Qhunter

I think this could well be the first year in nearly 20yrs that we don't have a week on the canals. The rip-offs that are being foisted on customers (remember that's what we are) are amazing. If you're going to rent a boat that costs 80-90k for £1000+ a week then that is the price you should charge. The hire firms seem to have hit on the horrible idea that we face in so many aspects of modern retailing, that being to make a charge for something and then hit the customer with a load of extra charges. Some of the fuel charges are nothing short of robbery. The worst prices list we've found was... A six berth boat for a week in September: £1300 An additional charge if you have more than 4 people on the 6 berth boat of £25 per head. £35 for the dog, A hefty collision damage waiver (I can't remember the figure)and you pay for all the fuel you used at their rates on return to base (which they're honest enough to say are more expensive than retail fuel rates). Other stunts we've found have included: ... for the 6 berth boat there will only be one car parking space available and that you must leave your car keys with them. ...a charge for parking your car. ... a laundry charge. ...a charge for not paying the full amount 8 weeks before the start of the hire period. The industry appears to have been overcome by rip-off practises and as I said above, for the first time in 20yrs we won't be having a week on the canals. An old chap once said to me "for every customer who speaks out there are a hundred who simply walk away". They need to wake up quickly.

"are you sure this is what the bloke at the scrap yard meant when he said he'd give us a good price for any copper we could get hold of"

From: abnb.co.uk/listings.html

A tip for you I think should be included in your safety brief... Some of the swing bridges on the L&L are very low. Getting under the low bridges is a simple case of paddling towards them and leaning back so you are prone as you go under the bridge. However, before sitting upright again the canoeist needs to make sure he is fully out from under the bridge. I know it sounds common sense but a lot of the steel bridges are hollow underneath and it's possible, by sitting up to early to raise your head up into the structure of the bridge deck. I know a chap who got it wrong and the resulting accident broke his nose and cost him 4 front teeth.

I dispair that this thread exists. Not the discussion of managing fires, you understand, but the fact that people are compaining about smoke from coal fires. What did they expect from a marina?

I'm afraid this was always going to be the way. With Fat gordon's unquenchable hatred for the middle classes (i.e. anyone not benefit dependant) he can't resist any opportunity to steal our money.

Paul, sorry to here about this whole sorry story. I'm also grateful for the heads-up. You've made sure I will never go anywhere near AW. What a dreadful way to tread someone when there is almost 8months left for them to rebook the boat.

Years ago on a working barge we were going through a narrow bridge hole when there was an almighty thud followed briefly by the sound of flexible coupling nuts and bolts bouncing around the inside of the engine room and then silence. We knew we'd picked up something big and got a boat hook to 'ave a feel....hmmm, something large and soft. After a couple of tugs there was a tearing and a bottle of pills and an electricity bill floated to the surface. We retired to a local cafe and let the police divers deal with that one After they'd removed the suicide victim the divers couldn't understand why we didn't want our hacksaw back

We've done the 4C twice now in a week, once CW, once CCW and there isn't a lot in it to be honest. Our boating 'team' is made up of an experienced crew and we usually get started at about 0830 with an hour for lunch and plan the end of our day around 1700-1900. What I will say is that it's a working week and you will need to appreciate before you start that it will be a boating holiday and not a 'sitting in a pub for the afternoon' holiday. There are some lengthy flights to be tackled and to avoid falling behind you will need to be able to tackle them with efficiency.

Ah, the coriolis method of boating

Thanks for that chaps, especially the tips about Castlefield and Ashton. One thing I forgot to ask...clockwise or anticlockwise?

One of the routes I've always wanted to see is the Cheshire ring although having experienced urban trouble makers elsewhere in the country I've always avoided it. I hear that things have improved enormously in the greater Manchester area and as the result of a short term change of plans we are now seriously considering the Cheshire ring. Can anyone tell me what we can expect in the Manchester area now please. I want to see the city from the water but I don't want to feel like trouble is going to be innevitable.

I never thought of it like that It is the shortened version of Queue Hunter, a nickname I acquired from my road haulage days and a bad day at Heathrow's freight terminal. Down the years we have usually hired from companies who offer genuinely high quality boats rather than the 'dog boxes' of the larger fleets although when the desire to see a particualr part of the country has over ridden the need for quality we have done those too. The attitudes of some people can astonishing. They see a dog box and you are immediately a numpty to be treated with contempt (I could write a book about some of the tricks that have been tried on us, I assume simply because we'd been identified as hireboaters). On decent quality boats though the attitude changes and what was amazing about Spirit Of Georgia (the Challenger Stealth tug) was that most people didn't realise it was a hire boat but saw a Hudson tug and the fawning did sometimes get embarrassing! Even more fascinating was the change in some people once they'd seen the words 'stealth hire' - whatever that meant! I read that thread from end to end. In our world of road rage, stabbings and general hostility it was very humbling to discover that actually, there still are first class decent people out there if you know where to look. It was vey heartwarming. There were other lives lost that night too that I personally attribute to the decisions of the Union Star ( a brand new ship with a fault that would have resulted in the salvage bill been placed at the feet of the builders afterwards - sorry, rant mode again) not accepting the salvage offer. Further out at sea was a British coaster that got into trouble and sank with loss of life in the same rough weather. The Penlee boat was unable to help that ship as they were busy sacrificing themselves at Penlee.

Generalisation like this just makes me realise that the canals are being inhabited by an increasing number of Victor Meldrew types who demonstrate a distasteful level of bigotry based on what...the peception of their own wealth, class, superiority, who knows. I have been boating since 1980 since I left school and started working on the Trent/Humber/Ouse gravel barges. We have taken our holidays on the canals for years and have elected to hire rather than buy because we want to buy the right boat outright rather than have to make a compromise based on available finances. We discovered the Challenger Stealth Hire 'bomber fleet' about 5yrs ago and have used them without problem since then. Just where else were you going to hire a Hudson tug for £700/week? During this period, and all our times boating we have never attracted a single complaint regarding our conduct on the canals. In fact, as a result of my grounding in professional boat handling i've often been asked 'where did you learn to do that" We have though, encountered an astonishing level of snobbery from boat owners with the opinon, that somehow because I'm on the tiller of a hire boat it means I don't know what I'm doing with a boat, that I don't care for the canals and the heritage they represent, and that I think everyone is a potential enemy until proved otherwise and that I am to be treated as a member of an undefined underclass. I would argue that the people who adopt these attitudes to hire boaters as a breed are the ones who are dwelling in the underclass. On the other hand, there are those boat owners who don't have a psuedo class based axe to grind and those people are a pleasure to be with and they are the people who make our holidays a real pleasure. As the Challenger mess unfolds it is becoming obvious that a lot of people have seen their dreams and their life's saving vanish to who knows where. I feel for these people and wish them the very best in their endeavours at seeking recompense.