Dank

Just picked up this topic after returning from a work party on the Grantham Canal. If you think nothing is happening or all the bridges are culverted may I suggest that you have a look on the GCS website. http://www.granthamcanal.org/ - have a look at the news letter 'Bridge'. Better still have a short sampler boat trip on bank holiday Monday from our depot at Woolsthorpe by Belvoir There is quite a bit happening at the moment so why not join in and give us a hand we need all the help we can get.

Grantham Canal Society are running short boat trips from Harlaxton Wharf on Monday 5th May to raise funds for the society 10:30 - 16:00. A good chance to cruise a canal you've never been on before http://www.granthamcanal.org/latest-news/ Bodies will be on hand on Sunday to advise about the work the society does, but no boat trips.

Dont be depressed Bruce. I just prefer to be a glass half full person and Im sick and tired of all the negative speculation that has been thrown up over a good deal of these pages. The initial intention of following this thread was to learn some new facts, well Ive certainly done that but little that is relevant to my situation. Now I just follow for morbid curiosity. I had intended (post1890) to try and throw a few crumbs of comfort to the other moorers at Pillings because of what I felt was a positive meeting in Nottingham that bode well for the future, but as has been shown previously anybody being to optimistic is classed as a management lackey or otherwise. (As has been so ably demonstrated by Little One sheet) Tried to convey the message as low key as possible back fired didnt it. I am well aware that this issue is more than just a Paul Lillie bashing exercise. This is not rich boys toys but involves peoples homes and life savings, a fact that seems to be overlooked far too often and that is what is annoying me.. As of today:- The facts as I understand them. A liquidator has been appointed. If Quorn Marina Properties if not already in voluntary liquidation it will shortly be so. The debt to CRT is written off with the liquidation. A new NAA agreement will have to be negotiated. The last clause in the leashold agreement ensures that the lease terms will be honoured. My observations. The Liquidator and the CRT financial representative appeared to accept the situation and did not seem to consider it extraordinary. The CRT representative also identified himself as a person who had acted as liquidator in the past and was very helpful to the extent of explaining some of the technicalities to the creditors. The liquidation will go through in just a short space of time and the new company is expected to be negotiating a new NAA in the near future. Paul Lillie stated that if his presence is an obstacle to negotiations he will resign as director. There is no apparent reason for new negations not to take place before April 14. Im sorry that Phil Spencer or somebody representing CRT management wasnt there so we could glean a bit more from their intentions. I dare say someone will take exception - tough. I dont appear to be able to carry quotes over from different pages so to try and answer a few comments. Gaggle & RLWP I do not blame anybody for this mess but the original Pillings Lock management. What I do take issue with are those few sad people who delight in muddying the water for mischief when peoples futures are in the balance. In their case the sun shouldnt shine. Mike the Boilerman Trudy-Ann will be in the marina throughout April and my confidence is high that I will not have to resort to a low loader to get to and from the cut. Care to wager a pint for May first.

Think I'll go away and stick my head in the sand whilst I await my rude awakening. Anything I say will be pure conjecture. I rest my case

A sure sign this thread has gone on too long. No, the point I was trying to make is that as one of those affected I have raised the question before of what these arguments are doing for the people moored at Pillings and the answer has to be not a lot. As this thread continued there seems to be more people trying to find fault( Planning issues etc.) that can be used to close the marina down. This is certainly no help to the people that have boats there is it. As for John Lillies input - It is not my place to get involved in a family dispute, but at the same time I remember he was there at the outset when all of this was set up, and ignorance is no excuse under law. I don't give a damn who runs Pillings so long as I am left alone to play with my little boat without interference, is that too much to ask, And yes I am starting to get *issed of with all this rumour and conjecture if you hadn't noticed.

Well it was a very civilised meeting this morning. Not as many people there as I expected but from those I spoke to the consensus seemed to be that the doom mongers on this forum may be wrong. The grim reaper did not appear, the world did not end and the CRT representative was not screaming 'Off with his head' The biggest disappointment for today was that there was no coffee and biscuits and it cost six quid for parking. At the end of the day it looks like common sense will prevail. No need to elaborate on that as I'm sure there are plenty of members who will think something up and present it as fact. As I have said before there have been some reasoned arguments put forward but the rest of it has just been gossip mongering. So for all those theorists and those that delight in digging up every fault they can to make problems. Can I respectfully suggest you stick your input where the sun does not shine. YOU do not give a tinkers damn about us, the people that moor there, you are only out to score points for how much you can get away with.

Once again OS you miss the point - I am one of those lease holders

He drowned You miss the point OS - once it's spent you don't have to worry about it.

One thing that seems to have been overlooked when taking out leases is future earnings. I took out a lease as well as life membership of English Heritage and National Trust plus others while I was earning good money. Overkill you may think but now I am on a pension I can have days out relax and enjoy myself without having to worry about pennies. It's called forward thinking.

