NBDensie

One possible reason for the excessive winding of some of the early canals could be the bridges. I dont think I have ever seen a very early skew bridge. Some skew bridges are known as "Skew Bridge" indicating that they were unusual. So my theory is that the early canal builders deliberately routed their canals to cross existing roads at right angles because they did not have the technology to do anything else. Any thoughts?

Same thing happened during the cold weather on our Isuzu for a few years until it gave up completely. The problem seems to be the display, the hours continue to be counted and should reappear in the spring. We now have a simple mechanical hour counter which solves all thge problems.

I believe the Abingdon mooring is owned by the council, ie private property, and isnt an official visitor mooring.

I think you will find that some locks have leaked for ages, perhaps since they were first built. On the Huddersfield Narrow or Rochdale, cant remember which now, a passing BW (as was) guy told us that whilst excavating to track down a lock leak they came across a drain that no-one knew existed. A bit of detective work led to the discovery of an 1850 plan showing the drain with a scribbled note to the effect that it was a temporary fix to remove leaking water. The drain had quietly been doing its job ever since. Unless such locks are completely rebuilt, which they wont be if nothing catastrophic happens, we have to live with the necessary work-arounds.

There are 115 locks between Norbury and Crick going via central Birmingham. Another option, 20 miles longer but only 49 locks, is to go north of Birmingham via Fradley Junction and the Coventry and North Oxford Canals. This alternative route has the additional advantages that there are far fewer broad locks which are harder work than narrow ones, it is more attractive avoiding most large conurbations and there are plenty of mooring spots and pubs etc. You can get distance/lock info from the route planner at Canalplan-EU. If you do want to go through Birmingham I have found it safe and it is particularly interesting for a canal enthusiast but far from scenic. I would advise planning the journey to moor at the well known spots. Near Brindley Place in the centre of the city is an excellent place to stop as is the Black Country Museum at the north end of Dudley Tunnel.

Perhaps the reason why we have far more narrow boat builders than any one else is that other people dont need narrowboats

Or get one of these from 3 for (from memory) around £30, certainly < £50. I used to have an aerial with a Huawei dongle but the 3 mifi router works better - in bad reception areas just put it on the roof.

A blob of silicone grease the size of a match head or two spread over the brass strips worked very well for our hatch. Morris grease got sticky and dirty in a few days, the silicone grease is still working after several weeks and looks clean.

Mink walking past our boat on the New Junction Canal

Cheap ones from maplins work fine. There are a few times and places when they are useful such as the single width ex-tunnel at Armitage on the T&M, but very few. Also I guess the single width section on the Llangollen. But not really worth it for a one-off cruise in my view.

I dont know if it's relevant but dont forget these boxes are inverter chargers. If they are plugged into the shoreline the charger side will trickle charge the engine battery and do clever multistage charging things to the domestic batteries.

I have received a reply from Victron..... " What happens when you move the flat cable between the connection and the control pcb? Move directly on the edges. There is an earth relay in the unit that in some cases could be to slow in switching if you have a rcd with a fast curve. In this cases you have to cut/ take out a earth lead. The earth lead is going from the output connector to the connection pcb. " If Keeping Up or any one else has Victron shore power tripping problems I would be interested in hearing experiences if you feel up to following Victrons suggestions or if there is someone who knows electricals who can comment. Personally I am a bit nervous about opening up a Victron and wiggling things when it is supplying 240V. As to cutting earth leads mmmm.

Interesting. In my case it has never tripped the internal RCD. Anyway I have sent a link to this thread to Victron Energy BV in the Netherlands. If they reply with anything useful I will post it.

I dont use blue but they pumped out mine when I passed by in August. The question never came up. I do remember somewhere on the GU did have a sign up insisting on blue'd tanks but it wasnt Wyvern.

A cupful of vinegar should remove the ammonia smell and the urea crystals and is a lot less harmful to people, wildlife, and the workings of toilets than bleach.

1) When opening Stoke Bruerne top lock gates remember to push from the upstream side. 2) After lighting your stove remove your plant pots from the top before it gets hot

120 days in 2013. We are both retired (early!) - it was either working or boating, one of them had to go. Difficult decision.

A key difference between the 1970s and now is the numbers. There are far more boats active on the system and there has been an even greater increase in the number of people who see living permanently on a boat as a viable housing option. In the 1970s boaters could largely do their own thing without disturbance or inconvenience to others. This is is no longer the case, at least in some parts of the system. Unfortunately in any area of life there are always a minority of people who will do what they want to do irrespective of the effect on others. Hence regulation.

Agreed completely. To see the RMP in context is very helpful. Hopefully some equally clear thinking can resolve the question as to what constitutes bona fide navigation.

I dont understand why genuine navigators want to remain at one place for weeks at a time. We normally move most days with occasional stops of 2-3 days. After a stationary week I really would be twitching and jabbering. I agree with the "state of mind" answer. If you are wandering around because thats what you want to do you are probably acting within the letter and spirit of the rules. If you are moving on the 14th day for the minimum distance you think you can get away with you probably arent.

I think and hope you will find that in the event of a freeze-in or circumstance such as a major break-down preventing movement CRT will be reasonable. But it seems to me its not just an extra voluntary option. Its the clear removal of, and the provision of a reasonable paid-for alternative to, the current de facto option of simply staying put for the winter on any mooring which happens to take your fancy.

I used an aerial from the Boaters Phone Company for some time on my 3 dongle. It worked very well and could almost always get a usable signal. However I found that the aerial socket on the dongle is not sufficiently robust to withstand repeated plugging-in and unplugging and I trashed 3 dongles. I have now moved over to the 3 wifi router which works brilliantly. It seems to provide better reception and it can simply be moved to wherever reception is best - eg the roof. As it uses a wifi connection to the laptop there is nothing to break and I feel, though have no proof, that the power load on the laptop is less. However you do need to recharge the wifi router every few days. Ps using the wifi router means that we can use his and hers laptops/ereaders/tablets at the same time.

Apologies if my comments came across as doubting your integrity. That was not my intention at all - I have full confidence that you will act appropriately and believe that what you do at the NUF will be very helpful.. I would just like to be very clear as to the basis on which you are attending. As I see it now you are attending in a similar role to say that of a journalist from one of the canal mags. Is the meeting open to journalists? A justification for being there is that what you write will be seen by a large number of boaters and will assist CRT in its aim for openness and transparency. CWDF "representatives" do not attend on the same basis as those from the membership based organisations. CWDF membership number is equivalent to, say, Waterway World's circulation numbers rather than IWA or NABOs membership totals. From that point of view it makes more sense to use the total CWDF membership.

I am very grateful that someone is willing to attend these meetings and provide a more insightful report on what happens than is available elsewhere. I am much less happy with this idea of talking at coffee breaks and trying to gain support for one's personal views by the "my organisation is bigger than yours" argument. If you want to use that argument then I suggest you only count the readers (or pehaps active contributers) of the "General Boating" forum. The fact that there are many people posting on the Maintenance forum asking why their dodgy Lister keeps on breaking down or swapping recipes on the Living Aboard forum IS surely irrelevant to the numbers.

Thanks for your explanation. I feel reassured and look forward to the factual report on what CRT are saying.