Wanderer Vagabond
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Posts posted by Wanderer Vagabond
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6 hours ago, magpie patrick said:
When I fell into the Avon from Juno several years ago I climbed onto the back deck of a narrow boat (no way back onto Juno - at least not one I could think of in a hurry in the dark). I used the rudder and the skeg supporting it as the first step. I doubt it was designed with this in mind but I got out.
Whilst they didn't go as far as closing locks they did decide (several decades ago) that ladders in locks were a pretty good idea. The Ashton Canal has even older lock ladders - bricks with toe holds in them.
On most lengths of canal though I don't think steps would be needed - the banks are often a gentle slope anyway!
Interesting one that because I've often thought as I've travelled the bit of Staffs and Worcester between Bridge 67 (Marsh Lane Bridge) and Bridge 68 (Forsters Bridge) where is is only one boat width, what an utter b*stard if would be trying to get back out of the canal onto the towpath if you (or your dog) fell in. The banks I would guess are about three feet high, straight out of the water (I don't know how deep the water is) and to me they look almost impossible to climb out on. As I said, when I go swimming in swimming pools I make a point of getting out in the deep end without using any steps or ladder, but that piece of canal is well beyond my pay grade
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1 hour ago, magnetman said:
Yes I have reused the large cannisters as beer can holders (beer can fits inside very nicely and the small bottles are great for putting really powerful magnets into.
I actually sold quite a number of magnets made with these to Canal Boat magazine a number of yars ago. 16mmx16mm neo magnets easily powerful enough to get your windlass back out with a thin nylon rope attached using a number plate bolt through the neck of the bottle.
Mind you I bought one of those 'sea searcher' magnets many years back that was supposed to lift 60Kg, never seems to recover my windlass though. Am I doing something wrong? or is it just because my windlass is aluminium?
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58 minutes ago, IanD said:
An example of something that meets the letter of the the law but not the spirit -- ticks the "safety feature" box but is mostly useless in real life. Not just impossible to get a foot up that high in deeper water -- and if you're in shallow water you don't need it, just stand up! -- but even if you're a contortionist and can, there's nothing to grab on to above it to try and pull yourself out, especially where they're often positioned.
At least on my boat you have one usable footstep a couple of inches deep at the bottom of the Schilling rudder at skeg level, another one at the top, and you can grab on to the tiller or stern bollards to help you get out. I haven't tried it in the water (yet...) but it worked fine when I tried it in the workshop... 😉
I seem to recall after I had intentionally gone swimming in The Ouse at Ely back in 2020 (all swimming pools were shut) I managed to climb out at the stern by stepping onto the skeg which then enabled me to step up onto the top of the rudder and thence onto the rear fender to get out of the water. This wasn't wearing waterlogged winter clothing though, and it was in the height of summer. Things might be trickier if you've fallen though the ice in December though
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Just now, Mike A R Powell said:
Are aging batteries to blame then? Sounds like a fan in the engine bay might be a good idea.
Depends, where is the fan going to blow the fumes unless you have a hole in your hull somewhere?
I've thought about that as a means of trying to cool my alternators, but ultimately all you are doing is circulating air around the engine compartment.
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14 minutes ago, Mike A R Powell said:
We had carbon monoxide detectors go off in the middle of the night on a hire boat. We did all the usual by opening windows, getting out, phoning hire company etc. We were told that because we had it plugged in on a shore line (moored in a marina), it got triggered by hydrogen from the batteries. Will CO detectors really be set off by hydrogen? Surely it vents quickly away?
I don't think hydrogen would set off CO detector unless in a very enclosed space since if hydrogen gets released it rises. Hydrogen Sulphide however is denser that air (slightly) so will percolate throughout the boat, so it probably wasn't hydrogen that triggered your detectors, but H2S, the same as triggered ours.
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For all of the talk about the methods and requirements for getting people back out of the water, the biggest single issue is going to be the fitness/mobility/mindset of the person concerned. For the elderly lady I fished out, it wouldn't have mattered what bells and whistles the boat had for someone in the water to rescue themselves, for her is simply wouldn't have happened. Her level of panic was such that I couldn't even get her to try to put her feet down to see if she could stand up in the water (she may well have been able to for all I know). She was only ever going to be rescued from the water by someone else.
