roland elsdon

No afloat hence checking stern tube serial times have done this with 3 boats over the years, 1928 1936 and1937 vintage.

Simple response if turning in crt water and abused by marina owner . " until you started shouting I was coming in to discuss a twenty year mooring agreement paid up front ,but for some strange reason I'll take my enquiry elsewhere" i believe many marinas are obliged( they were in the past) to offer winding as part of their licence and connection deal

For the last 6 years we have left our 1936 open hold ex working boat in the uk whilst we work in Australia for 6 to 8 months. It is not in a marina. drain water system, sterilise all surfaces,pack all bedding and clothing in sealed bags. Seal engine air intake. Clean out fridge cooker. Wd 40 all metal surfaces ( range/ fire).polish brass and grease check drains. 2 bilge pumps both auto, solar panel on all batteries, service engine.polish cabin,inside and out, bleach hull sides..check stern tube Our insurance company are aware, but don't cover neglect anyway of course. check stern tube shut doors go fly. On return reverse. Never had problem. We have sympathetic friends who observe and have been known to mop off

One of my favourite boats lovely fanatical owner talked to me re selling last year. If I was 5 years older I'd buy it because in 5 years I won't be able to manage our current boat

I remember going to view a forty foot tug a few years ago. After a lot of dribbling over the JP2 and the back cabin I said no. It sold a few days later. When I explained to the broker he said it was refreshing to hear my reasons. He stated most buyers wanted to know how long the mains lead was and whether it had a TV or not. personaly it's builder length, engine, and then everything else, depending on my needs at the time. In the past it's been 70 ft yarwoods hb3 luxury and mooring .Currently it's short woolwich hb2 short extension and basic. Plus land base that I've never spent a night in!

Just moored behind them and gave sue the bad news . Station boat (her favorite) yarwoods our favorite. Lister ha favorite engine. Fenny proceeded to blow a smoke ring and go aground hard... i do not need an unconverted pair. Repeat.

I suspect they disliked the bottom road too because of the effort with a pair, all locks being narrow and not in flights. the locks on the middle road are mixed wide narrow. the top road has all wide locks except on the northern Stratford , but here it is a fairly easy flight with 2 people and a pair. ive done top and middle routes with a pair tops easiest apart from the state of the northern Stratford.. as for the bottom route, I didn't go through there in the 80s 90s too much bandit country for 2 people with 2 boats through curdworth and minworth.

Subvert the dominant paradigm the current one being that anything said that might cause offence to the snowflake generation is unacceptable, right wing or plain wrong. if you meet 5 people in a town that you are unable to communicate with it is a matter of fact and no more. in my old job in Leicester I had to get interpreters in to ensure that my patients were able to have their rights maintained on a weekly basis. It is fact . There are a large number of people in the uk to whom English is a second third or fourth language. meeting them and working for them does not make a racist either

Plenty of entertainment today at great Haywood today without adding a boat full of animals. Bow thruster dancing. 100 meter sprints , musical accompiament by the horn section, marital disharmony and the usual clowns. I particularly liked the mime artist on the boat moored sticking into the narrows at the boatyard. She pulled the most bizarre expressions at boats legally trying to get into the narrows round her bows. who ever lets her moor there deserves ( no I will resist)

I was all set to go for flexible panels stuck down until this current 8 week trip. I look at each installation as I go by. My wife dislikes our installation ( single rigid panel) on aesthetic grounds, the boat being 80 . i have seen many semi flexible and flexible showing signs of distress discolouration rippling, partial lifting and even cracking. I discussed stick down with one boater who said his had to be removed 18 month post installation due to corrosion under the panel, and rust breaking through. i thought it was the best route but now intend a second matching panel which can be removed when needed, to be cleaned or at events. finaly our first boat with solar in 2000 had super expensive 10 yr guarantee thin panel 121 months later no output....

What else do you do in a car park ? Park cars. Unless you live in Leicester where you bury a king in it.

2 old boats down this lock today. ours 57ft town class motor. No problems because we were able to hold forward and miss the worse bulge which is situated uphill of the lock ladder, and is now pronounced. Going uphill I would hold back on the gate. the other boat is a full length Northwich motor ( 71.00 Erewash boat ) so again not quite full length managed no problem downhill. uphill might be different looking at the lock from inside it won't be long before full length moderns will catch. The main bulge on the front right going uphill, is worsened by other bulges in the lock wall. we came down like we do on the Stratford one paddle and rocking the boat.

