doratheexplorer

In my experience the network maintenance side of things isn't too bad. Yes, they should probably do more preventative work, but budget constraints probably prevent that. The way they run their own moorings shows far more incompetence IME. I am very glad I no longer have a CRT mooring. Dealing with that lot is absolutely maddening.

This is the best answer. Head from Alvechurch to Lapworth and back. Get your Dudley friend to come and visit you, not the other way round.

He would need planning permission to build a mooring.

This is effectively a non-navigable stretch of river. Certainly it is not possible to moor here. I'm aware that some highly experienced boaters do use it when water levels permit, but it is definitely not for a novice.

I think the OP said his home canal was the G&S, so he ought to know that the Warwickshire Avon is run by its own navigation authority, as it's not far from him.

Just a thought, if you are wanting to watch TV/films on your own, consider a Meta Quest 3. I have one which I only use for this purpose, and the viewing experience is pretty amazing. I had no idea how good they were until I tried one. I bought a refurbished one from Argos and it wasn't all that expensive. No issues with ambient light, like a projector. It's exactly like being in a cinema, except without any other people there. Obviously they are no use if two or more people are watching together.

I had a similar problem around the covid pandemic. Boat prices rocketed and I wanted my insurance valuation increased as the replacement value of my boat had obviously risen. My insurer flatly refused to do this. No discussion of survey or anything. I went to another insurer to take out a new policy, they asked for my boat's value, I gave my estimation, and they were happy with that. I'd been with the original insurer for years so they lost a loyal customer.

I'm sure the local paper would love to print the story.

What do we all think of this sign at Diglis? I'd always understood that Tuel Lane was the deepest. I'm not sure how you'd measure the depth of the river lock anyway, due to fluctuating levels. And why just in "England"? Are they implying there's a larger and/or deeper lock in Scotland, Wales or NI? I know there's a deeper lock in the Republic of Ireland.

Could it be that your weedhatch isn't fully sealed and a bit of canal/river water is coming through. That would explain why you get it after cruising as the turbulence from the prop would push water through, but not when the boat is stationary.

I've often heard this, and I'm not saying you're wrong, but it doesn't make sense to me. For this to be right, all the hire bases would need to be 3 days cruise from the end of the canal. But they're not. They're dotted all along the canal. For example, if you're hiring from Trevor and start on a Saturday, you're not going to be in Llangollen mid week. Most of your cruise will be heading away from Llangollen and back.

Ok, I think I understood that. So the answer is a batter-to-battery charger? I presume that means the alternator charges a lead starter battery and the b-2-b charger goes from the starter battery to the lithium leisure battery? Is that right? So if there's only one alternator, you don't use a split-charge relay, you use a b-2-b charger instead?

I have no idea what an emergency BMS disconnect means.

I went in for lunch a few years back. I was completely ignored by staff who were chatting amongst themselves and with (I assume) regulars. Stood at the bar for five minutes, gave up, walked out. Didn't return.

Interesting. The website implies that a battery-to-battery charger is needed. I admit to being a bit clueless about this stuff...

Is the battery in the link a drop-in replacement for a lead acid battery or does it require changes to the charging system?

I did that to fill from the nearest 'towpath tap'. I wasn't in a marina. About 4-5 boats joined forces to make a hose of about 150m. It worked. Thereafter I've made sure to keep an eye on the weather and moor near a tap when needed. More often I winter in a marina/basin/boatyard.

I vaguely remember, in 2010, BW visited some of their moorings with a bowser to supply boats when the taps had frozen.

Honestly, the Iron Lock is the single most tricky thing I've encountered as a single hander. The lock itself would be ok, you just bowhaul through. But, as has been said, the bridge below the lock is a problem. If it were safe, to take 2 boats through together, that would solve it (just stay on the boat and let the other boat's crew work the lock). What I ended up doing was, I waited for another boat to arrive, sweet talked them. I let them go first and asked very politely if one of their crew could hang back to get me through the lock. It worked. If there are no other boats coming, I'd have to pass the bow-line under the bridge and try and hook/grab it on the other side. Very awkward, and enough to mean I avoid going that far up the Shroppie. They could do with replacing the bridge with a split bridge like they have on the Stratford, or getting rid of the bridge.

Reason #245 for not having a pumpout toilet.

My boat is reverse layout. The bedroom is at the front but you can still access the bow through the bedroom and there is a small well-deck, under the cratch. I'll be honest, I never access the bow this way whilst boating anyway. For me it's far quicker to get to the bow via the gunwales. Importantly I have proper handrails on my roof though, not just a 'lip'. The well deck is simply used for passengers to sit at while cruising and for storage of a few things. If I had a bespoke boat made, I'd probably have what you describe and push the bed right into the bow, with an emergency fire escape window above it. That way I'd be maximising internal space and could have a centrally positioned bed with a which could be accessed from both sides.

I would think that breaking up surface ice would be a good thing for waterfowl.

They used to show this clip at the beginning of each episode. It always made me cringe and feel sorry for Pru who was made to feel like it was her fault, when it was clearly Tim's responsibility to check.