 3 years old. I'll let you know the outcome. We've been promised a same day repair.
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When an old 50 amp version failed I shipped it back to Sterling's for repair. They found severe corrosion on the main board putting it beyond economical repair, but they offered 33% off a new one.
BTW although it lasted a year after the event, the failure was traced to a previous leak from a nearby water maker high pressure pump spraying salt water on it, so no complaints.
Thanks to everyone so far who's replied. I am wondering if corrosion is going to be a factor due to the location of the charger. The only place we could mount it was under the stern door steps .... I'll report back tomorrow.
D
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Have any other forum members experienced the sudden failure of a Sterling Pro Charge Battery Charger/Power Pack?
We thought we'd had a power cut on Monday night when all the 240v system went off. Didn't worry about it at the time as it was dark and nearly bed time. Just turned on the 12v lights, finished dinner and went to bed. Following morning discovered no power cut but power tripped out at mooring 240 v supply to boat. Tested main trip in boat, don't think it's working. Then proceeded to test all 240 appliances for a possible problem and checking fuses. The only thing that is a problem is the Sterling Pro Charge 20 which seems to be totally dead. It's been wired in permenently and on for approx 3 and half years except when out cruising.
Can it be repaired or do we need to fork out another £300 plus for a new one. Or should we look at something else to keep our batteries and 12 v system in fine fettle?
The OH is going to call Sterling today to see what they say but I'd be interested to hear your ideas too.
Thanks in advance,
Debbi
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I'm sure Tony will be along in person shortly but why not check out
Debbi
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Hi again.
As you'll notice the preparation time is beginning in my head and all my unanswered questions are going to be coming up. So sorry:) I went into a plumbing place yesterday asking if they sold coils of water piping. They mentioned they sell 2 types...Polyplumb and Speedfit.
The piping and fittings seem to come in 2 sizes (10mm and 15mm).
Which pipe type and size should I run to all my taps? The 10mm looks small and the 15mm looks big.
The Screwfix book lists all sorts of spigots, reducers etc.....Speedfit seems to all be the white stuff and Polyplumb all the grey stuff. I imagine the taps we bought on ebay for the kitchen sink and bathroom basin will fit both?? (duh). The sales guy said you can mix and match with the one type but the other isnt cross-mixing friendly. I'm tempted to go for the Speedfit stuff all the way?My other half (who is a plumber) would say neither. Use copper and brass throughout. Rats and mice like munching on plastic! and more than one boater has had a boat full of water after a speedfit joint popped!
D
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Don't know about availability, but High Line at Iver is almost London, as is Packet Boat, which does residential. Willowtree marina does residential but you have to buy the leasehold - nice place though. Engineers Wharf is residential, quite full just now but worth a look, friendly place. High Line at Northolt does residential. Brentford Island has a few residential. Ice Wharf do resi, very pricey. Worth checking the other London BWML marinas - can't remember off the top of my head, but some do residential. You do get residential moorings on the Thames too - I don't know these well but they do come up from time to time.
Other than that you're looking East, or waiting for rare BW online moorings. We managed to get a residential online mooring in West London through this forum, so keep an eye on the forums too!
Good luck
Although there are a few places in London that do proper residential moorings (BW Engineers Wharf, just 5 berths at Brentford, Ice Wharf Marina, Blomfield Road Residential, Abbots Wharf, Anderson's Wharf and the private Highline Northholt and Iver) finding a vacancy is going to be much much harder. Snap up a berth at Engineers Wharf before they are all gone as they seem to be the only available ones at present.
Hope you find what you want. Best of luck.
D
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She is right but completely out of order using the word 'fine'
But yes, give the license to the new owner definitely. Anything else is not only going to cost everyone it is mean.
I stand corrected. I was trying to do things too quickly and didn't select the correct word. It should have been "handling fee". Hopefully my later post has clarified matters and everyone is happy now.
D
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The Screwfix book lists all sorts of spigots, reducers etc.....Speedfit seems to all be the white stuff and Polyplumb all the grey stuff. I imagine the taps we bought on ebay for the kitchen sink and bathroom basin will fit both?? (duh). The sales guy said you can mix and match with the one type but the other isnt cross-mixing friendly. I'm tempted to go for the Speedfit stuff all the way?
Morso Squirrel help please
in Boat Equipment
Posted · Edited by debbifiggy
Hi everyone,
Our old Squirrel cracked up and became unsafe to use so we've bought a new Morso Squirrel 4130 (like the normal Squirrel but with the airwash system). We are trying to fit it at the moment. The old stove had a back boiler and the holes had been pre-drilled. The new Squirrel came without the holes pre-drilled. We've sorted that out but the back boiler fitting is driving the guys round the twist.
Has anyone got some advice, tips or instructions on how to get the firebricks to fit correctly when you instal the back boiler. It seems to be a very complicated jigsaw puzzle and involves cutting the bricks to fit. These are the new preshaped firebricks supplied by Morso.
All useful advice gratefully received.
Debbi
Just found this http://www.oilstoves.co.uk/webdocs/technical/Morso/MOSO_Boiler_Fitting_Squirrel.pdf which seems to do the job. If only I had found this first before the guys started work. There is much cursing going on outside and various chandlers being called names for not thinking to supply this information as part of their customer service when you order a stove and a back boiler.