Well here we are 84 pages and going for the ton. But can anybody tell me if anything has actually been achieved other than stressing out the poor bu**ers moored at Pillings?

Does this mean that you don't believe in showing other boaters that courtesy? As it stands I like things just the way they are thanks and I don't like fibre glass boxes on wheels

CRT don't need marinas - we do as boaters, if every boat was moored on the cut then you would spend most of your journey on tickover. On top of that think of the poor so and so who can't find a mooring close to road access.

Just to expand on Dor and Carlts query about leasing car parking spaces with mooring rights. It has to be a piece of land. you cant lease a piece of water - it moves about you know

I've been reading this topic with some amusement and some horror. It strikes me that here is some reasoned arguing but an awful lot of gossip mongering and headless chicken syndrome. The dispute is between CaRT and QMP so why don't we just sit back and see what develops. As somebody who is just finishing fitting out a boat after being ripped off by a cowboy builder and have a thirty year lease at Pillings, shouldn't it be me that is worrying. In my past life I have seen too much grief and read too many suicide notes to realise that this may not be the end of the world.

I quite agree - but found out the hard way. David

Don't bank on it. In most cases you have to run with the top down or the first arch bridge will have it away. David

Try Vetus manuals - all appear to show 35 deg each way

We have a Vetus hydraulic set up on ours but have found it beneficial to increase the rudder movement from 35 to 50 deg as making tight manoeuvres or winding you find you tend to get too much forward motion. Might I also suggest a rudder indicator. (Waits for tiller girls and old farts to pick themselves off the bar room floor) You can't see the rudder, so if you have been station keeping in a lock or waiting for one it's nice to know in what direction you will move off. As has already been mentioned it is slower to operate but no less accurate and it has the added bonus that you can let go of it long enough to pick up your rum without running aground David

New bottom gates are being installed at Woolsthorpe (lock 18) on the Grantham Canal on Wednesday and Thursday of this week if anyone is interested in the chance seeing a lock de-watered and gates renewed. Should also be able to see the first boat through the Woolsthorpe flight for many years. Why not sign up and join in, work has already started.

I’m beginning to wonder if the CaRT management at Newark is secretly trying to stop the Grantham Canal from being restored. Just being one of the other ranks perhaps I don’t have the full picture but I certainly am being brassed off by what I hear through the grapevine. Firstly there was the dredger ‘Mudlark’ which the society purchased off BW (As it was then). Being in a bit of a state having lain unused for years it was lovingly tended to and restored and re-launched on the Grantham canal on the navigable section between Woolsthorpe and Grantham. Well light blue touch paper and retire. CaRT as it was now threw a hissy fit, initially insisting that it be removed from their waterway. In the end they did relent, but BW were fully aware of why the society wanted a dredger and what was going to happen to it when they sold it to us. As it stands now the society can use ‘Mudlark’ provided a months notice is given and CaRT approve. Use of the trip boat is now being curtailed because the canal is so silted up and overgrown navigation of the top section is becoming increasingly difficult. Is CaRT doing anything about it bar put obstacles in the societies way – of course not. Otherwise there are pages of restrictions as to what the society can and cannot do without permission. Loads of other paperwork is now required proving competence and training of staff as well as maintenance records of equipment which although basically relevant appears to be well over and above H&S and common sense requirements. The final straw is finding out that after the society has gone to the trouble of raising funds and organising new gates to be made and installed for the bottom of lock 18 at Woolsthorpe, (The top gates were done last year) the method and safety statements for crane operators, scaffolders and all others involved have been collated by the society and are to be forwarded to Cart as required. Cart is now demanding £600 to read through these documents. Spleen vented but I would be interested to know if this situation is the same all over.

Funny - there must be an identical twin down at Pillings at the moment then

Don't just do the survey. If you are in this neck of the woods join in and enjoy yourself doing something worthwhile. The work parties in the main are just old farts like me having fun and trying to make a difference. http://www.granthamcanal.org/

The trouble with all this is that the scrote doing the theiving, if caught, will only get a token punishment. Any honest person trying to stop them by force will be in deep trouble with the police, probably because they are an easier target. There is no the incentive to get involved. What we need is a change in the attitude of the police and/or legislation. It's time the 'Spare the rod' brigade saw the light.

In a mooring with a half length pontoon a centre line steadies the end of the pontoon. Does that mean I am moored to the pontoon or the pontoon is moored to me?

Hi Steve and anyone this may help. The picture on the manual I think may be a beta 60 and what is showing is an electrical terminal. In the case of the Beta 43S the oil pressure sensor is tucked away behind the geabox oil cooler and I found it necessary to remove the cooler to access. It is on a 'T' piece with the switch for the cocoon fan. Thanks to the lads at Beta Marine for their patience.