Jonkx

I had mine nicked two years ago in Open country miles from a road and fairly sure they took them by boat too.

I'm my case they used local ish engineers, ie one had driven about 40 miles, from other companies/boatyards to come out and look at the boat. I guess it depends how quickly you need to move. If you can wait and find an engineer and don't mind stopping a bit, then maybe fine to find your own engineer. If you're on a pressing iteniary and need to get to certain places, maybe having the definite call out, whether or not they over charge you, is more important. I towed the boat myself to the next bridge half a mile away and through a lock to wait for an engineer I arranged myself. Guess I could have asked RCR to just do that, but then probably would have had to wait longer for it.

I agree completely with this. The one time I needed it, they were no use and the excuse they gave seemed tenuous to me. They more or less said take it or leave it. In the end, other boaters in the area were able to recommend me an engineer, and he was almost a tenth of the cost RCR were quoting. I won't be bothering with them again. I don't think the Free Replacement Parts policy is sustainable, I don't think they can afford to back it. Too good to be true maybe? Either way, it seems to be thay they try to wriggle out of it. So it's not much of an insurance policy in my opinion.

They said because it was a bolt on the flange between the gearbox and the aquadrive that had failed/come off, and the bolt/flange wasn't covered.

I had them for my first two years cruising. First time I needed them, when my Aquadrive broke, they came out but couldn't fix it. Another engineer visited the boat and he couldn't fix it. Finally they said they needed to take the gearbox and Aquadrive off the boat, send them off for repair or replacement, and they estimated the cost as £2,000 as they didn't believe it was covered - even though the free parts replacement policy lists both gearboxes and aquadrives as covered. I tried arguing with them but they were having none of it. In the end I found a local recommended engineer who fixed it for £300 and haven't had any problems since. I didn't renew with RCR and wouldn't recommend them to anyone else.

As well as Lynn, which we thought was very nice with good pubs, we moored in central Manchester in Castlefield and enjoyed it. Probably less so the other night, allegedly, according to reports on BBC of boats being at risk of being "washed away"... I'm not sure where you get washed away to on the Bridgewater mind. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-manchester-49149281

It's just awful isn't it.

When I first went through there in 2014 we thought of mooring in the park, as was recommended in Nicholsons. It just looked like there might be a few teenagers around who might cause trouble, so we went half a mile further to the next bridge (8 I think) and moored there overnight without problems. The next time I went through in 2017 I moored overnight both ways by the Limekilns and new residential developments a bit further on, maybe near Bridge 9. We had no significant problems, although on the last night a loud group of boaters went past quite late, looked like they were having a party. I confess to curtain twitching as they went past, and got shouted it and they thumped the side of the boat in reply.

Thanks alot. So far, so good it seems. Keeping an eye on river levels website below. Seems levels at Harlow Mill went up 137mm since lunchtime, not alot but will keep watching. https://riverlevels.uk/stort-sawbridgeworth-harlow-mill#.XQFAzFPTU0M

Sounds pretty bad in the East Midlands. I'm keeping an eye on the Stort as I'm moored there currently near Harlow. So far, so good it seems. Anyone else aware of any issues there?

Hi Bizzard, thanks, sorry I didn't know that and that there was an issue. Already moored up above lock 2. Will be mindful, not alot I can do to help now, hopefully in the next week or so the situation will get better. Best wishes, Jon

Just contacted the crt re the above, they said it was a temporary stoppage applied by the local team over the recent Bank Holiday weekend, and had now been lifted and the canal was now open. As it was short term, it didn't make it into the online notices.

Thanks for advice, appears it costs even more then. Does anyone know of any good cheaper alternatives? I know there are sometimes smaller handheld vacuum cleaners but I'm not sure they'd be powerful enough. I would charge it at home, assuming its rechargeable.

Hi, really helpful post, been studying it for same purpose. Not having 240 volts on my boat or an inverter, can anyone recommend a cordless ie battery powered wet and dry vac for this? Don't know alot about wet and dry vacuum cleaners. Found this Bosch one for £98 which looks alright, wondered if anyone could recommend a cheaper one (or just comment on this - so I don't spend £98 and regret it). Thanks, Jon https://www.cnspowertools.co.uk/bosch-gas18v-10l-professional-cordless-wet-dry-18v-vacuum-body-only?gclid=Cj0KCQjw_r3nBRDxARIsAJljleGxjLf9yqV_TlKviOdmM3n2Zn0U0Pjes7-ASFNnLxMPuxPOxM4kfpQaAq2qEALw_wcB

Does anyone have any information about the present closure (as of 27/05/2019 - lock 1 presently chained closed with low water levels above that). Can't seem to find it under stoppages on crt website. Any ideas when it will reopen?