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Just now, IanD said:
I find cycling from the towpath into the canal occasionally is also useful practice. If you want to try this method, make sure to take your phone out of your pocket first... 😉
Yup, therein lies the only situation when I've fallen in the cut (complete with phone). Riding towards the shops at Napton just after lockdown I saw a long piece of bramble had grown across the towpath directly in line with my chest/arms. Braked to an emergency stop without hitting it, then put the wrong foot down
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2 hours ago, Jen-in-Wellies said:
Cold water will mean you lose dexterity and strength in your fingers very quickly as your body concentrates on keeping warm blood in your core. Will make gripping any small diameter line tricky. Having a ladder set up nearby is a good idea. Where I moor it is five to six feet deep. The couple of times I've helped people out of the water here it has been remarkably difficult. Required a minimum of two to pull them out as they were both quite large guys. Alcohol was a contributing factor in both incidents! We petitioned the mooring operator to put in some ladders, which they did.
They've done much the same in the basin in which I moor after someone fell in and it was realised just how difficult it was for them to get out. The experience I had with fishing an elderly lady out of the cut (she was fortunately wearing a self inflating life-jacket and it was in the summer) demonstrated to me just how difficult it can be. She was in her mid to late 70's and trying to pull her up by her arms just led to howls of pain. We eventually solved the problem by getting a tarpaulin that I was using to cover my bike on the roof of the boat, folding it into a 'hammock' and drifting it under her whereby two of us were then able to lift her (and a lot of water) out in the 'hammock', it wasn't easy though. A similar method is used in offshore sailing, using the sail of the boat.
Just to practice such things I regularly go swimming (in swimming pools!) and always get myself out, in the deep end, without the use of any ladder. I'm probably kidding myself that it'll make any difference should I ever fall since if that happens I'll undoubtedly be fully clothed.
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39 minutes ago, Tigerr said:
One of the 4 batts is hot and giving off hydrogen sulphide. Started to notice it strongly after a few hours cruising and charging today. Now stopped. Question is, safe to use 12v electrics? Obvs needs new batt but will have to travel a couple of hours. Best course of action?
Agree with the other posters, take the defective battery out of the bank since if it does short it will probably finish off your other batteries as well. Bear in mind that H2S is flammable so any sparks could ruin your day
. Just out of curiosity, do you have any CO detectors on your boat? When one of our batteries began gassing back in September it set off both CO detectors at the other end of the boat.
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8 hours ago, Loubeloo said:
I know that you shouldn't rush into boating but I have the opportunity to secure a mooring at a marina about 10 mins walk from my house. They are rare as hens teeth.
Im a single female - and the only experience I've had with narrowboats is a holiday with another person.
Would it be best to secure the mooring first then get the boat?
My heart is telling me to go for it- it wouldn't be a liveaboard so I would be looking for a boat 35ft or less.
I don't have a huge amount of money- would a boat costing about 17/18k be up to scratch?
There just seem to be various things falling into place that make me think its time to take a plunge.
How difficult is it for a single middle aged female to operate a narrowboat on their own and navigate locks etc.
can anyone direct me to useful advice?
Thanks!
In terms of could you do it? absolutely certainly, I'd tend to go more for the 'why' would you do it? You say that it isn't going to be a liveaboard, so I'm guessing that it will just be for trips out during the season. Before retirement (when I became free to go wherever on the system I wanted) I had a time share that was supposed to have given me access to about 6 marinas in different parts of the country. When I ditched it, that had reverted to just one marina (Sawley). If you are still working then the time you will have to use the boat will be limited and if you are based in one marina (as in my time-share at Sawley) what that often boils down to is being able to go out of the marina and turn left for a week and then back (if you are out for a fortnight) and next time go out of the marina and turn right for a week. You will soon get to know the local area very well.
What I'd tend to do in your position would be to gain loads of experience on other people's boats (hiring) when they will have all of the worry of licensing,insuring,BSS,maintenance,etc.etc. You will also have the opportunity to go anywhere on the system to hire, rather than overdosing on your local area.
If however you are coming up to retirement, go for it!
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1 hour ago, Sue68 said:
I’m using chrome. I typed as Alan said and got a signing in page. But when I signed in I went back to sorry your account does not require validation etc
This post cannot be displayed because it is in a forum which requires at least 10 posts to view Is the message I'm now seeing on some posts
I'm guessing that the forums you cannot get into are the Virtual Pub as well as Political and Current Affairs. Since you only appear to have posted 4 times (according to your avatar) that might be the reason.
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2 hours ago, magnetman said:
If the flytipper then gets their phone out and records you recording them and you are a local on a boat you'd want to hope he has nice friends.
Different if you are on a cruise I suppose.
Can't say that I'd be unduly concerned at being filmed by the fly tipper, what technology is he going to have on his phone? Facial recognition?? I would film his VRM to identify him, how is he going to identify me?
