KenK

If you go to the British Waterways site, not Waterscape, each venue has a contact e mail, just let them know you will be attending. Why be scared you help pay his wages, he works for you. Ken

This arrived in my inbox the morning from BW. A chance to air your grievances at the very top. Waterways boss goes on tour to meet customers BW’s chief executive, Robin Evans, is starting a nationwide tour to give customers a dedicated forum to discuss their interests and concerns on the management of the waterways. The twenty customer meetings, throughout the summer, in addition to BW's regular programme of meetings between local management and waterway users, will see Robin give a quick update on BW activities before opening up to questions from attendees. BW is particularly interested to hear customers' views on the mooring tenders trial, which began in October 2007. Robin says: "Part of the appeal of canals is the diverse groups of users who sometimes have different priorities and different perspectives. I want to manage the waterways for the greatest public benefit and hearing and exchanging views at first hand will help develop the right policies for the future." Anyone with an interest in the nation's waterways is free to attend. Unit Date Venues Time Local Organiser North West Thurs 5 June Dukinfield Town Hall , King Street , Dukinfield, Tameside , SK16 4LA 09.30 to 11.00 Denise Bradshaw 01942 405793 North West Thurs 5 June The Orwell, 4 Wigan Pier, Wallgate, Wigan, Lancashire , WN3 4EU 18.00 to 19.30 Denise Bradshaw 01942 405793 South West Fri 13 June National Waterways Museum , Gloucester Docks, Llanthony Warehouse, The Docks, Gloucester GL1 2EH 08.30 to 10.00 Karen Morphet 01452 318008 South West Fri 13 June The Bear Hotel, Market Place, Devizes, Wiltshire SN10 1HS 17.30 to 19.00 Karen Morphet 01452 318008 East Midlands Wed 9 July Nottingham Sailing Club, Adbolton Lane, West Bridgford, Nottingham NG2 5AS 08.30 to 10.00 Tracey Parkin 01636 675731 East Midlands Wed 9 July The Elms Hotel, London Road , Retford, Nottinghamshire DN22 7DX 17.30 to 19.00 Tracey Parkin 01636 675731 London Fri 18 July Lea Valley Village Youth Hostel, Cheshunt , Herts EN8 08.30 to 10.00 Harriet Henniker-Major 0207 985 7205 London Fri 18 July London Canal Museum , 12-13 New Wharf Road , London N1 9RT 17.30 to 19.00 Harriet Henniker-Major 0207 985 7205 West Midlands Tues 22 July Hatton Meeting Rooms, Canal Lane , Hatton, Warwick , CV35 7JL 08.30 to 10.00 Carol Collinge 01827 252031 West Midlands Tues 22 July Chasewater Innovation Centre, Chasewater Country Park , Pool Road , Brownhills, Staffordshire WS8 7NL 17.30 to 19.00 Carol Collinge 01827 252031 Wales & Border Counties Thurs 24 July Rudyard Lake Visitor Centre, Leek, Staffordshire ST13 8XB 10.30 to 12.00 Veronica Gordon 01606 723802 Wales & Border Counties Thurs 24 July Doddington Lodge, Doddington Road , Whitchurch SY13 1EN 17.30 to 19.00 Veronica Gordon 01606 723802 Yorkshire Tues 29 July The Pastures Lodge & Hotel, Pastures Road , Mexborough , S64 0JJ 09.00 to 10.30 Linzi O'Neill 0113 281 6861 Yorkshire Tues 29 July East Riddlesden Hall, Bradford Road , Keighley, West Yorkshire , BD20 5EL 17.30 to 19.00 Linzi O'Neill 0113 281 6861 South East Thurs 31 July The Boat Inn, Stoke Bruerne, Nr Towcester, Northamptonshire , NN12 7SB 8.30 to 10.00 Chris Stanley 01908 302552 South East Thurs 31 July The Mill House Banbury, North Newington Road, North Newington , Banbury, Oxfordshire , OX15 6AA 17.30 to 19.00 Chris Stanley 01908 302552 Scotland Wed 6 August The Maple Court Hotel , 12 Ness Walk, Inverness , IV3 5SQ 17.30 to 19.00 Frances Mimnagh 0141 354 7534 Scotland Thurs 7 August Best Western Park Hotel, Camelon Road , Falkirk, Stirlingshire , FK1 5RY 08.30 to 10.00 Frances Mimnagh 0141 354 7534 Jonathan Bryant . 14 May 2008 Ken

