Jump to content

Phoenix_V

Member
  • Posts

    1,605
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Posts posted by Phoenix_V

  1. Just now, doratheexplorer said:

    It's also worth mentioning that carbon footprint is not the only environmental concern to consider.  HVO's main problem is the amount of land needed to produce it and the resultant habitat and biodiversity loss.  It is most definitely not some kind of magic bullet to transition to.

    afaik it is produced from waste oil/fats so no extra land though obs that means there will be a finite supply

    • Greenie 1
  2. 2 hours ago, Dav and Pen said:

    The big problem is that the majority of the French boaters do not think about inland waterways. They sail or cruise the med Brittany etc.

    Its chicken and egg, most French marinas are full , so how do you get more boaters, there is no continuos cruising here.

     

     

    Northern waterways are generally large scale and busy commercially with poorer facilities for pleasure boating which puts off many people who use them just to get south quickly.

    But in Belgium the waterways are mainly large scale but there is a lot of pleasure boating and a lot of moorings

     

     

    2 hours ago, Dav and Pen said:

     

     

    2 hours ago, Dav and Pen said:

     for the last few years the Meuse has suffered from water shortages and been shut during high season.

    not strictly true we went from Namur to Charleville Mezier in 2019 and it was fine it was only further up that the water shortages hit, 2021 on the other hand The Meuse was in flood in June wouldn't have wanted to be anywhere near there!!

    However for the average pleasure boat or barge there’s still a great time to be had and I only wish our health had let us keep going.

    One of the side effects of the Covid pandemic is the closure of the Fluvial magazine the only inland waterway one in France. True and desparately sad about Fluvial

     

     

     

  3. 4 hours ago, Bee said:

    I would agree with the above, some of those waterways are really special but there are not many hire bases so much of the system never sees a hire boat and the more remote areas seldom see a commercial. If you're feeling adventurous bung your boat on a lorry and take it across, there are rules and regs , boats over 20 m are probably too difficult now and brexit has not helped but Bee has been there for 10 yrs (and will stay there) and we are planning 3 months this year, the smaller canals are much the same as the GU (The great big ones need a stiff drink and concentration)  If only we could shift haf the boats that are crammed on the UK canals and move them to the small French canals everybody would be happy.....

    There is a lot of interest in Central and southern France but the poor waterways of Northern France don't seem to have many supporters. Part of the problem is that although there are many boats in French marinas (most full up) they do not require a licence unless they move maybe because of this few are seen cruising. North France is really close to the UK just hour and a half on the ferry, (less in the tunnel if you don't like boats) and there is plenty of nice countryside and interesting towns such as Lille, Arras, Douai, Cambrai within a few days cruising. The Somme is not so far and further East the Meuse and Sambre are amazing. There are large waterways here but loss of the little side canals would be disaster, already numerous pretty canals have been lost. It seems to be a lottery which canals are saved often based on whether the local council will put up some money. So do come, it will probably cost less than theUK, we pay around 800 euros for 13m mooring and the licence is about 450.

    • Greenie 2
  4. On 11/02/2022 at 10:26, matty40s said:

    In quite enjoyed the Russian foreign ministers succinct and honest view of Ms Truss capabilities yesterday.

    the rumour on facebook is that the  Russians have offered a large sum of money for us to bring her home

    May be an image of ‎map and ‎text that says "‎Geography with Liz Falklands Austria Germany OMGI Is hisa real t country?-> Spainland Antarctica South China Seas ondon Mexico God knows Ireland China Really? France Near Paris The Rus-no... Rus ن Japan Baltic Africa India Atlantic Oh Come ON!‎"‎‎

  5. 50 minutes ago, magnetman said:

    Of course the BMC doesn't have an exposed flywheel. That was back in the day when I had a Russell Newbery. 

     

    Probably best to do it on the gearbox output flange and multiply by reduction ratio. 

     

     

    wow you have been thinking about that for a long time

    • Greenie 1
    • Haha 2
  6. You need to look at where the negligance (if any lies)

    The speeding boat may be to blame but probably cant be found and would probably say that it was just doing a normal speed.

    The marina has done nothing wrong.

    The owner of the other boat has done nothing wrong. You could argue that the crane co were his employees and therefore his agents so he is vicariously liable for their actions but he would only counterclaim against them so that would waste everyone's time unless the crane company had disapeared in the meantime.

    The crane company implicitally (As Bojo would say) accept that they mis moored the other boat and  there is your negligance and  claim.

     

    Now there might be all sorts of contractual arrangements betwee marina/crane people/other boat owner but (in theory at least) that is for them and not you to sort.

     

    If this is the marina I think it is best to just let it rest.

     

     

  7. 6 minutes ago, MtB said:

     

    I'm dead curious now. How does putting veg in a bag make them last longer? Or is it these bags specifically?

     

    Not saying I don't bleeve it, would just like to understand the mechanism by which they do it.

    bugger I just wasted 5 minutes of my life looking at the advert for them, to save others this is the pitch

    "It may seem like magic, but Stayfresh’s genius is all thanks to the porous, food safe, natural Japanese stone powder suspended in the polythene film; the powder absorbs ageing ethylene gases that most fruit and veg release, and the bags let the contents breathe, creating an environment that helps produce stay fresher for far longer. The surface of the bags is also treated to prevent any build-up of moisture or bacteria."

    • Greenie 1
  8. 1 hour ago, David Mack said:

    Did the broker have it surveyed out of the water, or is it just his uninformed opinion that it needs replating?

    I would have thought a newly plated boat ought to be worth significantly more than £15k in the current market. That said I agree you would be better selling it 'as seen' and letting the buyer deal with the issue (or not).

    I agree unless there is a survey the broker is just guessing perhaps doesn't want potential aggravation. We had a boat built in 1967, which we bought in 1997 and spent some £1000 or so on minor overplating, painted it every few years and sold in 2011 at which time the survey showed the boat hull to be in the same condition as  after the replating - no further metal work required. Steel was better quality in those days.

  9. 9 hours ago, Tam & Di said:

    I don't know if there's a hint of irony there. I'm not putting down the capability of UK fuel boat skippers, but Frank is rather underplaying the skills and knowledge involved. There's obviously opportunity to learn in the role of deck hand, but you'd be mixing it with the big boys of 2000t+. To note a few of the hurdles, you'd have to have sufficient German to communicate on VHF with other skippers, lock keepers etc; you'd have to know the CEVNI rules inside out in that environment or you'd get into serious problems very quickly; 12 hour days at this time of year involve a lot of night time boating and steering by radar; you'd have to be on top of the enormous amount of bureaucracy and paperwork requirements involved in day-to-day running, certification and maintenance.

     

    I'm sure it's doable, but it's no romantic idyll.

     

    Tam

    I was thinking more in terms of the amount of hard physical work rather than the skill. The person concerned would be starting as a deckhand so presumably plenty of time to learn the technical!

     

  10. 3 hours ago, MartynG said:

    Make your mind up !

     

    Apparently you can get a German work permit if you can show that you have a job offer and no EU citizen is available to do the job (slightly easier process for some countries such as Australia) but then I suspect a German's chances of getting a UK visa to work on a UK fuel boat would be zilch

    There must however be plenty of Irish passport holders on cwdf who might  be interested???

  11. The visa will be the major issue for UK citizens I have no idea how much of an issue.

    For anyone who has worked a UK narrowboat such as one of the fuel boats I imagine this would be very much a holiday.

    There was some mention that the owners were looking towards retirement and possibility of purchase and taking over boat in future.

×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.