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29 minutes ago, Midnight said:
Not many complaints on this thread. Personally, although I realise this will lead to more fly tipping, I believe it's the local authorities who should provide rubbish and dog bins in their own area. Regrettably the LA's are strapped for cash too. At Cosworth this year I witnessed man with a van unloading a whole transit full of builders waste into the C&RT bins. It happens and it's not for C&RT to pay for local tradesmen to get rid of waste. Nor it is for C&RT to have to remove the various boaters waste that shouldn't be put in bins. I've regularly seen batteries, the remains of boater's bathrooms, kitchens, waste oil, etc. left on the floor of waste compounds. Blame goes to those who abuse the system this time not C&RT.
Just out of curiosity, did you do anything about it? I'd have been tempted to have videoed it, and his VRM (on phone or something) and sent it to CRT. If the man didn't like it, tough.
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57 minutes ago, bigcol said:
Having just paid the next years licence, heard on the radio, that CRT have removed all the bins.
I don’t know if this is nationwide, but defo on the local news covering bucks and hearts.
are they talking about the small bins for general public, or the big bins for boaters?
Seems crazy to me, this rubish is going to end up stacked next to trees, or rammed in the smaller bins
surely this can’t be true, what are boaters going to do with their rubish?
costs licence going up
on top of cut backs!
col
I think another poster commented on this earlier this year
and according to the BBC report (https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leeds-65075402) it is the litter bins that they are removing to encourage people to take their rubbish home with them and dispose of it there. Since everything that goes into a litter bin then goes to landfill (subject to landfill tax) I can see why CRT want to try to save money, but whether it ends out with people just dumping their rubbish on the towpath (and ending up in the canal) we will see, it seems likely to me given just how lazy people are.
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1 hour ago, magnetman said:
It depends how fast the forward movement is.
Some boats will stop quicker than others.
The best thing is to go into locks slowly and not need reverse to stop but use a rope.
Have to say, that is what I tend to do. I approach the lock on tick-over and once the bow is into the lock mouth, knock the drive into neutral and drift into the lock stepping onto the lockside when I can and bringing the boat to a slow halt with the centre line on one turn around a lockside bollard. You obviously need to make sure that you wrap the rope around the bollard the right way so that it doesn't 'lock' and bring the boat to a sudden stop (probably where the other poster has seen bollards pulled out). I went for this technique after going into Ryders Green Locks on the Walsall Canal once and after going into the lock under power, put it in reverse to stop and got a whole load of crap wrapped around the prop and found myself unable to stop, the boat then hit the bottom gates a whole load harder than I would ever wish to.
Just as a separate, unconnected observation, people have been describing 'overcoming inertia' regarding stopping boats by putting them in reverse, surely it is momentum that they need to overcome?
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11 hours ago, PeterScott said:
Blimey, I thought I knew how to do it.....until I read that
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2 minutes ago, MtB said:
Got any Ikea tap receipts in there you could lend to wonderervagabond?
Why? what've I done??
I've never shopped at IKEA
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2 minutes ago, dmr said:
I really need to draw some pictures 😀 We did Foxton a few weeks ago and CRT were doing 5 up then 5 down, or maybe 6? we had to wait for ages..
So if I follow another boat up all is well because there will always be a full lock in front of me? So its just on the turn around from going down to going up where there is a gain???
When we came down Watford the lockies were putting a lot of effort into getting the levels correct in the sideponds (due to leakage) but were unable/unwilling to explain what they were doing.
Came down the Droitwich recently and really good to see sideponds still in use. Up the Bratch tomoro.....thats another thing.
True, but you need to remember where that water has come from. For it to work the whole flight would need to be full before you started, but if the last boat coming through beforehand was going down, they wouldn't be (without the sideponds). Conversely, if the last boat was going up before a line of boats came down, you'd have to empty all of the locks before you set off from the top, or enjoy the 'entertainment' of washing the gongoozlers off the towpath as emptying each lock would then flood the lock below it (without the sideponds).
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8 minutes ago, dmr said:
But what do the sideponds do to help compared with a normal staircase? The various staircase flights on the L&L manage without sideponds.
With a normal L&L staircase, such as Bingley 5 rise, you have to make sure all of the locks are full before you start up them, if they aren't you will run out of water and be unable to get over the cill to the next lock. If you had to do that at Foxton you'd be filling
109 locks. As the other poster suggested, the side pounds at Foxton serve the same purpose as the pounds between locks on non-staircases. I don't know what the limit is for boats going up in convoy, but I've gone up in a line of three without running out of water, there will however be some limit (obviously no limit to coming down). -
9 minutes ago, dmr said:
I have thought about this a bit and I would like to know how Foxton and Watford work, and in particular how the sideponds actually save water.
