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Ray

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Everything posted by Ray

  1. Mark I have responded to your PM to me. Moorhen & Grebe both had fibre glass cabin tops. I don't know where they were from but I recall that they were followed by two ex-Black Prince hire boats. One of those was renamed at Heron - the bigger of the two if I remember rightly - but I can't remember what the other one became. I believe it was Heron that passed into private hands and then spent some time moored at Pitstone Wharf thereafter before being sold on again. I'm almost 100% certain that Dabchick went to the River Lea. Swan - which I think Malcolm and Nikki bought - went to Vera & Tim. The picture is not of Dabchick. It shows an ex-cruiser that I believe Ian bought and converted to a day boat. I have a nagging suspicion that this was his second conversion, the first being the cruiser that became Lady Jane but equally the picture may show Lady Jane having been renamed. Little Grebe went initially to a mooring on or near the Llangollen canal. She was then bought and returned south by one of the Pitstone moorers who also worked on the trip boats from time to time. I think she left Pitstone before I bowed out but I don't know where she went. I don't know if she retained her original name.
  2. I believe Grebe & Moorhen were their first two hire boats when they moved to Pitstone Wharf. Rod Saunders was the owner and had been operating trip boats from the towpath locally until the wharf site was ready. I recall that he also had some form of business relationship with Autrant Cruises (?) based at Slapton
  3. I forgot to add that one of the later day boats was I believe called Swan. Little Grebe had probably departed from the area before Swan arrived.
  4. My first post on here for a long, long time! It is also nice to know that Alan is still actively using the forum. Kingfisher was sold when the then owner decided to downsize following the death of his wife. It went to King's Cross in London and was last seen by me as what appeared to be a live-aboard immediately below the lock. I can't add anything further to the details about Countess & Princess and Mark's picture is the most recent I've seen. I believe Dabchick went to the River Lea as a dayboat. The converted cruiser that became the third day boat carried the name "Lady Jane". I know Little Grebe passed into private hands and I believe stayed around the Marsworth area for a while. I'm not sure what happened to her after that.
  5. Over time there were several different day boats - and up to three concurrently. They probably all shared the same exciting experiences! I know not whether the last day hire boats were sold on as hire boats or for private use. The newest member of the fleet was a converted cruiser, much altered to become suitable for day hire. By then that one and one of the others had precious little metal bodywork above the gunnels so was really unsuitable for anything more than day hire (unless they found somewhere warm to be operated from)! Many thanks for that. It sounds as though she might have met a similar fate to one of her predecessors. I last saw that - Kingfisher of Tring - in passing as a live-aboard at St. Pancras where I believe she still is. I'm not sure I'd fancy cruising Countess on a river as the electric motor was barely powerful enough for canal work.
  6. Many thanks for that. She brushes up well for a 30 year old boat.
  7. In 2005 Countess's motor was still solely battery powered. The generator, which was water cooled, was purely for providing 230v for on board facilities like a DJ's deck. However, I believe an on-board charger was added in the last few years and I'm told that the/a generator was used continuously whilst cruising to either provide power for the motor via the batteries or to charge them whilst the boat was underway. Countess wasn't the fastest on the cut as numerous people on here will probably be only too well aware of. That said, with a decent crew who knew what they were doing we seldom caused too many delays and I've frequently followed a diesel powered boat over the longer pounds only to be stuck behind them each time we arrived at a lock (and we needed both gates open). Personally I hated the trips when we had with the generator running and would do my utmost to avoid using it as I felt it destroyed the ambience of what was otherwise a virtually silent vessel. BTW I well remember Canis and the (to me) unusual head attire of the owner, someone with whom I regularly exchanged banter (as I did with many of the local moorers). It was only in the last ten years or so that the "noisy" trips transferred from Princess to Countess and the mainstay of these trips likewise transferred to working south of Pitstone instead of to the north where the longer vessel was unable to turn before reaching Slapton - a four hour round trip. Reports of alleged damage to the lock gates don't surprise me. I've pushed said gates open the same way on many occasions but I'd been taught how to do it without causing damage by a master. The final owner of the trip boat business on the other hand found no place in his vocabulary for the word advice so never had the opportunity to gain the same knowledge.
  8. Thanks for the responses. I understood that the three day hire boats went to Harefield on brokerage. One of the trip boats - believed to be Princess - was craned out at The Boat Shop at Leighton Buzzard. The last I saw of Countess she was over-staying "on" the towpath opposite Cooks Wharf earlier this year. One of the trip boats is reputed to heading somewhere to start a new life as a restaurant. I think Manchester was mentioned. The closure of the local pub was allegedly caused in part by the trip boat's presence when the owner of the premises applied for change of use. I retained an arms length relationship with the owner of Pitstone Wharf after I ceased to tolerate working for the last owner of Grebe Canal Cruises. Therefore I have my on views on why Grebe shut up shop at the end of 2014.
