gazza

get your stern gland repacked asap - i helped re-float a colvick motor sailer the day after boxing day a few years ago. a bilge pump was relied upon to keep the leaking stern gland and run off water from the gunwales in check. flat battery/buggered bilge pump = boat sunk at its morings

we had a rescue collie, she hated travelling in the car - wined alot, was sick now and then, used to shake etc. with care, time and patience she came to enjoy going in the car, i am convinced her previous owners used to only take her to the vets in a car rather than on enjoyable outings. the more time she spent in the car the less of a problem it became - good excuse to be on your boat as much as possible...... is there plenty onboard to keep your dogs entertained? would they get on better on deck whilst under way? at least they could see what is going on then. my dog is fascinated by life on the river and absolutely loves being afloat - hopefully your dogs will come round to this way of thinking in time

same as all the post above, we do not cut back too much on water usage. every now and then I have to pressure wash filthy dirt bikes, and as a result, a filthy yard not very often car washing, a washing machine that seems to be on more than its off (wife is a HCA at our local A+E dept ) an overworked dishwasher etc etc - we went from £38 per month to 19 quid in a blink of an eye. would be alot less if we economised a bit, but, hey life's too short etc etc

i have a mayland GRP cruiser, its great for my wife, the dog and myself - the floating equivelant of camping! can tie it up virtually anywhere great for weekends on the beer with my brother (who has a fairline 20) and a couple of mates. my mother and step-father have a 50' hancock and lane NB, it is a cruiser style boat, what you loose in cabin space makes up for being able to throw a party on the stern a friend of mine has had a sailaway from a builder in the napton area (i think!!) it is a trad style boat, whilst being a nice looking boat and well laid out 55' for two retired types..... i cant help but feel the trad style misses the point of pleasure cruising, space for crew at the rear of the boat with the helsman is limited to the hatch area or roof - it also means that when it rains everyone else not involved in the forward motion of the boat has an excuse to hide inside....... up on the broads my father lives on a large ex hire broads cruiser, it is very spacious and comfortable, space for any mod con you can imagine - it is, however, a product of its habitat and entirely useless on a narrow canal.. eldest brother has a well fitted out Dawncraft, nice and comfy living, suitable for narrow canals. It cracks me up this division between boaters and boat types, we should all be thankful there is a network for these divisions to develop from...... As for me, when funds allow the purchase of a NB, it WILL be a cruiser, to me the whole point of boating is enjoyment - not trying to recreate a past that didnt really exisit.....

wide enough to get a 7 foot beam boat thru, you just need to be careful, keep a look out up front after you have left Irthlingborough Lock and you should be ok. Will be intresting to see how quick EA respond to my call, bearing in mind Easter is nearly on us.......... the EA are working on Lower Barnwell Lock at the mo, supposed to be finished ready for Easter, they discovered the pointing doors needed more work than expected. Guess the contractors will have to take less Tea breaks

just been for a little run up towards Irthlingborough, be careful downstream of the Frontier Camp (after Irthlingborough Lock, close to a footbridge over the river) there is a silt shoal here, where a cut from Stanwick Lakes joins the river, it is marked with a faded bouy. Normally you only have to worry about the area the bouy marks. Today, I discovered the shoal is a lot bigger than normal - very nearly ran out of water if you are travelling down stream keep close(ish) to the lefthand bank - the one the Nene Way footpath is on, the navigable channel is very narrow so DO NOT stray over to the righthand side of the river. Have a look here, http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk/subje...n=1〈=_e will give EA a buzz on Monday and let them know. Will also inform them that the plunger locks on the manual guilotine gates at Ringstead Upper, Woodford, and Denford are prone to sticking on the plus side, EA have started fitting reduction gearing to the pointing door padles, a good few less turns needed now and to all those moaining about the guilotine locks, 17 minutes for Ringstead Lower (slow electric job) 13 minutes for Ringstead Upper (manual - but a good one!) all done on me tod with only the dog for company - had to use the lock ladders though..................

christ! i never realised just how close i have come to having a major accident with petrol and gas......... its amazing to think my boat has lasted since it was built in 1968, i didnt know petrol was akin to weapons grade plutonium...... as for gas, i have managed to use a gas hob successfully at home and afloat perhaps it would be an idea to concentrate on educating people with a lack of common sense rather than writing off petrol and lpg. most people manage to get through life without having to be wrapped in cotton wool or having their bums wiped for them. those that cant are listed on this intresting website http://www.darwinawards.com/ happy reading!

nice trip to wadenhoe and back yesterday, bit on the windy side - slavaged 3 fenders and was the only boat underway visited the ever friendly MNCC for a beer and a chat....

