Boaty Jo

Considering the state of the nations general finances, surely anything is a bonus! The canal system, historic as it is, is not everyone's priority.

Here for civil works on 1,582 locks, 55 tunnels, 2,790 bridges and 71 reservoirs. This is in addition to £500 million complex civil engineering deal already awarded. The future's bright??

A foretaste of things to come??

Not sure the boat count came through, if not, here is another link.. And attached snip of numbers by area.

It's not easy for a land-lubber to get to see a GP either! I see plenty of grumbles about the state of the canal system, the ones relating to the Rochdale catch my eye because I live by it. It's obviously difficult to compare directly but those of us living in houses are paying increasing taxes for diminishing services too. I'm pretty sure there have been more boats up The Rochdale than in previous years. According to the United Utilities guy I spoke to (40 years service) he said that recently 5.5 million litres per day were being fed into the canal from Chelburn Reservoir, itself being topped up by Warland (I think). C&RT had requested 7 million litres apparently, but people locally need to shower and wash. Anyhow, with boat numbers and water in mind, I sent an inquiry to C&RT. They don't have that specific information and treated my email as a 'Freedom of Information' request, which I suppose it was. I certainly wasn't requesting anything official with a grumbly agenda attached. A simple 'dunno mate' from Arthur, Lengthsman, Rochdale, would have done. Anyhow the attached reply came about overall boat numbers and license compliance. 46302-national-boat-count-2022.pdf

A first for me today, actually cycled IN a reservoir! Here's Warland at the Rochdale summit. The water is there between the left hand pair of pylons.

There seem to have been more boats than normal on the Rochdale recently. Lovely to see but Chelburn Reservoir appears to have taken hit.

My name is Jo and I am not as tall as some most people. Went under there in 2005.

It's a lovely old photo. Interesting to see the Buckby can. I've seen plenty painted up, but not doing what they were designed to do (I think), that's hold fresh water. There's an interesting article here about the Buckby Can.

Plus, from 1st July 2022, "the price of Protect Basic will change from £24.99/year per device to £34.99/year per device.

This popped onto my Facebook. From the piece..... "It is disappointing to report that we needed to serve over 50 enforcement notices to owners of vessels found on the river, but not yet registered for 2022." May be of interest.

Yes that's right.

I have an e-bike. It's re-opened the cycling world for me die to knackered legs. Great, fun piece of kit. One climb I do is a 2 1/2 mile category 3, averaging about 4 MPH on the way up (getting uncomfortably close to Yorkshire a the top.) Coming down again, nearer 30 MPH, which is technically illegal on an e-bike I suppose.

There are a couple of interesting graphics here relating to CARTs income and expenditure. It's a bit more involved than merely paying license fees to keep the locks in good nick. In other words boat licenses alone certainly don't cover basic infrastructure and running costs.

This I suspect is a polarizing topic

Ask Here

Prompted by the 'Canals may have to close' thread, reference shortage of lock gates, there's a thread running on the Dutch Barge Association site about the potential downgrading of some French Waterways. I'm not surprised frankly, having travelled many of them, some are very isolated. Some smaller canals are popular with hotel boats, others with hire boats (The Nivernais for example), but others, though lovely to travel are very quiet. It wasn't unusual to see just the odd boat all day on some stretches. I'm sure money is tight as it is everywhere, we could see the beginnings of a pinch when we finished 6 or 7 years ago. Maintenance and weed issues. I know that many (newer) boaters ambitions are 'modest' regarding their cruising itineraries, but I'm sure there are others who want to try further afield. What I'm saying is, don't leave it too long perhaps.

Seems to me the OP is wishing to negotiate from a position of weakness. I.e., lack of knowledge. First, ignore the 2019 survey. I suggest engaging a surveyor / valuer to confirm the asking price or suggest an alternative. Then make an offer subject to a satisfactory out of water survey of your own including in a compression test.

Don't know how up to date this list is, but it may help? Surveyors

Have you checked out the 2017 survey for potential problems. Looks like a small water tank at 300 litres? If you're going cruising for a few years, get the engine looked over, including a compression test.

https://www.owatroldirect.co.uk/product/marine-oil/ Sorry, try this.

Yes, and the one I used, although the tin has changed: https://www.owatroldirect.co.uk/product/marine-oil/

I used Owatrol a lot when Holland-based on Dutch folks recommendation. I left 2 pieces of mild steel outside over winter, the one treated with Owatrol was rustless. Added about 10% to all top coats.