Tiny
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Posts posted by Tiny
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Even providing any Minister actually knows anything about his subject from my experience with our local MP - now a minister he is so busy that he has no time to investigate himself and has to believe what he is told by underlings while also doing as he is told by them who appointed him.
Given this ministers are easily manipulated by their advisors - as long the advice falls in with government requirements. As government requirements currently are not to spend money in areas like the waterways this means given the information he is fed by Hales the minister is happy to let things continue as they are and accept the BS as being the truth.
Our local MP operates in a similar manner with advisors telling him the 'truth' while the public have to send their objections to his staff - the main one of which being related to the gentleman who most public persons complain about. Meanwhile on the government front, to keep his job the minister has to suppress his stated beliefs and only do that which does not rock the boat. Needless to say he will lose a lot of votes come election time but being in a safe seat he should squeeze in.
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As someone who has walked,cycled,fished and boated BW/CaRT's waterways for over 50 years (and volunteered on them for over ten years), I found it quite amusing that I should be told to sell my boat, thus depriving CaRT of much needed income.
Is it ok if I carry on with the other three activities?
Actually, there is very little that can be said that is positive in the accounts apart from boaters do pay their way (but we knew that anyway) and CaRT made more money out of the Olympics than planned.
I suggest anyone wanting a positive spin should read what Tony Hales says in the annual report.
But will we hear what he says in his report given it is in a secret meeting that we are not suppose to know about. At this point one wonders how anyone cannot fear the worst about Cart given they are so secretive.
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I saw some yoofs on a bridge who ducked down as the boat in front approached - then jumped up, leaned over and gobbed on the steerer. When we got there I got in first a chucked my 'to hot to drink' coffee in the gobbers face. Beneath one of the high bridges in Brum we noted a load of 'still in their boxes' vacuums in the water. Luckily they were in long before we passed. On the Warrington arm we tried the camera trick and the yobs (actually in PT kit with teachers on school grounds) stood on the canal bridge and hurled stones while swearing at us. We sent the photo to the headmistress who replied that the thowing stones at bargees was simple self expression but she got the girl who swore to write us a grovelling letter of apology as swearing was not allowed on school property. When we contacted them the education authority said the head was very self important and they constantly got complaints about her but they could not get rid of her. They had tried.
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We were moored below lk12 at Audlem when oak and ash came down. The rev came through the lock then pulled back into the gates waiting to tow the butty down this longer pound. The butty was hauled in by the crew and hit the front gate - tossing a load of water over the gate and over the rev below. You could see the steam rising as he cursed them. A chap on a mooring opposite listened open mouthed to the language which went on and on. It was all so unoriginal - just the same few swear words used but the tone was so angry. I went inside to have a laugh. Meanwhile the pair passed at speed with the vicar still muttering as I whipped out to find the butty passing with the crew hiding from him having hysterics.
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I reckon it might be worth a fiver if Robin and the other Directors were given puddling boots and had to march up and down 12 hours a day repuddling the bottom of the breach hole for about a week each. I might pay to watch that!
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Yup agree with you there digital is crap
I suppose that when one minute you have a 'great signal' and you are really into a program and then it says NO SIGNAL grrrrr. Had no probs at all with the box, until now... so they must have done something... and to Bizzard... we have retuned over and over and over... fine for 5 mins then back to bad picture loss of sound.. thats why I thought I would ask on here to see if other memembers in other areas are experiencing the same. Having a signal tester the signal used to be good. Now its very bad since the last retune. We have just the one transmitter and this gave a good analogue picture which got worse as they brought in digital. We wonder if they have cut power to save dosh as the other channels are OK - except Dave and e4+1 - which have disappeared in the last retune while we acquired 5+1 for the first time. As for changing transmitter - we have just the one.
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Quote Lucto
It's simple.
One hoot, I'm turning, or keeping to, the left.
Two hoots, I'm turning to the right (only really needed when turning into a junction or entrance, as you would ordinairily keep to the right anyway , duh)
If sound signals are not understood (they rarely are...) I stick my right arm out, with a closed fist, whilst steering, or keeping, my boat to my left. No frantic waving required. Why would I point to my right, to indicate that that is where I wish to go?? Do you point at yourself, and to your right, everytime a boat approaches?
Easypeaasy
Its no wonder there's such confusion
Up north if you meet a working boat he normally uses sound signals and you hold the correct number of fingers just above your head. To turn you give the turn signal followed by one or two hoots to say which way on rivers.
Down south where most don't know signals the wife stands at the front and waves to the approaching boat then points as in 'you' followed by which direction we want them to go. If they get it right they get a smile and a wave when passing me (steering) - if they don't one assumes they are Americans.