Silvermans / Timbermet sell it, they have depots nationwide. Ken

Hi Tony, Thanks for the offer, however as an electronics engineer working for a development company we have more meters than we can count. I'm going to the boat on Sunday, so I will do some investigation and see what is what. Ken

One of the things that I did think about, max is 15 secs on a Beta 38 according to the manual, but thanks for the idea. Ken

Hi Tony, Thanks for the information. It is not starting well from cold although it is fine when warm, engine has only done around 300 hrs and the starter battery is brand new, spins over ok but takes along time to start with lots of white smoke. I'm going to do an engine service so I thought I'd remove and check them. Ken

Hi All, Anyone know where the glow plugs are located on a Beta 38, how easy / difficult are they to remove, how often should they be removed, and finally when they are out what should I be looking for as regards condition / testing? Thanks in advance Ken

Not pedal power but I saw a narrowboat near Reading on the K&A with a washing machine drum to which plates had been screwed turning it into a waterwheel. It was mounted on a frame fixed to the side of the boat so that the lower half was in the water, an alternator was driven by a belt fitted to the drum, a reverse of the normal motor turning the drum in a washing machine. The ratio of drum to alternator pulley is high so although the wheel turns fairly slowly I suspect the alternator gives a reasonable output and of course it is constant. Cheap, green, quiet and no physical effort required, the downside you do need to be on a river or a canal with a current. Ken

Couple that spring to mind, Napton Narrowboats do an Edwardian Elite supposed to be rather upmarket, South Oxford and Shropie. Louis and Joshua have one of their bespoke build boats which they hire, think there are some conditions with that one, experienced boaters only. Tell them to get a current Waterways World and go through the adverts, they should find what they are looking for, always found the smaller companies better when we were hiring if that is any help. Ken

Best practice is as close to the DC -ve bond as possible but not to the same point. That way each earth point is independant and if one is removed for maintenance it won't effect the other. It is normally a stud and nut arrangement not solder, if you are lucky you will find a connection already exists close to the DC one, if not do the best you can. Ken

Hi Chris, The two white wires are 12V the two black ones are the returns, (earth) and the black/blue goes to the W connector on the alternator. As I understand it the hours counter is connected internally to the alternator connection, it is not driven by a seperate connection. Ken

DEFRA is responsible for the fisheries bit, stocks environment etc., if it needs doing why does it not come out of that budget? BW's budget has been cut so that canal maintenance is reduced and they had to back out of previous commitments, spending £500,000 counting fish is money wasted. What are they going to do if they find the barrage has reduced fish stocks, remove it? Ken

What will be so upsetting for boaters who are suffering the ever increasing costs of boating through British Waterways supposed lack of funding, is that all this money can be found to monitor fish on a river estuary that has no connection with navigable inland waterways whatsoever. I'd say they have a point. Ken

Just spotted this on Narrowboatworld, just when you thought they couldn't get worse BW prove you wrong! British Waterways is spending half a million pounds on tagging sea fish! BRITISH Waterways has confirmed that it has commissioned the Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science to carry out a major, three years electronic fish tagging survey at the Tees Barrage, at Stockton on Tees. The study began last month and is being managed by the centre which is an executive agency of Defra. Funded by British Waterways, the £500,000 project will provide 'baseline scientific data to help scientists, anglers and wildlife enthusiasts begin to understand the complex interactions and relationships around the fish, bird and mammal populations that use the barrage as a focus for migration and feeding behaviour'. What will be so upsetting for boaters who are suffering the ever increasing costs of boating through British Waterways supposed lack of funding, is that all this money can be found to monitor fish on a river estuary that has no connection with navigable inland waterways whatsoever. The scheme is primarily to monitor fish movements on the Tees to measure its 'environmental factors that impact on fish migration'. Which will include data relating to seal predation, salmon and sea trout numbers in the Tees Estuary. Laurence Morgan, General Manager for British Waterways Yorkshire tells us: “There are a great many anecdotal views about the impact of the Tees Barrage on fishing, with some anglers saying it has improved while others argue it has declined. The Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science is the leading expert in its field and we are confident that this study will enable it to provide reliable, scientific and indisputable data which can inform the future management of the structure and river.” ________________________________________ Ken

I had an e mail the morning, Simpsons boats, Big Fish narrowboats and Abdella & Mitchell have merged to form a new company Thames & Severn. Another sign I suspect of a more difficult market place and fewer orders. Ken

