dmr

Yes indeed, when its heading directly towards you it looks very big! ..............Dave

There is a new and huge hotel boat making its way to the K&A, in fact its probably there by now. http://www.wessexrose.co.uk/ You could keep an eye on the www to see if there are any reports of trouble. Bath narrowboats also run (or ran) a big trip boat and it was somewhat unpopular with some K&A boaters, though this was in part because it went too fast. Its not just a case of if your boat actually fits: if your boat handling skills are not adequate to handle a big boat on a waterway that is narrow and busy in places then you might become a bit unpopular. .............Dave

I concede that one, we set off at 4am one day last year to get through a "bad bit", it was all very pretty at that time of day but it took me a week to recover!. Still waiting a couple of hours for the padlock to come off is less inconvenient than waiting for CaRT to refill a flight of locks, and much less inconvenient than waiting for a lock wall rebuild. Maybe established CaRT customers could get a key sent to them on request! ................Dave

The Caan Hill flight, which is not prone to vandalism, has a padlock on the top and bottom lock each night. As Wolverhampton is prone to vandalism, and local rumour has it that said vandals possess a handcuff key, then maybe its time to do the same on the Wolverhampton flight, plus padlocks on every third or forth lock all the way down. There is a CaRT yard at the top so someone can cycle the flight at the start and end of each day to unlock and lock. Lets say 3 hours labour each day at £50/hour, that's £27,000 pa. Make it request only out of season, and recruit some brave volunteers, and the cost could be under £10,000, that's a lot cheaper than a £80,000 repair every few years. No great inconvenience for boaters as I assume no sane boater does this flight at night. .............Dave

Sound transmission through a bulkhead is generally controlled by the "mass law", so if your bulkhead and floor are made from 6mm steel thats 47kg per square metre so sticking on foam that weighs much less than this will have no effect at all. As Alan says, if you use a foam with a lead layer then there is a double glazing effect and so this does rather better than the mass law, but still needs to be pretty heavy in relation to the steel. Any small gaps will negate the effort of fitting the foam. It many (most?) cases the gain is actually achieved not by reducing the sound transmission but by reducing the sound level in the engine bay (by reducing reverberation as Machpoint says) but in this case a simple open cell foam is the way to go. Problem here is that over time its gets full of oil mist etc and can become a fire hazard. It is possible to get an open cell foam with a thin membrane layer to prevent this. ............Dave

There are many many locks that have these dreaded water jets, some quite severe. I do not believe that they just happen, they are in fact created by CaRT because they ALL line up with either the engine room hatch or an open port-hole, another plot by CaRT to pss off boaters. But seriously, CaRT are aware of these. On the K&A every lock is inspected every two weeks (or is it 4 weeks?) and this includes a full fill and empty. I assume all of the waterways are also checked. I believe there have been experiments to inject something in to seal these leaks. The only real solution is to rebuild the walls but this would be rather expensive. ............Dave

I have just read this entire document. it's all pretty reasonable with no obvious CaRT horrors. The total income to CaRT from traders looks to remain the same but some traders (low risk roving traders like us) pay a bit more whilst others pay a bit less. This has been a huge and expensive review of trading and the result is just very small changes to the detail of exactly who pays exactly what, might have been better to save this money to fix lock 20 on the Wolverhampton flight. ............Dave

The Delph flight is very pretty and good safe mooring at MerryHill. If you like pubs and real beer you could then do a quick stop at Windmill End and walk up to the Black Swan (about 1/2 mile) to get into the mood for Netherton tunnel, and then straight into Gas Street basin. The little cafe/Pub on the old bar will do a reasonable meal for less than £5 and a pint of real ale too. As said, Dudley tunnel is not really an option ............Dave

I think it was £3.80 at the Dundas Arms in Kintbury. Under new management and a lot friendlier than the old management. It now has a proper "gentleman's library" with armchairs and sofa, books, and a big rug in front of an open fire where the dog can have a lie down. Good pint of Ramsbury Gold. Shame about the price. ............Dave

Don't do it!, Stay in the safety of the K&A, its evil up here, you can get a pint of beer for £1.84 and there are so many great pubs! We had no trouble in any of the locks (6 foot 11 and a half inches at the back). One on the Rushall flight is alleged to be narrow but we were OK. Off the beaten track it gets very shallow and weedy but there are quite a few working boats and they manage OK. Lots of visits to the weedhatch for us but the natives favour a sort of sharp boat hook and clear the prop from the bank. I have heard that a lock on the Wolverhampton flight is a bit tight at the moment. .............Dave

It is possible that the last boat through did not reset the anti-vandal locks. There were a very large number of boats going up and down that day (us included) and the locks may have been left off when another boat was following and that last (inexperienced?) crew then failing to set them. Alternatively it is also not exactly difficult to obtain an anti-vandal key; they must have either a windlass or big adjustable spanner already It sounds like this draining happens quite often on this flight so as there are level sensors fitted all over the system surely it would be possible for the monitoring software to detect serial pound draining at a very early stage and contact either a CaRT emergency number or the police. If there is a risk of flooding then it would not be inappropriate to call the emergency services. ...............Dave

Gosty Hill should not be too traumatic, there was a tyre floating right in the middle but we removed that a couple of weeks ago with our propeller!!!! There are still a few bumps and bangs in the water. It might be worth letting someone know just before you enter the tunnel so that they can call for help if you don't come out the other end! The Hawne basin people told us that a tyre or railway sleeper wedged between the boat and tunnel wall is the worse case scenario. Hawne basin people are very friendly and as said above, fuel price is great. ..............Dave

Yes and no, the Great Western merely got us into the mood. It was the spirits back on Goliath that did the real damage. Having now spent a couple of weeks in Birmingham and the Black Country I am really glad that I don't live here anymore (left 30 yeas ago), so many great pubs and cheap beer, it would turn me into a total wreck, almost looking forward to getting back to the K&A and the £3.80 pint!!!!!!!!!!! ..............Dave.

