Unicorn Stampede

Then simply put, you wait until it's sorted, rather than bolting any of that crap to your vessel Why you'd be grateful for using rubbish is beyond me.

I wouldn't exactly use Kedian as an example, at least not on its own. Having spoken to him, he's clearly very knowledgeable about how he would do it, but the expense is great via his route (from what pricing I got anyway) It does depend @Juliansum where you can also get the boat to, for over plating. As an example for us, we got it done via Gallows Bridge and following that independently surveyed. The surveyor confirmed it was one of the best over plating jobs he'd seen, and the Gallows lads were a stark bit cheaper than Kedian. Sure theres a way to comment on the north/south divide for prices here Regardless of if/where you get it done, ensurw you get confirmation of the steel manufacturer. Avoid anything Chinese if possible, for qualities sake.

To be honest I wouldn't be chuffed if after a heated conversation let's call it, you came back with a phone trying to take my picture... Clearly he shouldn't have swung the windlass, by accident or not, but you can't go shoving cameras in people's faces when they don't want you to, regardless of who they work for. Poor form and the wrong person might remove the phone from your hand without asking...

As a continuous cruiser whose tried to directly avoid marinas I'd actually welcome a toll system. Gives more responsibility for the specific businesses to look after their patch. Might actually see some love for the canals up north as well with actual investment.

Currently out of operation and has been for the last two weeks. Control panel won't turn on so assisted passaged is required via CRT (they have the master switch in the locked control box opposite). You'll need to ring ahead or just sit around and wait till they turn up. Currently there's no stoppage or notice on their website.

We are currently using 60kg every 2 weeks when we don't have any wood. It helps that we have a large shed full of wood that we rotate through each year. We can last about 2 weeks at a time with it when our top box is full. The only down side is the labour, as it's pretty much a full day's work when we are there (to make the most of everything). I couldn't fathom going through that much coal however. In desperation last week due to weather I used some of those compressed saw dust bricks from B&M and they were surprisingly very good, especially for their price.

That's pretty much how I sit and steer

The one at Sowerby Bridge has a mooring at shire cruisers. That other one you mentioned has been lingering on the same stretch of the canal for over a year now. It turned up in Salterhebble around Nov/Dec 2019? And its gone from the middle lock to the bottom of Tuel Lane locks (next to Shire Cruisers...) In that time. According to canal planner that's 2 miles... Or an hour of time... In over 365 days. It hasn't gone up those particular locks for a reason I imagine. Covid certainly isn't the reason but somehow it's been allowed to hang around.

We've had the misfortune a couple of times - Easy enough to fix but I'm under no illusions the system is out dated (and I doubt they are investing in it) Just the nature of organisations who make pushes for people to use their website etc. without making it very stable. CRT aren't the first, they won't be the last, but I would expect stuff to go wrong - just unfortunate it happens to people who mean to cause a fuss (like the chap whose boat was taken away)

That seems pretty reasonable to me. Akin to CRT seeing it as 'back pay' - admittedly them having a creaking, IT system doesn't help their situation.

Personally, I prefer it when we enter (and leave) the locks one at a time, rather than together. We've had a number of issues (mostly from leaving, admittedly) where there wouldn't have been issue when going in/out one at a time. However I appreciate that some boaters want to be more efficient. We've no issue roping up first and getting ourselves pulled over to the side - it's what we do when soloing so makes little difference to us when doubling with another. In terms of Bingley 3/5 Rise, we've come up and down there a number of times now and I'd say our experience is very much that we would rather man it ourselves. Typically we've felt fairly rushed (especially going up). We've taken a few knocks when we didn't need to (in my humble opinion). Maybe we're just a little too laid back and happy to go slow, hah! The CRT staff are always in a tough position when manning locks where boaters feel their way is best (even when it very well might be!)

Last year we had the occasional annoyance, but nothing too staggering (our worst experience was someone driving head on into us in the dead of night!) However this year, as we've crawled up the Leeds & Liverpool we've encountered a whole range of hire boaters out in force. Unfortunately I'd say that the experience has been more negative than positive. I take more issue to the hire boat companies not training people, rather than placing the blame on the holiday goers, however they don't make it easy for themselves! We've watched two of them on full plough drive straight into a canal side because they've turned badly at a corner (or rather, not turned at all...) Watched another drive head first, at 'high' speed, into the front of a moored boat Seen a boat wedge themselves horizontal in a lock to 'help their ascent' Watched 2 hire boaters ram lock gates open Have had to assist multiple hire boaters up locks because they haven't been instructed on how to do it Encountered someone reversing a wide beam down a tight stretch because they didn't know how to use a winding hole Another lovingly scrape a good 40ft of our 50ft boat as they approached a winding hole, because they swung out far too early Been pulled free of our pins twice (2 different locations) We don't currently have the set up to spring and the ground was exceptionally soft, but the speed they were going was the major factor This isn't to say that it's all hire boaters who have caused issues - there's been the odd boat which we've thought was a share boat (but that's us speculating!) however it's been an interesting trip along the canal for us. Part of me thought it would be more enjoyable to traverse L&L because it would be busier... now I can't wait to get back to the C&H for some peace and quiet! I know that sounds terrible of me, but some days its nerve wracking watching the hire boat onslaught approach...

Our first boat is 50ft - we specifically opted for that because we didn't want to worry about any lock issues etc. Ultimately we'd like an extra bit of length, as it meant we couldn't fit something like a washing machine in, but because we have a car that's less of a problem (always launderettes nearby) Personally I'd say we would rather aim for a 55ft-57ft in the future (the next boat, in however many years!) We have no desire to go bigger because we don't want to mess with angling into locks!!

I do most the lock work work, the girlfriend does most the steering. When we first moved the boat across the country and were doing it up, she clocked in more hours steering and I the same for working all the different locks. Also many of the locks we've come across have been hard going, which is simply where strength has been a factor! Thus she's just better at controlling the boat at me, especially in sticking situations!! We want to switch it around in the future so we're both experienced in both elements, but currently we feel 'safe' with the set up we have going. Once we've got the boat sorted and are moving at a slower pace, we will swap. There's only benefits gained from being able to do both parts of the 'job'. Worth noting that we've had several comments, in marinas, from 'old white men' asking why the 'woman' was steering the boat. They then had to eat their words as she marvellously pulled it into position without issue. (I have nothing against 'old white men' generally speaking - they just seem to be the common demographic willing to make arguably rude comments, normally out of ear shot of the girlfriend...)