The sideponds are not like a typical sidepond which is half filled from a full lock, instead Foxton works just like a standard staircase where water drains from one pound to the pound below......it just happens to do this via the sidepond. On most Foxton locks you can actually see this...the water rushes into the sidepond, does a quick U-turn and rushes back out into the chamber below.
I assume there must be some advatage when the flight turns from going up to gong down? Maybe I need to draw a few little pictures, but I bet somebody here has already worked it all out 😀
Not sure about saving water but I would have thought without the side ponds the system would grind to a halt for boats going up. Going down is fine since you bring your water with you, but if the boat coming down leaves all of the locks empty, where are you going to get your water to fill them if you are going up, unless you go right to the top and run water down?
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1 hour ago, zenataomm said:
I expect as an attempt at stock control the steerer starts of with x thousand ltrs of fuel, a starting counter number on the pump, x bags of coal and x numbers of whatever other stuff they sell. Each transaction is entered in a book with meter readings opening and closing from the pump.
Upon return to base a closing stock take is done which when subtracted from the opening gives the value of stock presumably sold.
That value should equal the amount of cash carried and cheques, plus electronic payments received.
If the shortfall was £X xp. Then a gander through the sales book for that amount arrived at Arthur. I expect it was his transaction that's at the bottom of it, but not Arthur himself. Upon questioning the steerer has only two options, pay out of his own pocket or recall that Arthur didn't pay.
I shouldn't pay twice.
I'd be in agreement regarding not paying twice, the difficulty is that by doing so it almost amounts to an admission (to them) that it was you that was mistaken rather than them. I think my approach would be to go to the office and, not in a confrontational way, ask them to show me the paperwork on which they are basing their claim (presumably the sales book). Your suggestion does look like what has probably happened and Arthur has just been unlucky, but then if errors are being made, it is equally possible that two £50 sales were made without them properly collecting the money. If they have found themselves £100 short and just gone through the sales book looking for a £100 cash sale and fingered Arthur for it, it does show pretty sloppy accounting.
If I was going to continue to use this particular fuel boat, I'd probably stump up if their documentation did give a reasonable implication (balance of probabilities, or even less) that I hadn't paid, but if I were going to stop using the fuel boat then they'd need good solid evidence that I hadn't paid before I'd do so.
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13 hours ago, Annie cariad said:
Like to hear the fuel boats side of this
10 hours ago, Arthur Marshall said:This is largely what I've done. I've mentioned in my letter that the business, which does a lot of filling and dropping off in absentia, depends on trust. I've asked them to delete all my personal info as I won't be using them again.
Four Counties run a couple of boats, Halsall and Alton, and until Jason left, Bargus, all based at Bollington Wharf on the Macc. The registered office is there , though oddly the postcode is wrong either at Companies Hiuse or on their site.
This does sound like a pretty unfortunate situation, particularly as it sounds as though you were previously a regular customer of the fuel boat (I always tried to whenever I could as well). The difficulty that I would foresee from your agreement to pay, even though you now wont be using them again, is how it will now be viewed from the business (which is why I linked the comment about 'hearing the fuel boat's side). Now I'm willing to side with you in that you paid and it wasn't recorded by those on the boat, but the narrative that will now come from the business will be,"We had this bloke who tried to scam us, but he eventually paid up". This is why I think that if I were in your position and not intending to use them again, I would politely decline to pay since by paying you feed that narrative that you were mistaken rather than them.
I have to say that whenever I've used the fuel boats it has either been with use of a card, or bank transfer, so that I do have some independent evidence that money has gone from me to them. As MtB indicates above, the problem arose as a result of having no receipt and I have to say that I always ask for a receipt for every purchase from everywhere, no matter how small. This is mainly to ensure that if I've bought something in one shop and then go into another that sells the same sort of items (supermarkets generally) for further purchases, I can prove ownership of the stuff I've paid for.
ETA Just as an afterthought, how do you record the domestic/propulsion split on your purchases from the fuel boat? I regularly buy from our basin (Hawne) and we have to complete a signed declaration every time, so if they have the declaration with your signature on it, how would they explain you not paying (as you would obviously have needed to be present)
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On 02/10/2023 at 21:40, sueb said:
I certainly agree with legalising drugs but what concerns me more is the way the drugs are provided in this country. People don't seem to be bothered about the children being used to move drugs, the people used as drug mules and all the corruption that goes with it. As long as people can get their drugs they couldn't care less about any unfortunates caught up in the supply chain.