Boats coming up behind are invited to pass when we think it safe (some don't which we find annoying -h aving them up our arse so to speak. If they accept we indicate which side to pass - normally we choose the metalled side. We like slow overtake some feet away and we pull over to make room then, as they move up we cut to tickover, and keep this on until they are nearly infront sucking us towards them at which point we apply more throttle and steer away until their back end is in front of our front. (The steer away is often made difficult when they start cutting back to centre rather than keeping over when there is still an overlap.) Once they are in front we will be sucked along faster than normal until they get far enough in front for the suck to reduce. Overtaking on narrow shallow canals is the most difficult trick of the lot!
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Can't be any worse than the last shower so yes I am celebrating.
That's the point - it is the last shower still in charge and still behind closed doors.
My reaction to come ans join CART was to remember Lonnie Donnegans hit 'My old mans a dustman' with it's lines 'He shouted, "Am I too late?" "No jump up on the CART!"
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Perhaps they could mount a street view camera on a boat and C&RT could use the images as a condition survey, especially going through locks and bridges
Dan
They are using a 'Towpath Trike' as oing from a boat did not work. (Maybe the uncut edges got in the way.)
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A short while ago this restriction notice arrived in my inbox
Is it me being thick or do BW have some amazing new bit of technology that allows them to predict that the gate paddles will be leaking between noon and 4pm, and not before or after?
Is this part of the lock fixing money that Mr Moron said they would have spent on more important necessary work but for the drought causing them to try to conserve water by fixing locks?
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I read if you hold a towpath 'wooppee - CARTs here' event they give you free balloons and stickers - Wooppee!
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I think the minority is a majority. Who knows who is on Olympic committees - shirley thats half way or more to consorting with the forces of evil for a start!
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Perhaps the canal fraternity needs to find it's own TV totty presenter with lots of knowledge and all the historic details to hand.
Pru Scales, David Suchet, Tim West and son Samuel who is always doing voice overs on documentaries. A perfect TV voice to do a Dimbleby.
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I agree. Banal drivel from shallow know-nothings.
Bring back Richard Dimbleby.
To true. Doing the cenotaph David is cut to non-march bits all the time when we want to see tha marchers. And they know to the minute when it fisihs yet every year cut that finish off by doing a stiring music BBC film bit then go straight to the all important snooker or whatever - BBC just hate not being in control of what we see and then not showing what we want. After all they have our money so tough lets dumb it down to a level we consider you should be at with an iq of about 30 or so.
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What a fantastic event, pity about the flypast but to all who were involved a big, very big well done.
As for the BBC, they need to go back and review one of the worst presentations in recent times. With all the information readily available on the pageant website their lack of intelligent interpretaion of what was on camera was inexcusable.
I wasnt interested in the narrowboats in particular, thats part of my day job, I would have liked to have heard more about the other vessels, indeed "Gloriana" was a real marvel so a bit about how she came to be would have been great.
All the side shows and cake making was scorn on the event IMHO, what was the real focus of the event? The queen and the boats, they were struggling to find facts about the queen at times.
The Sky footage was the same if you could put up with the adverts but at least they stayed on the focus of the event.
I really hope some independant gets the footage together and makes a decent programme looking at the vessels portrayed, the owners and the history so that all the effort of those who took part can be laid out in a splendid and correctly annotated film.
and aagain congrats to those involved a serious spectacle to remember.
BTW: NB "Gort" seen in one very good shot is a wooden motor, I think of all the narrowboats she was probably the most interesting in the fact so few are now around in the condition to take on the tidal Thames.
Queenie had a good laugh at something on/near Gort as it went by with Phil pointing at it and saying something. Fame
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I did feel sorry for the London Phil Choir having to sing whilst being absolutely soaked through, one of the young ladies was visibly shivering at times.
It was lovely to see Mr & Mrs Windsor enjoying the event though.
On my non BBC feed from the daily telegraph the Philo boat turned in front of the queen and the choir belted out Rule Britannia and God Save the Queen - bless them. And bless dear old queen - ever more wrapped against the wind - standing there for hours though near the end she did lean on some bit of furniture. Phil and Charles even danced a jig to the Philos hornpipe as they turned but the army and airforce didn't I noted.
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The word on the "street" is now SEPTEMBER
Which year?
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By this time from previous nickings the boat would have been repainted and maybe renamed And relicensed. (It might be an idea to check what new licenses have been issued in the last 6 months or so.) Do we know if the owners (who had it nicked owned ant boats before this one?
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I was talking to a friend who is moored near the wooden footbridge in Bath and the Warnford boat went past at about 10.30pm (ish) with no lights on Saturday.
This boat belongs to the RAF, and seems the constantly have idiots piloting it. The only time it is ok is if there are officers and their partners, in which case they seem very nice. At the very least the manager or person in charge needs to be told so that they stop letting idiots on it.
Good luck with the claim.
PS. I am sure that you must have been past me but I cannot put a face to the name. I am on Jack Frost.
