Neil2

I'll try again... I said genuinely wide canals ie canals that you could confidently take a modern wide beam boat on without fear of going aground or have trouble getting into the side. The Rochdale and the Leeds Liverpool may very well be wide in theory, like the Lancaster, but lack of traffic and insufficient dredging make the practice a different thing altogether. The comment has to be taken in context. There's no point in advising a potential wide beam owner that yes there are wide canals in the north west so you'll be fine. OTOH in the North East you have properly wide waterways, which is where you should be if fat boats are your thing.

Black...! Black..!

Er... That was precisely my point. The adviser concerned was only aware of the canals under the control of CRT - actually this was in the old BW days now I think about it. When I explained the historical significance of the Bridgewater she confessed she didn't really know much about canals. This was in the days when you could contact local offices by the way, so she was based in the North West.

I wish folk would stop using that name for the Cheshire Locks. If anyone thinks they are "heartbreaking" you might as well give up canal boating. As far as I know the name was coined in the modern era ie it doesn't come from the days of working boats and should rightly be consigned to the dustbin, or should I say trash can...

So I'm wondering now what sort of article the journalist should have written?

Seriously I do think it's a good idea but why do CRT seem to have such difficulty recruiting people with some experience of canals or boating? I remember ringing customer services once and having to explain to the "adviser" what, and where, the Bridgewater canal is, simply because it didn't come up on her computer records.

Ugh who came up with that title. I'd be interested if they drop the "buddies" bit. I would no more have a "buddy" on my boat than have a ferrett down my pants, sorry, trousers.

I had a boat once that had both, water and fuel guages. No, actually I've had two boats that had guages. Seems like a good idea but for some reason I could never bring myself to rely on them..?

Don't mean to be picky but I think you mean Dave Moore. Doug Moore was another "renowned" shell builder.

Ah well, it's a shame but even if they gave you the boat - which by the sound of it I suspect they might - it probably doesn't make sense even if you had the time.

They were. I lived in Rotherham until I was 23, I went to what was then Sheffield Polytechnic for four years in the mid 1970's and the canals were pretty much unused and unloved. Then towards the end of the decade there was a massive injection of capital into the Don navigation with the intention that Rotherham would become a major centre for freight traffic coming across the North Sea. Of course that never happened, but I guess it did ironically make life a lot easier for leisure boats, if a bit intimidating. It's a shame the locks through to Sheffield are still only 60' but you would still have to go via the Trent anyway. But Sheffield has changed out of all recognition in many respects to the city I remember, I get the impression that it has been pretty successful in reinventing itself after the "Full Monty" era, when so many former industrial towns/cities have never really recovered. The local authority never gave up on the city centre despite the fact that Meadowhall was sucking the life out of it. It helps that scenically it's an interesting place. I think it's a myth that it's built on seven hills but the topography does make it more appealing than Manchester for example, and the two universities are very close together so you get the impression that it's a "young" city.

TBH provided you don't cruise when the river is above the safe level it's actually easier to pilot a narrowboat on the Thames than on many canals, because you have lots of room. But as others have said, you do need to take a few precautions compared to canals. I always wear a life jacket on rivers, not because I can't swim, but because I once had to rescue a guy from the river Bure who had fallen in and, though he could swim, would have drowned if I hadn't been in the right place at the right time. There's quite a few locks to do, it would help if you could do them when they are manned. You have to turn the engine off in locks on the Thames and hold the boat with ropes, this can be awkward for a single hander but the lockies are usually pretty helpful and I have seen them allow boats just held on the centre line. If your boat has dollies at the stern for the mooring lines make sure the rope is secured tight ie not just held on by the loop, if that makes sense. If there are grp boats around when you get to a lock assume they will let you, and any other steel boats, go in first. I would have thought that trip is a long two days, doable in the summer but as the days are getting shorter I'd suggest you need three days to avoid having to push it.

Manitoba has also been for sale a long time, I suspect because the owners want the asking price.

That's a good point, I thought Northwich only did full fitouts but you can buy a sailaway from them. It's somewhat dishonest of the broker though if they describe the boat as "built by Northwich" when it was a DIY fitout.

Got to agree with that!

That boat has been for sale for quite a while now. You have to ask why. The real area of concern is the hydraulic drive. Note there is no picture of the engine. I asked the broker for a picture of it but they never replied. Some hydraulic installations are a nightmare with everything squeezed into a small space and poor access. I would also be slightly wary that the power unit is up to the job bearing in mind the power losses with hydraulic drive. Dreaded walk through bathroom too... She is a lovely looking thing though and I would have a look if it's not too far away. Have a look at New and Used - they have a Norton Canes on brokerage, a lot of money though, also a Canal Transport Services 57 footer.

I know the Lancaster canal very well. Yes there are widebeams on it, there are widebeams on the Grand Union as well, doesn't mean the canal is suitable. A lot of narrowboats have problems on the Lanky these days, it's extremely shallow in parts, first thing you pack is a long boarding plank.

I deliberately said genuinely wide canals. Good luck taking a widebeam up to Tewitfield.

Must admit my understanding of insulated chimneys is that it has little to do with safety, it's about improving the efficiency of combustion. One of the issues with narrowboats is the pathetic draw you get from a relatively short flue/chimney. That's why you should only burn wood that is snuff dry, or burn coal. Insulated chimneys are supposed to help keep the flue temperature up which makes for better drawing and overall efficiency and, as you say, reduce the condensation of flue gasses.. Whenever this has been debated in the past there are those who argue that because the flue is so short, and it's inside, in practice it doesn't make much difference if it's insulated or not. But not many of us have any experience.

As MtB was alluding, in another thread I was trying to explain the difference between the waterways on either side of the Pennines. Like all Southerners, I think he assumes "up North" is one homogenous area. Of course aside from the Manchester Ship thingy there's only one genuinely wide canal in the North West and that is the Bridgewater Expressway, where the shouts of "SLOW DOWN" can be heard as far away as Llangollen.

It's almost certainly caused by burning wet or unseasoned wood. The black sticky stuff is like creosote and highly corrosive to metals. You see an awful lot of this staining on steel boats, that's why. Of course in England isn't it now illegal to burn wood from an uncertificated source? I thought you were restricted to wood that had been certified with a maximum moisture content.

Gosh I've only just seen the bit about the poor dog... I remember a friend of ours used to do a lot of sea passages on a motor sailer with her two dogs and she said they just simply wouldn't "go" on the deck, whatever she tried, so it was often a mad dash for shore in the tender. 16 hours though.... Crikey what wouldn't I give for that degree of bladder control.

We came up the Bosley flight some weeks ago where two vlockies were in attendance. By the time we got to the top, no, by the time we were halfway up, my wife and I were discussing what, if any, training these people receive. The two guys on duty were pleasant enough but I swear we would have done the flight in literally half the time it took had we been on our own. It was very busy, both ways, but one guy was completely clueless and the other only helped with the first 2/3 locks as he wanted to stay in the shade...

Personally I think @northern might just be after a bit of moral support... He doesn't want this boat but would like some reassurance that he's doing the right thing by going past it. I wonder though, if you want a "slightly older" boat from a "renowned builder" I'd suggest you're looking at quite a bit more than £65k these days. Losing this obsession with the age of the boat is the key to finding something you really like.

IIRC "Insure4boats" it's 40 years. But, when my boat passed its 30th birthday I asked Craftinsure about the need for a survey and they waived it in return for a slightly increased premium, I think it was about £30 extra pa which is a damn sight cheaper than a survey every 4/5 years.