I think that is more part and parcel with legalising the drugs, since doing so removes the supply from the criminals responsible. Whilst those of us who aren't addicted to recreational drugs are concerned with the criminality currently involved, it is probably a big ask to hope that the addicts would be. They are addicted to the product so they don't care where it has come from, bearing in mind that some of the product may well have been passed thought someone else's digestive system, or stored in other bodily orifices, yet they are still happy to inject it into themselves. They even inject it into themselves not knowing exactly what the product contains.
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5 hours ago, blackrose said:
I smoked hash and grass (as it used to be called) from the ages of about 16 to 26. I stopped doing it because I went travelling and ended up on the other side of the world away from my circle of friends for whom dope smoking was a daily ritual.
After that when I did occasionally smoke I used to get paranoid and I realised it was no good for me. Although cannabis isn't physically addictive it can become psychologically addictive for some people. Fortunately I don't have an addictive personality. I've tried most recreational substances in my youth including mushrooms, LSD, speed and heroin and I have to say, if I had an addictive personality I'd be addicted to cocaine because for me it's very nice indeed.
I have a friend who's been suffering from serious paranoia for the last year or so due to about 35 years of smoking cannabis. He thinks he's some sort of progressive genius and complains that nobody understands him - a kind of delusion of grandeur which is a classic symptom of cannabis induced schizophrenic paranoia. A few of us have tried to get him to understand that it's the cannabis that's doing this to him, but he won't listen and thinks we're all trying to put him down and the cannabis is good for him and the only thing keeping him sane. The irony is that he was an active member of the Legalise Cannabis Campaign for many years and look where it's got him - As well as losing his mental health I think he's about to lose his flat because he's not working and stopped paying the mortgage.
Of course, I have other friends who've been s smoking dope daily for just as long or even longer and they're fine so it affects people differently.
Well, if they were legalised they could be taxed and generate huge income for the Exchequer, so I'm not sure that argument stacks up?
I think the reason most recreational drugs other than alcohol are illegal from a govt standpoint is the public health implications - cannabis was traditionally seen as a gateway drug to harder class A substances, although the argument for legalisation says that taking cannabis away from drug dealers is less likely to result in it becoming a gateway drug.
I think there are cultural reasons too. Most recreational drugs (other than alcohol) have been associated with a counter-culture. But society wants people to be productive, not sitting around stoned questioning why they're going to work at a boring job everyday. In moderation alcohol helps to release stress, it doesn't make you question your existence.
Some very interesting points coming from someone who has used the said drugs. Just a few observations, when you said that if you were of an addictive personality it would be to cocaine, that can also create paranoia. One of the scariest guys we had to deal with was an ex-professional boxer who, according to the hospitals when we were trying to get him sectioned, was suffering from drug induced paranoia as a result of his cocaine use. Because of this they refused to take him as they said there was nothing they could do for him. Fortunately whilst he would often get right 'in your face' during his episodes, I never actually knew him to have physically assaulted one of us although I have seen the results when he assaulted civilians and he made a real mess of them. We never really got to the bottom of why he never attacked any of us but one suggestion was that he considered us in the same light as boxing referees making us 'untouchable' (thankfully). The only other person who could control him was his father (another ex-boxer) but everyone else was 'fair game'.
As far as gateway drugs goes, tobacco could be considered the gateway to everything, from smoking cannabis to 'chasing the dragon' for other recreational drugs, I didn't know many (any?) drug users who didn't smoke. I'd agree though that if we could get the supply of drugs out of the hands of criminals it would at least be a starting point. The difficulty we have is that we are fighting market forces from the wrong direction, we need to remove the demand rather than control supply.
It sounds all very well and good when there has been some big drugs 'bust' but what it means in reality is that for those drug dealers who haven't been 'busted' the price of their stock has just gone up, so that approach is only going to succeed if you can simultaneously bust all drug dealers at the same time (and even then it isn't a long term solution). Unlike most products in market situations, there isn't a top price for addictive drugs. A lot of those on chaotic lifestyles who are addicted get the money to pay for their hit from stealing so it doesn't really matter how high the price of the drug is, they will simply steal even more to pay for it, so as well as encouraging unhealthy lifestyles, we are driving crime as well.
Re-boarding: washing line between the rubbing strakes?
in Boat Equipment
Posted
That is much the procedure I use whenever I go swimming in a pool, it did however lead to one cheeky young lad walking past and saying,"Hey mister, you look like a seal getting out of the pool" fortunately he was just out of reach!