  9. Chiltern Countess - "often referred to on here as the electric brick" - was built in 1992 and plied her trade on the Southern Grand Union Canal on the Beds, Bucks & Herts border until she was disposed of by the then owner earlier this year after he took the decision that Grebe Canal Cruises would cease trading at the end of 2014. A sister vessel - Princess of the Chilterns - was built some 8 years earlier and being diesel powered rather than electric, had a slightly larger cruising area. She too ceased her original (trip boat) task at the same time. I was closely involved with both vessels and for the last few years of my close association with Grebe Canal Cruises was probably the most regular skipper of "Countess" - the others found the speed derived from the electric motor - the egg whisk - and the tighter clearances in locks and under bridges less to their liking. I worked on "Princess" for all but the last three years of her life at Grebe and worked part time for Grebe for about 25 years. I understand that both trip boats moved elsewhere although I know not where on when. I'd be specifically interested to learn what happened to Countess (which I also played a small part in fitting out). We sold our own narrowboat a couple of years back due to (my) health issues and I bowed out of active participation on this forum around that time which is why I have not been around. Thanks you.
  10. If what Allan said is correct and I have no reason to doubt it, the person concerned is the last person who I would have thought would have been passing apparently incorrect comments about that particular situation. That person is one of the most fastidious and boater friendly CRT people that I know although I have to admit that I have only ever had communication with them in passing since they've worked for CRT (I did also work with the person somewhere else on and off for about a year and they behaved in a similar exemplarily manner then in my view).
  11. There are three groups of off-side moorings between bottom Seabrook lock and top Ivinghoe. I wouldn't know whether there are any vacancies although I recall a sign by the road bridge saying there was. I'll echo the comments about Horton lock, I think I've only ever been there once in 25+ years and not had the pleasure of the smell of the local cattle's outgoings! I believe there is one mooring vacant at Pitstone Wharf, on the Marsworth side of the railway bridge.
  12. As of earlier today On Schedule ! (the Rugby Boats link) is sold subject to survey. The electrical ability of any boat to survive several days of non cruising will primarily depend upon the amount of electricity that you use. The less you use, the smaller the battery bank required or, conversely, the longer the batteries that you do have should last between charge. Beware of electric fridges as they are often the main electricity consumer. I would suggest that you might be pushing things a bit to expect your batteries to last more than a couple of days if you're running a fridge/freezer. Running things via your Inverter can be another gobbler of power. Beware also of the size of the toilet waste retention tank. Ours is small - it will last two people approximately a fortnight. We placed a higher priority on the extra storage space that we could gain under the bed by having a small toilet tank. Hope that helps.
  13. We've always rough planned our trips more to give us a guide as to where we should be if we want to be back when we're due to be. Invariably we end up ahead of the plan and have been known to deviate from it considerably - like the time we arrived at Stratford on a Monday afternoon - about three days ahead of the plan. The plan said we need to be in Brum the following Saturday evening for a concert. Instead of turning round and heading north we went via the Severn and Worcester and still had a day to spare. We tried an unplanned trip once and hated it. We're not the type of people who can just sit and read or doze (although as we get older we're finding the latter a bit easier but then suffer at night as a result!). At home we're on the go all the time and don't holiday any differently. I suppose we never grew out of hire boat mode where we felt that we'd paid for the boat and paid to use the canals and that's what we'd do. But that's us.
  14. This post cannot be displayed because it is in a forum which requires at least 10 posts to view.
  15. I have to admit immediately that I'm not technically qualified but . . . From my experience (at home and) on the boat, it takes a while for the engine to get up to temperature - and that will be extended slightly I presume with the additional water in the system to heat the radiators. I would anticipate about 30 minutes total. I'd guess that it will take a while for the radiators to have an impact on the ambient temperature around them, possibly more than 30 minutes? If the radiators then cool quite quickly, say another thirty minutes, I can see you needing to run the engine more than once in the depth of winter when the temperature starts to drop mid afternoon. I do wonder if this is the right way to solve the problem (although I can't think of an alternative)
  16. This is how it all began! The red light was reported as not working so a little investigation revealed a number of possible causes. The first appeared to be the float in the cassette being dislodged. Having attended to one cassette today we now know that we have one with a properly positioned float. It would be nice to get the other cassette in a similar state. Part of the problem is that the boat is used infrequently and the cassettes only need emptying about three times per year each. At least now we can see what happens when the cassette currently fitted fills - if it does before the end of the "season" - at which time it will be emptied come what may (although we may try topping it up with water if it isn't full to see if the warning line comes on).
