RiverRat

Can I suggest "someone" gives tem a call rather than just posting what could be very unhelpful messages on forums? I just tried their web-site with no success. Peter.

We can't speak too highly of Ray Collis at Trent River Boat Handling. www.trentboathandling.co.uk/index.php Stewart MacLennan

Thanks everyone for all the helpful replies. I think like a lot of things in life, its going to be a matter of "if you don't try it you will never know". Best regards Stewart PS I think the Hertford and Lee experiences had as has been suggested, a lot to do with water levels, so picking the right time on the challenging sections of the K&A could be crucial. A couple of weeks with little or no rain might be good .... but possibly too much to ask for, though in Oz my brother has just come through a 7 year drought on his farm in NSW. I don't think we would need to go to that extreme!

Happy New Year to everyone. I wonder if any others have had similar experiences to us with daily variations in headroom on canals and rivers. Having a broad beam barge with a fixed wheelhouse – from Gary Peacock and the team at Ledgard Bridge, we are extremely interested in the headroom on bridges. With fuel and water tanks all full we measured our headroom at 2.36 metres, or 7’9”. That’s been fine on the Calder and Hebble, the Aire and Calder, the Trent and more recently here on the Thames. But over Christmas we decided to take visiting family and friends for a little outing from here at Limehouse Basin, up the Regent, the Hertford Union and then a few ks up the Lee Navigation. Our research indicated the lowest bridges on the Hertford were 2.6m, while we would only just make it under a couple further up on the Lee, where we had only 2.36m – possibly touch and (not) go. However on day-one of our trip we found the Hertford bridges just as low as couple on the Lee Navigation. Onlookers gathered to see if we would hit bridges with our wheelhouse and some were almost at the point of making bets we would fail to make it, as some on board were! But we did .... just. On our return trip the following day however, we glided through without any drama as we had 100mls – or several inches to spare. Someone must have gone through ahead of us in a way which considerably lowered the water levels in the pounds. Where could we go next we wonder? Our research also tells us that we would not be able to get much beyond Reading on the K&A as again there are bridges with 2.34 in headroom – Kings Road Bridge for example. We would love to be able to go down the K&A, to Newbery or possibly even Bath, but if2.34 really means 2.34, it’s not going to be possible. But does 2.34 really mean 2.34 ALL the time? Is there anyone who can give us advice on this or point us in the right direction? Thanks Stewart MacLennan "Endellion" www.maclennan.com.au/Endellion/home.html

G'day every, As the person along with my wife Lesley, for whom Gary and his team are building the boat I can say that its wonderful that he has gone to all this trouble to see where our money is going and bridging the 11,000 mile gap between Sydney Australia and Mirfield UK. Thanks to modern technology the image does flip 180 degrees too, and looks quite "normal" from down here. Our major disappointment is that the team is building working in the UK time zone, not Australian Eastern Standard Time. So our daytime PC viewing is just a black screen. At night its great, but we are missing out on watching gems of British TV like "Midsommer Murders" and "The Bill" which we had been watching to try to acclimatize ourselves to your culture. By the way, where is Midsommer? Seems a very dangerous place! All the best Stewart

Thanks for all the advice. Very grateful!

Hi everyone, I'm wondering if anyone can help with suggestions on marinas with cradles able to pick up - or put down a wide beam barge of 49 feet? After spending time on the canals up north in Spring '08, and hopefully visiting Liverpool during its festivities, we would ideally like to head south and travel along the K&A to Bath. As I'm sure you all know, there is no way wide beams can make that journey without an overland or open sea leg. We'd like to travel as far south as we can on the canals or a tidal river like the Trent, and then crane out onto a truck for the shortest road trip possible and then back onto the water again. Hiring a crane is expensive but cradles are not so bad. The challenge has been to find the right marinas on the right canals! Presently being in Australia, its not been an easy one to research. Marinas say talk to trucking companies. Trucking companies say talk to BW and on it goes. Anyone have any thoughts? Cheers River rat.