Sammie

Well we are back and apart from one incident, had a lovely weekend. We left Fazeley later than anticipated so ended up mooring just after Curdworth Tunnel. Left there at 7am and arrived at Gas Street Basin about 1ish. We moored there overnight and apart from some people standing on the boat during the night and causing it to rock about, we had no problems. However, it was loud until gone 3am, so with a 10 week old baby needing night feeds, we got very little sleep. The only trouble we hit was on the Stratford Upon Avon canal between bridges 6 and 7. It was a wooded stretch with very steep, high banks. I was sat out with my 18 month old daughter and Dad was driving when I thought some twigs fell from some trees. We then realised someone was throwing stones at us. Just as I started to head inside with my daughter, a huge stone missed us by inches. My husband rushed out and the rest of us stayed inside until it stopped. Whilst I was prepared for the possibility of yobbish behaviour through Birmingham, I was really shocked, and still am, that someone would deliberately target us when I was quite clearly holding a young child. I think I must have lived a sheltered life until now! Anyway, thanks for the advice from you all and to "smelly" for the offer of the use of mooring. Really kind, although not needed.

Huge thanks everyone for all the info and mooring tips. Really useful. Will post how we get on. Sammie x

Title says it all really A rough idea of how long it will take from Fazeley Marina area to Gas Street Basin, obviously dependant on boat traffic and lock hold ups. And is Gas Street Basin the only safe place to moor? Saw another post saying Birmingham full - is this an ongoing situation this weekend? Any info would be great. Thanks.

Thanks for all the replies. Had not considered the smell issue, so some points to think about! Many thanks for the advice, Sammie.

Hi We are in the process of having a narrowboat built. On hire boats we have used, the pump out for the toilets has always been on the gunwales. However, it has been suggested that we have the pump out point for our boat, on the roof. Having not come across this location before, any comments, for or against, would be greatly appreciated. Many thanks, Sammie

Thanks for all the replies. Very helpful. I think we must have been unlucky with the two companies that we have had hire boats from over the past ten years or so, as the pump out loos always smell - a horrible sour smell which usually starts after a couple of days. I think parents are going to go for cassette loo and are looking at more info on the vacuum one, as mum really wants a china toilet.

Off to look at the lee sanitation website for the pump out kits....... But where do you then pump out to????

My husband found the bowl shallow on our Thetford loo in our motorhome. This was when sitting, rather than standing, and after a night on the Speckled Hen

Hi My parents are currently having a boat built which they intend to live on for a few years now they are retired. They are trying to make a decision on toilets and any comments would be helpful. They are put off by the pump out option as all the boats we have used for holidays always seem to have smelly toilets within a few days. They also fill in about a week - is this the norm? I have experience of cassette toilets from motorhoming, and have found that they can be smell free as you can give the cassette a good shake and clean, unlike a pump out. Also, additional cassettes can be carried. The draw back is the plastic bowl which tends to be quite shallow. They have picked up info from the IWA show on china cassette toilets which work on a vacuum system with the cassette mounted away from the actual loo - but from a quick search on previous posts on this forum, they dont seem to popular. So any views and experiences of toilet options would be really appreciated. Many thanks.