FluffyVal

Thanks for this info

Thanks, I will have a go at that. To be fair I don't mind going back, maybe via Rochdale rather than Huddersfield. I have heard the Rochdale is a bit rough though.

Just going through Stoppages for my trip, it seems the L&L has a navigation closure at ‘Lock 31, Eshton Road Lock - Leeds & Liverpool Canal’ This is a pretty major problem to me, and probably many others. Has anyone had any success at getting an assisted passage through this closure?

Thats (hopefully) so true

I have the boat for 6 weeks, setting off from Stone, up the T&M, the Macc, Peak Forest, Huddersfield then L&L, Bridgewater to Worsley. I haven’t a plan from there.

I am hoping to purchase said GoWindlass for my upcoming trip. So all these comments have been most useful. Just as an aside, please refrain from sticking your windless in the small of your back in your trousers. I was descending Hatton flight, locking the boat down, when I hit a pothole and ended up with me and bike in canal. I hadn’t realised I had done myself any harm, picked up windlass and bike and carried on for a couple of locks. We reached the bottom of Hatton and I was feeling rough so I lay down on the roof of the boat. Wrong! I was unable to get up again for a couple of hours, in which time my beloved had cycled into somewhere, my memory of this is fuzzy, and brought a doctor back. between them they managed to get me into the boat. A prescription for strong painkillers and rest having been dispensed the doc pushed off. I now have the after effects of a crushed coccyx to remember Hatton by. n.b. Obviously this was some years ago, no way you would get a doctor out to you now.

I picked up about Standedge (and Harecastle) and have booked passage but not HNL 1E, I will get on with that, thanks. My prep atm is going through the proposed route on the lockmaster maps, estimating timings, and then going through the stoppages in CRT. I am writing it all in a small journal and hoping to get it typed before we go. I am currently trying to find where I put my shocking pink lock gloves, I am sure I wouldn’t have thrown them.

Thanks robtheplod, I fully intend to

I am soon going for a trip on a hire boat which will be the first trip for a good number of years. I am of pensionable age (☺️) but still active. I have various crew volunteers over the time I am on the boat and I am hoping to cruise the Huddersfield and Leeds and Liverpool. Has anyone got any advice for someone who is going for a jolly many years after leaving life on the canals?

We were on the Thames waiting for a place in the lock and I threw the rope to my hubby. He missed it and I couldn’t bring it in fast enough, now how the boat was in gear I can’t explain. Anyway we worked on a ‘them that get it round the prop, sorts it out’ I remember it was a warm day then as well, with a show for the gongoozlers.

I am experienced and have the time as I am retired, would love to move it for you. I also have a friend to help.

Not sure how old the kids are but tell them to avoid placing the windlass down the back of their jeans. It can cause nasty things to happen to your coccyx when you fall off.

Thanks @Alan de Enfield Re diesel prices. Wow they have shot up, oh well, hasn’t everything ? It sounds a bit tricky, I am rubbish at paperwork. Presumably not absolute accuracy is required, just a guesstimate?

Thanks @Jen-in-Wellies that just about fills in the gaps, obviously as a first pass before I get into complications. I am currently in Bradford, West Yorkshire, but I intend to do a lot of cruising. As my friends who are offering me a room when I need it are up here then I am going to try and get a firm mooring as near as I can.

Cheers peeps, yes v exciting, I am so looking forward to the challenge but not the clearing the house bit so much, ?

Hi, I have managed to sell my house, after nearly a year. After a great deal of thought I am going to buy a boat and return to living, at least part time, on the waterways. I have some friends who will rent me a room should I need it and they are going to store the small amount of flotsam that I want to keep but is not required on voyage. I last lived on the Canals between 1978 -1992, and I realise a lot has changed, more boaters, Waterways Board morphed into CRT, boat prices, etc. I want a boat I can cruise on and, very kindly in another thread, I understand what engine I should be looking for, thanks to all who contributed. However, having read the thread about surveys, I am interested in getting people's ideas of how to best go about buying said vessel. I believe that, optimally, I should:- See the boat in dry dock prior to painting, to check the hull Assess the quality of the finish Take her layout and fittings into account Make sure the engine and other working parts are serviced and working Go for a trial run, ideally for about an hour including a lock Check on this website if anybody else knows the boat and its history Assuming that goes well, cross my fingers and buy the boat and sail off to LaLa land Anyway back in the real world I am reaching out to get pointers to :- Prospective boats (I am looking for about 55' trad stern, no front seating well, solidly built narrowboat about £20 - £30,000) Moorings, I am retired and will be away from the moorings a lot so I may not need a residential mooring as such Cost of moorings today Costing of fuel, is red diesel still around? Places to meet up with people, apart from on this website ? Good Chandlers Essential equipment, has it changed? Being self contained and not relying too much on services The words to "Along the British waterways, I'm sorry to relate" by David Blagrove and some of the many verses to the song whose chorus includes the words titty fa la, titty fa ley" and "burned a gallon a stroke" All help appreciated Val

The mooring we had came with space for a garden and parking and coal. It wasn’t bagged, we put a tarp over it.

My husband died last year and the Land Registry accepted his death certificate when I asked for it just in my name. I would try to diy if possible.

I would recommend anthracite, we used to get 3/4 of a ton delivered and it did us for all winter with a Torgem stove linked to a central heating setup on our 55 foot narrowboat ‘ATON’ the thing about anthracite is it keeps in and there is very little ash. downside is it is more expensive

I seem to remember my friend Alan had a Petter engine in Phobos, we’re talking 1981-2. The controls were two spinning brass wheels, does anyone know if the wheels are available on other engines. ( I realise I am really showing my ignorance here but I am willing to learn) Also does the engine you have in the boat have any good or bad knock on effect on the stern gland maintenance

I am looking to get a live aboard narrowboat. I previously had, some years ago, a 55' narrowboat with a Lister sr3 engine (I think) Bearing in mind the fact that I know very little about engines, which make and model should I be looking for as one of the factors to consider when looking for a suitable boat. I am thinking of an engine which is well thought of, has spares readily available, is one which engineers are generally well versed in. I apologise if there is already a post about this but I did search for one.

Can I suggest also that you check the sacrificial anodes are the right type and that they haven't been painted over.

I am in the area and would love to offer to crew. I haven't boated regularly on the canal due to recent caring commitments but used to live aboard in the 80s and 90s. Done sailing and other stuff on and off over the years and would like to get used to the canal again with the idea eventually of getting a boat or a share.