I don't see where that one comes from. You always seem to me to be on the side of those who choose not to follow the rules, standards etc. My own view is simple, boating is something you choose to do it is not forced upon anyone, having made the choice I assumed it was my responsibility to pay my way, license, mooring, insurance etc. in the same way as I run my car. Some people choose not to play by the rules, in many of your posts you disagree with BW's right to set the rules, you obviously have a right to disagree, and to try and change those rules provided it is done democratically, but until that happens you, I and everyone else should follow them. BW in my opinion should be much tougher on license evaders, if the figures they published for the K&A alone are correct then they are losing hundreds of thousands of pounds each year. Ken

One who pays his / her way! Ken

Well he is a politician so he is all things to all men (women) especially when he wants your vote. However pester them enough and they pass it on just to get you off their back. Ken

Alvechurch and Viking are both part of the ABC leisure Group, so you're simply deciding between two arms of the same company. I wouldn't choose either, I'd pick one of the smaller family run companies, when we hired they always gave the best service and the boats were usually better. Whatever you decide to do have a good holiday and I hope the sun shines. Ken

His name is Jonathan Shaw jonathan.shaw@defra.gsi.gov.uk, he's put there by all of us, well at least those who choose to vote. If enough people e mail, write, etc. to the waterways minister complaining that by BW's own addmission 11.5% of boats are not licensed and why when they are crying out for more money aren't they doing something about it and more to the point what is he doing about it, then you might see some action. Ken

Hi Stoney, I think you have summed it up very well and I suspect everyone apart from those who fall into the last two groups would agree. Ken

Hang on a minute, who said anything about keeping CCers away from visitor moorings. By definition any genuine CCer is a visitor and is just as entitled as anyone else to use the visitor mooring, provided they do so in accordance with the time limit for that mooring, 24 hrs, 48 etc. Ken

For what it is worth this is the reply I submited to BW, feeling mellow after a warm afternoons boating on Saturday followed by an excellent meal in the local, I tried to be positive. I agree completely with the idea of reducing license evasion I am less than convinced that the proposals as they stand would achieve this in a cost effective manner. 1 Staffing Hanham lock would at first glance seem to make sense as it is the first lock on the Avon controlled by BW, however any boat approaching from Bristol either has a mooring there, has completed the transit from the Gloucester and Sharpness canal or is returning from a visit to Bristol. Therefore there would be ample opportunity to check the status of the licence either when the mooring permit was issued, when the boat prepared for the transit or as below. A boat passing through the lock towards Bristol could be checked by the Lock-keeper employed by Bristol docks as it would have to stop to obtain a mooring permit for the floating harbour. This would of course require cooperation from both parties but that should not be insurmountable. 2 County lock at Reading again is the first controlled by BW however there is no mooring between the Oracle and the lock other than the lock mooring itself and this would only cater for at most three boats depending upon length. Given the state of the weir at times of even moderate rainfall this could result in a dangerous situation with boats unable to proceed further but also unable to moor, turning back across the weir could easily result in an accident. Fobney lock is little better combining a difficult approach with little mooring. The solution in my view would be to combine resources with the Environment Agency and use the existing facilities at Blake’s Lock. The EA and BW both have an interest in checking and issuing licences, combining resources would result in a cost saving to both parties and achieve the objective. In addition there is safe mooring prior to the lock on the Thames adjacent to the Tesco store and on the Kennet in the backwater by the old gaol. 3 The idea of random checks along the navigation makes much more sense, although as most of us who use the waterway know most of the unlicensed boats seldom move. In addition to manning locks equip your staff with bicycles and send them along the towpath checking moored boats, more unlicensed craft would be identified in an afternoon than in a week staffing a lock. 4 The proposed opening times seem reasonable although I suspect many will disagree. 5 I accept that selling licenses at either end makes sense. What would be the position if the owner of a boat normally moored and licensed on water controlled by the Environment Agency wished to travel to Bristol and return? It would be unreasonable to insist on a six month license unless a refund could be arranged for the unused portion of the license on the boats return. In addition to selling a license for a boat normally moored or continuous cruising on BW water but not possessing one; do you intend to make any provision to determine when the boat was last licensed and to reclaim the license fee for that period? Ken

I agree their service is good, but unless you take out the Gold membership the boat is not covered unless the member is on the boat, I think you get two members with the Silver. So if you intend lending the boat to other family / friends it's something to consider. Ken