The Black Jack
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Posts posted by The Black Jack
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19 minutes ago, Scholar Gypsy said:
I went through this summer, in the middle of the festival. It was very fine. I spent about two hours filling my water tank, and having a nice long lunch stop. A procession of boaters kept arriving, and I let them fill their portable drinking water containers ....
... and I bought a nice belt as I went past this boat ...
Looks great! I'm sure we'll do the South Oxford one day but I have in mind the Ashby Canal if the weather is too bad for us to want to tackle all those locks to Stratford. If we do the Stratford route I would like to get as far as the Edstone Aqueduct before turning back to Napton.
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On 18/11/2023 at 09:46, Puffling said:
Think it's a misspelling of "My horse won't start".
Feed the poor bugger a bag of oats, then. If it won't start then, lead it to water and make sure it drinks.
You can lead a horse to water but it won't necessarily drink anything.
On 17/11/2023 at 19:27, Mangina said:Hi , my partner died and left me a Thames barge , I have been told that to move her I will need a snorkel or engine replacement. Can anyone offer any advice pls ?
Sorry to hear you have lost your partner. If the engine is inoperative then the only way to move it will be to:
Fix engine where it is.
Pull the boat by hand with ropes.
Get it towed by another boat.
Either way, don't try getting in the water and pushing. Even with a sorkel you will end up swallowing canal/river water which will give you a rather bad tummy or worse. I'm afraid you will need to get a decent assessment from a boatyard that will be able to work on your engine. Alternatively, just sell the barge as a project.
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9 hours ago, dmr said:
Every possible mooring spot a mile or so either side of Cropredy will be taken and the Cropredy pubs will be very busy with all sorts of events. For a couple of days after the festival there will be a huge traffic jam at every lock.
Thanks for the reply. I have backup routes planned up towards the Ashby or towards Stratford upon Avon.
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We are on a one week holiday from Napton the same week as the Fairport Convention on the South Oxford Canal. We are not interested in visiting the festival. Does anyone know how much this festival impacts on cruising towards Oxford and back?
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19 hours ago, magnetman said:
Socks can last more than a day.
Also they are cheap in supermarkets.
Given the planet destroying nature of washing machines and forced drying apparatus and the cost of launderettes there is a reasonable argument for viewing underwear as consumable products.
You eat your underwear?
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On 14/11/2023 at 07:16, Annie cariad said:
Foxton and back great trip tunnel/locks everything you need
Yes, that's a lovely route but we did it a couple of years ago.
On 14/11/2023 at 08:14, Victor Vectis said:Taking the boat into Bancroft Basin is good fun. (Extra points for Japanese tourists taking photos of each other standing on your boat) but there are 16 locks down from Wilmcote and the same 16 back up again.
But.....if pushed for time (or tired?) Wilmcote Station is right by the moorings there for a fast train down to Stratford and back.
What a good idea. This might be an option if we choose this route.
On 14/11/2023 at 09:43, IanD said:South Oxford would get my vote too. We've done the Warwickshire Ring in a week but with a crew of four, it's 120 locks which is hard work with a crew of two...
Yes, we've already done the Leicester Line to Market Harborough and south down the Grand Union to Stoke Bruerne. Time for a change next year.
On 14/11/2023 at 17:13, Tacet said:It is a lot of locks, but Napton to Stratford is perfectly possible in a hire week. We did it last year with a day to spare - as well as spending some time in Stratford.
Good going! Was that with early starts and/or extra crew?
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Those Jackery solar generators are pretty impressive (but expensive).
2 minutes ago, Ronaldo47 said:When a group of us used to hire a boat in the summer, the roof was often used for sunbathing.
Pity humans can't store electrical energy in their body tissues.
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Yes, I suppose if it made good business sense, they'd probably be doing it. The only time a hirer might want to stay put is on a rainy day when solar would be a complete waste of time anyway.
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Just now, booke23 said:
They don't fit solar panels on hire boats because of the large amount of hours cruising they do a day. Most hire boats do at least 6 hrs cruising per day thus easily fully charging the batteries.
Yes I can see that but wondered that if solar panels were installed it might encourage longer stops or more leisurely cruising perhaps.
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One thing we seem to all agree on is that steel narrowboats can get uncomfortably hot in full summer sunshine. With all that canal water around, I'm surprised no one has come up with an idea for cooling the roof by evaporation of that water. We just need an efficient way of keeping the roof wet.
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On 21/09/2022 at 19:41, Nightwatch said:
Went through Nuneaton a couple of years ago. Had an opal Fruit thrown at me. It missed. I told the lad it missed and he threw another that also missed. That the ‘trouble’ that I have had there.😊
Think how impressive you'd have looked if you caught and ate it!
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On 28/11/2018 at 17:50, canalhippy said:
I hear what you’re saying, but we’re only talking a 30 seconds/ maximum 90 seconds burn.
