StephenA

It looks like she's still around (Ward Marine in Boston went into insolvency in 1994) http://canalplan.org.uk/boat/93207 Or was when C&RT last sent me a full listing of their boats rather than a partial update. Looks like she's for sale: http://apolloduck.net/511607 Currently moored in a private boatyard on the Thames (Better Boating, Caversham)

There have been kph notices on some canals for years .... oddly some of them expressed it as 6.43kph which is rather too exact for a canal (6.43 is 3.995417 mph, 6.44 is 4.00163 mph ... and 0.006 of a mile is 31 feet)

Scarisbrick Marina has fuel, and pumpout and quite a nice little cafe...

In some of the villages residents cars get vandalised if they doesn't blend in.....

There have always been some very good lagers.. its just that they've not been commonly available - Dark Carlsberg, and then the various Cherney Pivos in the Czech Republic...

Pretty sure its stop gates ... its a longish pound there so having stop gates in the middle of it makes a lot of sense.

It was there in 1980..... when we were hiring from Anderton Marina.

The Rufford is a very overlooked canal, its just so rural...and hard to imagine you're only a few miles from Liverpool and Manchester... We went down to Tarleton and back last autumn and stopped at Rufford for the night and went to the pub!

They were brilliant when we went through. The limit on the number of boats because of the swing bridge does seem a little excessive.....

It's pretty grim at Selby (or was the last time I was there) - we had to basically sit facing upstream on a falling tide using the engine to keep us in position and at the same time ensuring that we kept away from the mud as the water level dropped. I think we were out there for about 20 minutes....

The answer from C&RT's Fisheries team is : So not sure quite why C&RT have a fisheries team if all they're going to do is tell people to talk to other people

We stopped at Lydiate and did an early start to get down to Aintree for the morning opening... then down to Litherland where we did a shop at the tesco, then down to Stanley for 1pm (ate lunch at the top of the locks).

We've noticed that it is the startup of the fridge that knocked the old inverter off line. Our existing one was a 700 (1000 peak I think) so we'd be looking at putting something at least as big or bigger on. So it looks like pure sine uses less current.... interesting.....

Our inverter (which has done a good job of running the fridge for several years) has just gone bang and smells rather unpleasant. At the moment we've got all the 240 lines running off one inverter but when we put it all in we made it so that we can easily separate the fridge circuit from the rest of the sockets. So we're considering buying two inverters (a pure sine for the sockets which run the TV and laptops etc) and a quasi sine for the fridge and are looking for sensibly priced suggestions ... there is a huge choice out there but reviews are mixed and its hard to sort the wheat from the chaff.

And if you're doing that then do the Caldon on the way past...... Also a possible detour to Chester, or over to Anderton and the Lift and the Weaver.....

Our BMC 1.5 had its last major rebuild when we were at Upton which was the year before the big floods. We've done several thousand hours on it since - we do an oil and filter change every 200 hours. We've no idea how old it is but it has a very low serial number and was used in an industrial installation before it went into a boat.

It would seem that an email to fisheries@canalrivertrust.org.uk is in order - I suspect that C&RT will have basically said "stuff the boaters" which is what happened last time there was a major match on the Shroppie. Email sent: Hi Can you tell me if the 48 hour visitor moorings on the canal at Blackflat Bridge are being suspended for the duration of the angling competition(s). They would seem to have been marked out for pegs over the past couple of weeks which would suggest that standard C&RT guidelines on fishing locations are being overridden, Also given the length of this match are you going to post notices in advance so that people know that general mooring is going to be suspended and that they should expect transit of the canal to take longer than normal - especially given that this match is taking place in the peak holiday season for the canal. Finally can you confirm what actions boaters should take through the lengths of the match - should they expect to stay in the middle of the channel and maintain a constant slow but reasonable speed or should they expect to be told to move to one side of the canal or the other depending on the whims of individual anglers (which is very often the case). Thanks Steve And yes I'm feeling a bit confrontational ... I'm stuck at home on call for the Easter weekend for the second year running rather than being out enjoying my boat.

Their answer is : So I think that means yes - they are pegging across the 48 hour mooring at Black Flat. I wonder if they are going to post notices at each end basically telling you so you can plan not to stop... I feel sorry for the poor sods who are heading north or south and find that they can't stop when they want to.

I've asked C&RT if they are suspending the 48 hour visitor moorings at Black Flat bridge... . It does seem that they expect you to either stop at Norbury, or Drayton, Cox's Bank or Coole Pilot.

