Richard T

When we went up Watford on Wednesday 2nd June ( The day with a closure from 11 til 4pm) The locks opened at 8am - we were 6th in the queue to go up. The lock keepers were very organised in a 3hour slot they planned to work 5 boats down the flight and 11up. They did 2 down to start with the first two boats up moving into the intermediate pounds. Boaters waiting to go up managed these two locks. They then did 11 up to be followed by three down. One of the up boats was single handed so a lockie worked him up the flight. It shows what can be done where there is a will - everybody helped and I'm co

When I weighed ours in earlier in the year batteries were £400 a tonne. So got £40 for our set of 4 110amp ones.

Ours has cracked. I filled with fire rated silicon and then put a large jubilee clip round it for good measure.

Also if it is one of those fillers flush with the deck renew the rubber seal annually. Rainwater gets past them and into the tank.

I think that around 150 locos were saved from the gas axe at Dai Woodhams scrap yard. Some have yet to be rebuilt like 7027 Thornbury Castle. After being moved around a few times and having had several changes of ownership it is now at Loughborough Great Central where restoration has started again.

A nice tiller pin. A large bundle of cable ties - they solve a multitude of problems. A yard arm so he knows when the sun is over it and he can break out the bottle of single malt that accompanied it!!

There's no washers on it so it can't be a copy!! I don't like the offset cabin at the front either and the step in the gunwhales - it all looks contrived.

Brian I don't normally carry waders or withies with me when boating!! I certainly was not going to take my shoes and socks off and go for a paddle to put poles in. I've sent a suitably worded email to CRT about it and the one at Stoke on the Trent. Cheers Richard

Ratcliffe lock is still difficult. one top gate cannot be fully opened. However the real problem is that the downstream lock landing is completely blocked by a shoal. The only way to operate the lock is by picking up and dropping of people in the lock mouth. The flood water has overtopped the lock wall flowed into the adjacent ditch and then washed a large hole the contents of which are now blocking the landing. The first two photos show this hole and the third part of the shoal. There are no warning signs or bouys especially when going upstream. We failed to pull a boat of yesterday

We were instructed by the lockie to turn hard right when going downstream and not turn again until well into the weir stream. This worked for us but we didn't have to pick anyone up. Going upstream we reversed this manoeuver but the stream pushed to a point when we just touched the shoal but still managed to get into the lock. There was a lockie on duty with the gates open. The shoal does need bouying.

Did one of these boats become the community boat Northeaster which was based at Thurmaston until a couple of years ago? 12berths in 42ft!! That was an ancient Springer. The community group lost their grant and stopped operating I don't know what became of the boat.

Has the Severner Fir featured on here before? https://narrowboats.apolloduck.com/boat/narrow-boats-traditional-for-sale/655585 The asking price is eye watering!!

Why not take a winter mooring at Sileby Mill Boatyard on the Soar? The owner lives on site and when the river is in flood checks the boats regularly. We sre there and never have any problems. The lane to the yard does flood at least once a year. The other advantage is that theres diesel, pump out, electricty and a good chandlery on site. Its a working yard so a bit rough round the edges but safe and secure.

Mecca is also in LMS colours - or was when it was moored in Loughborough. I doubt if its changed as the then owner had a steam loco driving ticket.

13 Leaking water tank Thats what we have and it will be a PITA to deal with. The tank is stainless steel under the front cockpit deck. We will have to have the deck cut out then the tank pressure tested to find the leak. Hopefully it can be welded if not its a new tank or a plastic liner in the existing one. And yes we have eliminated options 1 to 12 it has taken us nearly 2 years to do so. We had got it down to two possibilities - the tank or the concealed pipe that runs from the tank to the water pump at the stern. Oddly the lockdown has helped as the boat has been left for 6months with