  17. The boat concerned is a charity boat that provides play sessions when moored up. The play workers are not boaters and are not used to cassette toilets let alone how they work! The warning light has always worked prior to the most recent incident and I feel morally obliged to repair damage that I caused. All I'm hoping is that someone can tell me whether the whole assembly can be changed and, if so, confirm how it is done.
  18. They won't be getting any casual passing boat traffic then will they!
  19. Having not investigated the inside of one before, I was a shade over enthusiastic when attempting to locate the float arm in a C200 cassette with the result that the float arm has parted company with the bracket that holds it. I have tried to re-locate the float arm in the bracket but as I'm working blind I haven't managed to do so. The illustrations in the Thetford manual aren't too clear so I'm not too certain whether the float arm and the holding bracket can be replaced or not. The way I interpret the manual the whole assembly (or the mounting bracket minus float arm) can be unclipped with a screwdriver, removed from the cassette and, I presume, have the arm refitted and then slid back into place. Has anyone replaced the entire assembly and is my understanding correct?
  20. The point I was trying to make was simply that I feel some consideration needs to be given to those who have a bona fide reason to need to stay in an area for more than 24/48 hours in areas where both long (7 & 14 day) and short term (say, 2 days or less) nominated moorings are in close proximity and where, having passed said long term moorings the next guaranteed long term mooring place is all but 2 hours cruising time away (as can happen in flights of closely spaced locks near tunnels and further short term moorings as happens when travelling north through Stoke Bruerne. I don't suggest that a minimum stay period should apply to the towpath away from VMs. If you pass the 14 day moorings at the bottom of Stoke Bruerne there are a couple of similar berths towards the top of the flight, which may or may not be free. The moorings between the top lock and the tunnel are all short term and mooring on the tunnel is not generally accepted! The area immediately north of the tunnel is not conducive to mooring because it is too shallow. The VMs at the bottom of the lock are north of a long raised wall so one would have to reverse some distance past said wall to get back to a towpath area bellow the locks where mooring is practical. Not all people would feel confident in doing so.
  21. The visitor moorings at the bottom of the flight were over-full at about 2.30pm yesterday afternoon - one boat seemed to have managed to get themselves on the last couple of rings at the north end with the stern unsecured. There was even a hire boat on the most southerly of the 14 day moorings. I think these and other proposals overlook the fact that irregular or new boaters e.g. hirers, don't always appreciate the difference in the VM types. Consequently the above mentioned hire boat may have just stopped for lunch but by doing so may have prevented someone who wanted to stay for 3 or 4 days from doing so - they were heading north and had taken the first mooring space they came to (which I accept may have been the last one vacant). Should the longer period moorings have a minimum stay period condition e.g. Minimum stay 1 day, Maximum stay 7 days?
  22. Survey completed. I realise that you cannot cater for every scenario but here is an example that faced me recently. A small group of volunteers move a local charity boat as required in our area (Milton Keynes). Once a year we venture out of Milton Keynes with the boat to attend the festival at Blisworth - as I write we're about to return the boat to home waters On our way north we arrived at the bottom of the Stoke Bruerne flight where we planned to leave the boat for about 60 hours. All the 14 day moorings were full but there was one remaining space on the 48 hour mooring which we reluctantly took - CRT workboats were occupying about 50% of the available space. The only place further on that we could guarantee to find a suitable mooring space without infringing any restriction was north of Blisworth tunnel, about 2 hours further cruising. Are overstay charges correct in situations like this - i.e. where significant distances (at least in travelling time) are involved between the less stringently restricted mooring areas? I'm not seeking an answer to this question on this thread but I didn't feel it appropriate to clutter the survey with this scenario but felt it needed to be shared.
  23. I was involved with the move of the local charity boat last week. We arrived at the bottom of Stoke Bruerne on Monday afternoon to take the last available 48hr mooring space. There would have been more space had not the CRT workboats been occupying just under half of the 48hr mooring space. We had intended to moor on the longer term mooring a little further back but they were full. We moved on Thursday morning - I know, we overstayed, but there was nowhere else to moor in the immediate vicinity and one of the crew (me) was unable to walk long distances due to an on-going leg injury. The work boats were still there and the 14 day moorings were still full. What is the cost of administering the proposals? New signage, training and running costs of volunteer rangers - uniform and the like? If somewhere is being advertised as being 48hr (or whatever) mooring then that is what it has to be. Just because it suits CRT to not patrol at (exactly) the same time every day is not our fault. Will I be penalised if I'm spotted by both Monday's patrol at 3pm and Wednesday's at 11am or do I get grace until Thursday - at whatever time it happens? Re-arrange the following words into a well known phrase or saying: Of, Holes, Full.
  24. You need to book your passage through the lock 24 hours in advance - that would make it some time on Thursday. The lock keeper will confirm your choice of time.
  25. This post cannot be displayed because it is in a forum which requires at least 10 posts to view.
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