We went down the day before yesterday and had no problems even though we are almost 7 foot wide at the back. I did not notice anything wrong with lock 20, though having done the previous 19 on a hot day, and having caught another hangover with Goliath the night before, I was not at my most observant! Have never done this flight before, I know it has a bad reputation so was surprised to find that its a very nice looking flight. ..........Dave

Make sure you do get the proper expensive hexagon stuff. There is cheaper version about, looks similar but the pattern is small squares, it will only last a year! ............Dave

The people at Hawne basin are wonderful, they all mucked in to help, lent tools, and eventually raised the back a bit out of the water with the engine crane to get better access. Its a bit off the beaten track but really is worth a visit, real proper boaters, sociable, cheap diesel, free mooring and a bar. Some forum members too. The antidote to the modern bland marina! .............Dve

George Gibson has retired, Honeystreet wharf is now run by the owners of the moonboats hire fleet, but still doing pump outs and selling fuel. Rich is now a continuous cruiser and his main income is from his DJ work! He still does some marine engineering, mostly fit outs I think. .............Dave,

Enjoy the Cross Keys, good beer and good food, especially if you are veggie. Not sure who you will get to help you in Newbury, and mind you don't end up with a big bill.. I would ask around at Bedwyn, maybe approach the people who work at Bruce trust...both Sean and Ollie know about boats. ..........Dave

Cross beds Impractical? Me and Gillie have slept in one every night for the last 3 years, and if we have too much beer and sleep heavily we sometimes wake up and find a greyhound/deerhound in there too! ............Dave

Yes, but....., we had a panic where the front got caught under the cross beam of the lock (is there a proper name for this?) as we were going up, and as the lock was almost full (and we were about to sink) I judged that opening the bottom paddles would be more effective than closing the top ones. Sadly in the heat of the moment I had not considered those silly and dangerous reduction gearboxes that are fitted to many locks on the K&A, they take ages to wind up. It can be very hard to make the right decision under pressure. Luckily the gate lifted and saved us, all very embarrassing for us but just a quick and routine job for BW who turned up with a chain and jack and sorted it out in no time at all! ...............Dave And of course you can't "drop" the paddles if they are hydraulic!

We witnessed something similar a few weeks back at Newbury/West Mills on the K&A. There are a small number of houses/flats on a small island formed by the waterway and the river Kennet and served by a swing bridge.. A woman was operating the bridge ready for her husband to bring the boat through when a resident became very angry, and I believe assaulted the woman (I am not sure if she stumbled or if she was pushed). He was ranting and screaming "I know about people like you" and claiming it was his bridge (bet he's glad he does not have to pay to maintain it). Why oh why do people who so hate boats and boaters choose to live right next to a waterway?????? ...........Dave

Its very easy to make a plan, but in the heat of the moment when things do go wrong it is also very easy to do the wrong thing! Its best if I don't reveal any details on a public forum!!!!!!! I think any sign of panic the thing to do is to drop the paddles, and work out exactly what is going on later. ............Dave

I don't think the anodes did very much but I swear the blacking just fell right off, especially at the waterline. We were booked in for blacking on the way back and so decided to go for a shot blast and epoxy. Liverpool was great and we are going back this year, I really hope the epoxy stays on! .............Dave

There are a lot of things that can go wrong in a lock and when it does go wrong it all happens shockingly quickly. Both the steerer and the lock operator need to stay very alert and keep a close eye on things, this is not always easy when there are gongoozelers wanting to chat and ask questions. The steerer should be watching the back of the boat and the lock operator watching the front, and both should be looking down the sides of the boat too! Have an emergency plan ready...a blast on the horn and a shout? meaning "drop the paddles NOW!!!" The lock operator should not be tempted to go ahead and set the next lock until the current lock is done:....... The last few inches when either filling or emptying can be dangerous (boat on cill going down, front under gate going up) Do not assume that the crew of a boat you are sharing a lock with, or a volunteer lock keeper, will keep an eye on things if you wander off. Lock operator keeps windlass in hand always! Every lock is a little different with new ways to make things go wrong! Fenders up unless there is a very good reason to have them down in a particular lock. Do all these things and you will still have some nasty moments, but at least you have tried! ...........Dave

Looks like something to do with a mallard to me. As anyone who spends any amount of time time cut already knows, mallards will shag absolutely anything, and so some odd things are sometimes created, I have read that every single duck in existence, with the sole exception of the muscovy duck, is in some way related to an over sexed mallard! ..............Dave