C&RT's reply from Facebook Hi there, John Ellis from our fisheries team have advised that the whole match length will not be used there will be no competitors pegged between bridge 56 and bridge 64, (Tyrley to Market Drayton town (between bridge 69 and 71 (Adderley area) and between bridge 72 and bridge 81. (Audlem) . If you require further information they can be found here: https://canalrivertrust.org.uk/.../division-one-national... and the contact details of the match organiser can also be found on there, it may be worth contacting them for further details. Siân L So according to that link they gave me the sections are: Section Location A Bridge 42 to Bridge 44 B Bridge 44 to Bridge 45 C Bridge 46 to Bridge 48 D Bridge 48 to Bridge 50 E Bridge 50 to Bridge 53 F Bridge 53 to Bridge 56 G Bridge 64 to Bridge 66 H Bridge 66 to Bridge 69 J Bridge 71 to Bridge 72 K Bridge 81 to Bridge 84 And here is when each section is being used: Sun 21 May Open Match on D Sect. Draw, Hippodrome (Wetherspoons) M Drayton TF9 1PS. Contact Brian on 07847628442 or Steve on 07576039169. Sat 27 May Open Match on J Sect. Draw, Hippodrome (Wetherspoons) M Drayton TF9 1PS. Contact and bookings to Bob Yeomans on 07931555958. Sun 28 May Open Match on H Sect. Draw, Hippodrome (Wetherspoons) M Drayton TF9 1PS. Contact and bookings to Bob Yeomans on 07931555958. Sun 11 June Open Match on K Sect, Coole Pilate. Draw at the Overwater Marina CW5 8AY. Contact Paul Harding on 07504346883 (Match limited to 50 pegs). Sat 24 June Open Match on E & F Sect, Goldstone. Draw at Hippodrome M Drayton TF9 1PS. Details & Bookings to Dave Watkins on 07725556159. Sat 01 July Open Match on G Sect, Market Drayton. Draw at Hippodrome M Drayton TF9 1PS. Details and Bookings to Dave Watkins on 07725556159. Sun 09 July Open Match on B & C Sections. Draw at Knighton Social Club, ST20 0QH. Contact and bookings to Terry Nutt on 07970181824. Sun 16 July Open Match on D Sect, Draw, Draw at Hippodrome M Drayton TF9 1PS. Contact Brian on 07847628442 or Steve on 07576039169. Sat 22 July Open Match on A & B Sections. Draw at Knighton Social Club, ST20 0QH. Contact and bookings to Terry Nutt on 07970181824. Sat 05 Aug Canal & River Trust Pairs. C & D Sect, Park Heath. Draw at Castle Hotel, Bletchley TF9 3RZ. Contact, Angling Trust. Fri 11 Aug Garbolino RAF Teams of 5. A & B Sect, High Offley & Shebdon. Draw at Knighton Social Club ST20 0Q. Contact Ben Jackson on 07979527662. Sat 12 Aug Individual National. E,F,G Sect, Goldstone & Market Drayton. Draw at Barbers, Market Drayton Livestock Auction, (Sat Nav TF9 3SW).Contact, Angling Trust. Sun 13 Aug Canal & River Trust Pairs, H & J Sect Adderley. Draw at Castle Hotel, Bletchley TF9 3RZ. Plus the whole lot on the 19th They chose to ignore some of my questions. ... So It looks like if you want to travel that say then you have 3 areas you can stop in... or face the wrath of anglers (who last time they had a competition on this stretch swore at us when our prop got clogged and we had to do an emergency fumble down the weed hatch).

I've asked C&RT what provisions they are making to allow boaters to moor up if they need to... it looks like apart from the cuttings and the locks flights (and also Market Drayton) it's pretty solid Sections RED denotes a ROAD BRIDGE A Section Br 42 (ST20 0NG) to Br 44 (ST20 0PT) B Br 44 (ST20 0PT) to Br 45 (ST20 0QH) C Br 46 (ST20 0QH) to Br 48 (TF9 2NR) D Br 48 (TF9 2NR) to Br 51 (TF9 2NB) access drive from Br 52 E Br 51 (TF9 2NB) to Br 52 (TF9 2NB) & Br 53 (TF9 2ED) F Br 53 (TF9 2ED) to Br 55 (TF9 2LP) & Br 56 (TF9 2LW) G Br 64 (TF9 1RE) to Br 65 (TF9 4BH) & Br 66 (TF9 3SS) H Br 66 (TF9 3SS) to Br 69 (TF9 3TN) (No bridge parking available) Note. Access to Br 67 from A529 road via farm drive (Lees Farm) J Br 70 (TF9 3TN) to Br 72 (TF9 3TJ) K Br 82 (CW5 8AU) to Br 84 (CW5 8AU) The Shropshire Union Canal has an average width of 13 metres with approximately four to four and a half feet of depth in the centre track. The main flow on sections A to G is from right to left, however on section H, bridge 67, which is known locally as the crossover bridge, the towpath is on the other side meaning that the canal will tow from left to right for the remaining sections. There is no ban on the use of catapults, but anglers must be aware in the sections where boats are moored opposite, not to catapult bait to close or onto the boat.

As a follow up to this ... the gearbox died yesterday morning. Norbury had replacement for just over 550. Also needed a new spring plate which was 85 (The one that was in had been in for over 26 years)

That would be them - I assume they're a good company to go to.. I can't remember who I got the current gearbox from - I do remember driving down the motorway from birmingham and using the "emergency" exit from a services to get onto the right road.... actually thinking about that the company might have been near nuneaton. .so it could be the same people...

Its had regular flushouts and oil changes and its been run on AFT since we got it from a company somewhere over near Peterborough. Reverse is rock solid, so I'm pretty sure its just the front clutch pack is getting worn out. Oil still looks clean and we've never over filled it. I have found a marine gearbox specialist near Atherstone, so I guess I'll need to go up the boat, stick my head down into the engine well and get the details off the plate on the box. I'm pretty sure its a HBW 150 (or it might be a 100)

The gearbox on our BMC 1.5 (its a Hurth manual as far as I can remember) is starting to have problems locking into forward solidly and sometimes slips before going "clunk" and driving the prop properly. We've run the adjustments on the cables as far as we can... Its about 16 years since we put it in so its not done too badly I guess. So I'm looking for recommendations for an engineer round Market Drayton who can do a good rebuild for us.