Tim
I used to know an RAF boat who seemed a right lot. Each week another load of clueless would be fighter pilots. One occasion we were on a mooring near a Llangollen lock and wondered why a boat in the lock (not the forst one they would have come to) was so long in the lock. A look through the bins showed all paddles both ends up with the lock half full. Due to the flow on the canal even with all the paddles up water still poured over the bywash so we left them to it - one to each paddle. And it was 20 minutes before one of them had a lightbulb moment. Once up they charged past us - they being complete with baby in pram left on the roof - we presume they got the pram off the top before the next bridge round the corner.
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That is just one company out of many! It is true that the hirers put a lot of money into BW but there is still room for improvement - perhaps some rules and conformity could be introduced regarding the way hire boats are handed over.
If I hired a car, for example, the hire company would expect to see proof of competence (a driving licence) and I wouldn't be allowed to hand the controls over to any other untrained member of my party.
On a hired boat, it is perfectly possible for another member of the party to take control and that person may not have received the appropriate handover training. Today I saw a child alone at the controls - she couldn't have been more than about seven or eight but, to be honest, she handled the boat better than most adults . . .
Edited to try and make sense of what I mean to say . . .
I used to know a family with an 8 year old like that. He was a natural steerer. He controlled the boat from Ponty to Llangollen with no help from me next to him having never steered before. Later he steered us on rivers and seemed to know where the deep water was and how to compensate for weirs, cross currents etc. He loved it!
Not so his dad who would tell him off for doing it wrong while complaing about the elsan the smell of the fuel and who you gave the tillar to only to be ready to grab it off him - and when you did he didn't like you doing that too. With this attitude and that of his domiatix wife who hated anything that stopped her shopping we were not surprised when they started making excuses rather than come boating and we lost touch with them.
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Many hirers I have met are better helmsmen than many liveaboards (whose experience of boating can be to the waterpoint and back).
Just because a boater is hiring it doesn't mean they have no experience.
In general we find this true but moored at one spot no less than three hire boats scraped along the side of us - in spite of the canal being wide and deep. In the same spot a dozen privates passed - many going fast but all missing us. This sort of thing is rare enough to be noted however one new base here sent out its 'trainers' - first time on a boat - to figure out how you did it. We came across this lot who lacked even basic sense as they rammed their first (closed) lock gate. At that time there was a keeper there who gave them instruction for three locks but they were last seen still seeming not to have a clue as reported by various crews who had 'seen this hire boat with a real pair of clowns on it'. With the man being the trainer and he the real dim one there is little hope for that bases new boaters getting a good grounding.
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All credit to you for your reconsideration.
No-one ever considers anti social behaviour acceptable but my experience is it rare enough anyway and even rarer once some understanding is factored in.
I don't consider mooring on a water point selfish if 1. you are moving on early in the morning and 2. it's possible for someone to moor alongside if they need water.
I have never seem anyone fill their tank slowly so as to have lunch. That's um never.
While I have found some connected up with end in filler but turned off or on trickle. In which case I assumethey forgot and help them out.
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Eeeeek!
As I bottled out of the Heights of Abraham cable car I don't think there's any danger of me ever needing rescue from that one.
A chairlift a few feet above the river would be more fun but nowadays everything must have disabled access, unless they could fit a hook on to take chairs.
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Ditto - not 20 years yet but I still find it's not always immediately intuitive which way the windlass goes, especially on some of the locks up here which work on hydraulics rather than 'direct' drive/rotation from the spindle.
On many locks standardisation of gear fitted means the offside top ground paddle winds towards the lock, the nearside winds away.
I suppose that when one minute you have a 'great signal' and you are really into a program and then it says NO SIGNAL grrrrr. Had no probs at all with the box, until now... so they must have done something... and to Bizzard... we have retuned over and over and over... fine for 5 mins then back to bad picture loss of sound.. thats why I thought I would ask on here to see if other memembers in other areas are experiencing the same. 
Timothy West/Prunella Scales - Channel 4
in Living Afloat
Posted
It was a nice prog but the canal seemed so crowded. Not like when we were there. We wondered how many film people were around on the boat getting in the way of the experts and asking for retakes. (Just back up and do it again dear.) There was at least one person by the cups.
We also wondered how much they interfered with the old ducks normal operations. The forgotten tie up seemed to be for a tea break and not a normal thing. Pru soldiered on through everything in a slightly not with it haze of delight at being out boating.
Meanwhile I wonder how much Tim was showing his age by suffering fools grumpily and not having his humour improved by steering a too big, heavy boat he wasn't use to doing long hours rather than stopping as they must keep to a schedule. His comment of ideally having someone ahead on the flight to set the locks was maybe a hint that he felt the film people should arrange help for Pru. With spare bodies and the odd lurking lock helper I often make such a suggestion that the wife might need help. Replies are often interesting and cause certain suggestions to be made to said persons if they refuse.
Going back to the programme the film often showed them moored at lock and bridge moorings while leaving the boat to visit canal side things. What it didn't show is the reaction of others trying to moor to use the bridge and finding a hire boat moored where they wanted to get off the boat.
Maybe there should be an out-takes version brought out as part of a dvd of the series.