That would depend on how wet and mucky the paper was.
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It seems odd that many hire boats are happy to include 230 volt appliances like toasters, hair driers, TVs and microwave ovens which can flatten leisure batteries quite quickly. When the engine can't be run after 8.00pm, I'm surprised more hire companies don't fit solar panels. This also might encourage less diesel usage per hire.
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21 minutes ago, Arthur Marshall said:
It was a holiday wrecker for me last year so I sympathise. The two week stoppage meant I couldn't risk going where I wanted to as I had obligations when I got back and had to be prepared for a ten day detour to get home.
Next year I'm going to have to turn musical commitments down in order to be able to relax. How you can get that relaxation when paying a couple of grand for a hire with so little certainty of getting back to base defeats me.
So far we have been lucky with our Easter or August breaks but I always try to hire from a base where there are alternative routes available for this reason.
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1 hour ago, john6767 said:
Route D; to have Stratford as a destination is great, it is fantastic to arrive in Bancroft basin, but the big but is that it is 80 locks (46 wide, 34 narrow) EACH WAY. People do this in a hire week, I have met them, but it is with large crews and it is hard work and some long days, so know what you are getting into!
Route C, South Oxford is a good one (29 locks each way), and with no specific destination (sorry Lower Hayford), you can turn round when it makes sense at the time.
Route B, nice easy route, but it is only 4 locks each way (one being a stop lock), so the exact opposite of Route D. You must have a feeling if you have had previous experience where you fall on the number of locks you want to do in a week, 160 or 8, they would be very different holidays.
Route A, a middling route with not too many locks (17 each way), you could even you further, perhaps to Fradley Junction, or a diversion up the start of the Ashby, no additional locks in either case.
If you have not done the South Oxford I would probably go for that, unless you want the challenge of Stratford.
Thank-you for your considered comments. We quite like locks but I think the Stratford run might be a bit too much for the two of us for one week. We did the Stourport Ring in one week but we were in our twenties then! As regards the very peaceful Ashby, we might miss the locks and some say it is becoming rather shallow and narrow.
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Boutique Narrowboats based at Market Harborough have some high end boats with a cosy King Sized bed at the bow of the boat. There are only two disadvantages:
No dogs permitted on their poshest boats.
Located at the end of the Market Harborough branch means only two routes available if you only have one week to spare.
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My wife and I are taking a one week narrowboat holiday from Napton Marina booked for August next year. We are experienced holiday cruisers. I have four routes planned and would welcome any comments:
Route A Napton to Fazeley Junction Return
Route B Napton to Snarestone Return
Route C Napton to Lower Hayford Return
Route D Napton to Stratford upon Avon Return
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9 hours ago, nicknorman said:
I would say yes. We have a compromise light grey, but the ceiling is warm to the touch in hot sunny weather. "properly insulated" is the thing - narrowboats are a compromise due to the maximum distance between the bottom of the canal and the underside of the bridge/tunnel and so there isn't as much room for ceiling insulation as one would like, unless you are an oompa loompa.
And the dark coloured sides of the boat do get a lot hotter than the ligher roof in direct sun.
Interesting. The reason I thought I'd ask what boaters thought was that the physics involved is likely more complicated than it appears on the surface. Some desert nomads traditionally wear black robes.
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Has anyone ever tested whether light coloured roofs really keep boat interiors cooler on hot days?
With a properly insulated boat, I wonder if it makes much difference. A dark roof certainly produces less glare for comfortable cruising.
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OK I'm persuaded not to add water. Just make sure your hot ashes are off the boat and don't burn anyone or start a fire. Crikey! This forum is more combative than Twitter!
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The idea was to take the ash out then extinguish it....outside.
7 minutes ago, Ianws said:Steam burns are extremely nasty.
Ash into water not the other way around.
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Yes that's fine so long as someone doesn't end up starting a grass fire with it.
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On 06/12/2021 at 15:39, BlueStringPudding said:
I set off my CO alarms once by leaving the ash bucket on the OUTSIDE stern deck step. Unbeknownst to me, despite the grey ash on the top, the ash beneath was getting very hot and glowing orange. It was enough to spew out carbon monoxide that came in through the vents in the stern doors and that set off the alarms.
Ash gets taken outside, well away from the doors, now. And when cooled, dumped into a larger bucket on the deck to be disposed of later.
Please be mindful not to leave buckets of ash on the bank if near to the towpath. Passers-by, especially after dark or if skirting round puddles, branches or around other towpath users, might trip over it creating not just the risk of fall-injuries but potential burn injuries too.
Why not cool ash completely by adding water?
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Thanks for this information. I will speak to hire companies to clarify.
One Week Break from Napton
in Holidays Afloat
Posted
That's a great suggestion but we've done that route so time for a change.