sorry, should have made that a bit clearer! we only use the laptop on the boat for dvds, college work (my wife is a long sufering student nurse!) etc. other forms of entertainment are - books, radio cards etc - not forgeting the beautiful countryside. so, i didnt see the point of shelling out on an inverter that was way over capacity for our needs - that and space is a premium for us, so the neat little laptop charger ticked all the boxes

i recently got this off of ebay : - http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/New-Universal-Laptop...1713.m153.l1262 check the specs, max current is 3.5 amps, max volts is 24V. works well on my HP 6720 2 gig Laptop - very quick delivery to boot i thought of the inverter route, but couldnt see the point of running a 120W inverter for a 65W laptop......

its not quite that bad, we are not tidal yet you can normally tie up pretty much anywhere you like, it is a very rural and remote river in places, make sure you have a decent plank as the bank is a bit erroded in places and can be a little shallow towards the bank. lots of lovely spots under trees,out of sight, away from major roads (mostly, the a45, a6, a14 and peterborough ring roads do come close but you can normally find somewhere quite) wellingborough and northampton are the biggest towns before peterborugh, most of the villages are NOT on the river edge, had the sense not to build on the flood plane back in the day.... some places, such as Fothringhay require a small moring fee, but to be honest i havent had to pay for a mooring other than our 'home' mooring yet EA have a floodline, check their (very good) website, still, it should be good the amount they carge for a years licence...... if the river does flood when you are on it try to get to an established marina, there are a few dotted along the way, tie bows pointing upstream and keep your fingures crossed.....

the Nene is a lovely river. Billing to Wollaston is very pleasant. Wellingborough to Ditchford not quite so pretty. Higham lock to Peterborough is stunning. electrification of the locks has helped no end, the remaining manual locks are difficult to get electric to - thankfully most of the hard/deep locks have been done. avoid mooring in N/Hampton near South Bridge if you can, avoid Wellingborough at the Embankment too - Whitworths millers make a terrible racket, the toilets have been known to attract unsavoury characters too........ as for pubs - the pub attached to the Premier Travel inn at Billing Aquadrome does reasonable food, spacious pub so you can usually get seated ok, i think it is called the Quays. avoid the Billing Mill, is normally full of chavs and the food is crap! you can try Northampton boat club, google their website, although they can be funny if you are not an ANCR member. you then have Cogenhoe Mill who welcome visitors for a drink. short trip down the river to Earls Barton lock there is Dunkleys restaurant - good but slightly pricey food. nothing between here and Irthlingborough i am afraid! good moorings at Irthlingborough Diamonds centre, bar/bistro effort in the football grounds. bit of a walk into town itself but good choice of chinese/indian and pubs if you do make the effort next up is Woodford, moorings are a bit poor, tie up on bank below church, less than 5 min walk into village - two pubs to choose from, the Dukes Arms, dog friendly good food, not been given the trendy make over yet! White Horse Inn is more of a restaurant, big conservatory dinning area etc. short way down the river is the Denford Inn, tie up on the bank closest to the villiage, short walk across the field. used to be called the Cock Inn but now given the trendy treatment next is Thrapston 9 arches moorings, close to town, lots of choice for food, the Woolpack across the road in Islip is nice. there are moorings after Islip lock if 9 arches bridge moorings are too busy. after this is Titchmarsh mill, home of the MNCC, they are visitor friendly and have a lovely little bar in the mill house - recomended! short way down from here is the Kings Head at Wadenhoe, nice setting, moorings can be busy so tie up further upstream and walk down the beautiful riverside walk. lots of good walks here, walks to Lyveden New Build, Pilton etc. the river then wends its way to Barnwell/Oundle at the moment the Barnwell mill is shut, which is a shame as it was very pleasant there - who knows if it will re-open?? you can get a beer at Oundle Crusing Club, again very friendly bunch. its a good walk into oundle from the Marina - worth it as Oundle is a very nice town the river winds a long way round from Lower Barnwell to Ashton lock, tie up here and walk to the Chequred Skipper in Ashton - home of the conker championships! long walk but good food and beer. next up is Forthinghay, well worth the stop, go to see where Mary Queen of Scotts was locked up! not been to the Falcon personally but have had good reports. good moorings at Elton, short walk to villiage for pubs and shop, neither dog friendly so cant comment! will need people from the Peterborough area to finish off the pub guide....... our river floods a little too regularly, and can cause navigation problems, hopefully this year will be better....... hope this helps

that saved a lot of typing!! we are planing a trip onto the grand union this year, as you are no doubt aware last july was a waste of time as far as the nene was concerned. fingers crossed this year is not a repeat performance - would drive me mad to pay for a licence then have to stay on our permanant mooring due to flood conditions. it does go against the grain that there is a BW facility at Gayton but no chance to purchase a visitor licence - surely a few licences in a draw would not stretch BW reserves too much????!!