Crt have not sent me a licence since 2014 Of course we are licenced certificated and insured, though we have a postal address. however we have no printer ( nor the need or the space for one) no means of running one, in either of our accommodations. when those who are authorised wish to check they read the painted on number. in 3 years they have contacted us once claiming we needed to move as we were rescinding our continuous cruising statement. I replied politely that if they sent me the airfare I would happily take a week off work to move the boat from her registered mooring back to her registered mooring to comply. I also rejected the terms and conditions of the continuous cruising licence as I could not qualify...having been paying moorings for 5 years.

Chocolate block is better than the twisted over wrapped in insulating tape job that I discovered on our boat recently, that and the lights wired in series...

Sometimes it's not the velockies it's the impatient who run from one end of the lock to the paddles and then wind them up full, ignoring your request to ' leave the paddles to us' then when the boat accelerates at full tilt into the gates look at you all gone out. i stayed in the lock ( it was our 10th that day) picking everything up, and checking stuff for about five minutes, then cleared the blades before going out of the lock. I left them to drop the paddles as they were so keen....

Tony are you suggesting that running your petrol generator with the exhaust poking through the part opened doors or the well deck is against your insurance, and keeping fuel in it whilst it's stored in the engine room or under the rear boards, or keeping petrol in the cabin area is unwise. I thought it was only me that looked at these death traps and wondered why there are not more deaths

It's a tragedy for all concerned, both for those to have to look at it and the individual concerned I passed it today on the shroppie. a sad indictment of user pays uk. having just retired from 35 years as a mental health practitioner I can imagine the issues surrounding her circumstance. I'm currently fighting the system to get my 88 year old mother into hospital for assessment. Mania, self neglect ,debt ,refusal to take life enabling medication , or get help for injuries ,mvulnerability, loss of care home, threats with weapons, disorganised behaviour. They don't constitute a mental health crisis apparently. back home in Australia I'd have admitted her immediately and fought the semantics later, here? Won't happen until the police get involved... Again. If this lady has no advocates it's not surprising what's happening , the problem is ultimately she will loose what little she has, her problem on the surface is only 'home is an eyesore' is minor, but I suspect it's a bit like an iceberg.

Horrible hole next to a prison about to have its cat level increased

My boat is in places on its third bottom. 6 years ago we were advised to get it grit blasted and 2 packed as it had pitting. We did it at the next docking (4 years) 2 late. 5 mm overplate, instead. £8000 ( we had paid for the gritblast and lift etc) . If we had two packed we would have been throwing away what we had gained once the pitting starts it doesn't stop unless you clean off the pit and water seal it ( 2 pack), due to work and family circumstance we were too late. Another of my boats had a 8mm rebottom not overplate in 1982 and another rebottom in 2011. Ok it was an open boat for many years and we had carried some cargo in that time, however we attempted to keep it swept out and painted. It still went from 8mm to uninsurable in 29 years. ( no mains on boat) next year I will dock and recoat the bottom plate.....we are deep draft and bang and grind. That will start the process off again... It makes sense.

It's notes from the at least 2013... I altered ours last year after information from a number of knowledgable sources. Was not included. i guess it's down to us to point it out in person if we want a better description. It's a hard job frequently he has to spot the boat and then find the boat on his list. Easy with president...... ( bells shouting ....crash..bells shouting etc) harder with common herd on gu boats..

Very sad to say by observation they burn frightenly the recent incident at braunston is shocking. Any other boat near would have caught, the trees around it went up due to the cabin melting off. shocked to see have always appeared to be well built and competently fitted.

You miss a point breasted working boats can single out when needed. Even in the 80s we rarely went north of mars worth breasted why? You can't.

Interesting comment that 50000 is strong for a boat too wide to go everywhere, given that people pay over 100000 for a new fat boat that can't go anywhere and will depreciate faster than a full elsan. All small woolwich boats have width issues, I recal a certain motor having the guards removed to get off the Llangollen.

Apparently this year there is a measurement plan, and all will move on Friday to allocated spots. This should cause more of a shambles than the procession and be worth watching. Personally I have already started. A hirer getting me bored attempting to turn in braunston marina took so long it was easier to reverse the eight boat lengths to our slot. As a result we have a new sport reversing against oncoming historic boats. The hirer rather than turning under the bridges decided to attempt to turn the other way...... I believe he may be still up the mud pinned on the bank

You can overtake a hirer on the Oxford canal at full throttle as long as you go into neutral when you get level with the boats moored on the towpath. The following wave will then bounce everybody including your own toy boat into the air. You then moor up 2 miles further down the cut and look aggressively at the boats coming slowly past. The tickover stick on was the last straw.